A WHOLE YEAR...SAY WHAT?!

Let me take you back: August 10, 2008, Sparta Baptist Church (SBC), Sparta, Michigan. This was my last Sunday at SBC and went like every other Sunday. I attended both services. Pastor Bruce (PB) announced that I would be departing the following Sunday SUPER early morning. During Contemporary Service I was called to the front, along with the Elders and they prayed for me. As I made my way to the front PB reminded the congregation of words that I had once uttered, “Why would anyone ever want to leave Sparta, it has everything you need, it’s essentially the center of the universe.” I ABSOLUTELY love that small town! Everyone enjoyed a laugh and the service continued as usual. After church I said goodbye to those people that I really only see on Sunday mornings, then I was off to my last week at work. I worked my regular 40+ hour week before saying goodbye to my favorite boss, the individuals I worked with and my fun co-workers.

I had lots of goodbye parties / get togethers the end of that week and on the morning of August 17th; I got up REALLY early to catch a flight to Philly. My flight was scheduled for 8:30am (per the airline rule I had to be there at 7:30am), and I was meeting friends before that for breakfast at IHOP. I said goodbye to many of them and then continued to the airport with: Merri Jo (the Sub), her daughter Alana, my BFF Kelly and another friend Angie. I thought they would just drop me off and go, but they came inside the airport to wait with me and they were even granted passes to come and wait with me at the gate. As my flight number was called we all hugged and I boarded the plane with tears in my eyes. I think I cried from Grand Rapids to Detroit – which is a short flight. I had very little time to run to my connecting flight. I made it just in time. Once the second flight landed I was in Philly with like 10 other (future) Volunteers who had connections in Detroit as well, some who would eventually become my some of my very best friends. It was nice to meet up with people who were experiencing the same emotions as me. We claimed our luggage and went on a hotel for “Staging.” This lasted 2 days (Sunday & Monday) where we all got to kind of know one another – there were 63 of us, so it was difficult to know everyone, but we were at least introduced.

Tuesday August19 we boarded a bus that took us to JFK airport, checking in 63 people went much more quickly than I thought it would. We had lots of time to chill at this airport. Some people purchased internet for a brief time, others bought gifts for host families and some people took LOTS of pictures  I bought internet and talked with my BFF before we FINALLY got to leave. This was my first time flying over an ocean and I was a bit frightened, thankfully, I was able to sleep rather easily and the kid next to me was super nice about letting me be SUPER nervous and SUPER chatty. Thanks Andy!

We had a lay over in Germany that was supposed to be like 2 hours, but ended up being more like 6 hours. I think this is when lots of people became friends. We had LOTS of free time to just chat play cards, play Frisbee (yes, some people played Frisbee INSIDE the airport), or make Friendship bracelets. And we finally arrived in Kazakhstan early Thursday morning. Because we were supposed to arrive the night before our schedule didn’t really allocate time for us to get settled. It was time for Orientation. First on our list…breakfast. We had spaghetti noodles in warm milk…yea, Welcome to Kazakhstan! My favorite meal in America is Spaghetti and I’m a cereal lover and I just don’t think one should be allowed to make spaghetti cereal, it just isn’t natural (this was the only time that I have ever had that or will ever have that).

We had Orientation for 1½ days and then we were taken to our amazing training villages and host families. We were kind of just dropped off and went home with strangers (funny how that works). I was SUPER nervous getting into the car with these people I didn’t know, whose language I didn’t speak, apprehensively I went. I knew they were totally legit when on the car radio “Dancing Queen” was playing; I think this is when I relaxed. There were 20 other (soon to be) Volunteers in my village and we hung out everyday, mostly because we had to, but then on the days we didn’t have to we opted to. Some people went home early on, not gonna lie, I totally thought it looked like a viable option for me (once or twice during training), but then I remember my last Sunday at SBC and my last week and thought I needed to make it “at least a year.”  Of course, now I LOVE this place and the next year is going to be a cake walk!

We all Swore In as Volunteers on November 7, 2008 and scattered around Kazakhstan. This was a difficult day as we had to say goodbye to all the people we had become good friends with and with our host families as we parted. I arrived at site on November 9th and started work the following day. Walking into the unknown was rather difficult, but somehow I managed. I knew very little of their language and they knew very little of mine, but somehow we made it work. It was a holiday for the kids. I met the director of my school and became better friends with my original Counterpart. And a schedule was decided on that really wasn’t followed, not on my part. I had a difficult November and considered going back to America (I know it hadn’t been a whole year, but I didn’t care, I was ready to throw in the towel). Then I remembered words that my Youth Pastor, Nate had once spoken to me when I wanted to give up at something else before I really got started he said, “Give it 6 weeks, if you still feel the same way, then you can re-evaluate, but before then you are not thinking with a clear mind.” Alright, since this is one of the smartest men I know, I thought I would apply the previous advice to this particular situation and I am certainly glad that I did! Thanks Nate!! And although I’ve had both good days and bad days, the good days outweigh the bad.

As I sit here now, staring almost at the half-way point, I can’t believe how far I’ve come! I also realize, like all things in life, this will end, I don’t know that I will be ready when that day comes, but I’m going to do my best this year to leave a path for the future Volunteer to follow. I spent a few months at site waiting for a site transfer, hoping and praying for a site transfer even. Because I was waiting on the site transfer that never happened, I managed to do very little work, not ever wanting to get too far in because hopefully, I would get out. This was me having a bad attitude. Once I realized I wasn’t going to be granted a site transfer, I attempted to start / find projects to work on. This proved to be rather difficult. My Regional Manager visited in February and my Counterpart was changed, which was a wonderful thing! My new counterpart seemed to be a bit more motivated and actually wanted the added responsibility of a having a Volunteer. I began to work with her more and adjusted my attitude because although this wasn’t EXACTLY what I had in mind for my PC service, it was what I was given and since it really isn’t about me, I needed to do my best to meet THEIR needs. The school year ended in May and camp began at the beginning of June. This was the perfect opportunity for me to get to know some of the kids and staff better as I worked every day with them. It was this summer that I realized how much I want to do for my school / organization. I realized that my school has never had a Volunteer and they have very little idea about how to work with one, but it’s my job to teach them. Because they have never worked with one before, they don’t know what my job “should” be. This week I’m working on my own job description. They are happy with whatever I’m willing to provide, this really leaves me with countless opportunities! I’m excited for the next year and nervous that it’s going to go by much more quickly than I’m ready for it to:-(