Our time is coming to an end.........

As many of you know, Rick and I have been working with Father Beiting Appalachian Mission Center since November.

After much prayer and thought, more prayer and discussion, and then more prayer, we have decided we will be leaving FBAMC a little early, at the end of June.

There have been many changes during our time here; some easy and some very difficult.

We have enjoyed being stretched beyond our comfort zone, even though it made us feel uncomfortable at times and was very, very difficult. We have enjoyed corresponding with many groups committed to helping the poor by giving up their time to come her, to eastern Kentucky, and work with the mission center. We have enjoyed the new experiences and challenges presented to us every day. We are proud of the work we have accomplished, and the work we have set in motion. Our hope and prayer is the ground work we have laid out for volunteers will continue. That the much needed long term volunteer facility which is being built, will be completed and filled with excited and dedicated volunteers to help further the Kingdom of God.

At this time, we are feeling called back home. Rick absolutely must finish his Masters in Theology at Notre Dame this fall. He received an extension until December. He must have both his written thesis and his oral exam completed by that time. Unfortunately, he only has a rough outline completed right now. Because of Rick's disability and the struggles it causes with his reading, he will need the extra time to commit himself totally to writing this thesis and preparation for his orals.

We have been blest to have worked with the "Saint of the Appalachian Mountains". Our lives are richer for this experience. We have truly been blest!!!

This is Awesome!!

I hope this works. I received this email/link to youtube. I really thought it spoke the truth. Thought you would enjoy it!!

http://www.YouTube.com/watch_popup?v=WUQYJ77qa50

Well, I just previewed this, and I guess I did something wrong, so you will need to copy and paste the link. It is worth it!!

So sorry we have not been posting - there is no good reason. Things are fine here. Groups are starting to come in, and we are starting to really do some good work in the community. Helping lots of people with leaking roofs and other repairs. Hopefully I will be posting some pictures in the near future - just don't hold your breath.

We sure miss everyone!!

Alleluia!

After many months of work getting various things ready in anticipation of our volunteer groups, it finally happened!
We got our first group this weekend!

The Catholic Church ministering to the students at University of Bowling Green (sorry WMU and Kazoo, your rival MAC university beat you!) arrived safely last night. We broke the group up into three smaller groups. The pictures are from the group which installed our brand new sign. They spent all day digging the hole. But, alas, we are in the Appalachian Mountains; once you dig down ¼” it was all gravel/rock. Three post holes each three feet deep and you have some tired folks!

Congratulations University of Bowling Green for being our first group and a job well done!

“Congradulaions” Fr. Anthony!

Remembering that Fr. Anthony is from India, a country where he really is a first generation driver. As Americans, we have grown up with cars; we have been driven everywhere by parents who are third and fourth generation drivers. Our whole society is mobile and we love it. For those in India, they have taken trains or buses everywhere, up to the past decade. They just do not have the experience as drivers we are.

Well, the third time is the charm. Fr. Anthony has gained his independence and now has his driver’s license!

Elaine and I decided to stop by Wal-Mart and get a cake to celebrate. A quick trip to the bakery to find the cake. We asked the clerk to write “Congratulation Father Anthony” on the cake. Well, what a surprise we got for our cake. Take a closer look at the picture of the cake. I just had to take picture .

Hello - it's been a while

Hey everyone - so sorry we haven't been updating things lately. There has been a lot going on, but most of it is getting forms in order, figuring out what exactly we are suppose to be doing - which we still are not really sure exactly what that is - we have a general idea, but are starting from scratch so that takes a lot of time and revisions on forms, etc. So in other words, boring to write about.

However, this last week was different. We took a break and Rick went to Florida for a homiletics class. I went to Houston to visit my Mom and family. The bad news is Rick's class was canceled. They decided to change the format to six different Saturdays. Rick will have to decide what he wants to do now. He did teach a class every day for a few hours which he really enjoyed.

I had a blast!!! I drove to Mike's in Bloomington,IN and stayed with him two nights. We went grocery shopping, out to eat and just bummed around. It was really fun to spend time with him!! I also was able to spend a little time with Heather, althought she had to leave that first evening for a conference. I flew to Houston on Sunday and spend the week with family. I really miss family so it was awesome!!! We really didn't do anything special, just kind of hung out. Just what I needed!!!

One thing I have noticed being in Lousia is I really miss my family and friends. They are my support, and I really don't have that here. So thank you family and friends for being there for me. I really need you guys!!! Love you!!!

In the “Groove”

Fr. Beiting is still enjoying a well deserved respite in our winter hometown of Punta Gorda, Florida. We have been back here in Louisa for a few weeks from our quick trip to Punta Gorda.
We have just completed a major project with the Mission Center; developing all the forms necessary for the groups to visit us. There is the group’s form itself indicating the folks which will attend, medical form, photo release form, etc. Many things to think through.
We are settling in on our responsibilities with Fr. Beiting Appalachian Mission Center. As volunteer coordinators, we are responsibility for all aspects of the volunteer program. Currently, we are working on gathering information on the groups which will assist our Mission Center this year. Most of these groups visit us during the summer, but we do have a number during the off-summer months. Currently, we have the capability to have two groups each week consisting of 30 and 50 individuals. Our smaller facility is here in Louisa and the larger facility is in Martin County. The summer is quickly filling up; most weeks have one group already and some have two. There is a lot of work corresponding with the groups, finding out there needs and how we can best connect our groups with our clients here in Louisa and

Mike's Engaged!!!

We have great news!!! Mike has asked a lovely young lady to marry him and she said YES!!! We couldn't be happier. Although this is not the official engagement picture, it is good of both of them. The big day is going to be the summer of 2011. We just wanted to share our good news.

A new year....

I am finally get refocused on our mission after spending the last few weeks enjoying family, friends and the holidays. We do have snow on the ground, and it is cold, and I did ask myself a few times, "Now why am I here and not enjoying sunny Florida"?.....I do know that I am where I am suppose to be!!! God has been calling me, and I finally said YES - What a great feeling that is. My hope while working for Fr. Beiting is to bring people closer to God - in essence - to further the Kingdom of God. I hope I can - or really I should say I can as long as I allow God to continue to lead me.

One quick item I feel compelled to address since so many of you have mentioned that you have been donating to Fr. Beiting for years. FBAMC is not the same as the Christian Appalachian Project(CAP). Fr. Beiting began/founded CAP decades ago, but they separated paths probably 15 years ago. CAP still is in the area and is still doing great work, but Fr. Beiting is no longer associated with them. He began Father Beiting Appalachian Mission Center when he left CAP. I only mention this because so many of you thought your were giving to Fr. Beiting and the mission we were working with and that is not the case if you were donating to CAP. If you want more information on FBAMC or want your contribution to go to his mission, please check out this web site. www.fatherbeiting.org (copy and paste if need to)

Our rich American Heritage

Well, could there be a prettier place to be in January than Florida? If there is, I have not seen it.
Elaine and I just returned from a quick week trip to Florida. We took Fr. Anthony with us for a part of the trip. He had to return a bit earlier than we did, since Fr. Beiting was leaving for Florida prior to our return and Fr. Anthony had responsibilities while Fr. Beiting was gone.
The flight from Huntington, WV to Clearwater/St Petersburg was a bit rough. In fact, it was one of the more turbulent flights Elaine and I have had. For Fr. Anthony it was particularly difficult. During the roughest part he said he was able to get a rosary in! We found out later during a meal with my family that he was so concerned that he gave everyone on the flight absolution!
Fr. Anthony was like a little kid at Christmas, he was so excited to go to Florida, even though he had no idea where Florida was. We told him Punta Gorda would be like ½ way between Disney World and Miami. He had never heard of either of these. I was surprised, and after a little bit of prompting he figured out who Mickey Mouse was but had never heard of Disney World. Miami, he was clueless about. When we asked him to name any cities in the USA he knew (other than the towns around us) he could only name four. Which ones do you think they would be? See the end of the post for the answer. But on reflection I could only name three cities in India off the top of my head, and India has a population 3x the USA! See my three cities below. How many can you name? Sorry, Miami, you aren’t that big of a deal to an Indian!
After the rough flight, I thought the trip might be a little lackluster for Fr. Anthony, but was I wrong! We only had two full days, so we were pretty short on time to see things. We decided to go to visit Fort Myers and see Thomas Edison’s home, a place I love to visit. I remember that the largest banyan tree in the world was somewhere in India and the second largest was on the Edison estate. Go to the link to see what a banyan tree is if you do not know http://neatorama.cachefly.net/images/2007-03/banyan-tree-aerial-root.jpg
(This feels like an educational paper as opposed to a blog post, oh well!)
So the conversation continues, “Ok, Fr. Anthony we are going to see Thomas Edison’s home …. I know you do not know….”
Fr. Anthony suddenly interrupts me, “Thomas Edison! The man who invented the light bulb and the phonograph! I studied all about him in school!”
He was so excited, his face lit up like a light bulb! Sorry, Mickey Mouse and Don Johnson (Miami Vice), you loose.
What a great joy Fr. Anthony was! He was so excited about everything and everyone. How much the Indians can teach us about the joy of the little things of life, thank you Fr. Anthony!

(Answers: NY, Chicago, LA and SF/Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi)

Off we go…

Elaine and I had a wonderful time with Mike over these past few days. We left on the 26th for Mike’s and spent two days there with him. We saw a great movie, Avatar. If you have not seen this movie yet it is amazing!
After our couple days with Mike we brought him home to Louisa with us. He spent two days here with us. We bought a used (1985 LeBaron) car for him. He had a great semester at Ivy Tech and we told him if he did well we would help him with school. He should be eligible to do volunteer fire fighting very soon and needed the car.
On January 1st we are leaving with Fr. Anthony (our priest from India) for Florida. This will be a wonderful experience for him. When we asked him if he knew where Florida was, he said “Yes, by Main, right?. No, Father, Florida is not by Maine, it is a bit further south of there.” This will be a blast with him in Florida, what a treat it will be!

Merry Christmas!!!

Just a quick post to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas!!! I pray the Lord fills you with both Peace and Happiness as you celebrate the birth of our King. At mass both last night and today, I was reflecting on how wonderful my life is...I have a fantastic family - all of them, sister, brothers, Mom, in laws, children and husband. I am living a life of trying to serve our Lord, which I didn't really think I was capable of doing. As I have mentioned before, I was always great at allowing God to accompany me on my journey, but to give up that control was and still is difficult. I am trying to let the Lord lead me - I am learning step by step. Please enjoy this wonderful day of Christ's birth. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family!!!!

Phase One, done!

Well, we did it again! Today, Tuesday, we gave 400 baskets to needy families. The baskets included toys for the children, frozen chicken, pizzas, fresh produce, milk, eggs and canned goods. There were another 200 families which received just food. We had two groups, starting at 10:00 and the next group at 1:00. I worked outside directing the cars. I think I said “Merry Christmas” at least 800 times today for the folks coming up the hill, walking to their car, walking back from their car or driving away. They probably thought I was nuts! “Why is this guy telling me “Merry Christmas” four times?” But, hey, what do you expect from a blind guy!? And, was it fun! Try parking 250 cars into a parking lot which only serves 150 cars! Everything went off without a hitch. We did that twice in one day too. Elaine, of course, being the “Queen Bee”, buzzed around the inside of the warehouse insuring all was running smoothly. Do I need to say any more!? . My little girl, the “Organizer”.
And we get to do all this again on Wednesday! Another 400 families receiving food and gifts with another 200 just getting food! But, what can I say …. Other then “God is Good! Alleluia! Just another glorious day in the Fr. Beiting Appalachian Mission Center.

The Holy Spirit is Good! Alleluia!

Well, we did it! For us, and several others, this past Saturday was our first “group” Christmas give-away here at FBAMC. For Fr. Beiting, we are not sure how many he has done, but we kid him and say it has to be like his 100th or something.

There were two large distributions today which we sponsored. One in Lawrence County, where we were and the second in Martin County. For Lawrence County, where the new warehouse is located, it was something to behold! We gave away to 35 different agencies, who in turn will give to the individual clients.

You can tell by the pictures how much was given away. Through excellent planning by Phillip, the Director of Operations, and the hard work of many volunteers, it came off without a hitch.

Ok, here is our Holy Spirit story for this week. We have some incredibly generous benefactors. Two very large donors, which come in at the last minute, provide us frozen chickens and fresh produce. We have a full time semi-truck driver who drives all over the eastern part of the USA, dropping off empty trailers, and picking them up later filled with goods for us. Well, Chris called from the emergency room on Thursday very ill and unable to pick up these two loads. We had a trailer full of frozen chickens to be picked up that day, several hours away. Another trailer full of fresh produces the next day, also several hours away. We had no idea what to do, where are we going to find another driver on such short notice? One of the volunteers made a few phone calls and this gentleman, whom we did not know, offered to pick up both loads free of charge at this last minute – An Angel sent from God to Fr. Beiting!

Well this day is done, everyone did an incredible job and all we can say is …”God is Good! Alleluia!

And, we are back at it on Monday as we prepare Christmas baskets which we distribute to 800 local families! That project is in full swing for three delivery dates of December 18th, 22nd and 23rd.

Our big day is almost here....

Well, as some of you may know (if you read the blog) that tomorrow we participate in a humongous food distribution. I don't actually know the exact number we are handing out, but probably enough food to feed 8,000 to 10,000 people. How is works is many other organizations come to us for bulk food and toys. All of which has been donated to us from various food vendors and mostly Hasbro toys. Each group has a scheduled time to collect their stuff. Those organizations then go back to their location and divvy it up to the needy. We are to be there at 7:30am and load stuff up all day long. Hopefully we will be finished around 6pm. I am really excited to see it all. I am going to be taking pictures so hopefully we will have some posted soon.

I just have to say God is great - All the time!!!!! We ran into a little (HUGE) glitch yesterday. Our semi driver was hospitalized with a kidney infection. You might think - sorry.....we will pray for him...which you should - BUT he was to go on a run yesterday and today to pick up all the food. What were we to do???? PRAY, PRAY, PRAY... We did as well as make some phone calls and low and behold, a very nice man came forward and donated his time. He already had the correct license so all we had to do was add him to our insurance. As I said....God is great - All the time!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

I know this is a little late - like more than a week. But I just wanted to share that we had a fantastic Thanksgiving. We drove to Mike's in Bloomington, IN on Thanksgiving. Although we didn't have the big bird until Friday, we were able to enjoy the fantastic company of Mike and Heather. On Friday, I showed Mike and Heather (me giving them directions) on stuffing and cooking the turkey. Heather's parents arrived in the early afternoon. It was really great meeting her folks. We were all able to enjoy Thanksgiving even if it was on Friday. The meal was great and the company even better.

Preaching, Preaching and more Preaching!

Well, as some of you may know, I have been hard at work on my Masters in Theology from Notre Dame for 6-7 years now. All the course work is done. I have to write a thesis (25 pages) and do orals next summer to defend the paper. No, Mom, I have not yet started the paper . The thesis essentially is what St Paul can teach us 2,000 years later about preaching. As some of you know, I enjoy preaching and take it pretty seriously.

Before leaving for FBAMC I had expressed with Fr. Kevin my desire to continue to preach while working with Fr Beiting. Well, I am here to say, there has been no shortage of preaching! In the two weeks I have been here, I will have preached at 6 daily Masses, 2 Sunday Masses and my first time street preaching!

Yes, that Is right street preaching. Today, Fr. Beiting and I put the speakers, mics, amplifier, and electric converter into the back of the van and went to two locations and did street preaching. What an experience that was. We opened up the van, pulled all the equipment out and just preached. Not sure I would have gotten that experience in Portage or Punta Gorda!

I simply did a history of the Pilgrim’s struggles of coming to the New World and their first Thanksgiving. I interjected how we need to be thankful for all the blessing which Christ has bestowed on us throughout my 10 minute talk. I was pretty nervous before starting, but once I got going all well great. As I have said many times in the past, once I get passed about 10 feet or so, everyone turns into a blob and I cannot see anyone any how!

Watch what you pray for!

There will be a very busy week coming up! The week will be cut short, as we will be leaving to visit Mike for Thanksgiving for a few days. We are really looking forward to seeing Mike and Heather!

FBAMC had its first weekly volunteer meeting last week. I volunteered us to be in charge of putting up the Nativity Scenes in the various locations. I knew I was in trouble as soon as I spoke up. Everyone else was smiling with relief and Elaine was not smiling. I found out afterwards that there are like seven locations, and maybe more! To make matters more fun, the Nativity Scenes are scattered around and some need some work. Fr. Beiting wants the Nativity Scenes up by the first week of Advent, which is this weekend.

Elaine and I had been talking about, and praying for, what we should be doing here at the FBAMC. Well, we have been asked to help with the financial matters of FBAMC (no big deal with our professional backgrounds) and placed in charge of the volunteer program! This is really what we had hoped for.

This will include the individual short-term (less than one year) and long-term (those committing for a year or more) volunteers and the groups (normally a week long). These are three different groups, with different needs and desires.

For the individuals, we would like to develop a community. This is particularly important for the long-term volunteers. We, along with Dale our housemate, have been inviting many of the individuals over for meals several times during the week. The three of us have also been working toward praying the Liturgy of the Hours together on a consistent basis. This will take a bit of time since we are running in different directions each day. Elaine and I feel that growing spiritually is as important, if not more important, then the work we can do for FBAMC. If we can grow spiritually, our work with FBAMC will be enriched.

For the large groups we are very interested in developing an evening program which will help them grow spiritually as well. Then, for the large groups, there is finding, evaluating and coordinating the work they will be doing, which is a large project itself.

Developing the volunteer program will certainly be a big job, but one we are very excited about. We will certainly need your prayers as this will be new ground for Elaine and me.

Finding our place…..

We found ourselves spending a decent amount of time with Fr Beiting this first week, just visiting the various ministries. Fr Beiting has his fingers in so many ministries here in eastern Kentucky! Right now there are three small churches he runs, four large thrift stores, the Point of Hope, Padre’s Place and so many other ministries.

The Point of Hope is a homeless/addiction center with approximately a dozen families living in small trailers around a central community center. There are several Sisters which help him run the Point. He has a brand new 45,000 square foot warehouse/thrifty store/office complex, plus a number of other buildings and small houses which house the many temporary volunteers which come all year round. He is able to house close to 50 volunteers at once!

A large ministry which is in the early stages is the collection and distribution of food and toys for Christmas. Fr Beiting's varies volunteer groups are putting together 800 baskets for distribution! He is also collecting food and toys for another 10,000 people who will be provided to other local organizations for their final distributions. Yes, I said that right, 10,000 people will be served through Fr Beiting. Needlessly to say, there will be an army of volunteers over the next few weeks unpacking, sorting and re-packing all that food and toys.

Elaine and I are not certain what exactly we will be doing as of yet. We have talked with both Fr. Beiting and Phillip, the new Administrator for the “Fr. Beiting Appalachian Mission Center” on what talents we can bring to AMC. That discussion will continue over the next week to finalize something. Until that time, Elaine and I are just open to the Holy Spirit. She has done a wonderful job leading us thus far, so we are open to the movement.

We want to hear from you!!!!!

Just a quick note. Some of you have had trouble posting comments. Well, I changed the setting to allow anyone to post a comment. I believe you just have to click the anonymous button.(please still sign your name after the comment or we will not know who you are...) Didn't even know I had a choice, so sorry if you tried and were not successful. We would love to hear from you - feel free to give us your thoughts, ideas for improvement, or to just say HI. Miss you all but we are feeling really good about our decision to come here. Slowly getting more and more info on what we will be doing. Just learned today we might be helping some on the accounting stuff. God is Great!!!! All the Time!!!

A step back in time

Well, Sunday was spent traveling to two of our three parishes for Mass; St Jude, in Louisa, the largest parish and St John Neumann in Hode, the second largest parish. Travel time between the two parishes was like an hour plus.

Sunday was exciting for me, it was my first Sunday preaching assignment. Boy, what a tough Gospel to preach on, at least for a novice preacher; darkness, tribulation and the coming of the Lord (Mark 13:24-32). Why could I not have had a parable or something easier to preach on for my first Sunday preaching assignment?!

Well going to St John Neumann was slightly different than St Catherine of Siena (Portage, MI) or Sacred Heart (Punta Gorda, FL) which are both very large and new churches. St John Neumann seating capacity is probably 50. The whole Church was basically constructed from gifts from various churches. The pews, the stain glass windows, the altar, the lights, and the ambo, everything inside was donated from other parishes. The folks, all 12 of them, were very friendly and welcoming to both Elaine and me. As the old organ was pounding out an ancient hymn, I had a flash back to an old movie I love. I was waiting for Sidney Poitier to come through the doors as he did in the movie Lilies of the Fields, it was great.