Behind Bars: Transitioning Back Into Society

On May 11, I attended the presentation “Behind Bars: Transitioning Back Into Society” by the COR 401 classes.  This took place in Dietzman at GC, at 10:45 during the Uncommon Day of Learning.  I attended with Kiley Watson. The environment was serious, and they set the mood with how they presented their topic.  The event was pretty relaxing but had a more serious tone to it, as it was covering the topic of juvenile delinquents.  The event went as expected for the most part.  I enjoyed it, because I am wanting to teach in a prison for juvenile delinquents, but I wish they had a little bit more interaction or something to grab my attention a little more. I did not enjoy the fact that it just did not hold my attention very well.  I would most likely attend again if I had the opportunity, if they had maybe more involvement from the audience.

New Church Service

On March 15, in New Orleans, Louisiana while I was on my  spring break mission through Greenville College, we (the students from GC on the trip) attended Trinity Evangelical Free Church on the Sunday after we got there.  The environment was very relaxing, and I felt right at home in that church.  I come from a Baptist background, but this church really made me feel at home despite the fact that it was a different denomination.  It was a beautiful church that had big windows in the front where you could see all of the beautiful green trees and the sun while you worshipped.  I really felt God there! It was very beautiful and made me feel content in that church. The service went as expected I guess, I did not expect to feel so at home like I did, but I did, and the sermon and worship went as expected.  I enjoyed it a lot, and if I could live there in Louisiana, I would consider being a regular attender of that church.  There was not anything I did not enjoy, it was an amazing experience and I wish I could experience it again.  Yes I would attend this church service again, and I wish I could start attending tomorrow, if only I could make my way back down to LA!

LGBTQ Q&A: A Conversation with LGBTQ Students and Alumni

During this event, LGBTQ Q&A: A Conversation with LGBTQ Students and Alumni, on April 20^th at 6 oclock, in the upper union, we had time to talk with LGBTQ Students and Alumni on the topic of LGBTQ inclusion and just random stuff about the opinions and what not of these LGBTQ people.  At the end of the event we had to fill out a survey about LGBTQ issues and what we feel.  I did not attend with anyone, but I sat by some people who were a little familiar.  The environment was exciting, and they had food and we got to make lots of conversation.  The event was memorable and I learned a lot more than I expected to.   The event went as expected, as in “set up” wise and the way they presented it, but I did not think I would learn as much as I did.  I did enjoy it, I really liked getting to hear differing opinions between the LGBTQ students and alumni presenting, but I did not enjoy how some of the students/alumni answered some of the questions.  I would most likely go again if this event was held again, but maybe the topic could be a little different or on a certain LGBTQ issue.

Coming Out...Coming In

On April 18, 2015, I went to St. Louis with a Greenville College COR class (Beth Watkins did the inviting) to see Bishop Gene Robinson at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church.  During the event “Coming Out…Coming In”, Bishop Gene Robinson shared his story with us about him becoming the first (openly) gay Bishop and the trials that came along with it.  We asked questions, had great food, and got to meet other people at the event who wanted to bring LGBTQ inclusion within the churches.  The environment was calm, there was a wide variety of people, especially older people. The event was memorable and exciting, as I have never been to an event like that before and it was a lot of fun.  The event went as expected, plus some.  For the most part it was what I thought it would be, but it was a lot more fun and interesting than I thought it would be.  I really enjoyed it, I loved hearing Gene’s story and the hardships that he went through to make him who he is today, and what we can do to include LGBTQ people in the church and make them a part of our Christian community.  There was honestly not one thing I did not enjoy, I personally thought it was excellent overall.  I would definitely attend something like this again, and recommend other people to attend if Gene has any other events like it!

SERVICE #1

SERVICE:

For my service project, I went to New Orleans, Louisiana for a mission trip during Spring Break.  During my time there, I worked for about nine hours a day for 5 days.  I left for LA on Saturday morning at four am and arrived back on campus the next Saturday at around 10pm.  My service papers will be an overview of the whole week there.

            On the way down to Louisiana, I had some great food and made friends with the people I would be working with.  We had some good laughs and expressed our excitement for the work week ahead of us, and we explored the ideas we had about what the week would consist of and who we would meet and possibly bring to God.  We got to Louisiana, met our crew, and moved into our bunks.  The next morning, Sunday, we attended church on the property that our warehouse (where we kept our tools and also lived in for the week) was on.  We had a great service and met some great people who had helped make all of this possible.

            On work day one, Monday, our day started at 6:30 am and we worked until about 5.  We showed up at the house we were supposed to work at—the whole inside was gutted with some rotten termite-infested boards holding the roof up.  We were put to work cleaning up woods/sticks in the front yard that were from the demolished house into the dump truck.  After that Cheris (a girl that attended the trip with me) and I went around to the back of the house and started tearing out some concrete that needed to be removed.  It was very thick concrete and hitting it with a sledgehammer just does not work the way you would like it to.  It was very hard work so we took a break and went on a prayer walk. 

During our prayer walk, we walked around town, got brushed off by a gentleman begging for money, but were quickly blessed by two lovely ladies who worked at a school in New Orleans.  They were taking a break so we stopped and talked to them and prayed with them. 

After having a conversation about their jobs, life, and God, we started back to our work site. After lunch, we got to meet the owner of the house we were working on, Miss Shirley and her relatives.  She told us her story about the day Hurricane Katrina hit and how God has been working in her life.  We went back to tearing up concrete, throwing wood into a dump truck, and worked until it was time to head back to dinner.

            It was a very exciting day for us, getting to start working at our job site and meeting the lady of the house we were working on, and getting to show ourselves in town and bringing God into peoples’ lives.  I was blessed by God to get to work in a state that is near and dear to my heart and to make an impact on the people of New Orleans. 

SERVICE #2

SERVICE:

During work day two, our day started early with breakfast and devotions, along with chores and gathering up our supplies.  We were tired from the day before but eager to get started and meet some more people in town. When we arrived at the house, our team got right to work with tearing out more concrete.  We had a few girls help us tear it out, but the sledgehammers were not doing it for us and we had to try to use a jackhammer to crack the concrete and break it apart for us to pull out.  The jackhammer did not do much better so we continued using sledgehammers and prayers to try to get the job done.  The boys’ help helped out a lot, and we all worked together to tear out all of the concrete. We worked all day and went back home tired and happy that we were one step closer to getting this lady’s house completed and ready for her to live in.

On work day three, we had usual breakfast, chores, and devotions and headed to our job sites.  Since we finished up the concrete demo job yesterday, we worked on framing the house today.  We swept up dirt and wood pieces to clean the area and made space to be able to frame.  I was taught how to nail braces into the framework to create more support for the house.  

Later that day, some plumbers stopped by the house to talk to Miss Shirley about some work they were needing to do and how she wanted it done.  Miss Shirley was not there at the time so we had ample time to talk to them about what we were doing there and how God works in our lives.  The plumbers talked to us about Katrina and how it changed their lives, Louisiana hospitality, and where to find the best gumbo in Louisiana.  I am so blessed to have been able to create those relationships at our job site and talk to them about God and life.  We went on a prayer walk and was turned away by a homeless man that had seen us walking around and working all week, before we even got to him.  It hurt my feelings but I know that I have to accept this part of mission work—sometimes people will not want to have anything to do with it.

            Later that day, a woman saw us getting ready to leave our job site and stopped us to talk.  She went on and on about how we were doing a great job and what a blessing it was for us to be in New Orleans helping people out.  It meant a lot that she said that, because getting brushed off by someone before we even got to him hurt my feelings.  So getting praise from someone after that lifted my spirits and made me think that maybe God put her there for a reason.

            God works in great ways and I have seen that over the course of these couple days.  I loved getting to finish the concrete and move on to another job.

 

SERVICE #4

SERVICE:

On day five, we started our day with the usual, breakfast, devotions, and chores, and headed to our site.  As soon as we got there, Cheris and I started tearing out rotten wood and old walls to make space for new framing to be done.  We took out some piping and picked up wood and scraps off of the floor to clear the area while the boys did framing. We only worked a little over half the day today, and met with Miss Shirley (the house owner) to go over a few details and to say our final goodbyes. We got to have a day on the town and explore New Orleans with the group we went down with.  We got to try some good gumbo and go into some small shops and an art gallery.  It was nice walking around New Orleans as a cool down from the hard week that we had.  This mission trip has been one of the best ones I have been on yet, and I am so happy God has given me this opportunity!

 

SERVICE #3

SERVICE:

During work day four, I had the usual breakfast, devotions, and chores, and we headed out to the job site.  It was a less “hard labor” day, but we all got very dirty and sweaty anyway working on the inside of the house.  Cheris and I picked up lots of broken wood and swept up wood scraps and dust to keep the floor clear for the boys to be able to work easily on and not trip over anything.  I also got to nail on some more brackets to give more support to the beams keeping the house and roof up.  The boys I worked with tore out the rotten wood and continued framing.  We had lunch and Cheris and I went on a prayer walk and talked to a few people about why we were in town and what we were doing.  Hopefully we sparked some interest and their hearts will start wandering towards god if they are not there already.  I got to take a picture with the homeowner of the house we are working on and got to talk to her some more.  It was a great day!

New church

On Sunday April 12th, I intended Parkview Free Methodist Church in Vandalia. I went with my friend Cheris, and one of her friends who is a member there. The service was good. The pastor talked about faith without works, and how we needed to get out there and spread the gospel. I didn't quite know what to expect, I come from a Baptist background and don't really know what Free Methodist believe that differ from Baptist. I really enjoyed the other members of the church. It was defiantly a memorable experience. After service we got invited to eat out with the pastor and a few other members of the church. It was very nice getting to fellowship with other people again. It was something I really enjoyed and I defiantly plan to go again.

PROPAGANDA!!

On Friday April 10th me and my friend Sam went to the Propaganda concert. It also featured Nighttime Safari. The environment was nice, I didn't really notice to much once the concert started. Nighttime Safari was the opening act and I have to say, I almost enjoyed them more then Propaganda. They did VERY well! Propaganda was pretty good too. There was one point in time when he talked for 15 minutes about how if you where a good friend you would tell your friend he had a snot ball hanging from his noise...   So that was kinda weird. But altogether it was very exciting, and funny to watch the younger high school students who where there get into the music. It was exactly what I expected! I loved it! It was something I really enjoyed, and will probably do it again if I have the chance. Sadly, I did have to leave about five minutes early because my head started hurting.

Tennis game...

On April 1, my friend Sam and I went to a tennis game. Although we know nothing of tennis and were kinda confused throughout the whole thing, it was actually a pretty fun time. At one point in time Sam and I cheered for the wrong team. But its okay guys, we were quickly corrected. We were told that Greenville won as a team, so the one we were watching right at this moment didn't even really matter. Which made little sense to me, but oh well. The environment was funny! I liked to watch how much people got into the game. We made a few new friends. I felt kinda lame because I kept asking if what just happened was good or bad. But other then that, I enjoyed it a lot. It might not be something that I'll want to go to every game, but it is defiantly something that I did enjoyed and wouldn't mind going to again.

Gymsomnia

On March 27th from 11pm to March 28th 2am Gymsomnia took place in the Gym. I went to it with my friend Jon, Cheris, Sam, Sarah, and Dalton. It was a lot of fun! The people were awesome, and everyone was just full of life and were really happy. Gymsomnia was full of games, fun, and food. I didn't really know what to expect because I have never been to one before, and it was pretty great! I played a few games, but the time I was there was mostly spent hanging with friends and talking to people I have never talked to before. It was funny just watching people play around, and the people who actually did dress up in superhero or zombie costumes were pretty funny also.  As a whole, it was a night filled with laughter, and just plain fun. It is for sure something I would do again!

Blackroom Cafe Concert

    I attended The Blackroom Café concert with my friends Cheris, Kiley, Sam, and Jon.  This event was on March 24, 2015 at 8:30 pm.  I had a lot of fun and would definitely go again.  The environment was exciting, loud, dark, and a little crowded.  The event was a lot of fun and very exciting.  I enjoyed the rap “battle” quite a bit and there was not anything that I disliked or did not enjoy about this event.
Some of the rapping was from Lecrae’s songs, such as “Indwelling Sin”.  This is one of my favorite songs rapped by Lecrae so I really thought it was awesome getting to hear it rapped at the Blackroom Café concert.  I highly recommend this event to anyone who is curious about it, especially if involves more rapping, since that is one of my favorite kinds of music to listen to.  The Blackroom Café was an awesome experience and I cannot wait until there are more to attend.
~Abigail Harszy

This is the black room cafe concert that took place on March 24th at 8:30 pm. I attended this concert with my friends, Sam, Cheris, Jon, and Abby. It was a great concert, with music that really got you out of a bad mood. The environment was awesome, I loved that everyone got into the music. I absolutely loved the music, especially the beginning. It started out with a poem that later turned into a rap battle of sorts. After that I couldn't look away. The songs varied from many different modern-day songs. One of my favorites would have to be their remix of bad romance. It was cool watching them all work together up on the stage, and I found it pretty funny watching how much some of them would get into the song or rap. It was something i enjoyed greatly, and a great way to relax from a day of class and homework and it's something I'd love to do again sometime. 

 

Example: Missy Deal: All College Hike

Me and my team at the All College Hike! 

All College Hike: Durley Camp, September 17th. 
      I ran in the All College Hike with my Basketball Team. This is my second year doing this hike, and usually my coach makes our team run for about 10 minutes and then we get to walk some. However, this time we got to take turns riding a bike, which was super awesome cause we got to take breaks from running. And it is really hard to run that whole thing! We had all made shirts about a week before the run, so we all were matching as we ran in white shirts. We mainly made the shirts to incorporate team bonding, not necessarily for the actual run. The run itself was fun because it was with my team. While many might thing that running sounds horrible, my team sang, chanted, talked, and told jokes the whole time which made it fun. Once we got to Durley we were able to play games, eat yummy food, play volleyball, get free tee shirts, and have a good time. Overall it was a good, enjoyable event. I was definitely tiered after the run, but will for sure be on the line next year to run again

Scrapblog Requirements

Event Scrapblog Assignment (150 points)

1) You are required to attend FIVE (5) of the following seven (7) events on campus this semester:

Art Show

Athletic event (besides one you may be participating in) 

Club, student government meeting or cultural event

Concert or recital

Symposium or Guest lecturer (besides those who come to your regular classes)

Theatre production

Christian church service (not including Vespers and Chapel)

2) Blog about each event you attend including:

1.        .     A picture of at least one artifact for each event (a ticket, program, etc.) or a picture of yourself at the event.
2.            The name of the event
3.            Where and at what time the event took place
4.              Names of the people with whom you attended
5.              A paragraph description of the event (at least 150 words) that includes this information:   

o   What was the environment like? 

o   What was the event like?  (exciting, boring, relaxing, obnoxious, memorable – use your arsenal of descriptors)

o   Did the event go as you expected?

o   Did you enjoy it?  What did you enjoy and what did you not enjoy? 

o   Would you likely attend something like this again? 

           You are also encouraged to blog about your service experiences. If you choose to blog about your service experiences, please begin the post with ‘SERVICE’ in all caps, then follow the guidelines listed above to write about your experience. Note: These service experiences do not count towards fulfilling the 5 event requirement for this Event Scrapblog assignment; however, each service experience you blog about (following the blog post guidelines above) will earn you 3 extra credit points. Woohoo!

5) Your completed Scrapblog (all 5 blog posts) and your synthesis paper will be graded based on the following rubric:

	D Level	C Level	B Level	A Level
Component Parts	Three (3) or more component parts is missing from one (1) or more of the events	Two (2) or more component parts is missing from one (1) or more of the events.	A component part is missing from one (1) or more of the events.	All of the component parts are present for all (5) events, including:  1) A picture of yourself at the event 2) The name of the event 3) Where and at what time of event 4) Names of the people with whom you attended
Written Description	The written descriptions are too short and do not provide a complete description of your experience of the event.	The written descriptions are of the correct length but have numerous  grammatical mistakes.  They lack interest and description.	The written descriptions are interesting, of the correct length and mostly grammatically correct.  They lack a rich description.	The written descriptions are vivid, interesting, of the correct length, and they are grammatically correct.