Hi friends,
In just a few short hours (we're leaving at 2 a.m.), I'll be driving down to Philly, where I'll be catching an early morning flight to the Dominican Republic! A HOPE donor is helping to pay for the trip for the summer interns, so I'm excited not only to see HOPE's work in the DR, but also to see the interns who've left!
I don't have much to say before I leave: I'm excited to meet the clients, I'm nervous to be traveling in a developing country for the first time, I'm a bit frazzled as I always am because I put things off until the last minute (like writing a blog post). I'd really appreciate your prayers for safe travels for all of us, as well as that we'll really take the opportunity to see how God is using HOPE (and through HOPE, all of us interns) to restore broken relationships and help entrepreneurs help themselves. It sounds kind of cheesy, but really, one of the things I've come to appreciate about microfinance is the way that it treats recipients as people who are fully capable of working for their own release from poverty.
Well, apparently I did have something to say. I'll write more about the trip when I get back Sunday (or, knowing me, several days later). Thanks for your prayers!
16 September 2009
07 September 2009
Back in Lancaster
Since I didn't mention anything about being away from Lancaster, the title might come as a surprise, but I just got back yesterday from a two-week vacation in Hawaii. This is the first summer that I've spent completely away from home, and for most of it, I've been so busy and have enjoyed myself so much that it's been easy to get into a routine. But the last few weeks before I left for Hawaii, I was really starting to get antsy. I found myself missing the oddest things, like the view out the car window driving along the roads in Hawaii. So it was wonderful to be home.
Joseph came with me for both weeks of the trip, so it was also fun to introduce him to people and places in Hawaii. He met my parents and other members of my family for the first time, and they all seemed to like each other and get along. We also did a lot of touristy things, like Pearl Harbor, Bishop Museum, Diamond Head, and I always like going back and seeing those places that I don't normally get to.
Tomorrow it's back to work again, and it might take me a little bit to get back into the swing of things. I've kind of forgotten what was going on before I left, and I'm sure that many new projects have come up in the meantime in any case. But I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again and being in the office...thank goodness I enjoy what I do! It makes coming back from vacation just that much easier.
Joseph came with me for both weeks of the trip, so it was also fun to introduce him to people and places in Hawaii. He met my parents and other members of my family for the first time, and they all seemed to like each other and get along. We also did a lot of touristy things, like Pearl Harbor, Bishop Museum, Diamond Head, and I always like going back and seeing those places that I don't normally get to.
Tomorrow it's back to work again, and it might take me a little bit to get back into the swing of things. I've kind of forgotten what was going on before I left, and I'm sure that many new projects have come up in the meantime in any case. But I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again and being in the office...thank goodness I enjoy what I do! It makes coming back from vacation just that much easier.
02 August 2009
Back to Blogging
Hi friends,
First, my deepest apologies for the many weeks it has been since my last post. It has been a busy time, and there are days when, after writing and editing all day in the office, I can't motivate myself to do any more writing once I get home. But thank you all for sticking with me, because I do love sharing my summer with you.
I realize that I just made it sound like I'm not enjoying what I do at HOPE, but in reality quite the opposite is true. I love what I do each day. When I began the internship, I was honestly unsure about whether I would enjoy being a marketing intern. I pictured myself cold calling media outlets, writing millions of press release, and facing huge amounts of pressure to come up with wacky public relations ideas. Important jobs, but not necessarily a role I could see myself enjoying as a career. But I enjoy how HOPE does marketing. One of my biggest summer projects has been helping to edit a poverty curriculum for small groups that HOPE is putting out in conjunction with one of our church partners. I learned so much about the Bible's perspective on poverty and got to write and edit pieces of the study. For our benefit art auction, my duties included helping design the program and printing out bid paddles. I'm helping compile a list of supporting churches so we can strengthen those relationships. I've interviewed some of our supporters for the annual report. Yes, I have written a press release, and wacky ideas are welcome, but I enjoy the variety of pieces that go into marketing at HOPE.
Partly because I've been learning so much through these various pieces, and partly because I absolutely love the people I work with, I've decided to extend my internship through the fall semester. This decision has involved some work trying to figure out what that means in regard to grad school, and some details are still up in the air, but a lot of pieces have worked out amazingly well. Sometimes I'm still unsure as to whether this was a good decision, but seeing God's faithfulness in working out details has been a good reminder to me that he is in control, and that as much as I like feeling in control, he does a much better job of it.
I've only written about work so far, but I've had some really fun times too: spending time with different friends from college, including a wonderful weekend up at Lake Maspenock in Massachusetts and getting together with some friends from my time in England; watching a late showing of Harry Potter with interns here; gathering with fellow interns for breakfast every Wednesday; getting to know my coworkers and housemates in Lancaster. Many of the interns are leaving this week, so it'll be a time of transition, and I'm sad to see them go. It has been great to get to know people this summer, and as bad as I am at keeping in contact some times, I hope these friendships keep growing stronger.
As always, thanks for your prayers. Let me know if I can pray for you!
First, my deepest apologies for the many weeks it has been since my last post. It has been a busy time, and there are days when, after writing and editing all day in the office, I can't motivate myself to do any more writing once I get home. But thank you all for sticking with me, because I do love sharing my summer with you.
I realize that I just made it sound like I'm not enjoying what I do at HOPE, but in reality quite the opposite is true. I love what I do each day. When I began the internship, I was honestly unsure about whether I would enjoy being a marketing intern. I pictured myself cold calling media outlets, writing millions of press release, and facing huge amounts of pressure to come up with wacky public relations ideas. Important jobs, but not necessarily a role I could see myself enjoying as a career. But I enjoy how HOPE does marketing. One of my biggest summer projects has been helping to edit a poverty curriculum for small groups that HOPE is putting out in conjunction with one of our church partners. I learned so much about the Bible's perspective on poverty and got to write and edit pieces of the study. For our benefit art auction, my duties included helping design the program and printing out bid paddles. I'm helping compile a list of supporting churches so we can strengthen those relationships. I've interviewed some of our supporters for the annual report. Yes, I have written a press release, and wacky ideas are welcome, but I enjoy the variety of pieces that go into marketing at HOPE.
Partly because I've been learning so much through these various pieces, and partly because I absolutely love the people I work with, I've decided to extend my internship through the fall semester. This decision has involved some work trying to figure out what that means in regard to grad school, and some details are still up in the air, but a lot of pieces have worked out amazingly well. Sometimes I'm still unsure as to whether this was a good decision, but seeing God's faithfulness in working out details has been a good reminder to me that he is in control, and that as much as I like feeling in control, he does a much better job of it.
I've only written about work so far, but I've had some really fun times too: spending time with different friends from college, including a wonderful weekend up at Lake Maspenock in Massachusetts and getting together with some friends from my time in England; watching a late showing of Harry Potter with interns here; gathering with fellow interns for breakfast every Wednesday; getting to know my coworkers and housemates in Lancaster. Many of the interns are leaving this week, so it'll be a time of transition, and I'm sad to see them go. It has been great to get to know people this summer, and as bad as I am at keeping in contact some times, I hope these friendships keep growing stronger.
As always, thanks for your prayers. Let me know if I can pray for you!
02 July 2009
Fake Friday
I only have a minute before I need to run and get breakfast and then off to the office for Fake Friday (as some of the interns lovingly call Thursdays since we get Friday off--and this week everyone else in the office does too!), but it's been a while and there's a lot to catch up on. I thought I'd start posting smaller blogs as I get a minute or two, because it's been hard to find a larger chunk of time recently. I've been asked by some people to see some of the stuff I've written for HOPE. A lot of my work has been editing the curriculum, so it's not really my writing, but I did write a small article for the recent eNewsletter on our expansion into the Yunnan province in China. If you go to this link, you can sign up for the eNewsletter. I'm not sure if it sends the previous one when you sign up, but if not, you can always email/facebook/comment on this post and I'll forward it on to you. Have a great Fourth of July weekend everyone!
18 June 2009
Aloha Thursday
It's the end of my fourth week of interning here at Lancaster (we only work four-day weeks, so Thursdays are our Fridays...howdah!), and it's been another good one. I spent the first part of the week mainly working on a poverty curriculum that HOPE is producing for small groups. The curriculum has been written, and my job is to help edit it. This involves some research, so I get to read snippets from really interesting books like Walking with the Poor, as well, of course, as doing some digging in the Bible to make sure we're backing up what we say.
The end of my week involved helping to fill out some webpages that we're doing for Homes for Hope (H4H). H4H is a nonprofit that provides funding for HOPE through partners in the homebuilding industry who donate the proceeds from homes that they've built. It's a really neat program, because many of the subcontractors and suppliers also donate or discount their services. And it was a good switch from writing and editing work, because I had the instant gratification of seeing what I'd done in the web software become an actual web page. Of course, it was also frustrating at times, but at least I had the software to blame instead of my own writing.
Tomorrow (or, most likely, today by the time I finish this post) I'll be working at a farmer's market over closer to Philly. One of the people who works at HOPE knows the guy who owns the stand, so he's worked it out for a couple of us to work there Fridays over the summer. I'm heading out before 6 in the morning and getting back close to 11 at night, so it'll definitely be a full day, but I'm really looking forward to it. Potentially, I'll have awkward stories next post about my first experience trying to sell produce. But on that note, I'd better get to bed so that I'm not too sleep deprived my first day on the job. Good night everyone!
The end of my week involved helping to fill out some webpages that we're doing for Homes for Hope (H4H). H4H is a nonprofit that provides funding for HOPE through partners in the homebuilding industry who donate the proceeds from homes that they've built. It's a really neat program, because many of the subcontractors and suppliers also donate or discount their services. And it was a good switch from writing and editing work, because I had the instant gratification of seeing what I'd done in the web software become an actual web page. Of course, it was also frustrating at times, but at least I had the software to blame instead of my own writing.
Tomorrow (or, most likely, today by the time I finish this post) I'll be working at a farmer's market over closer to Philly. One of the people who works at HOPE knows the guy who owns the stand, so he's worked it out for a couple of us to work there Fridays over the summer. I'm heading out before 6 in the morning and getting back close to 11 at night, so it'll definitely be a full day, but I'm really looking forward to it. Potentially, I'll have awkward stories next post about my first experience trying to sell produce. But on that note, I'd better get to bed so that I'm not too sleep deprived my first day on the job. Good night everyone!
09 June 2009
Writing, writing, and more writing...
In my third week here at HOPE, I'm realizing that their warning that the summer would go by quickly is going to be quite true. Already, I've gotten to work on a variety of projects, which I love, because there's always something new to learn, and it makes for some good variety when I get stumped on a project (which often seems to happen). One of my favorite projects right now is coordinating the Thurman Award, which HOPE awards to one of its clients each year who has truly lived out the mission of HOPE. Some of the most encouraging client stories are ones of clients who are so grateful that they use the profits from their loans to help not only their families but their communities as well. I'm really excited about reading the different nominations, and I'm glad that I don't have to be one of the judges!
As part of the internship program, we all read several books over the course of the summer that are relevant to Christian microfinance. We're currently in the middle of a book written by HOPE's president, Peter Greer, called The Poor Will Be Glad...we've even gotten advanced copies since it's not scheduled to come out until the fall. Talk about perks! (And I'm partially joking there, but mainly serious because I love books, so I think an advanced copy is pretty cool.) The interns who are here in Lancaster have been getting together for breakfast every Wednesday to discuss the reading for the week, and it's really one of the highlights of my week. I mean, I already love breakfast foods, and the discussion is really interesting, even (or especially) when we get off topic. We've ranged in topic from short-term missions to the validity of statistics to political systems to a debate about what rights we're given Biblically. It's a good way to begin a Wednesday; I highly recommend it:)
As always, thank you for your prayers! I mentioned last time being stressed about looking for apartments in the fall, but this weekend when I was back in Pittsburgh, I signed a lease on an apartment. I have had trouble trying to find leases shorter than a year, but I was able to sign one for six months! I think that the time between me finding the ad and me signing the lease was something like 3 days, which seems more than a little miraculous. It's a good reminder how much God is working even when I'm completely distracted with stress and worry...and a needed one!
As part of the internship program, we all read several books over the course of the summer that are relevant to Christian microfinance. We're currently in the middle of a book written by HOPE's president, Peter Greer, called The Poor Will Be Glad...we've even gotten advanced copies since it's not scheduled to come out until the fall. Talk about perks! (And I'm partially joking there, but mainly serious because I love books, so I think an advanced copy is pretty cool.) The interns who are here in Lancaster have been getting together for breakfast every Wednesday to discuss the reading for the week, and it's really one of the highlights of my week. I mean, I already love breakfast foods, and the discussion is really interesting, even (or especially) when we get off topic. We've ranged in topic from short-term missions to the validity of statistics to political systems to a debate about what rights we're given Biblically. It's a good way to begin a Wednesday; I highly recommend it:)
As always, thank you for your prayers! I mentioned last time being stressed about looking for apartments in the fall, but this weekend when I was back in Pittsburgh, I signed a lease on an apartment. I have had trouble trying to find leases shorter than a year, but I was able to sign one for six months! I think that the time between me finding the ad and me signing the lease was something like 3 days, which seems more than a little miraculous. It's a good reminder how much God is working even when I'm completely distracted with stress and worry...and a needed one!
31 May 2009
Jumping In
It has been a whirlwind week and a half in Lancaster--moving into the Millersville International House, where I and eight other interns will be living for the summer; finding out more about HOPE's mission and programs through a two-day orientation; learning the ropes in the first week on the job; and through it all getting to know other interns and staff--and I want to thank you all for your prayers. I tend to go into initial getting-to-know-you situations (that time of being on your best behavior to make the best first impression) viewing them as a kind of necessary evil, first step to having deeper relationships. And so I started orientation with a fair bit of dread mixed in with the excitement, but I've been realizing that I have so much more fun when I stop focusing on my own worries about meeting people. I feel like I learn these lessons over and over again. So thank you again for your prayers...I've needed them!
On the subject of prayer, several of us girls went out to the Prince Street Cafe in Lancaster the other night for a change of pace and to get some reading done. But of course, no reading actually got done, as we just talked for several hours. At one point, someone asked another intern how she had come to study in the U.S. from Uganda. She replied that there's a long version and a short version (which is, it was a miracle), and we were fortunate to hear the long version, which involves story after story of prayers working and God using people to come through just when she had begun to lose hope. It was a wonderful reminder to me that God really does answer prayers, which is timely since I've been stressing out about apartment arrangements back in Pittsburgh for the fall.
Let me write just a little about my internship before I sign off; I'm a marketing intern for HOPE International, and I'm working with the main writer on HOPE's staff, so I get to do a wide variety of writing and editing...press releases, prayer updates, curriculum, profiles...I feel like I'm still working slowly through what I need to do, but I'm already learning a lot and love the people I'm working with. HOPE, by the way, is a Christ-centered microfinance nonprofit. We had a whole two days of orientation on what that means, but for now, I'll just leave you with their website in case you're curious: www.hopeinternational.org. But hey, since I'm marketing intern, I'll probably start talking them up in my blog pretty soon:)
On the subject of prayer, several of us girls went out to the Prince Street Cafe in Lancaster the other night for a change of pace and to get some reading done. But of course, no reading actually got done, as we just talked for several hours. At one point, someone asked another intern how she had come to study in the U.S. from Uganda. She replied that there's a long version and a short version (which is, it was a miracle), and we were fortunate to hear the long version, which involves story after story of prayers working and God using people to come through just when she had begun to lose hope. It was a wonderful reminder to me that God really does answer prayers, which is timely since I've been stressing out about apartment arrangements back in Pittsburgh for the fall.
Let me write just a little about my internship before I sign off; I'm a marketing intern for HOPE International, and I'm working with the main writer on HOPE's staff, so I get to do a wide variety of writing and editing...press releases, prayer updates, curriculum, profiles...I feel like I'm still working slowly through what I need to do, but I'm already learning a lot and love the people I'm working with. HOPE, by the way, is a Christ-centered microfinance nonprofit. We had a whole two days of orientation on what that means, but for now, I'll just leave you with their website in case you're curious: www.hopeinternational.org. But hey, since I'm marketing intern, I'll probably start talking them up in my blog pretty soon:)
19 May 2009
Hello, World!
As I make my first venture out into the world of blogging, I keep picturing one of my desk drawers back home, in which I have a stack of diaries given to me when I was little—the kind that, rather excitingly, had lock and key to safeguard all those deep secrets—and I distinctly remember the excitement of receiving one for a birthday or Christmas gift, the thrill of thinking ahead to all the secrets and stories I would have to fill its pages. But if you were to break open that rather dinky lock, you would find a common pattern in all of them: a few entries using up the first couple of pages, and then...nothing. I have never been good at journaling regularly, which is rather intimidating knowledge going into writing a blog.
Thank goodness for email, because often when I've wanted to remember something from years past, I go back into emails from that time and see what I wrote other people. When I studied in England, I realized that the mass emails I sent out were as much for my own benefit as they were for anyone else's. Not only did they help clarify my thoughts and experiences and joys and frustrations, but they provided something akin to a journal for me to return to later. Writing to other people has always been easier for me to keep up with than writing to myself, if for no other reason than that there's other people out there to keep me accountable!
So I was kind of glad when HOPE International, where I'll be interning this summer, recommended blogging to all its interns. For this summer, I'll be writing about my experiences at HOPE, and we'll see what happens after that. I'll write more about HOPE and my internship in later posts...I have training later this week, so there will be much to report. But for now, I just wanted to say hello, and thanks for reading:)
Thank goodness for email, because often when I've wanted to remember something from years past, I go back into emails from that time and see what I wrote other people. When I studied in England, I realized that the mass emails I sent out were as much for my own benefit as they were for anyone else's. Not only did they help clarify my thoughts and experiences and joys and frustrations, but they provided something akin to a journal for me to return to later. Writing to other people has always been easier for me to keep up with than writing to myself, if for no other reason than that there's other people out there to keep me accountable!
So I was kind of glad when HOPE International, where I'll be interning this summer, recommended blogging to all its interns. For this summer, I'll be writing about my experiences at HOPE, and we'll see what happens after that. I'll write more about HOPE and my internship in later posts...I have training later this week, so there will be much to report. But for now, I just wanted to say hello, and thanks for reading:)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)