Easley 5 & 6

Since it was Friday, they didn't have homework. I immediately joined the gym goings-on. We played frisbee, basketball, miniature football, did cartwheels, etc. The kids had to be told not to be to be too rough when it came to dog piling. Also, the kids had sharing issues. One girl wouldn't throw the frisbee if a certain boy wanted to play. The boys thought that I wasn't very athletic (which is funny because people have always considered me athletic). A lot of them, even though they are small are very good athletes! I then played Mancala with the girls until I had to leave. This time was just reinforcing the concept of sharing and only running in the gym, not the corridor.

Easley 4

The kids recognized me quickly this time, and wanted to play with me before I even signed in. THe girls wanted to watch the boys play baseball, but they were distracting the players. I asked the lady in charge if it was okay that we watch the practice. She said that it was fine, but I felt awkward for disrupting the focus of the players. I kept telling the girls to be quiet. Their attention span didn't last long, however, and they went inside. A little pre-K girl came out of nowhere and grabbed my hand. She asked me if I would play with her on the playground. There were lots of little ones there yesterday! All of them wanted me to pick them up, but their mothers were there watching, so I just held their hands and talked to them. Little ones are my favorite, but I wanted to pick them up and play with them. I played Jack-in-the-Box with three girls. I made sure they took turns playing with me. An older girl asked me to help her with home work when I was leaving, so I didn't get to help her.

Online Gospel Music Forum

After searching online for gospel communities, I found a site that people with an interest in gospel music can get to know each other through any aspect of life. There is a book club, a lounge, a prayer board, a news "room", a choir ministry section, (and more on instruments, style, and chord requests). This will be helpful in learning some language of gospel music fanatics as well as the general attitude and response to gospel music. So far, I can tell that they are seeking truth, serving each other, and bonding through music taste!

http://learninggospelmusic.com/forums/index/php

Easley 2 & 3

I did two consecutive hours on Monday, October 10. The first hour, I helped a girl do her homework. She was doing multiplication and I tried to help her with her multiplication tables, but she didn't want to have anything to do with it. She just wanted to use someone's cell phone calculator. The more I tried to help her, the more she tried to use me to get the answers. When I tried to get her to figure it out she would get upset and proclaim her hate for math homework. I'm wondering what I can do differently to help kids understand the importance of critical thinking...

I mostly just played outside during the second hour. One older girl put her arm in mine; I didn't really notice. One of the men in charge yelled at her over the field to let go of me. I didn't understand him (in fact, I don't understand a lot of them when they are talking with each other). When she took her arm out of mine, I realized that it wasn't appropriate for us to be touching. I became a little bit angry inside at this realization. The kids who are touchy obviously need the human touch. The healthy human needs at least 7 touches a day (I wholeheartedly agree with this statistic because when I came to college, I longed for a friendly touch for a few months before I made friends); I feel that some of these kids don't get that many friendly touches. My personality is one that is urged to meet needs. I want to be able to hug them, and pick them up, and hold their hands because they need it. It makes me a little bit angry inside that this could be a legal issue because there are creeps out in the world that make it harder for non creeps to actually live! Also, one of the girls kept begging me to pick her up and help her do things; she got mad at me for not doing it. I wanted to, but knew I shouldn't; so I just had to be okay with her being mad at me.

Chadasha Language - terms

chadash - refresh, in Hebrew
Chadashians - choir members
chair - referring to leadership positions (i.e. Communications Chair)
Decision Day - when new members turn in their commitment forms

Meeting Places:
curb garage - meet for off campus events
bell tower - meet if you don't know where the other meeting places are
Bruin Hills Clubhouse - meet for Chadasha socials
UM student lounge - meet for rehearsal and small group Bible studies

Service Project Locations:
Trevecca - nursing home
Luke 14:12 - feeding the homeless (part of Room in the Inn ministry)
Cottage Cove - Biblically based tutoring program

Style

I just found out about Chadasha this year when I attended the on campus Awakening worship night. Chadasha sponsored this event as a way to encourage and refresh the spiritual live of students. When I walked into the auditorium, a member of the choir handed me a flyer and invited me to the "info" meeting. When I read the flyer, I became excited that the meeting was at a time when I could attended. At the meeting the following Thursday, I learned that I already knew students who were invested in this ministry. I worked with one girl, Laura Gearhart, over the summer. I live in teh same dorm as the choir director, Emily Summers. I have had classes with several of the members. I learned that I have more of an emic perspective of Chadasha than I originally thought. I began this year not knowing that Chadasha existed, to knowing about it through understanding the involvement of others.

Mini Interview Transcription and Summary

What made you want to join Chadasha?

Actually, I never officially joined Chadasha. Sophomore year, they asked me to run sound for their home concert at the end of the year, and so I did just as a one time thing. And then, at the end of the concert, they asked me if I wanted to be their sound engineer for the next year. And I said, "Well, that'd be really fun, but we'll see if I have time." So, I never said "no" and I never said "yes", so they just kind of assumed that I was gonna do it; so I did it. And it's really fun...um... I did it because 'a' they let me play with their sound system and 'b' because they're really really awesome people, and being around them is a lot of fun, and they're a great support system...

I asked more questions in the interview, but the overall feeling of the interview is that this girl was needed at one point for her gifts, and the members of Chadasha at that time encouraged her to serve with her gifts. She met the need, ended up loving the community so much that she has been a part of the Chadasha community for two years now. She has stepped up as a leader when the time allowed for it, and she has built lasting friendships through music, fellowship, and service (pretty much the vision of Chadasha).

Chadash means to refresh. So, the "refreshing" isn't only for the people they reach out to, but it comes to those who are doing the refreshing as well!