One last night. Tonight is the last night of 2013 Summer Staff Training. The thought is slightly unbelievable. I have been here at the Jonesville Center for almost two weeks, and I have learned and experienced so many things! I have learned the concepts behind building a house from the ground up. I have learned about many types of tools and fasteners as well as many safe construction practices. Met great people from all over the country and even world. Practiced driving 15 passenger vehicles and pickup trucks on Appalachian backroads. Battled through some of the worst allergies I have ever experienced and caught the virus that everyone has contracted from such close contact. Met my three awesome staffers, whom I will spend the rest of the summer with. Learned position specific things, to help me succeed this summer. Toured ASP's home office in Johnson City, TN. Met some of the incredible people, such as the CEO, who make this organization what it is. Talked to cooks, community members, and home-owners about what a great area of the country Appalachia is. Now this is not nearly everything, but just think; this is just training, I still have a whole summer left! 

This is the reason why I am so ecstatic to be where I am, and so fortunate to be given the opportunity that I have been given. Appalachia is a beautiful area with beautiful people. Amongst all of the chaos of training, I have made sure that I have had a chance to take a step back and reflect on its beauty. The landscape and greenery are simply breathtaking, the mountainous terrain with rolling roads that go on for miles would make anyone want to be here. The ground has a certain feel, the air a certain taste and the people, the people, are amazing. I cannot express in words how beautiful of a place appalachia is, but I can tell you I thank the Lord for the opportunity.

Tomorrow is the day, the day that we drive to our county. Morgan County, Tennessee I hope your ready for an amazing summer. A summer full of great volunteers and wonderful families. A summer full of Staff bonding, and spiritual growth. A summer in Appalachia. We will set out for our county and begin the intense set-up process before volunteers arrive. We will set up our center, begin looking into projects, become aquatinted with our new community, and get to know our staff a little better. 

As always, my excitement continues to grow. But, as my excitement continues to grow, so does my nervousness. I am confident in the training we have received over the last two weeks, but I am afraid for the unknown. But if there is one thing that I learned durring my training experience, it is that the Lord as well as your family and friends are there for you. Regardless of the situation, never give up. One of my fellow staffers, Joseph, told us a story today about his childhood. He is from Africa and he explained his coming to America. He used the analogy that he was a boy on the top of a tree, and a large bird picked him up, and dropped him in America. The boy was him and the bird was God. Always look for hope in every situation, someone will always be there to help you.

My prayers go out to all of my family and friends at home, as well as my new family and friends here. I wish everyone safe travels tomorrow, whether it is from your home to work, or to your ASP center for the summer. Stay safe.

Peace,
-Ben  

As the week has passed, more and more training sessions have taken place. We have learned and had construction sessions on everything from foundations to roofs, and almost everything in between! We have also had position specific training and the more sessions that I have, the more excited I become! Thus far, I feel pretty comfortable with all of the construction concepts that I have been learning, and for those that I don't understand fully, I am confident that I have the resources to figure it out! 

One aspect of this amazing experience that I have not focussed greatly on yet are the people! The people who I have met and continue to get to know on staff are amazing! There are so many awesome individuals with diverse backgrounds! I have strengthened my friendships with friends from high school, such as Claire. Also, I have met fellow staffers from Milwaukee who I did not know yet, as well as people scattered over the US. I have even had the pleasure to meet staffers from different continents, such as Africa! Everyone has been so down to earth and full of excitement for the summer, just like I am! I look forward to furthering my friendships with these great people as the summer continues.

Now the moment we have all been waiting for....the GREAT REVEAL 2013!! LAst night, a picnic was held at a local park. It was similar to the weekly ASP picnic, with burgers and hot dogs, basketball, frisbee, and lots of fun! But unlike others, this one had a little twist to it, we got to find out our fellow staffers and where we will be for the summer. In traditional ASP fashion, they simply could not just tell us, we had to work to find our staff! We found out our staff by a series of activities, each activity gave us a clue, after the last activity, we had found out two of our three staffers. Their names are Sarah and Lawrencia. The three of us then ran across the park and hid under a sheet, as did all of the other staffs, and waited for our Center Director (CD) to lift up the sheet and reveal their identity! Due to the clues we have had up to this point, we had narrowed our CD down to four options. When the sheet was lifted off of us, Michelle was standing behind us with a huge smile. As we all let out screams of excitement, we realized that this was who we would be spending our summers with! As a staff, we will be stationed in Morgan County, Tennessee in the town of Wartburg! I cannot wait to spend the summer with these three incredible individuals! 

As I become more and more anxious to set out for our center, I truly cannot wait for my summer experience to begin! 

I will let everyone know when I know my center address as well as my mailing address  I hope everyone is doing well and I will keep everyone in my prayers!

Peace,
-Ben 

Today was the second day of ASP summer staff training! It was great to wake up to a morning devotion and some delicious biscuits. After the devotion we had a small briefing about the events that would take place durring the day followed by getting ready for our first adventure. I filled my water and packed my backpack for the day. We began by learning how to check the fluids in vehicles to ensure that everything is fully stocked, we did this in our assigned groups for the day. Throughout the day, we traveled to 7 different stations with this team. Two of these stations were obstacle courses set up for us first year staffers to learn how to drive the ASP vehicles, a 15 passenger van and a pickup truck. These large vans are a challenge to maneuver but as the day progressed, it became much easier! And it was even fun! The other 5 stations were stations designed to give us a realistic understanding of situations we may encounter as staffers this summer. At each of these scenarios there was also a lesson that is very important to a successful summer. Some of these lessons were, sketching a roof and exterior house plan, learning how to load and unload materials into a pickup truck, learning to use ratchet straps, as well as several others. At first, all of these things were overwhelming but when I took some time to think about it, they were very easy to learn and remember because they will all be so important this summer! After we completed all the stations we returned to the center for a debrief and an entire staff gathering. Here we heard a word from the president of ASP. Listening to his works is a true inspiration and reassurance to me that I am here for all of the right reasons. One concept he focussed on was that of hope. How we as staff and each one of the 15,000 volunteers this summer, give the people and counties of Appalachia hope. His words were very moving. The evening concluded with a meal, explanation of policy and a review of key documents we will be filing this summer. I felt today was a good precursor to what being a staffer entailed. Upon completion of the day, it just makes me more excited to further my training and gain a greater understanding of the duties of a staff member. I look forward to the days to come!

At 3am on tomorrow morning the journey begins. Isabel and I will be driving to Jonesville, Virginia to begin our two weeks of training. From Milwaukee, it is about a 10 hour drive, and let's pray that there is minimal construction! But now the car is packed and fueled, and the energy drinks are purchased. Until today, the whole idea of being a summer staffer for ASP was a bit surreal, but once everything was packed I almost feel ready. 
 
I received an email yesterday regarding my position for the summer. I was chosen as the volunteer coordinator and I couldn't be more excited! As a volunteer coordinator, I will work closely with a contact person from each volunteer group that will come to my given center this summer. I will help them prepare for the trip and let them know what type of work they will be doing the week that they will be coming. I feel very fortunate to have the job of working so closely with the volunteers this summer! 

I will continue to post about the amazing people I will meet, as well as where I will be for the remainder of the summer after training. We are suppose to find out the counties we will be stationed in over Memorial Day weekend. And it can't come soon enough, I'm dying to know where I will be!

I would again like to thank everyone that has been a part of my ASP experience thus far, because you all are the reason this trip is so meaningful to me. I will miss my family and friends this summer, but you are always in my prayers and my heart, and I will be as active as possible on this blog as well as facebook.

Peace,
-Ben