A little request...

I wanted to update you a bit about what is going on. We are all having a great time here in Stony Point and in all there are just under 70 YAV's who are getting ready to go out to our sites across the country and the globe. We have been learning about a variety of topics from Globalization to Race and Gender and everything in between. It has been a great week, with a lot of information and has helped all of us create another community to receive support from as we begin this journey.

I am writing this morning to ask that you keep us in your prayers as we all depart on Monday and head to the communities in which we will be serving for the next year.

Exciting News!!

Just an update the Denver site finally has a house!! We will be just north of the city...more details to come!

What I'm doing...

So I realized that I haven't really written anything about what journey I am beginning. Here is a copy of my Minute for Mission that I gave at my church. Hopefully this will clear up any questions you might have about this next phase of my life.

My name is Hilary Engelhart. I am here today to talk to you about an opportunity I’m about to embark on offered through the Presbyterian Church (USA). Before I go into the details of this opportunity it is important for you to know a little bit more about me. I was born and raised here in Columbus and grew up within the walls of this church. Growing up I was involved in all sorts of activities, but being an active member of the church as a youth was one of the most life transforming experiences to date. As a child I participated in children’s camp, was a member of the children’s choir and a member of the fellowship groups. These childhood activities later transformed into counselor positions, youth retreats and being a yearly member of mission trips. I am not sure that I could tell you the number of events that I participated in but it was the mission trips that really changed how I looked at the world. I traveled to Allentown, PA several times as jr. high and as a sr. high was part of Peru Crew 1 and 2 as well as traveling to rural West Virginia for a trip or two. Despite all of this, it wasn’t until I went away to college that I realized the impact these activities had left on my life.

I graduated in 2008 from the University of Cincinnati and in the months since then, while pursuing my career, I have been pulled in another direction, one that goes back to my roots, one to help those in need. I can look back over the last year and see the signs that have brought me to where I am today. It started with an interest in working with the children of Broadstreet by teaching 2nd and 3rd graders and working with that fellowship group. The second piece of the puzzle happened one Sunday morning in lent during a sermon about “throwing deep.” I left church that day with a feeling that I had something more to give. After looking into ways to get involved in mission trip like programs, I found the Young Adult Volunteer program offered through P.C. (USA).

With the support of Broadstreet’s session and the congregation, I was accepted as a YAV, or Young Adult Volunteer. This program was created by the General Assembly in 1994 with the idea to provide opportunities for “young adults between the ages of 19-30 to share their gifts” with those in need. For the next 11 months I will live in an “intentional community of learning and service with a focus on my faith and faith as it exists within the global church.”

In May, I found my placement with the Denver site and since then have been working with my site coordinator to find the agencies in which I will work with for the next 11 months. One of those will be the Denver Inner City Parrish, where I will be working as a Volunteer Coordinator and setting up their Volunteer Database. I will be leaving on August 24th for a week of orientation and training and then heading to Denver with two other YAVs to begin our work there.

I want to thank everyone for their support. I know that without all of you, and the experiences I was able to take part in here at Broadstreet, that I would never have been able to begin this journey.

Last Day in Columbus

So today is the last full day that I will be in Columbus for several months. I went to church this morning to say good-bye to Ann and Amy and then hurried home to help prepare for the large going away party this afternoon.

Yesterday we spent the day cooking, cleaning and I did the last of the laundry and packing for the trip. Today we had family and neighbors and some great friends stop by to help send me off in the only way my family knows how to, with a big bang!

I had a great time playing croquet, learning about crazy people jumping out of hospital windows, how to catch, skin, kill and fillet a fish and just enjoying the company. In some ways I can't believe that I am leaving tomorrow. Once I get out to New York the pictures will commence and hopefully so will the posting of them.

Thank you to everyone for your well wishes and I hope that you will all enjoy reading this blog about my YAV year.

Less than a month

So this week I found out more about the second girl, Meghan. So many Meghan's in my life. The three of us have been emailing in back a forth some and I think that we all are very excited to start this new phase of our lives. I am going to be the oldest member of our house, which I expected but isn't a bad thing.

I have also found out that one of the two organizations that I will be working with is the Denver Inner City Parrish. I will be a volunteer coordinator for them and will be helping to setup a volunteer database for them.

I guess that is all for now. I will sending out a first round of thank-you notes today because at this point I am a quarter of the way to my fundraising goal. Thank you to all who have contributed so far.