PARK(ing) Day 2009

This is the first year our S-LC office joined PARK(ing) Day, along with the Off-Campus Programs Office. Our transportation coordinator, Tina Bolt, who was one of the people in charge of making this happen, has put together a nice short blog to express what she has learned during this day. Check it out and learn more about what PARK(ing) Day is all about and what as Calvin College staffs and students did in this event. 

PARK(ing) Day originated in 2005 by Rebar, a San Francisco art and design collective. Rebar wanted to raise awareness on the lack of park space in the city. By putting change in the meter of a parking space allowed Rebar to lease this real estate for a temporary amount of time. Rebar chose to lease a single parking space for the day and instead of parking a car chose to creatively transform this space into a small park. PARK(ing) Day is now an annual global event where any citizen can participate. The event has taken place in more than 50 cities including Chicago, New York, Toronto, London, Barcelona, and Grand Rapids!

This is the second year Grand Rapids participated in the PARK(ing) Day event. Calvin has participated in the event for both years. In 2008 Calvin’s Social Justice Coalition took part in the event, and this year the Service-Learning Center and Off Campus programs partnered with the Creston Neighborhood Association to participate in the festivities of PARK(ing) Day 2009. Recently the Creston Neighborhood Association received a Kaboom grant. The intent of this grant is to use playgrounds as a rallying point to initiate more community development and crime prevention. There is a hope that the neighborhood would come together to fix up a playground and this would result in more communication with one another. For further information visit http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/07/sweet_place_for_a_park_will_ge.html

“Our park” was located on Louis, just east of Monroe right on Rosa Park Circle. The theme of “our park” this year was the importance of play in our lives. People were invited into “our park” to play a game, share a favorite play memory or to just hang out. The theme of the importance of play in our lives incorporated the Creston Neighborhood Association very well.

Streetfest '09: Serving and Learning About Grand Rapids in an Attitude of Humility

From Thursday, September 3rd to Saturday, September 5th, over a thousand new students participated in Streetfest 09, serving the community of Grand Rapids. Some of them have lived in this city their whole lives, some have not even got their heads around the Calvin College circle, let alone the greater community. However, we, (the staff in the Service-Learning Center) have received immensely positive feedback and reflections from the new students, the student leaders and the participating agencies regarding their service and learning process during StreetFest.

Amazed by the things we heard, we are reminded of what it means to be humble in our service to the community. These various jobs that these students accomplished may only have a short-term effect to the different communities, but they surely showed the students the needs of the different communities within Grand Rapids, and what they can do in small ways to address these needs. One thing that surprised me was that even the students on the biking tour of the city, who didn’t provide any hands-on service with the agencies, came to appreciate the city in many ways (my colleague and I ourselves learned a lot about what has happened to Grand Rapids downtown recently driving along and getting lost at times). Though more than half of the new students on the bike tour were from the Grand Rapids area, they all learned a lot about the city by riding through many parts of the city that they had never been to and speaking with people that they normally would not have spoken with. There was one guy that approached us as we stopped near the Calvin Art studio at 106 S. Division. At first, most of us thought he was going to ask for money, but he actually just wanted to talk to us and to wish us well as we continued the tour. As Professor De Graaf , the bike tour leader, expressed in the reflection afterwards, we do not know how such a high point of our day can come from the least expected situations. Such experience also reminds us as students to be humble toward the people whom we serve, and encourages us to get involved with the greater Grand Rapids community.

As we say good-bye to StreetFest and begin our new academic school year, the challenge of “walking humbly” remains. Our hope is that the students will take away that humble attitude as they serve and explore the city of Grand Rapids.

One great thing that is happening this Friday September 18th from 8:00am to 5:00pm is Park(ing) Day. The Service-Learning Center is joining the Off-Campus Programs office in reserving two parking spots downtown to raise awareness about transportation options in the city and to encourage students to continue to get involved with the city.
Check out the links below to learn more about Park(ing) Day and don’t forget to visit us this Friday. http://www.grand-rapids.mi.us/index.pl?page_id=10304

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhvp_d4HZrE

Streetfest '09 is Finally Coming Together

The last two weeks have been a busy but very exciting period for the S-LC staff. Prepping for Streetfest has been the biggest task at hand in our office. We were pumped to work with the Streetfest Leaders and Orientation Leaders as we experienced our MockStreetfest together serving the Creston Neighborhood.

Putting the last pieces of information together today for the big event in the next three days, we are thrilled to be parts of the upcoming Streetfest. We are looking forward to hearing the conversations of the new students, the leaders and the mentors as they experience serving the greater community of Grand Rapids in an attitude of humility.

The Gardener

Hello again readers of the S-LC blog, I (Robert Bogdanffy) am writing to you for the second and also the last time as my internship in the office this summer ends. It has been a great, rewarding experience living and working in Grand Rapids.

I can say for sure that part of my heart will forever be in Grand Rapids, especially with the Bouman family, who has so lovingly facilitated the vast majority of my experiences here and also with the S-LC staff with whom I spend many hours a day making work a fun experience. I wish I could write about these great people working here and living in Grand Rapids, I wish I could write all that I’ve learned, but I’m afraid I will have to limit this post to one particular thing. I will be writing to you about the S-LC organic garden, that is part of a larger Calvin College Community Garden [you can read their blog at http://healthesoil.wordpress.com/s.com/. An organic Garden… talk about new experiences! Even for someone from Romania! Honestly, I grew up in a city, never had to really care for any plants in my communist bloc apartment so I was rather glad to learn something when the gardening task was added to my duties list. My initial approach was very cynical -- why plant a garden on a college campus that has too many plants and grass anyway? Coming from my background I’ve only seen people plant vegetables in order to survive, why would you do that for fun, where is the practical use? Well, now that I’ve watched the plants grow, I’ve tasted the fruit of my/our work and learned so much about parasites and species[I would like to thank the real gardener Emma for that!!] I can say “man, was I wrong!!” Presuming that there are some of you out there that are skeptical of such projects [just as I was], I will try to pen down why my impression changed, and a little about the use of the garden from my personal perspective.

First of all, mankind has evolved to a very hands-off approach towards dining; we have developed very unhealthy eating habits [I believe no one can really argue with that]. In simple terms, there are very few people that are specialized in growing plants and raising animals. They are able to grow massive amounts because of complex modern machinery and chemistry that provides food to the rest of the world. Services have become more and more important, and time scarce, so we use money [which the US seems to have in a never-ending supply] to buy the ready-made [sometimes frozen] food, with none to very little preparation necessary. A friend told me that frozen food was once considered “The food of the future”, well I honestly hope not! I now believe that to fully understand how magnificent God’s creation is, we must grow something, we must care for something, we have to take on the role of creator, protector and harvester. Of course, the size is incomparable to God caring for the entire world, yet a part of that infinite immensity is captured in a little fragile flower, perhaps in the perfect white petals of a lily flower, or in the plenitude of the ever-generous lettuce. When observing the time past, the work done in watering, caring, and picking off harmful bugs you get a sense of wisdom, like you’ve seen a whole cycle of creation. Perhaps this sense is best described by Rabindranath Tagore, in his poem/collection of poems The Gardener, where his wise reflections as a gardener are invaluable and unfortunately cannot be reproduced in this limited post. I can’t even begin to enumerate the great similarities between our relationship with God and caring for a garden. It is a classic comparison, yet how many people today lack that experience, especially in concrete packed cities in Eastern Europe. Man acquires a sense of wisdom and humbleness, develops character, perhaps even a sense of duty towards the world. God has given us so much, we must also bear fruit and act as stewards in His world. We must blossom in His abounding love, true selflessness means giving to all who are needy, not just the people we select and we consider worthy. A plant bears fruit to whoever will pick it, it is a beauty to whoever observes it, the perfect expression of selflessness. For nature lovers it’s easy to understand, but I would go as far as saying that each one of us has this seed inside of us, we are all capable of seeing this beauty. I would like to end this post with an excerpt from Tagore’s poem, and also ask you to ponder/share your experiences and feelings with and about gardens.

“I will give up my other work.

I will throw my swords and lances down in the dust. Do not send me to distant courts; do not bid me undertake new conquests. But make me the gardener of your flower garden.” 

  -Rabindranath Tagore

Souls on Fire

Hi S-LC alumni, current workers, and visitors. My name is Robert Bogdanffy, currently an intern for the summer at the Service-Learning Center. I am currently a sophomore at Northwestern College in Orange City, IA and also an international student from Romania. Just over one year ago I graduated from a Romanian high-school in the small city of Petrosani. The story of how I ended up studying in the U.S. and working in the S-LC is relatively long, so I am only able to give you some succinct information about that and about the foundation I work with.

While in high-school learned about this foundation that works with youth and promotes civic engagement through Service-Learning and informal means of education. This foundation that I later ended up joining, which became the best thing that ever happened to me is called the New-Horizons Foundation [www.new-horizons.ro]. As a beneficiary of one of their programs called “Impact” I opened my eyes towards the need in my community. It is still surprising to me today to see how much this program helps youth and how little they know about the need around them. Many times we can recognize a country as materially needy, yet we do not often think of a country as lacking social capital or we do not make an effort to see why a certain need exists. The Communist era that lasted for roughly 45 years has left its mark on Romanian society not only in economic terms, but mostly through a deeper heritage within us. What the New-Horizons foundation is trying to do means counteracting this heritage, fighting against apathy, against the lack of trust-- in other words trying to build social capital. Sustainable international economic development is based on a climate of trust, and where that is lacking, nothing functions properly. Vaclav Havel once said “Without commonly shared and widely entrenched moral values and obligations, neither the law, nor the democratic government, nor even the market economy will function properly.” In the effort to educate people about this need in Romania, the foundation then began partnering with U.S. institutions among which were Northwestern College and Calvin College. A connection now exists that enabled me to study at Northwestern College as a full time international student. The summer position in The S-LC was made possible through Dr. Jeff Bouman’s support of the establishment in Romania.

Now let's get to the introduction of Charles Marsh’s book “The Beloved Community” entitled “Souls on Fire”. You may ask yourself, how does this really connect to what we’ve been working on in Romania, and all the similar efforts like ours through the world? Martin Luther King is quoted in the chapter as clearly defining the civil rights movement’s goal, “the end is the creation of the beloved community” when referring to the happenings in Montgomery. In the same way, reflecting upon our work in the world, we ask: What is our communal purpose? Why do we try to build social capital? Why do Service-Learning? Why do we struggle with these complex and most often philosophical ideas, trying to find more just societies in an unjust world; what is our end goal? There are many incomplete answers to those questions, such as peace or prosperity, yet none of these seem to capture the complete experience that believers in Christ are striving towards. We understand that we are called to live a righteous life, obtain salvation, love our neighbor, and what Martin Luther King does is capture this in one goal that has been reduced to one word: Shalom. Creating the beloved community is bringing Shalom to God’s earth. What higher purpose for the created matter, than for a sinful world to become a mirror of the glory of God? In order to have Shalom though, we need a number of preconditions that were enumerated above, conditions such as justice, morality, even happiness or good intentions. Acting as agents is no simple task. It is not limited to preaching the gospel; it many times also implies establishing these organizations and addressing need wherever it is on the globe and in any form it appears. The problems of the world are complex, the solutions are not always straight-forward, some of the questions are formidable, questions like “How do you teach morality?” or “How to reeducate something that has become popular culture?” Yet with all these challenges, we must stay firm, and “Souls on Fire” captures the essence of the fuel that keeps burning within us, of the divine gift that stays alive through grace and keeps us focused. For people who have opened their hearts with agape love, there is no outside motivation needed. This is the characteristic of this highest form of love. It transcends reason, question, intellect; it is simple, pure, joyful, harmonious and selfless love.

Charles Marsh ends his introduction urging us to accept this spiritual vision that animated the civil rights movement. I would go even further to say not only to accept it, but also spread it through your service and dedication as an example to the world. We have seen time and time again that this love and service is contagious, but does it have the potential to spread worldwide? I guess that is all up to you and me to answer! Will you rise up to the call?

All your thoughts/comments/ideas are welcome!

Protest: Personal or Communal?

       In Chapter 4 of his book God’s Politics, entitled “Protest Is Good; Alternatives are Better”, Jim Wallis argues that communal protest can have enormous “transformational” power if channeled into the form of an “alternative”. Wallis breaks his chapter down into two main points:     

         1. Saying “no” (e.g. protesting) is good, but proposing alternatives is better.

   2. During our “most difficult and darkest moments” we must reconnect with relationships that nurture us and our faith in the sanctity of life.

Wallis, Director and Editor-in-Chief of Sojourners, wrote in reflection upon his experience protesting the Iraq war. Up until the “eleventh hour”, Wallis promoted his “Six-Point Plan” (a document detailing a peaceful alternative to war) in both the United States and overseas. Rather than merely protesting Bush’s decision to go to war, Wallis and his like-minded peers advocated for an alternative. Together these Americans presented a strong protestation to their own government’s foreign policy. Wallis claims this form of protest is powerful, “effective and transformational”, and able to “illumine a society to its need for change.” For Wallis, “protest should be making a promise”: An explicit promise made by a community.

There are several important weaknesses to this view of protest:

• Wallis assumes that one or both of the two major sides might be willing (or made willing) to listen to a legitimate alternative. It seems historically that frequently the major power players in politics are driven by irrational thinking. Fear, greed, and anger are blinding and compelling at the same time and politicians are not afraid to manipulate their constituents using these emotions. I’m no Machiavellian, but the reality I’ve seen is that legitimate alternatives are not given legitimate consideration because other priorities take over.

• Wallis assumes that the public are disciplined and educated enough to seriously consider an alternative (international quake zone summit or Michael Jackson’s memorial service?).

• The kind of diplomacy Wallis advocates would require a degree of unity nationally and globally I have never witnessed in my life. In order for a plan like Wallis’s to be taken seriously, Americans and nations across the globe would have to wholly commit to the values of the doctrine and its authors: in this case pacifism and trust. As honorable as I believe these values to be, for any alternative to gain momentum, it would have to appeal to large, but different groups. In the process of gaining support, the original supporters risk watering down the original alternative, simplifying, and reducing it into a simple black and white option. This tends to happen in American politics because Americans naturally prefer bipartisan politics: it’s easiest for us to react in black and white ways.

As for my understanding of protest, I have been heavily influenced by Wendell Berry’s essay "A Poem of Difficult Hope.” Communal protest for a counterculture alternative is an ideal I admire, but when it comes to daily life I find Berry’s view far more powerful and far more comforting:

“Much protest is naive; it expects quick, visible improvement and despairs and gives up when such improvement does not come. Protesters who hold out for longer have perhaps understood that success is not the proper goal. If protest depended on success, there would be little protest of any durability or significance. History simply affords too little evidence that anyone's individual protest is of any use. Protest that endures, I think, is moved by a hope far more modest than that of public success: namely, the hope of preserving qualities in one's own heart and spirit that would be destroyed by acquiescence.”

What do you think?

Finally, the Theme for StreetFest 2009: Walk Humbly

Although in the same sentence as do justice and love mercy (Micah 6:8), “walk humbly” is not met with the same enthusiasm. God doesn’t gives us the option of walking humbly, he commands us to. The hope for StreetFest is that this idea of walking humbly will be explored and that students, faculty, and staff will commit to a new way of seeing and participating in this world.

Walking conveys quite a different message than running. Running means stress, speed, and desire to get from point A to point B as fast as possible without slowing to observe what’s in between. Walking, though, is much the opposite. Walking still gets you from here to there but it allows for, even encourages, fellowship, conversations, intimacy with the surroundings, and the ability to see a place in its true form.

Walking can be powerful- it was the pace from which Christ administered his love on the least of these in society. If we are to emulate Christ we must also walk- walk in order to notice the details of God’s creation, walk to create opportunities for meaningful conversations, but most importantly walk to be in stride with those who are struggling.

Humility can be applied many ways as well. First, as we walk through life we must be humble before Christ. Our savior left heaven to die for this spoiled world. He lived his life here- never commuting from heaven. He not only healed and preached but spent time and socialized in a non-serving way. He lived with prostitutes, prisoners, non-Christians, and by doing so showed that they were just as deserving of his attention and saving as anyone else. We must respect that this was Christ’s focus, and be humbled by the knowledge that we weren’t necessarily the type of people that were on the top of God’s list to see.

We also must be humble before others. Too often we elevate, spiritually, people with a well-rounded Christian education, people who have clear criminal records, those who attend fancy churches, and people who are gifted with the ability to thoughtfully articulate themselves. As we (should) know, none of these things make a person closer to God. Instead we should be humbled that every single person was made in God’s image. We should be humbled that the people we “serve” are just as connected to God as we are.

An attitude of humbleness is necessary in working towards the Service-Learning Center’s goals of long-term relationships, racial reconciliation, and cultural intelligence. “Walk Humbly” is simple and familiar, but rarely is it importance dissected as frequently as other commands.

In other StreetFest news, we have again commissioned the work of a local Grand Rapids artist. This year, Rick Beerhorst, a Calvin grad, is helping us translate our thoughts into a meaningful logo. The Beerhorst family consists of Rick, his wife, and their 6 children who all make up “Studio Beerhorst”, the family business. They are committed to the city of Grand Rapids and have mastered the art of car-less living by intentionally buying a house within walking distance of the Famer’s Market, grocery stores, and places of worship. All of these lifestyle choices make Rick a perfect artist to represent what StreetFest attempts to communicate to incoming students. I will update more as details emerge!


Thoughts?