CDV480

      I've been avoiding this post because I don't like introductions. They feel unfamiliar and strained, and I'd rather just jump in and tell you about what has actually been happening around here for the past few days as if you already know all the background. Plus, much of the information in this post won't be new to most anyone who would be reading this blog in the first place. Nonetheless, I feel that I must, having been in Suffolk for almost a week now, explain what it is exactly that I am doing here.

      I have been a community development major at Covenant College for three years. Microeconomics was enough to frighten me into very nearly becoming an English major for one whole semester, but my friends just rolled their eyes and waited for me to return to the fold, and here I am. I'm glad that I pressed on. I'm in community development because I believe that the church has a unique calling to care about the poor and oppressed, but that it also has some unique obstacles. Even the churches who feel their calling don't know what to do about it sometimes.

      For my required community development internship, I am here in Suffolk at Westminster Reformed PCA to watch church-based community development done well through Hope for Suffolk. I'm participating in the community garden and paper making business, helping around the office, going to meetings, getting involved with the church in a variety of ways, and especially doing research. I'll be writing papers, conducting interviews, and meeting with organizations on the topic of development work and disability. Disabilities or the receipt of disability payments lends special complications to poverty, and I will be trying to discover the best practices of community development in assisting people in these circumstances to live sustainably. Once I find out what local organizations and community members who are in this situation have to say about it, I will present my findings to Hope for Suffolk and to my professors at Covenant.

      Those are the basics. There's a lot I've left out, but if you have questions about community development or my internship, please ask away. They're things I love to talk about. If you're from my church, stop me in the hallway when I come back home in August. Thank you for your interest, your support, and your prayers.