The Journey Continues

Dear family & friends,

I hope that this letter finds you well and enjoying summer!

One year ago I wrote many of you asking for your support as I prepared to begin a year of service with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest (JVC NW). I wrote in the wake of graduating from Seattle Pacific and the shooting which occurred there a week prior to graduation. Those events led me to more deeply recognize and appreciate how many people I love and how many people love me and have shaped me. During that time all I wanted was to be those I love and to be held by my community. But I had a commitment to keep, so, after a confusing summer, I headed to a new place, with new people to offer a year of service and discover what it held for me. I’m writing to share an update on my past year in Gresham, OR, and what I am up to next.

Of course, a single letter cannot contain what the last year has been for me, and I cannot summarize what all has happened, but I will try to share a glimpse of where my soul has travelled.

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I’ve dwelled in the sorrow of loneliness and loss of the community I knew at SPU. I’ve resided in the confusion of transition, feeling unknown and not knowing the place and people in my presence.

And, yet, I have also experienced the joy of new connections and new community. I have come to deeply love my housemates. When I have trusted others to be with me when I have sat in grief and anxiety, I have received tenderness and care.

I have borne the weight of accompanying people experiencing trauma in extreme poverty. I have stood in awe of what people carry, and I have struggled to be present to such suffering.

And, yet, I have also borne witness to the resilience, determination, creativity, and humor which people can demonstrate in the midst of the most difficult of circumstances. I have stood in awe of people finding a way and overcoming.

I have witnessed violence, mental illness, addiction, racism, profound isolation, and the human toll of systemic injustice.

And, yet, I have seen the care, healing, and love that people are capable of, even when all material possessions are stripped away. I have seen individuals and communities come together to carry a vision and work together toward a city where all people may flourish and contribute meaningfully.

I have known frustration, uncertainty, and isolation at work. At times, I have felt unsupported, and I have not extended support. At times, I have failed or felt like a failure.

And, yet, I have continued to show up. I learned and grew through the challenges. I have taken ownership and felt accomplished.

I have wandered with absence. My faith has felt hollow. I struggle to pray.

And, yet, in the desert, in the absence, somehow life enlarges. Doubts and questions have been my prayers. Even as I do not always believe, I trust that I am not alone and that I am a beloved child. I choose to trust the mystery that God is present in the absence – for even Jesus knew this absence.

And I have encountered Incarnation - places and people have offered me a fresh water; I have drank in wonder and Presence.

I have seen the sun rise over desert canyons, beheld waterfalls by moonlight, gazed over endless forest with the sun and moon suspended over opposite horizons, stood still with trees and birds as my sole companions, and danced to the beat of ocean waves and singing of the sea breeze. And I have danced in the living room, talked late into the night, and received the gift of community in so many ways. With companions, I have walked, wept, adventured, been bored, laughed, sang, shared meals, shared stories, dared, prayed, played, questioned, listened, reconciled, loved and received love, sojourned, and traveled far.

This has been one of the hardest years of my life, but it has been good. It has been gift, and it has been grace.

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I want to thank you for your support. I appreciate the prayers, letters, messages, times people have let me crash at their place, and visitors I’ve received. Even for those of you who I have not directly been in contact with this year, thank you for how you have touched my life. Thank you for the love, care and wisdom and which has shaped my life and who I am becoming as I seek to live a life of service.

I would like to ask for your continued support as I have signed on for another year of service with JVC NW. I am committing to spend another year examining and deepening my practice of the values of community, social & ecological justice, simple living and spirituality. Come August, I will head off to orientation and then move into a JV house in Portland with seven new community-mates. In mid-August, I will begin my service as the Volunteer Coordinator, Editorial and Vendor Program Assistant with Street Roots, the street newspaper in Portland. I will accompany people experiencing homelessness and poverty supporting their work in selling the paper to improve their quality of life, and I will support the organization in fulfilling its mission to be a catalyst for individual and social change.

I am fortunate to be a part of a service program which covers my basic living expenses so that I do not need to ask for financial support. However, I still cherish your support in other forms. If you are a person of faith, I covet your prayer and blessing (I’ve included prayer requests beneath my signature line). I always love receiving letters and notes, and will do my best to write back. I do not know my address yet, but if you email me, I will send it to you as soon as I know. You also are welcome to follow my blog which I occasionally update and hope to contribute to more consistently next year. And, if you are ever in the Portland area let’s meet up! I love hosting visitors.

Thank you. Hope to see you soon.

With love,
Scott

Prayer requests:
 For peace as I say many goodbyes and many helloes transitioning from my current community and service placement to the next
 For wisdom, hope, renewal, love and humility as I continue to be in relationship with people on the margins
 For healing, reconciliation and justice in the places of violence, suffering and oppression in our world, and in our own hearts

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The contents of this page, and all links appearing on this page, do not represent the positions, views, or intents of Jesuit Volunteers Corps Northwest.

Eight Reasons You Should Do JVC NW

I am currently just over halfway through my year of service with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps NW, and I am loving it. Stepping into this year has been a huge transition, and I have struggled in many ways, but the challenges have spurred growth and they have been accompanied by great joys. I am finding my year with JVC NW to be transformative and  meaningful, and I am on a mission to get more SPU students to join the program.

Here are eight reasons you (specifically SPU students) should consider a year of service with JVC NW:

1. The Values

Spirituality. Community. Simple Living. Social & Ecological Justice. These are the values that center JVC NW and guide the JV experience. When I stumbled upon JVC NW during Christmas break of my senior year, it was the values which initially attracted me to the program. I believe that who you are becoming is of far greater experience than what you are doing. I wanted an opportunity after college that would offer me the structure and support to more fully align my values, passions and purpose. I wanted an opportunity that would shape me into a more loving, compassionate and just person. As a follower of Jesus, I desire to love God and love people with my whole self, and I see the values and holistic experience of JVC NW shaping me more into the person God intends me to be.

2. Community

At SPU, I experienced community like I never had before. As ready as I was to graduate, I was nervous for what community would look like outside of SPU. I desired to continue to live in intentional community, and JVC NW fit the bill. Leaving SPU and stepping into new a community in a new city, workplace and household has been hard. Really hard at times. I've struggled at times with what it looks like to maintain relationships from SPU while seeking to be fully present in my new place. It takes times to build trust with new people and there are the practical challenges of living with five people with different personalities, communication styles, and beliefs. But, I love it. I love my community-mates, and I love the struggles and joys that come with sharing life together. My housemates have seen me at my best and worst, and they have continued to love me. Living in community rewards you with new friendships, greater knowledge of your self, and experience which may benefit other current and future relationships.

3. Engage the Culture, Change the World...

I loved SPU's mission when I first arrived as a freshman. Over time, I have become less and less enthralled with it (It can feel like a savior-complex, and what does it even mean?). But the impulse behind SPU's mission to engage and seek the Kingdom of God in the here and now is good, I think. At SPU, I had my eyes opened to the great need for change in the world, and the great needs for change in myself. I don't know if I can change the world, but I can change the economics, politics, and social relationships in my personal and communal daily life. JVC NW provides the opportunity to enter into mutual relationships with people who are marginalized, and to let yourself be changed. I think this is immensely valuable no matter your vocation. A year of service as a JV is an opportunity explore what it looks for you to live out SPU's mission with intentionality.

4. Getting Out of the Bubble

As much as I loved my community at SPU, it also felt insular at times. JVC NW is committed to increasing diversity. The cohort of JVs comes from a variety of backgrounds, experiences and locations. While JVC NW is rooted in the Jesuit Catholic tradition, it is open to people of any or no faith tradition. It is not a missional or discipleship program, and I appreciate this. I love being in relationship with community-mates, co-workers and people I serve who look at the world in ways very different from myself.

5. Meaningful Service

JVC NW is not an internship. The service I do feels important, and I am treated as much as part of the team as anyone who works at my placement. There is a saying among JVs that none of us are qualified for the positions we are in, but we are capable. You may be a volunteer, but the JV positions are challenging, stimulating, come with a lot of responsibility and are of significant value to organizations. JVC NW partners with agencies who are working for structural social change and justice, and offering a year of service adds capacity to this work and make an impactful difference.

5. The Pacific Northwest is Best

From Montana to Alaska, and everywhere in between, I love the Northwest. If you do JVC NW, you will live in a beautiful place. And you automatically will have a place stay pretty much anywhere in the PNW.

6. The Structure and Support

JVC NW has been around for over 55 years. It served as a model for the PeaceCorps. You would be hard-pressed to find a better designed service program. From my initial interest in applying, to my interview, to orientation, to my actual experience in the program, I have been continually impressed by the staff and organization. The process of becoming a JV is one of mutual discernment and communication is very open and clear. The year begins with a weeklong orientation that made the transition into the year much better. Throughout the year there are three regional retreats. Every JV community has a Program Coordinator who visits two-times throughout the year and is available to offer support. Each community also has local support people. Our support people are two couples who let us borrow their car, occasionally bring us food, have us over for dinner, and generally are available if we are in need of something. There is an 80 year old retired priest down the road from us, who regularly brings us baked good. There also are former JVs in the area who can offer support, or at the very least come to our parties. You also can receive spiritual direction or mental health services. I am currently receiving spiritual direction for free which I have found very helpful. There is a tremendous amount of support available while recognizing that you are an adult and letting you have a lot of autonomy. 

7. The Jesuits are Rad

By becoming a JV, you become connected to a community and tradition that is nearly 500 years old. I am not Catholic, and was only loosely familiar with the Jesuits coming into the year, but I have enjoyed learning about the Jesuit Catholic tradition. This tradition is marked by openness, imagination, reflection, and faith lived out in service to the world. The Jesuits are rad both in that they are cool and in that they are very radical. There is space to embrace and learn from the connection to this tradition as much or as little as you wish, but there is a lot there that can inform your year if you wish. I also believe that this connection orients the approach to justice work which resonates with what I learned in my global development studies and through the Perkins Center.

8. The Benefits

By far the largest benefits of doing JVC NW is the transformation that comes with embracing and living out the four values of the program in service and community, and the relationship you form. But there are also numerous external benefits which make the program practical and doable. In contrast to many service programs, all of your basic needs are met during service. There are no financial costs to doing JVC NW. You receive money for rent, food, household supplies, transportation and a small stipend each month. Health insurance is also offered, if needed. Most JVs are able to defer their loans for the year. Additionally, the majority of JV positions are also AmeriCorps positions which brings along the AmeriCorps perks (if also more paperwork). At the end of my service I will receive a $5500 AmeriCorps education award which I can use toward paying back loans or future education. Many graduate schools will match this award, and other scholarships are available at many schools for people who have completed service programs. Finally, you have a year of professional experience and development which will benefit any future work and/or schooling. Oh, and you are connected to a huge network of awesome people doing awesome work.

Check out www.jvcnorthwest.org!  

If you are interested in learning more about JVC NW and my experience thus far, feel free to reach out to me! (call/text or email me, jacksons1@spu.edu) 

The priority deadline for applying is February 23rd, and applications are accepted on a rolling basis thereafter. 

You also can reach out to James, the JVC NW recruiter, to learn more (recruiter@jvcnorthwest.org). 

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The contents of this page, and all links appearing on this page, do not represent the positions, views, or intents of Jesuit Volunteers Corps Northwest.