The Latest e-RISEN- August 31st 2010

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eRISEN August 31st 2010 issue

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City Camp, Life Changing for All

By CeCe Cookinham, Assistant Counselor, 2005

In the summer of 2005, after years as a camper at the Episcopal Conference Center (ECC), I spent my summer as an Assistant Counselor.


That summer I heard so many amazing stories from other Counselors about the weeks they spent at another diocesan ministry called City Camp. I offered to do a two week session. I did not know at all what to expect and I had no idea then how much it would affect my future! Now, 5 years later, I am a social worker and will never forget that summer.

City Camp is a free day-camp for underprivileged kids in the Manton and Olneyville areas of Providence, the idea behind it being that if we invest in the security of these kids we can show them hope for their future and help to end cylcical poverty. City camp operates on a small donations based budget, and is actually separate from ECC but shares many of the same counselors.

I had volunteered to go, but I was still nervous on my first day. I was given eleven rambunctious campers to keep track of! One of these campers was a little six year old girl who not only changed my life but touched my heart.

It all happened on one hot Friday when we took City Camp to the beach. Some of my campers had never been to the beach before, and all of them were so excited to go. We played in the water, built sand castles, buried each other in the sand, sang camp songs – it was a perfect day.

When the day was coming to the end everyone was heading to the locker room to change out of their sandy wet clothes. I was trying to keep up with my eleven campers when one little girl tripped and started crying. I knelt down to make sure she was okay and she was sobbing. When I asked her what was wrong she responded

“My shoe broke”

Casually I said “It’s okay, just go home and put on a different pair.”

She started sobbing harder and said “I can’t .. I can’t get a new pair of shoes till my birthday!”

My heart sank and I asked “When’s your birthday?” I never expected to hear her next answer

“When it snows out”

At that point I picked her up and grabbed her shoes so I wouldn’t lose the rest of the campers. On the bus back to Olneyville I made a quick fix to her shoes so she could still use them temporarily and told her to try not to worry about it.

That weekend I bought that little girl a pair of flip flops, and a pair of sneakers – a size bigger than what she was wearing so the shoes would last her for a while. I was a little worried about how her parents would react to me purchasing her shoes, but I just wanted to help. That Monday I gave that little girl the shoes. She was absolutely ecstatic.

The next day I saw her walking across the field all dressed in pink to match the new sneakers I got her. Later that afternoon, at pick-up time a woman walked up to me speaking Spanish. I had no idea what she was saying, but that little girl ran up and started translating for me. It was the little girl’s mom. Eventually her mom just spoke in loose English “Thank you, shoes.” She started crying, and gave me a big hug. I couldn’t help it, I started crying too. I never thought a simple pair of shoes would mean so much.

It’s been five years now since I was at City Camp but I will always remember that little girl and that two week session. It was because of her that I decided to study social work when I went off to college, and now it is because of her that I am working in the helping profession.

LARI Update: 4 Louisiana Youths at ECC Garners Thanks from Bishop Thompson

This summer the Companion Diocese Committee launched a program to bring youths from the Diocese of Louisiana up to our own summer camp at the Episcopal Conference Center. Through your generosity enough funds were raised to bring four young people to ECC on full scholarship!

The experience proved to be as remarkable for these young Louisianians as it was for the youths of RI who had a chance to meet them and hear their stories. The program was such a success that Mary Ann Kolakowski, our Christian Formation Director, received a letter from Louisiana's Bishop, The Rt. Rev'd Morris K. Thompson Jr., thanking us all for our generosity in this companionship. You can read the letter below.

There are exciting plans in the works for next year, including bringing some young adults to camp as counsellors as well as bringing more youths up to attend camp. To find out more or learn how to contribute for next year contact maryann@episcopalri.org

The Latest eRISEN- August 13th 2010

You can view the latest issue of eRISEN, our biweekly email events calendar, at the link below:

eRISEN August 13th 2010 issue

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RISEN Magazine's Summer 2010 issue "Vocation; Answering God's Call"

This Summer's "vocation" issue of RISEN Magazine (not to be confused with a "vacation" issue) has been printed and mailed so keep an eye on your mailboxes. If you can't wait, you can view it in a fun e-book gadget at the bottom of this page or on our website

RISEN Magazine is The Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island's News and special interest magazine. We switched from a newspaper format to the current full color journal in 2007. By doing so, we have been able to focus our attention on producing an award winning print periodical with staying power. Each issue of RISEN centers on a timely theme and features articles that aim to inform, enlighten and inspire. It is published quarterly and has a circulation of around 9,000.

Don't see the ebook reader loading below? Read RISEN on our website instead

RSCM Summer Music Course for Kids Featured on "Newport Now"

The Diocese of RI sponsored a "Royal School of Church Music" Summer camp this past week in Newport, for the first time in history. Many kids age 9-17 gathered, from churches across New England which run the RSCM curriculum, to practice, play and stay in residence at Salve Regina University. The group performed three times during the week, once at Trinity Church in Newport and twice at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Newport!

You can read more about the week in the article featured on Newport Now and see more photos on our facebook page

Ezo Update: A Letter From Levi

Bishop Wolf in Ezo with Levi

The Following update was sent to Tom Bair, Chair of the Companion Diocesese Committee for Ezo, From Levi Ahmed, Assistant to Bishop John Zawo of Ezo.

Tom,
Greetings to you in Jesus name and hoping that you are doing well over there. I just arrived last evenning in Kampala from Ezo. Greetings from Bishop John, Nancy and the entire Christian community to the Christians of RI. I have spent my holidays [from college in Uganda] with Bishop at home in Ezo. Every one is fine.

I have been not able to communicate with you due to lack of internet in Ezo. And it has been not easy for me to be traveling to Yambio which is 100 miles to access internet due to frequent attacks on vehicles on the way by the LRA.

...

However, i have attached some photograph of events in Ezo Diocese [visit our page on facebook to see more of these photos].

Concerning the goat project, the work has gone on very well but only due to the insecurity it has made some part of the work to delay a bit. That is why [in the photos] you are not see all the 50 goats in the fence. 20 have been bought and 30 have been ordered from Banda in Congo, because it is now very hard and expensive to buy goats in Western Equatoria because most of the goats were taken by the LRA when they used to attack local in those areas. Now we believe that only this project will be the only one where most of the people in Western Equatoria will get goats again for rearing.

I am going to compile the whole information pertaining the project and send to you including the receipts I have with me.

I left Ezo on Friday to Yambio where i arrived in Yambio at five, and the vehicle which came after us was burnt by the LRA killing three people who were in that car. [It happened] 12 mlies from Nzara and we past that area at 4:00 pm, a car which arrived at that place at 5:00 pm was the one which the LRA burnt and the following morning they again appeared in the same area killing another three people, one man and two women. The humanitarian situation in Ezo remains the same because since 2008 up [to] now people have not gone [home] to their places.[See Levi's update from November 6, 2009 for more info on this]
[You can] hope to see more information from me pertaining the goat project soon.
...

Levi.

Grace Church Welcomes New Rector to Parish — and to Providence

Grace Church in Providence welcomed its new Rector, the Rev. Canon Jonathan Huyck, along with his wife; Ann, and son; Benjamin, on Sunday, August 1. Grace Church welcomed the Huycks not only to their Parish, but also to Providence — and welcomed people in the downcity community to join them in meeting the Hucyks — at a block party outside the church's front door following a festive Eucharist. The party stretched across a closed Westminster Street into the park outside the Hotel Providence. After the celebration, Jonathan walked home pulling a "Welcome Wagon" filled with area gifts including a guide to Rhode Island, Del's lemonade mix and Paw Sox tickets.


See photos and more about the gala and the Huyck family at http://www.facebook.com/GraceChurchProvidence