One Thing Ends and Another Begins

Who's surprised I'm late with this final New York update? Not me.

Yeah, sorry I've sort of been slacking with getting this blog finished and posted, it's just that, in a sense, so much has been happening. As the week was wrapping up in New York I didn't want to take the time to sit down and write a blog when I had so few hours left to spend with my team before we all split for the holiday and then to our countries. So I told myself I would blog when I got home, and contented myself with milking the remainder of my team-time in New York for all it was worth. But when I got home, blogging seemed to take the back seat again. I was reunited with family, I wanted to see friends (some of which were only home for Thanksgiving break before heading back to college), and I wanted some chill, relax, and unwind time. Consequently, I'm now a full week later with no blog. Thus I sit here now and write one.

Sunday of our last week there (Nov 12) was your pretty average sunday. We went to church where Pastor Wendy preached a great sermon on the Isaiah passage "Here I am. Send Me."Also, since Reneé and Beth would be leaving later in the week and wouldn't be there another sunday, we had a sending off prayer time for them. After lunch, Bekah's mom and sister (Chris and Whitney, respectively) arrived. Chris was our mentor for that week, and would be talking to us on Monday and Tuesday. The rest of the day was laid back. In the evening we watched"Elf," a very funny and fun christmas-themed movie.

Monday, November 13. I woke up just in time to eat a quick breakfast before our discussion with Chris. We talked some on the ideas of the book "When Helping Hurts" that we had been given, as well as general missions-esk stuff. After our discussion and lunch, we walked down to Fordham Plaza to do some shopping and city sightseeing. I actually finally bought something, after all those many shopping trip we had taken, I finally did some shopping myself. Not much, just a four-dollar ring, but at least i got something. On our way back to the apartment we stopped at McDonalds where Chris treated us all to a coffee or soda.

For dinner we went downtown to Times Square. We ate at a little Greek restaurant called Dafni Greek Taverna located a little away from the main of Times Square. It was very good, though not being a Greek connoisseur I can't vouch for how Greek or un-Greek it was, I just know it tasted good.We walked around Times Square a little before heading back to the apartment. Bekah, Reneé Aaron, Eryca, and I played a game of Settlers of Catan before turning in for the evening.

Tuesday (November 14) was another chill day of talking and hanging out mostly in the apartment. We started our morning with another discussion with Chris, this time talking about our individual strengths (particularly those from our StrengthFinders test results) and how they contribute to our STEP team as a whole and to our country teams (Spain, Colombia, Thailand) individually. For lunch we took a trip down to Little Italy were we ate at a very good Pizzeria. Afterwards some of us walked through Little Italy with Chris and Whitney.

When we got back I did what I do most afternoons I have a little extra free time, I took a nap. When I woke up I wrote my previous blog post, played some Settler of Catan with Karla, Bekah, Eryca, and Aaron, and had a generally quiet and relaxed evening.

Wednesday (November 15), as usual, was a long, tiring day. I woke up early, around 7:00 to go to Breakfast Ministry at Fellowship Chapel with Bekah and Aaron. From there the three of us took the subway to the Bowery Mission to meet up with the rest of the team. Most of the work we did at the Bowery was carrying, moving, and organizing donation shipments, getting ready for their biggest service event of the year, Thanksgiving. Near the end of the day I did get a chance to do some work in the dish room for the last time. It was fun and fast-paced as usual.

Around 1:45pm we left the Bowery and took the subway and bus to Manhattan Christian Academy to help with the after-shool program. It was a pretty normal day with the kids, who are always fun to be around (except for the occasional winning or tantrum, but they get over it pretty quickly). We left there a little after 6:00pm and got back to the apartment around 7:00pm. That means it was about a twelve hour day for Aaron, Bekah and me, whew! Vicky was at the apartment when we got back. She had come up to see us all one last time before we all split up. We had a chill evening, which included some group discussion and watching "Remember the Titans," Karla's favorite movie.

Thursday (November 15) I woke up tired since I had stayed up late to watch "Remember the Titans" and since I had to get up at 7:00 to Skype Bruce and Merly with Reneé. We had a good talk about what we'd be doing there in Spain, as well as some other general things we would need to know. After our Skype call I went back to bed for an hour-and-a-half morning nap. I got up again around 10:00am and we had some more team talk with Vicky. After lunch we had to say our first goodbyes since Beth and Reneé were heading back home with Vicky. It was hard and sad, but I know I'll be seeing them again, even if not in this life (we do have a week of debrief together when we all get back, and I'm trusting God to get us all you, but I'm just saying). The rest of us then went to help at the Love Kitchen and then the after-school program for the last time. It was a good time, and goodbyes and hugs and all that fun stuff went over pretty well, with maybe a bit of misty eye. When we got back to the apartment we had dinner and watched "Hitch."

Friday (November 16) started out earlier than most Fridays because World Vision asked us to come in an hour early. I'm still not sure why, they said they had some stuff for us to move, or something like that, but there really wasn't that much to do, and it definitely didn't seem like there was anything that couldn't wait an hour. But alas, we were there at the requested time, slightly low on sleep, and ended up finishing all the jobs they had for us before lunch, so we went home early as well.

When we got back I of course took a nap. I woke up for dinner, because if there is something I like as much as napping, it's eating. After dinner, and a few preparations (such as showering and getting nicely dressed) the five of us—Karla, Bekah, Eryca, Aaron, and me—went downtown to Times Square Church for our last time. After the service we wandered around Times Square for a while, visiting different stores and just enjoying the city. My favorite part was when we went into the M&M's store and imitated the faces and actions of the different M&M characters and toys. When we got back to the apartment we watched "To Save a Life." I ended up going to bed around 3:00am, while everyone else waited up for Eryca's family who were supposed to be arriving. I found out the next day that they didn't get in until about 6:30am, so yeah, I'm glad I went to bed.

Saturday (November 17) I woke up a little before 1:00pm. I had breakfast/lunch, whatever you want to call it, and took a shower. Eryca and her family had already left for a day out on the town, touring and shopping in New York City. Bekah, Karla, Aaron, and I went with Bonnie to Target to get some things she needed. I got a little suitcase so I could fit everything for the trip home. The rest of the afternoon was downtime of just chilling and talking. At about 5:30, the four of us left to meet Eryca and her family in Times Square for dinner. We again did some shopping and walking around, and we again did poses in the M&M store. When we got back to apartment we made a blanket fort in the living room just for fun. We then played some Quelf before watching "Little Rascals."

Sunday, November 18, the day before I left had finally come around. We went to church, which was very good as usual. We had another sendoff prayer for the rest of us. After church we had to say goodbye to Eryca, since she was heading out with her family. It was again hard to say goodbye.

After lunch Karla, Bekah, Aaron, and I went down town to Central Park for some peaceful chill time one last time before we parted ways. We saw some people making really awesome and huge bubbles. When they popped they "melted" away so gracefully, it was so fascination and beautiful I could have stood there all day watching and enjoying, except that the others wanted to move on. We also went to a very awesome play ground that was built around a huge mound of rocks. It was a good relaxed time with some good talks included.

When we got back to the apartment we mostly just chilled together and packed for our different journeys home.

Monday came all too soon. I had my shower and breakfast. We said out final goodbyes, still as hard as ever. Bekah and Karla were going downtown with Aaron and his family (who came to pick him up) before leaving on a train to go home. I left with Bonnie, who took me to the airport. We had a very good talk on the way there. I'm gonna miss that women very much. My flight didn't leave till later in the afternoon, but because Bonnie had to get home early, she had to drop me off early. So I had some do-nothing-and-chill time for about five hours. I slept most of the plane ride home. When I landed, Baruch met me at baggage claim and helped take my bags out to the car where I very warmly embraced Mom and Dad. I will definitely miss my totally awesome team, but I'm also very glad to have some time with my totally cool and amazing family.

Well that wraps up another blog. I don't have a lot else to say. If you would like to ask a question or if you have a comment, those can be posted here on this blog or emailed to my communications girl, Hope, at constanceh.95@gmail.com.

Have a good Christmas. I should be posting again probably once more before I go just to give a check-up update, and then I will resume my regular updates when I head for Spain on January 2. Thanks very much for reading, and I hope this Christmas finds you well,

As usual, with many loves and misses,

~Asher Fickett~

Snow and Sunshine

Well, I'm back. As usual. And, I'm late. Also as usual. But it's not because I don't like you guys, I do, it's just that I also like my awesome teammates that are here with me in person. Since we'll be parting soon, we've all been milking the most out of our time together, and I sort of neglected this responsibility. But here I am, and here you are, so lets get rolling.

This is probably going to be a shorter post this usual. There's hasn't been a lot of new things happening since we mostly stick to the same schedule. Plus, there hasn't been a whole lot of exciting things out of the ordinary happening, so I don't want to bore you, because seriously, cleaning drool out of a key board is not a fun experience, believe me. Not that that has ever happened to me, but I would say this is one of those times that I'm having a revelation of foresight. Just trust me on this one.

Sunday is a good example of nothing really new happening, besides the church sermon, because let's face it, that would be really boring and pointless to listen to the same message every week. After lunch I went shopping with Eryca, Bekah, Beth, and Aaron. Now when I say "I went shopping with..." I really mean that I just tagged along while the girls went shopping.
After dinner we watched the second Bourne movie, after which I did my blogging while those who hadn't seen "Letters to Juliet" last time re-watched it.

Monday started out with a bit of excitement: Aaron's Birthday. When he went in to the bathroom for his shower we moved like lightning to decorate the living room into a "surprise" party, with streamers and non-helium balloons. It was fun, quant and appreciated. What more could you ask for?
Ken was supposed to come and talk to us again but was unable to make it due to un-specified reasons, so we just had a group read-through/discussion of his notes he had sent Bonnie. We talked about the blessing of being a blessing.
I took a nap, as I often do. After dinner we watched the third Bourne movie. We then had the cake and ice cream for Aaron's birthday, after which we watched the first Pirates of the Caribbean.

Tuesday was an early rise for me, getting up at 7:00am to shower and eat breakfast before going to Breakfast Ministry with Beth. When we got back I did some reading in "Victory Over the Darkness" for about an hour before morning devotions, which were led by Aaron. We then had another Bonnie-led Ken talk from Ken's notes.
I bet you can't guess what I did next. I took a nap. Surprise right? I did some more reading after my nap.
After dinner those of us going to the Spanish speaking countries (Aaron, Eryca, Beth, Reneé and myself) left for Spanish church. We waited for the bus for about 30 minutes in very cold weather, and when it persisted in not arriving we decided to take the 15 minute walk. When we got there we discovered they were closed anyways. So we hopped on a bus (without waiting, thankfully) and came straight home.
The rest of the evening was chillax.

Wednesday was a long, but good day. I got to do my favorite job at the Bowery Mission of working the wash room. It's very fun for me to organize and clean and see progress and get things done.
When we left the Bowery for the after-school program it had started to rain. By the time we got off the subway it had started to snow. Because of this turn of events the kids didn't get their outside time so they were extra rowdy. In addition, everything was a little chaotic schedule and orderly wise since parents were coming to pick up their kids early due to the storm.
On our way home we ended up having to wait for a bus for what felt like a very long time in the very cold wind and snow. After getting back and getting in warm, dry clothes and having a nice warm dinner we watched "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." For those of you who aren't familiar with the story, it's very good and you should read the book. The book is much, much better than the movie!

After breakfast, morning devotions, and a quick shower, we watched a move about Dietrich Boenhoffer, a man who adamantly opposed Hitler in both word and action, religious belief and political. He is also one of the few actual Christian leaders who outwardly opposed Hitler, meaning he didn't join the bandwagon of church leaders supporting him.
After lunch we went to after-school program again, which was much better than the day before because the kids got their recess time. On the way there though, I fell smack dab on my butt, the only problem was that I fell right on my bad ankle. I think I might have re-sprained it. That night I sent out a prayer request for my ankle, and as of now (Tuesday, Nov 13) it's feeling mostly better. Answer to prayer? Can I get an amen!
That evening was again a chill and relax one.

Friday we again went to help at World Vision. Because we finished all the projects they had that we could help with, so we ate lunch and came home an hour early. Eryca, Reneé, Beth and I watched "You've Got Mail," while Karla, Bekah, and Aaron went for a run. After the movie Aaron and I went to the post office to pick up our packages, Aaron from his parents for his Birthday and mine from Taz, Brianna, and Baruch as a sort of care package. It was filled with some fun things and reminders of home. It was very nice!
After dinner Reneé and I stayed back while the rest of the team went to Times Square Church. Reneé and I ended up watching "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," which was a very good movie.

Saturday we went out again with Manna of Life Ministries to give soup and sandwiches to those that are homeless or in need.
That evening Bekah, Karla, Aaron, Beth, and I went downtown to China town to do some touring and shopping. We didn't really get much, but we did have a very good Chinese dinner.
The rest of the evening was hang time with this awesome team I'm a part of.

Here again we come to the end of my week. If you have any questions or comments you can post those here on this blog or send an email to my communicator girl, Hope, at constanceh.95@gmail.com. Also, if you would like to receive my prayer updates, you can contact Mike at biblebeach@hotmail.com.

Thanks again for everything. With many loves and misses,

~Asher Fickett~

Sandy And Our Beached Plans

It's that time of week again, when I sit myself down behind this little blu-tooth keyboard and inform ye faithful followers about my week.

Jumping right in to this one, I'm first gonna give another quick fun financial update. This week we got news from Vicky, the STEP coordinator, that the Missions Board has decided to give a grant to our STEP team. This means that all the rest of our funds that weren't covered from donations or pledges are fully covered. But again, this doesn't mean that you've lost your chance to give. I know that if you're like me, you were probably waiting till last minute to donate because you usually don't do things until you're required to do them, and now you think you're off the hook. Well let me tell you, you can still give to STEP and help lessen the burden of fund raising for future teams and individuals. If you feel I'm talking to you, or even if you don't, here are some contacts of people you can ask about donations: Vicky at vlandis@bic-church.org or Toni at 7sons@fickett.info. Thanks again to every one who has made this possible for me and my teammates. And particularly, a special thanks to the Board for their generosity to the whole team.

Well, seeing as last Wednesday I left off at Saturday, I'll pick up now at this past Sunday. It was a pretty average Sunday, the most noticeable difference was the rising apprehensions, warnings, and news announcements of our little hurricane friend's arrival. We weren't expecting anything major to arrive until at least Monday evening. So we went shopping. Not the shopping that most people were doing—milk, canned food, lantern fuel—but just some fun, basic shopping. (I guess Bonnie did a little necessity-item shopping, but not much.) The mini-mall thing eventually kicked us out because stores were closing down in anticipation of the coming storm. So we went home and had dinner and a free evening. We ended up having a five-ish hour long conversation about team issues, problems, successes, and just general team things that needed attention. It was definitely worth while and stress relieving.

Monday was, according to my journal entry from that day, "pretty much a nothing day." Their was no schedule to follow since the person who was supposed to be coming to talk to us on Monday and Tuesday was unable to make the trip due to the weather. Everyone woke up lazily throughout the morning. I personally got up around noon and showered and ate "breakfast." We watched the "Fellowship of the Ring," special extended edition.
As evening approached so did Sandy. We ourselves didn't have much of a storm, just some gusty wind and rain. We even went out and played in it a little, puddle jumping and enjoying the wind and general stormy-ness. Our electricity stayed and we ended up not needing the water we had filled the tub with (to flush the toilet with if there had been an outage).

Tuesday was a little more structured, but still mostly free. I woke up at 9:00 to make my family's special Brown-sugar biscuits for the team. Having never made them before and not having the usual biscuits we use, they turned out not quite as good as they're supposed to, but we still enjoyed them. After breakfast we split into our three teams (Spain, Colombia, Thailand) to work on our teams' Missions Statement and Goals.
After lunch I had Reneé cut my hair, which turned out very nice. Afterwards everyone but Eryca and I went to the park to get some exercise and to get out of the confines of the apartment. Eryca and I stayed back and watched "Letters to Juliet," near the end of which everyone got back. Reneé then wanted to watch the newest Star Trek. This was completed with a small dinner interruption.
The rest of the evening was hang time.

Wednesday was another day in our long, extended "weekend." Due to public transportation being down, we weren't able to go downtown to help volunteer at the Bowery Mission as we usually due on Wednesdays. So we had a little group devotion and worship time, after which we did a little language training with some CD's that Bonnie has.
I then stayed home to write my (late) blog while the rest of the team went down the plaza to do some shopping. It really wasn't that much of a sacrifice for me since shopping isn't really one of my cups of tea anyway. When they got back we had some yummy dinner before watching "The Incredibles," one of my all-time favorites. Again, we then had a chill, relax evening of talking and hangin'.

Thursday we didn't do much, but we did break our trend of doing nothing. The morning was a normal morning with breakfast, devotions, showers. After lunch we were finally able to get back to doing something on our schedule: we went to the Love Kitchen. As usual we helped with the preparations—packing fresh veggies, stocking shelves, carrying boxes. We then took people through the food line, plus they also got shampoo and pumpkins, something that they don't usually get but that had been donated that week. We then came home since there was no after-school program due to there being no school due to Sandy. The rest of the evening was fun-at-the-apartment time, including "A Bug's Life" and some team Catch Phrase.

Friday was again a back-on-schedule day. After breakfast and showers we packed our lunches and headed out for World Vision. Eryca got to drive us there since Bonnie was out of town at my home church's Missions Conference. (Don't worry, she didn't leave us in New York alone, her husband, Steve, came up for the weekend.) World Vision was a bit of bummer for us. It turns out that due to Sandy, the river across the street from the WV warehouse had flooded. This caused the warehouse to get about three feet of flood water throughout the whole building. Everything touched by the flood water had to be either cleaned or thrown away. Or in other words, most of the work, if not all of the work that we've been doing for them over the past six weeks was ruined. Stocked shelves had to be emptied into the trash and the shelves cleaned. The boxes we had organized in the storehouse were damaged and waterlogged. Everything was a wreck. All the carpet is going to have to be replaces, the concrete floors repainted, and any of the flood-touched dry wall replaced. And we only feel a portion of the "waste of work" symptoms that I'm sure the World Vision staff is feeling. Please keep them in your prayers as they have to remove-in after having just moved-in about two months ago. They had been planning on opening for distribution this week but will now have to postpone that for another month at least.
We came home (a little downcast) to the apartment where our mentor who had come up for the weekend, Greg, had already arrived, as well as a young German couple and their baby who were friends of Bonnie and Steve. The husband, Lucas, is going to be taking a class here for a week and will be staying with us, while his wife and child headed home to Germany this afternoon (Sunday, Nov 4). The rest of the day was laid-back time. Before bed we watched the newer Karate Kid (with Jacki Chan and Jayden Smith) which related to the culture topic that Greg was going to be talking to us about.

Saturday I woke up and had some breakfast before starting our talks with Greg on some different cultural awareness topics. After lunch and our second session we walked down to Little Italy to do some tourism. We stopped at a pastry shop for some yummy pastries and good conversation. We then came home and had some dinner before playing a great game of Spoons (that I won). Afterwards we watched "The Two Towers."

That brings us to the end of last week. As usual, if you have any questions or comments, concerns or worries, quarrels or edifications, those can be posted here on this blog, or sent to Hope as constanceh.95@gmail.com who will then pass them along to me. She is also the one to contact if you would like address information. I recommend that you come up with some question or comment or "other" if you don't have one just so you can have the joy of communicating with such an extraordinary communicator girl extraordinaire. Also, if you would like to receive my prayer updates, you can contact Mike at biblebeach@hotmail.com.

Thanks again for keeping up with me and taking time to hear me talk. May you see God's blessings in your life as you go through this next week. With many misses and loves,

~Asher Fickett~