Newsletter #1
Hello All,
On Tuesday I embarked on my journey that will span the course of 10 months known as the Americorps*NCCC. I arrived here in Denver, Colorodo that Tuesday afternoon after a two hour delay on the runway at the Philly Airport. Upon arrival a bunch of the young people on the plane realized that we were going to the same place and walked all together to the meeting point in which we checked in. At that point we found out what unit we would be on. There are four units: Earth, Fire, Water, and Sun. I was placed in the Water unit. We then went and picked up our baggage and waited for the Charter bus that would take us through downtown Denver and bring us to the campus that we would be staying. The campus name is Teikyo Loretto Heights University. Its quite beautiful but its nothing compared the beautiful campus of Eastern. It is the highest point in Denver so I can see the city from out of my dorm room. Anyways once on campus we got our room keys and had to "Check in" our rooms. (Not quite extensive as checking in rooms for Theresa :) ) Then we got our baggage and brought it up and got settled. At this point I met my roomate Scot from Massachusettes. He's a good guy reminds me a lot of Ben Carr for all of you who know him. That first night we then had a Unit Meeting and met the Team Leaders of Water and then found out what team we were on. I was placed on water 1 with Meghan as my team leader. They sent us to bed early that night because we were getting used to the time change. That Night i think i went to bed at 9pm Mountain Time.
On Wednesday we got our uniforms and had a couple of other meetings to fill out paper work and what not so that we could get paid. The uniforms consist of kacki pants a grey shirt whether it be a polo, t-shirt, long-sleeve t-shirt, a hoodie, a pair of black pants, a parka, and a pair of boots. So after all the meetings it was just a time to chill and get to know people. Scot and I hit it off and we met some other people. It's totally different here to be in an environment that is blatently non-christian. Its definitly hard to adjust from the bubble known as Eastern. We played mafia that night with about ten people it was a lot of fun. That was Wednesday in a nutshell.
Thursday was crazy. Called Driver training. In the morning we had a training course/ video that taught how to drive a 15 passenger van. It was very long and very drawn out many people were falling asleep so they made us run around the building twice. This was the first time I had ran since my knee surgery so it was quite painful not to mention the light air Denver is known for. After the run we piled into the vans to practice what was just taught. Our team had our own van but we could not use it because on the seatbelts was busted so we had to wait to get another van which took some time. So, by noon we were on the road, just driving around to get the hang of the vans. A girl drove first and we went to Bear Creek state park its beautiful. Then I drove around the suburbs of Denver for about 30 minutes and I "passed" the test with flying colors. After driving one of the 15 passengers to Florida last spring break this was a peice of cake. After more people drove and we went to Buffalo Bills grave up on top of this mountain and I took some amazing pictures with my digital. I'll attach one so you can see what it looked like at a very high altitude looking down at Denver. We drove a lot more and we got to know our team well because we were in a van for oh about 6 hours. That night Meghan our team leader booked us some lanes at a local bowling ally so we went and bowled that night. It was a good time. Got back late that night and went to bed.
Friday. Physicals. Our entire unit went to the Urgent Care center and we all got physicals. You know the usual pee in a cup. Lots of fun. Well our group went first so we got out super early and got back by 10. So i took a nap and chilled fro the rest of the day. Thursday night I got my computer, so I passed the time with clicking around and watching dvds that night. Hung out with some people and went to bed.
Saturday. Get to know Denver. In the morning we switched teams. It was sad to see the old team break up but it was fun while it lasted. I was switched to team 2 in the water unit. We got to know each others names by incorporating a dance move for each of our names. It was quite funny to do, problably much funnier to watch from a distance. Anyways, our new team piled in the van and we headed toward downtown Denver to "get to know" the city. We went to 16th Street Mall, REI, and this awesome bookstore called the Tattered Cover. The second floor of this place was amazing. They rediculous amounts of books at half of the sale price. So i purchased a very political book for 2.50. Haven't got into it yet but for 2.50 i can't go wrong. We walked all around downtown Denver and it was amazing. The architechture around the city is awesome. Unlike Philly with all of the older buildings there is a lot of modern architechture which is neat. The city is very clean. I was very impressed. I drove home its about a 15 minute drive, the road wasn't too good though. We got home and then we changed out of our uniforms into our civi's and then went to Super Target. Lots of fun. Then my roomate and I watched Napolean Dynamite. It was funny but the hype made it seem a lot better than it acutally was. Went to bed and that was all for Saturday.
Today. I have done nothing besides watch 4 episodes of Saved by the Bell and went to brunch. The cafeteria here is not too bad.
Final thoughts and ask for prayer:
I'm enjoying my time here so far. Its different but just today I met some fellow christians which made me feel more at home. They went to chuch and i met them at brunch. So next week I should be able to go with them.
Continue to pray for me as I continue on this long journey. Pray that I get in with the right people so that I feel comfortable being myself and being a christian. It has been a difficult transition to see the reality of being around non-believers. Pray for the non-believers as well. So that they see the light in me and want to know what I have and that they ask about it so i can share the gospel with them.
I guess that's all for now but i'll leave you with my address so that you can write me. I also don't mind email either. Either one will do.
So long from Snowy Denver,
God Bless,
Matthew aka Bama
Matthew Anderson
Americorps*NCCC
Walsh Hall 136
3001 S. Federal Blvd
Denver, CO 80236
On Tuesday I embarked on my journey that will span the course of 10 months known as the Americorps*NCCC. I arrived here in Denver, Colorodo that Tuesday afternoon after a two hour delay on the runway at the Philly Airport. Upon arrival a bunch of the young people on the plane realized that we were going to the same place and walked all together to the meeting point in which we checked in. At that point we found out what unit we would be on. There are four units: Earth, Fire, Water, and Sun. I was placed in the Water unit. We then went and picked up our baggage and waited for the Charter bus that would take us through downtown Denver and bring us to the campus that we would be staying. The campus name is Teikyo Loretto Heights University. Its quite beautiful but its nothing compared the beautiful campus of Eastern. It is the highest point in Denver so I can see the city from out of my dorm room. Anyways once on campus we got our room keys and had to "Check in" our rooms. (Not quite extensive as checking in rooms for Theresa :) ) Then we got our baggage and brought it up and got settled. At this point I met my roomate Scot from Massachusettes. He's a good guy reminds me a lot of Ben Carr for all of you who know him. That first night we then had a Unit Meeting and met the Team Leaders of Water and then found out what team we were on. I was placed on water 1 with Meghan as my team leader. They sent us to bed early that night because we were getting used to the time change. That Night i think i went to bed at 9pm Mountain Time.
On Wednesday we got our uniforms and had a couple of other meetings to fill out paper work and what not so that we could get paid. The uniforms consist of kacki pants a grey shirt whether it be a polo, t-shirt, long-sleeve t-shirt, a hoodie, a pair of black pants, a parka, and a pair of boots. So after all the meetings it was just a time to chill and get to know people. Scot and I hit it off and we met some other people. It's totally different here to be in an environment that is blatently non-christian. Its definitly hard to adjust from the bubble known as Eastern. We played mafia that night with about ten people it was a lot of fun. That was Wednesday in a nutshell.
Thursday was crazy. Called Driver training. In the morning we had a training course/ video that taught how to drive a 15 passenger van. It was very long and very drawn out many people were falling asleep so they made us run around the building twice. This was the first time I had ran since my knee surgery so it was quite painful not to mention the light air Denver is known for. After the run we piled into the vans to practice what was just taught. Our team had our own van but we could not use it because on the seatbelts was busted so we had to wait to get another van which took some time. So, by noon we were on the road, just driving around to get the hang of the vans. A girl drove first and we went to Bear Creek state park its beautiful. Then I drove around the suburbs of Denver for about 30 minutes and I "passed" the test with flying colors. After driving one of the 15 passengers to Florida last spring break this was a peice of cake. After more people drove and we went to Buffalo Bills grave up on top of this mountain and I took some amazing pictures with my digital. I'll attach one so you can see what it looked like at a very high altitude looking down at Denver. We drove a lot more and we got to know our team well because we were in a van for oh about 6 hours. That night Meghan our team leader booked us some lanes at a local bowling ally so we went and bowled that night. It was a good time. Got back late that night and went to bed.
Friday. Physicals. Our entire unit went to the Urgent Care center and we all got physicals. You know the usual pee in a cup. Lots of fun. Well our group went first so we got out super early and got back by 10. So i took a nap and chilled fro the rest of the day. Thursday night I got my computer, so I passed the time with clicking around and watching dvds that night. Hung out with some people and went to bed.
Saturday. Get to know Denver. In the morning we switched teams. It was sad to see the old team break up but it was fun while it lasted. I was switched to team 2 in the water unit. We got to know each others names by incorporating a dance move for each of our names. It was quite funny to do, problably much funnier to watch from a distance. Anyways, our new team piled in the van and we headed toward downtown Denver to "get to know" the city. We went to 16th Street Mall, REI, and this awesome bookstore called the Tattered Cover. The second floor of this place was amazing. They rediculous amounts of books at half of the sale price. So i purchased a very political book for 2.50. Haven't got into it yet but for 2.50 i can't go wrong. We walked all around downtown Denver and it was amazing. The architechture around the city is awesome. Unlike Philly with all of the older buildings there is a lot of modern architechture which is neat. The city is very clean. I was very impressed. I drove home its about a 15 minute drive, the road wasn't too good though. We got home and then we changed out of our uniforms into our civi's and then went to Super Target. Lots of fun. Then my roomate and I watched Napolean Dynamite. It was funny but the hype made it seem a lot better than it acutally was. Went to bed and that was all for Saturday.
Today. I have done nothing besides watch 4 episodes of Saved by the Bell and went to brunch. The cafeteria here is not too bad.
Final thoughts and ask for prayer:
I'm enjoying my time here so far. Its different but just today I met some fellow christians which made me feel more at home. They went to chuch and i met them at brunch. So next week I should be able to go with them.
Continue to pray for me as I continue on this long journey. Pray that I get in with the right people so that I feel comfortable being myself and being a christian. It has been a difficult transition to see the reality of being around non-believers. Pray for the non-believers as well. So that they see the light in me and want to know what I have and that they ask about it so i can share the gospel with them.
I guess that's all for now but i'll leave you with my address so that you can write me. I also don't mind email either. Either one will do.
So long from Snowy Denver,
God Bless,
Matthew aka Bama
Matthew Anderson
Americorps*NCCC
Walsh Hall 136
3001 S. Federal Blvd
Denver, CO 80236