JVC Northwest Orientation

Arrival at orientation (and much of orientation) was a surreal experience for me. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by several members of the JVC staff who were responsible for checking us in. As I approached the registration table, I was greeted with a giant "I know who you are!" and hug from my area director for Alaska (who I had never met prior to this) which really set the tone for the rest of the week for me.

Our first night included dinner and a Native American smudging ceremony in which cedar was burnt and each of us was invited to take the smoke in our hands and brush it over ourselves. We did this because it is believed that before a person can be healed or heal another, one must be cleansed both physically and spiritually of any bad feelings, negative thoughts, bad spirits or negative energy. This was a very new, unique and freeing experience for me and I think that it united us all together, opened us up to our surroundings and enabled us to enter the week in complete openness to all that we would hear and experience.

During orientation, each day was set aside to examine one of the JVC values: Social Justice, Community, Spirituality, and Simple Living. We began each day with songs that words cannot do justice for. To quote someone explaining JVC songs to me before I arrived, "it is basically Jesus Raffi." We had a variety of speakers (mainly Former JVs and people working in organizations in the Portland area) that included Fr. Jack Morris, one of the founders of JVC, who I was able to talk to before I left. He shared some stories about Holy Cross (one involving his honorary degree) and offered his hopes and prayers for my time in Sitka. It was really powerful for me to be able to meet and speak with him because he is the one who started it all and has spent his live working for peace and justice, including making a peace walk from Tacoma, WA to Bethlehem (where Jesus was born.)

Throughout the week the speakers sparked a variety of conversations and thoughts for me, however the most challenging and interesting quote for me came during the Top 10 list of JVC during Community day when one of the presenters shared the following quote with us: "Forgiveness is the letting go of all hope for a better past." I had never heard this quote before and had never thought of forgiveness in that manner before. I feel that this quote is one that will continue to come up for me over the course of this year and is one that I know will challenge me to grow spiritually, emotionally and socially.

The toughest part of orientation though was saying goodbye. One of the great things about orientation was that I met so many great people; one of the worst things about it though is that because we are in different parts of the northwest I may never see these people again. Saying goodbye to the people I connected with over the course of the week was weird but we were pretty positive in our hopes to keep in touch and someday meet again. The end of the week also meant that I had to say goodbye (for now) to the other 10 Holy Cross JVs and Mo, who came to visit us on Thursday and will be serving as a JV for 2 years in Peru. The JVC staff and family really put 110% into ensuring that each of us felt at home, was challenged, that each session served to benefit us individually and communally, and that a tightly knit community among the new JVs was established. Some of us plan on passing books (and letters) on throughout the year in order to stay in touch…it is something I am very excited about! It is also great to know that there are so many people serving in dozens of communities throughout the world; it is inspiring and serves as a reminder to myself and my community in Sitka that we are not alone.