Unplanned, Unexpected, Unbelievable!

Nazareth Farm:  Unplanned, unexpected, unbelievable!

By: John Silva, St. Athanasius Parish Chaperone

On the Tuesday before the team (Jen, Brett, Sam, Rachael) was to leave for Naz Farm Karen asked Jen if I could go with the group.  Jen immediately called Naz Farm and secured a place for me to join the team.   On Saturday (Aug 17th), Fr. Colarusso and the morning Mass group gave us a blessing, crosses, and a nice send-off for our trip to Salem, West Virginia.  After a stop in Hershey, PA and overnight at St. Joan of Arc, sleeping on the floor at the parish school, we headed to West Virginia.  As we arrived at the farm we were greeted by the staff with “Welcome Home” greetings, but this was not our home (yet) so it was a little awkward.  Then we were hugged by each staff member and I thought, this is strange to be hugged by a group of people I do not even know.  This was just the start of the new encounters that would define our week and shape our experience of Naz Farm.

The first morning we awoke early to gather for a prayer service; prayer is an integral part of the Naz Farm experience.  We had prayer services in the morning before breakfast, prayer at every breakfast, lunch and dinner, a prayer circle before we left for our work sites, prayers before we started working at our work site (sometimes with the homeowner), two beautiful Eucharistic services, a rosary, a walking rosary and more.  Each prayer brought a sense of purpose, serenity and a sense of the beauty of our Catholic prayer tradition.   We then performed some chores around the farm (charity begins at home) and then had lunch followed by a hike to the highest part of the Naz Farm property.  It was a good 45+ minute hike and at the top we climbed two large rocks and listened to Matt proclaim Elijah’s search for God (1 Kg 19:11-13) from the mountaintop; it was very inspiring!

Each morning our crews would find out where we were working that day and what we would be doing.  We would drive to the work sites, sometimes an hour away, then meet the homeowner talking with them before starting our work.  I had a great crew of four young men who worked very hard without complaint; we got a lot accomplished and they seemed to have a real sense of how their efforts were really making a difference.   This happened each day except for Thursday when our crew was “home crew” which meant we helped around the farm, preparing meals with Sister Paula, cleaning the house and being the “greeters” when the rest of the crews came back from their work sites.  It gave us a real sense of service and appreciation for what others do for us that we sometimes take for granted.

The most unexpected experience was on Thursday evening when each volunteer would answer the question, “Where did you encounter God this week?”.   The answers were as varied and heart-warming as the volunteers who were there.  When it came to my reflection I had two main thoughts, the first was from an encounter with a man from the local community who told me, “You were meant (by God) to be here” and “Your daughter is a gift to you and you to her!”  Wow, what an unexpected encounter; it was as though God was speaking directly to me through this man!  The second was my realization and recognition of the inspiration I felt by seeing all the young people who are committed to their faith, reflective in their prayers and responses and the overall respectfulness of each!  It really gave a sense of hope in the future of the Church and a sense that God is moving in our young people!

Our last work day was an abbreviated day; we worked the morning only, had lunch and then shared “affirmations” with each member of the group.  It was encouraging to hear how each of us had grown to appreciate and recognize the talents of each member of our group.

We awoke Saturday morning, earlier than other mornings, and the realization hit us that the week was over; a sadness came over everyone yet with a thankful joyfulness of the week we had just experienced.   The last prayer service was very unique and really touched every volunteer, chaperone and Naz Farm staff member.   After the prayer service I shared a story about Rachael, because it was her birthday --- every person in the room was emotional, including myself.   I later heard from one of my fellow male chaperones; “Great, you even made the father’s cry!”  Before we left we had one more prayer circle and then everyone hugged each other; these hugs felt so much different from the beginning of the week because we had grown together in God’s love and were now truly friends!

So, what is it about Nazareth Farm … it is a great ‘microcosm’ of how to live our Catholic faith in prayer and service; in a word an “UNBELIEVABLE” experience!

Falling in Love with West Virginia

Our Apple Butter Float

The fall is a time when we as a staff are able to grow together and experience the special place that is WV for ourselves. 3 new staff members joined us in September and October - Teresa, Andi, and Natalie. We participated in Salem's Apple Butter Festival, went on a staff retreat in the Adirondacks, completed a few windows and small roofs, and made the Farm our own.

After over a month of staff weeks (full of various days of cleaning, retreating, hiking, doing home repair, and more!) everyone readily welcomed home 2 weeks of college students this fall. Our usual groups from Notre Dame, Creighton, St. Francis, and Aquinas joined us. With their help we completed a trailer roof, re-roofed the back half of our friends' home, and built a giant porch!

The staff at Niagara Falls on our way to our retreat

The staff on top of Snowy Mountain during retreat

(Chevy) Chase, our new truck!

A new roof for Jerry's shed

Bert and Roxanne's beautiful porch!

Here Come the High Schooelers!

Many students think of June as a time for vacation, but we were blessed to have a bunch of students and adults join us in working around the Farm, in the gardens, and out on worksites. We were able to complete 4 roofs, 4 porches, 1 addition, 1 siding site, and 1 painting site along with tons of Farm and garden projects.
Our ladders received a new covering and the White Barn started getting scraped.

I hope you enjoy the pictures of sites!

Ivena's leak-free roof

Richard and family's new porch

Judy's newly painted house!

Sharin's new 1st story roof!

Rosemary's Porch

Eric + Amy's Porch

Brussel Sprouts!

Betty's New Porch           

JoAnn's New Roof!

End of Summer Wrap-Up

August is a favorite month for many staff members because of Family Week. This year wasn't any different! Most of the volunteers were under the age of 13, but it didn't stop the work. All the homeowner accommodated the little ones with cartoons, popsicles, snacks, swing-sets, and love.
We also hosted 2 great weeks of high school students to finish up the trifecta. As the last group left, staff members were sad to see the summer end but delighted for the naps to follow!

Connie's Underpinning

Friederike's Newly Painted House!

Kelly's Fence

Christina's New Blue Roof

Tim and Donna's Painted House

Debra's New Siding

New Siding in Pennsboro!

Working on the siding

Joel's Sturdy Floor

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Hello everyone!
As you probably know, we have our own Christmas traditions here at the Farm and our annual Christmas party is coming up.  Each December we take a break from home repair and focus on sharing the joy of the holiday season with our Doddridge county community.  We visit all of the families that we have worked with over the course of the year and bring them gifts and cookies.  Also, we send a thank you cookie package to all the wonderful businesses the work with us.  It all culminates with a big party for the children of the area.  We have music, games, face painting, crafts, and Santa has a toy and at least one book for every child.

            The only way that we can do this is through the help and generosity of others. For those of you who came here this year, maybe you want to sponsor a family that you worked with.  Here are some things to think about.  Maybe your family wants to sponsor a family.  Maybe your church or youth group wants to sponsor a family.  Maybe you want to pool some money with your work crew.  If you do decide to sponsor someone you could set aside time to pray for them throughout the holiday season.  If you haven’t been to the farm in a while you can donate to the general Christmas fund.   

Anything that you all are able to do is appreciated. We generally spend around $15/person. If you do wish to sponsor a family let us know before Thanksgiving so we can plan accordingly. You can let us know by calling or emailing the Farm. Lastly, if you want to send or email any Christmas cards or messages we would love to pass them on. Merry Christmas!

                        

July, July

July came in hot, and it hasn't let up. Fortunately our volunteers remained unfazed by the heat (though all our staff members can't say the same!) We had wonderful groups from Kentucky, Massachusetts, Illinois, Indiana, California, Ohio, New Jersey, and Maryland. Volunteers embraced the cornerstones for the week, and wanted to make some concrete changes back at home.

We were able to complete some beautiful projects for ever better homeowners. Many lunches, hugs, stories, and jokes were shared during the group weeks.

Almost Finished Roofover!

Mike and Donna's New Stairs

Kim's New Ramp

Friederike's Newly Painted House!

Rosa's New Porch Roof

Betty and Toni's New Porch

Candis' New Siding

A Small Look into a High School Group Week

Hi, my name is Annie, and I was lucky enough to go on the trip to Nazareth Farm last week.  

Simplicity, Community, Service and Prayer are the 4 corner stones of Nazareth Farm.  Throughout the week we lived these cornerstones and came together as one big, happy family with God. The first day as we piled out of big van that would soon be named “Otto,” we were embraced by all the staff members with a hug and welcome home.  With confused faces, we hugged these new people without knowing that in the next week we wouldn’t want to let go of them. 

We were introduced to the cornerstone of simplicity on the first day when we had to put all electronics away. Also, they ask you to not wear any makeup because the real you is the most beautiful you.  As the first day progressed, we toured to see the outhouse (which I did clean one day), the compost pile, and the bucket showers.  Another piece of simplicity is only taking 2-bucket showers and one real shower in the 6 days we were there. The simplicity cornerstone is taken very seriously at Nazareth Farm; we are not allowed to know the time. It is always 10:10, God’s time, because when Jesus was crucified his hands stayed at 10 and 2, 10 minutes after the hour. 

  The cornerstone of community is my favorite cornerstone. One person in particular stood out to me, and if anyone in church today was on the trip they know whom I’m going to say, Bernadette.  I was lucky enough to meet a new best friend on the trip; if we weren’t together, we were screaming each others name trying to find each other. People couldn’t believe we had just met. On the last day I kept my tears inside until we had to hug and say goodbye, it was one of the hardest goodbyes I have ever had to say.  After our 6^th hug and more tears than you could imagine we finally went our separate ways into our vans. Although we only knew each other for 6 days we had a bond that no one else could understand.  I have 2 families now, it’s unbelievable how you can live with people for only 6 days and feel like a family. 

The next cornerstone is service; this is the biggest cornerstone at Nazareth Farm. Every morning we would wake up and do chores around the farm before breakfast. Then we would pile into our vans and go to our worksites. The first night there had been a terrible storm. We were flooded into the Farm and had to stay home, luckily I was on home crew that day. We stayed inside to make meals, clean the house, and welcome everyone else home.  Tuesday was probably the toughest workday of the week. We took a half hour drive to George and Debra’s house to put up vinyl siding, which is the most difficult thing to cut and nail onto a house.  George is one of the nicest and funniest people I have ever met; he kept us entertained all day with his stories about all of his crazy adventures with his friends - but all 8 of us on our work crew got a different version of the same story.  The next day we went to Joel and Mary’s house. They have a 3-year-old daughter named Alyssa and 4 dogs.  We put trim onto their porch and stained the porch floor. When lunch-time rolled around Alyssa insisted on eating with us. When our work was day was done, you could see a few tears rolling down her face. It’s seeing the happiness and gratitude of all of the families we worked with that made the week more enjoyable and rewarding.

Prayer is the final cornerstone of Nazareth Farm and while on the farm your whole life is devoted to God.  Before doing anything in the morning we had Morning Prayer; every group would plan prayer however they liked it. The first prayer the staff planned, we got into small groups and discussed the 4 cornerstones.  I met a boy named Jon in this group. He was so passionate and happy, but then he shared how he lost his father at a young age, and how he has tried to live his life in a way his father would have wanted. At the end of the week Jon told the full story of his father during evening prayer. I saw God in Jon and I believe I met Jon to show me that even through the toughest times in your life God walks with you.  We celebrated Mass twice at Nazareth Farm. Father Joe from Long Island led mass and being in the small, intimate setting made me feel fully surrounded by God.  My favorite prayer was the one everyday before we left for the worksites. We all gathered into one big circle in the parking lot, joined hands, and someone said prayer - Bernadette and I always insisted on standing on either side of Father Joe for prayer.  One day we were standing around waiting for everyone to come to the parking lot and someone suggested we “pass the squeeze” so everyone closed their eyes and waited for their hand to be squeezed so they could pass it to the next person.  I don’t know what it was about that experience, but it sticks out in my mind, such a small thing, but it meant so much to me. 

I will end by saying thank you to everyone who helped us make this trip possible, whether it was getting your car washed, buying a baked good or just praying for us while we were gone.  I will never forget this experience because it has truly changed my life. “Expect A Miracle”.