Alternative Spring Break 2017: Hurricane Disaster Recovery Mission Trip to Virginia Beach

By Dr. Jan Nicholson Angle, Dean of the Chapel

Five students and two staff from Ferrum College gave up their Spring Break to travel to Virginia Beach where they assisted two families who are recovering from the effects of Hurricane Matthew. Hurricane Matthew struck the Virginia coast in October 2016. Ferrum College continues to be the only Virginia based United Methodist affiliated college team to volunteer with The Virginia Conference United Methodist Volunteers in Mission Disaster Recovery working to assist families along the Virginia coast who are recovering from both the September 2016 tornado and October 2016 hurricane.

Our Ferrum College team of seven persons arrived in Virginia Beach Friday at 11 pm. We were up Saturday morning and on our first work site by 8 am. We arrived to find a couple living in a trailer located in the driveway of their home. Previous teams had worked with them to remove and treat the water-damaged walls of their home. This family, paralyzed by the trauma of the hurricane, had moved only a portion of their belongings out of the house leaving many personal items and furniture still inside. Our job for the next two days was to support and assist this couple in moving the salvageable belongings to storage. More importantly our team truly set aside self and embraced other as we listened to this beautiful couple reminisce their favorite family memories, and shed silent tears as they came to terms in parting with family heirlooms that were too water damaged to be saved. With most of their belongings in storage, and the assurance of other work teams to follow, our team laid hands on the homeowner and the furnishings now moved to storage asking for God’s blessings and safe keeping over his family, his home, and his belongings.

The second family our work team assisted was an older couple who, as Hurricane Matthew bore down upon them, had helplessly watched the waters rise covering the entire first floor of their town home. When we arrived we quickly realized that this couple was at a different stage of recovery as they had already moved all their water damaged belongings out of the house, had the walls repaired, and were waiting on our team to install wood laminate flooring in both their living and dining rooms.

While the work we did and the skills we attained individually and as team were amazing, NOTHING could take the place of watching Ms. Eleanor at 70+ years of age do her happy dance on her new living room floor. As our final day of work closed, it was not only Ms Eleanor who was shedding tears as we stood hand in hand with her in her dining room. We praised God for bringing her safely through the storm and offering her hope for tomorrow. Ms. Eleanor said over and over again how she would have never been able to recover without us. Of course we all knew better, but are thankful that for this Spring Break we have had the opportunity to represent Ferrum College and re-present the love of God to those who now hold a very special place in our hearts.

Team Members

Students: Stephanie Gibbs, a senior majoring in Health Sciences; Alexis Hatcher, a junior majoring in Religion; Mark Kellam a sophomore majoring in Environmental Science; Lukas McWhorter, a junior majoring in Environmental Science; and Ricky Phillips a sophomore majoring in Computer Science.

Staff: Assistant Director of Student Leadership and Engagement Daniel Kyle and Dean of the Chapel Jan Nicholson Angle.


View additional photographs from the trip here.

Life of Service

By Daniel Kyle

Today the team woke up eager to see who our next hurricane survivors were. After eating the delicious breakfast Jan cooked, we stopped by our rooms, grabbed our stuff and headed to the van. It was a long yet productive day as we met a new family who were survivors of Hurricane Matthews aftermath. They were such a beautiful couple. We were welcomed into their home and treated with a warm feeling of hospitality. There seemed to be a sense of purpose residing in each of us. As we worked throughout the day interacting with the family, we couldn’t help but notice the cheerful and joyful feelings the family expressed as we placed brand new floors in their house.

Mark 10:45 says, “for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Dwelling on this verse of scripture teaches us about living a life of service. Are we living a life of service? What does a life of service look like? It’s a refreshing feeling knowing that Jesus came to serve and not be served. This trip has taught our team about living a life of service in a variety of ways. Giving these families our time and assistance is a great way to live a life of service but most importantly, showing the love of Christ is the ultimate way we can serve them.

A life of service starts in our hearts that develop into actions leading to valuable relationships. Relationships lead to new conversations and new relationships but most importantly a life of peace (Philippians 4:7). When you are in the righteous will of God, you’re led to people who value your time and presence. People will value the love you show them through times of crisis and heartache. Your peace will come from helping others knowing that you’re pleasing God as well.

Letting Go: Trusting in God’s Plan

By Daniel Kyle

February 27, 2017:  Wow! What an amazing day! It was day three of our Alternative Spring Break Mission trip from Ferrum and it was nothing short of phenomenal. Today we went back to finish up the moving process with the family we were assigned to. We learned so much from helping the flood survivors from last year’s hurricane (Hurricane Matthew) at Virginia Beach that even after leaving their company, we were dwelling on the wealth of knowledge and wisdom we received from their beautiful spirits. We were in awe of how grateful and kind-hearted they were towards us. Stephanie, Jan, and Alexis worked with each other to organize and pack boxes extra heavy for the men, testing what little strength they had left after day one. Lukas and Mark put their “Boy Scout” skills to the test by securing boxes, with rope, inside the back of the truck. Ricky and Daniel did an exceptional job organizing the back of the truck to clear space for continuous oncoming traffic. Working together as a team never looked so good as each individual carried the motto “Not Self but Others” in their hearts and minds.

1 Corinthians 12 says Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. This verse exemplified how we felt as a team. Each of us had a different skill set or gift we brought to the table in order to accomplish the mission at hand. There were many times throughout the 2-day task we wanted to stop (because of fatigue) but the encouragement we received from one another gave us motivation to strive on. During our reflection period near the end of the day, a question was brought up in the discussion. In Jeremiah 29:11 God says He plans to give us a hope and a future, however, the question was asked how do you get to that future when you’re afraid of letting go? Looking at some of the flood survivors it seemed that some of them were reluctant to let some things go. Not just material belongings but emotional and sentimental feelings as well. We could only imagine what a lot of them have gone through in this past year losing their homes and personal possessions.

Sometimes it’s hard to find the right answer to tough questions but we took a stab at it with our thoughts on the day. First, understanding that things are replaceable. One of the survivors repetitively kept saying “It’s replaceable” throughout the day (referring to their possessions). It was almost like they were training themselves to believe what they were saying. That’s how God’s word works in our lives, by consistently reading it and dwelling on whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things (Philippians 4:8).

Secondly, being appreciative and grateful for what you have can help you move forward in life. The survivors consistently showed their gratitude and appreciation not only towards the team, but also towards the materials they still have. They found value in the little things and their faith in God showed us that even when the storm is over, we can still put our trust and faith in God to restore any brokenness we may have.

The Spirit of Adventure E-Term 2016: As The Journey Ends, Our Spirits Thrive

By Michael Gauldin

Today was the last leg of the Spirit of Adventure E-Term. We began the day at Yogaville in Buckingham, Virginia with a sunrise yoga and meditation session at 6 AM. Seeing a group of twenty college students going from warriors to trees and then to cobras and pigeons was a sight to behold. With our muscles stretched, minds cleared, and not to mention, for those as inflexible as me, bodies sore, we moved along to a breakfast consisting a fresh picked fruits, vegetables, and other organic options. Following breakfast, we did Karma Yoga, which was a form of yoga that involves doing a service that helps others and makes them feel good also, in return, you gain peace. For our Karma Yoga, we helped clean yoga mats, garden, and spread mulch. After our last yoga session, we went to the Lotus Temple for a 30 minute meditation before heading back up to the vans to depart back to Ferrum.

As the journey ends for our Spirit of Adventure E-Term, we look back on what we have accomplished and how we’ve grown throughout the experience. I came in expecting both thrill and excitement to be accompanied with relaxation and peace and this E-Term came far from falling below expectation. From our activities such as, zip lining, rafting, and hiking to the peace of yoga and meditation, we each found a way to grow in our vocational and spiritual calling during this E-Term while acquiring friendships, peace, and excitement along the way. Although, it wasn’t always easy we still managed to learn and expand ourselves. Furthermore, as we leave for the summer, we all will be taking away different experiences that have made each of us grow differently but also in unity and with that, as the journey ends, our spirits thrive.

The Spirit of Adventure E-term 2016: Interfaith Comparison

By Tyler Belcher

The Spirit of Adventure E-Term was a very exciting and interesting course. The course began by learning the roots of Ferrum College in the classroom. We learned how the college was established as a part of the United Methodist Church. We then learned more about the Methodist faith. This lead us to our first place of adventure, Lake Junaluska. Lake Junaluska is a beautiful place that is associated with the United Methodist. The World Methodist Museum is located there. The museum was filled with all kinds of interesting things from the past related to the Methodist faith. We also were able to experience different types of prayers and meditations there. The peacefulness of the lake really made a difference for everyone and helped contribute to our learning. During our stay at Lake Junaluska, we visited Cherokee. At Cherokee we were able to see how the Cherokee people lived both past and present, as well as learn their spiritual background. The speakers there stated how accepting the Cherokee are of all kinds of people and this relates to the Methodist faith. It was very interesting to see how the faiths relate to one another. 

The second half of our adventure led us to Washington D.C. During our stay at D.C. we visited Foundry Methodist Church. This church had several different beliefs than what most of our class had, but it was interesting to learn how things are done differently in different areas. We also attended several seminars and went on a nature hike along the Potomac River. Along the hike several of my classmates had to face some of their fears, whether it being the fear of snakes or the fear of heights, they still faced their fears and completed the hike. After the adventures around D.C. we traveled to Yogaville for the last two days of our E-Term. Several of us were skeptical of Yogaville, but we all decided to stay positive and be open minded. I personally did not agree with some of the practices that the people there followed, but I was respectful of their faiths. Although, their beliefs were different, they were still open to all beliefs no matter what it was. The people there are very respectful to everyone just like the Methodist and Cherokee.

The Spirit of Adventure E-term 2016: It’s Yoga Time

By Keith Ricks

Today was awesome; we started off with leaving the nation’s capital and it took almost 4 hours to arrive to Yogaville located in Buckingham, Virginia. My first take on this community was that everyone here was very open minded and free spirited, and I was right! After getting settled in we had orientation and it was long but informational. The instructor Shankari gave us everything we needed to know and she was very clear that this location is filled with vegetarians and shoes are not necessary. After the orientation we had a successful 2 hour long yoga session. In the session we were able to engage our spiritual and physical well-being. Even though it was very hot in the room the class still enjoyed the wonderful experience.

Dinner was not so appealing coming from nothing but a meat eater however, the salad was the best part. Trying out new things has been a wonderful experience but the only time I was able to truly connect with myself was during yoga. To wrap up a very interesting day, we had a lovely speaker who discussed health, wellness and spirituality and their connections. The class really seemed to enjoy it. The first day at Yogaville was eventful and we all look forward to this new opportunity to step outside our comfort zone and learn and experience new things.

The Spirit of Adventure E-term 2016: The Rocks, the River, and the Snakes

By Austin Winkles

May 24, 2016 - Today we took our adventure to Great Falls Park in Maryland. Here we met up with our guide, Beth Norcross the Founding Director of the Center for Spirituality in Nature. She took us on a nature hike through the woods on Billy Goat Trail B. Our walk began with a simple trail, and then began to follow the river. Once we could stop and sit, Beth has us do some spiritual exercises. The first spiritual exercise required the group to find a peaceful place near the trail, to sit, and to write down the things around that caught their attention. I wrote about the trees, and how the woods looked like a good place to climb a tree with my tree stand and hunt.

After the first exercise we continued down the trail. Then Sarah screamed when we came across the first of several snakes on our hike. This snake was a copperhead snake that was about a foot long. Seeing this snake really scared a lot of people, including myself. When I saw that particular snake my first instinct was to run the other way. I deal with a lot of copperheads back home, and I know they can be dangerous. I can usually get away with cutting them up with the lawnmower, but not this time. This time I had nowhere to go other than back the other way. Once I calmed down and gathered myself, with the help of the group, I conquered my fears and went past the snake. Only to find out there were three more snakes up ahead! These snakes were at a distance by the river lying on rocks, but I know that if I can see them they can see me.

Once we finished our trip through Billy Goat Trail B, we met up and went down the road to see what is known as Great Falls. This place, on the Potomac River, was beautiful, and I have never seen anything like it. Seeing the way the water flows, and how it hit the rocks was truly majestic. I am not a big fan of snakes, or climbing over rocks like goats, also I have hiked before, but nothing like today. The point of adventures is to try something new and to face our fears, so in the Spirit of Adventure we took on those challenges today.

The Spirit of Adventure E-term 2016: Jerry Wolf and the Spirit of Adventure Tribe!!

By Brandon Bailey

May 24, 2016 - On May 15th we had the honor of going to a Cherokee Methodist church. We had the opportunity to talk to the most beloved man Jerry Wolf that gave us some really great stories about his childhood, his time at war, and a game that the Cherokee played called stick ball. Jerry said that when he was a child that he had to go to boarding school and it was in the 8th grade when he first heard about the war (WWII) and elected to enroll when he turned 18. During his time at war he was moved to a bunch of different duties and one of his first jobs was to teach the new navy members how to march properly. In addition, he fought at D-Day and was sent to Pearl Harbor.

Stick ball to Jerry was a very intense game and he told us a story about how a women came to him about trying to play back in 1999 and Jerry said, “Those women did not play easy it was one of the most aggressive games that he had ever seen”. This was a very great experience for all of us and helped us to understand the Cherokee. We also visited one of the oldest houses in the area. The small cabin housed the reverend and his family, 14 people total and it dated back to the 18th century.

After we talked to Jerry Wolf about his childhood and war memories we ate at a very good meal at Grandma’s Diner. We were greeted by the owner with open arms, and he actually treated us with a little bit of a discount which we all liked. All in all today was a very spiritual awakening for all of us; where we got to pray and give our blessings to one another and some of us shed tears but they were tears of joy and happiness. The Spirit of Adventure group is having a ton of fun and growing closer to one another, and we are looking forward to the rest of our adventures together.

The Spirit of Adventure E-term 2016: His Creation, Ours to Protect

By Anthony Konieczka

May 23, 2016 - Today the Spirit of Adventure e-term class woke up to go for a walk down Pennsylvania Avenue past the Capital Building to the General Board of Church and Society (GBCS). This building is one of the oldest on Capital Hill built in 1913. The General Board of Church and Society overlooks the Capital Building and the Supreme Court Justice Building (which was actually built after 1913).

Once we arrived at the GBCS we had an interesting lecture and seminar about some hot button issues that relate to our course. Spirit of Adventure, as I am sure many of my fellow classmates have explained, is all about finding ourselves in our own vocation through the soul searching adventures that we are a part of. First up was Aimee Hong, the Director of United Methodist Seminar Programs, and Amber Feezor, the Seminar Designer, to talk about the Social Principles and the Natural World. Through a film and discussion we really focused in on how the Methodist church helps on the global and local levels in some of the most need based communities. The examples ranged from West Virginia coal miners and the environmental danger of coal mining is, to Kenya and the change from tobacco crops to chili plants to boost farmer profit, to the Congo where a pastor helped build and manage canals to move stagnant water and thus dropping malaria by 70%.

After the discussion Shantha Alonso, the Executive Director of Creation Justice Ministries (CJM), came in to talk about what CJM is and what it does in the world around us. In short CJM protects, restores and serves Gods' works through four faith principles; justice, stewardship, sustainability and sufficiency. CJM is a collection of Christian religions that work together to help shape government policies. They have helped with legislation such as the Green Climate Fund which states that the U.S federal government has donated 3 billion dollars, and the Clean Power Plan which is a policy that will play a major role in energy conservation as our country moves toward renewable energy.

Our third and final seminar was on Climate Change with Rebecca "Reba" Elliot, the Executive Director of Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions in Northern VA. She really hit home with the shocking truth that climate change isn't just far off with the penguins and melting ice caps of the South Pole or in Nigeria where the desert grows by 40 miles each year. She showed us insight on how the increasing water levels are destroying homes in Miami due to the absorbing limestone rock that the city is built on. More importantly she taught us ways we can help, some of these ways we have already implemented in our Ferrum community with our energy saving contests. Just turning the AC down one notch helps!

After the seminar we ended with a great stroll through the beautiful Botanical Garden. I don't think I've ever witnessed so many gorgeous flowers and wildlife in one setting. This location housed every color, shape, texture and plant you could think of. It was truly a perfect gallery for all of God's artwork.

The Spirit of Adventure E-term 2016: Moonlight Memorial Tour

By Andrew Todd

May 22, 2016 - Today as a class, we had the rare luxury of riding the trolley for our own tour of the Nation's Capital. Our tour guide Barry aka Slim B was not only very informative, but he brought a unique enthusiasm to the tour itself. We drove by the Capitol building, Washington Monument, the Holocaust Museum, and many other interesting sites around the city. We got out to get a better look at the FDR and MLK memorial sites. This was at dusk, so the dimming light brought an ominous effect around the area.

I know the class learned a lot from the tour, and the tour guide's unique expression added to the experience. Slim B offered unique facts like the significance of the number 38. A couple interesting facts are that the Korean War was fought on 38th parallel north formed which formed the border between North and South Korea and coincidentally lasted exactly 38 months. He offered a detailed analysis of the sites around the city. Many people have seen the Washington Monument and renowned sites around the city of DC, however, not many people know the stories behind the history of this great city. Our e-term class now knows a lot that we previously wouldn't have. Thank you Slim B for entertaining and informing our class during the Moonlight Memorial Tour.

The Spirit of Adventure E-term 2016: Night at the Museum

By Brian Mcelwee

May 22, 2016 - Today we visited the American History Museum in Washington D.C. I was amazed at the size of the museum and by the amount of exhibits. When we first walked in we were greeted by a display of the current 2016 presidential race. In the display it had the history of past American presidential candidates and how much the voting process has changed. The walls of the lobby had a vast array of American pop culture references. As you keep walking you saw everything from past American technologies like the first lawn mower to the evolution of the skate board. We then took a left and entered the "History of Travel in America" which brought us to a large display of American locomotives. It was cool to see how far America’s transit system has come since the 1920s.

My favorite part of the museum were the two escalator rides up on the top floor called "America at War". It was a large exhibit with artifacts and history from all American war conflicts. The exhibit gave great justice to all of the sacrifices that past generations gave in order to protect the freedoms we have today. The most memorable part of the museum was the Vietnam War section. To me the Vietnam War was a forgotten conflict by America that many people don't understand. The men who served never had a welcome home party, so to see such an amazing exhibit with uniforms and weapons from that time period was truly awesome. It also gave great detail to how the war began and showed domestic events at home that took place during that time. Overall I would highly recommend the American History Museum to anyone and I would love to go back one day.

The Spirit of Adventure E-term 2016: We All Have Access to God’s Love

By Jayson Shurland

May 22, 2016 - I woke up this morning feeling great. Today was the day our class visited the Foundry United Methodist Church; Hillary Clinton also attends this church but she was absent. We all gathered in the lobby of the hotel at 10AM before we made our departure. Turned out that we had to walk about 25 minutes before we arrived at the church. On the way, we saw some homeless people so we handed out care packs, which contained personal hygiene items, snacks, and money.

Once the church was in sight, I was relieved because that meant it was time to stop walking but also amazed at the building. The church looked like a castle, which I thought was very cool. Walking into the church, I was taking in all of the beautiful things like the window paintings and the design. My church at home looks nothing like this one so the differences in this church were interesting. The service was nice; narrowing it down, the pastor said that no matter who you are, we all have access to God’s love. I agree with this because we are all equal in God’s eyes no matter our differences.

The Spirit of Adventure E-term 2016: Classroom Adventures

By Jordan Brown

May 20, 2016 - In The Spirit of Adventure E-term we have spent the last week or so having many extraordinary experiences. We visited and explored Lake Junaluska, we met the Cherokee people, and we studied the history of Ferrum College’s Methodist roots. We had many adventures at Lake Junaluska ranging from paddle boarding, high ropes courses, and white water rafting to crafting arrow heads and walking spiritual labyrinths but during all of these adventures we were always reading on our own and learning. This experiential learning that we accomplished is what makes class time so important because this time is to used tie together, review, and discuss all the things we have covered so far.

Today started off bright and early at 9AM with a session of yoga to give the class some time to relax and let loose before the classroom. Once we finished yoga, class began right after and we began to discuss our reading from the last couple days and made our preparations for the trip to DC that we will be undergoing on Saturday. Before breaking for lunch Dr Nicholson assigned some more reading to complete before returning to class at 1PM in Parker Palme’s Book Let Your Life Speak. We all showed up for class and completed the reading before Dr Nicholson arrived so we then took it upon ourselves to go ahead and break into small groups and present to our fellow classmates the sections that we were assigned to read which in all honesty went pretty well and by the time Dr Nicholson arrived to class we had all already become familiar with everyone else's material. While classroom time isn't quite the adventure as say, ziplining, that’s not to say that it wasn't enjoyable and meaningful.

The Spirit of Adventure E-term 2016: Planting Seeds for Those in Need

By Keegan Howver

May 19, 2016 - An experience in our Spirit of Adventure e-term course was to help those who are less fortunate by spending our time working in the Giving Garden.  Our group helped out by pulling weeds, planting potatoes, watering greenhouse plants, and maintaining the health and growth of the tomato plants.  The group was at the Giving Garden providing our services for approximately an hour and a half. We learned that what we were planting and maintaining was distributed to those who are less fortunate and need healthy nutrients instead of spending the little money available on processed foods.

It is important to understand that no matter what situation you find yourself in, it is essential to look at the others in our community and find out how we can help those in need.  Today was a good example of not neglecting or losing sight of how there are others in our community struggling and they could use some help.  Our work on the garden today allowed me to have a sense of giving back to the community I have spent 4 years living in.  The importance of healthy food options for all families and people is what will keep the community healthy and thriving.  The group I worked with today was very happy to give back to the community and do our part to help those who are less fortunate. We practiced Ferrum’ s motto today, Not Self But Others, and it felt great.