morgan kratz; albany

8/8/2019 Morgan Kratz; Albany

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Life in Albany

By Morgan Kratz

I have now been in Albany

for about two months, and I

am really loving it. I've

already had so many new

and exciting experiences.

During the first week of

orientation we were going

twice the speed of life going

from a hot air balloon show

to Crater Lake. Of course it

wasn’t all fun and exciting,

it was balanced by a good

amount of sitting around

and talking about the year to

come and the trying to agree

on guidelines we want to

live by during our year of

service.

On our first Sunday we were

welcomed whole-heartedly

by the congregation atAlbany Mennonite.

Personally I felt right at

home, coming from a

smaller church that is made

up of an older generation,

AMC felt like family. But

the hospitality did not stop

in the church building we

were invited to many church

members’ houses, including

a progressive dinner which

was helpful as we learned to

put names to faces.

Two months have past and

we have come out of ourhoneymoon stage within our

house. Jonathan made a

comment recently that it

feels like we have known

each other forever, and yet

there is so much we don’t

know about each other, and

we are excited to continue

learning about one another.

After a wonderful dayat the coast we wereable to catch thesunset before bed andhad a lot of fun takingpictures!

SERVICE ADVENTURE

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Svenja, Andrea and I share a room with one

bunk-bed and one single bed. We have

become good friends in the past two

months, and there are times when bed timefeels like a slumber party as we can lay in

bed and easily talk an hour away and

wonder what we were thinking the next

morning when we’re all so tired.

We have really great leaders, Jonathan and

Julie, who have really helped to shape our

unit and know how to have a lot of fun. Of

course it’s exciting to think about adding a

new member to our unit in December, a

baby Fridley. We’ve had a lot of fun timesand the rough times have come around too

and I think Jonathan and Julie have helped

us to work through the rough times with

their experiences from last year and also

their time time as Service Adventure

participants.

It is definitely hard to believe that two

months have already past, but the next

seven to eight months look promising and

full of fun activities and learning

experiences. God has big plans in mind as

we learn to work together and serve him in

our daily lives. He has already been moving

in our lives and I think the best is yet to

come.

“You are the light of the world. A

city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”

~ Matthew 5:14

S E R V I C E A D V E N T U R E N

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Left: we enjoyed a

night of glowing hot

air balloons,

although. Right: our

first trip to the

coast, we camped

at a State Park, but

it rained all night,

not the first

camping trip. Top:

The three of us took

advantage of a

wonderful afternoonby having a

photoshoot.



people donated, the phrase “One

man’s junk, is another man’s

treasure,” was one that I constantly

reminded myself of. However, this

gave me a chance to express my

hidden OCD tendencies. My big

project was to go through the break

room and organize and put stuff

out on the floor.

I’ve been able to hear some of

their stories and they are always so

interesting. I’m continually

intrigued at the attitudes of the

people there. They keep their head

up even though their situations a

less than to be desired. My praye

that God would be able to use m

in these people’s lives. I have bee

building so many relationships an

the rest is up to God. However,

even if I don’t have any effect on

their lives they have definitely

touched mine.

Helping Hands A Thrift Store, A Garden,and a Kitchen

[Names changed for confidentiality]

Albany Helping Hands is a

homeless shelter that provides food,

a place to sleep, clothing, andcounseling for needy persons in the

Albany area. I work at Helping

Hands on Tuesdays, Thursdays and

every other Wednesdays. This has

been one of my favorite experiences

this year. I have got to know so

many new and interesting people,

while also learning many new skills.

I began my time at Helping

Hands working in the kitchen, Ihelped to prepare lunch for the

guests and eventually was trusted

enough to make cookies (which

have been a hit ever since). In the

kitchen I work alongside Gus, and

old man with no teeth who treats

me like his own grand daughter. He

used to be a truck driver and I

enjoy listening to his stories and

occasionally telling my own.Granny is the mascot of the

shelter, she knows everyone and all

the latest gossip. The first time I

met her she took me around to

everyone and made sure to tell

them that I was “her Morgan”.

Instantly I felt welcome.

Jon is a big softy who acts

tough, he always makes sure to

ask me how I’m doing and how

I’m holding up away from home.Conversations with him are

something I always look forward

to.

I spent two weeks working at

the garden where I picked more

tomatoes than I care to

remember. But the people that I

worked with were what made my

time there memorable. Most of

the time I picked with Marthawho told me her whole life story

and I don’t think I could’ve said five

words while I was with her. Keith

runs the garden for the most part

and laughing with him as he joked

around earned myself the

nickname “Giggles.” Although my

time at the garden was enjoyable I

was ready for a change by the end

of week two.My last stop was at the Thrift

Store where I had plenty of time to

organize all of the nick nacs that


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“The best way to find

yourself is to lose

yourself in the service of

others.”

Mohandas Gandhi

We helped out at the MCC relief sale by

serving taco salad for lunch.



Linn-Benton Mediation Services is celebrating

twenty-five years of bringing people together

through peaceful conflict resolution. On Mondays,

Fridays, and every other Wednesday I work at LBMSas an intern. I have daily jobs which include

checking the voicemail, and picking up the mail. I do

a lot of answering the phone and getting messages to

the correct people. We have three main programs

which include Family Mediation, Victim-Offender

Mediation, and Community Mediation. Also we

have a Small Claims program and provide

Supervised Visitation services.

I have enjoyed getting to know more about

Mediation through a class that I am taking on

Tuesday nights. The key seems to be figuring out

what each person really wants, not just what they areasking for, such as respect, peace and relaxation, or

friendship. As with Helping Hands one of my

favorite part is getting know my co-workers. They

are very funny and their passion for Mediation is

awesome. None of them are Mennonites so it’s

interesting to see them so excited about a very

Mennonite value. These are skills that I will take

with me even when Service Adventure is over.

Linn-Benton Mediation ServicesBuilding Bridges

One

Leo Praesen

One weekend we drove up to

Washington and helped to

harvest Cranberries, it was an

awesome experience.


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Learning as We LiveGod Has a PlanI feel as though I have learned so much about myself and about God in the past few months, and it has been quite interesting.

Some of our learning components have included bike maintenance, which was helpful considering I rarely rode my bike when I

was at home let alone took care of it. We’ve made German bread, however I don’t think one loaf was enough because it was

down to crumbs by the time we went to bed that night. Learning to make apple cider and drinking it was a blast, and learning

how to rock climb [for real] was also fun and strenuous too.I’ve always thought myself to be more of an introvert but now that I’ve been put into situations where I have to make new

friends and work with people I’ve never met before I’m beginning to see that, if I work hard at it, I’m more outgoing than I

thought. I’m beginning to see some of my organizational skills, and how I can use them in different ways. I am beginning to see

more clearly what gifts God has given me and how to use them to glorify him.

I’m enjoying Albany more than I thought I would, and when I think back to when I first applied for Service Adventure and

asked to be in the Albuquerque unit I smile because I can see that God had a hand in where I would spend this year and I can

see that his plan was so much bigger and better than mine. Being part of a young adult Bible Study that meets on Thursday

nights has been helping me immensely in my spiritual life. Our topic is Listening for the Voice of God, and it’s a topic that I’m

very excited about because although I believe God has spoken to me I don’t know that I always recognize it as him.

In church we just finished a sermon series on Missions, and it was a topic that I found myself excited about, which took me

by surprise a bit because I’ve never felt like the evangelical type which probably goes back to feeling like an introvert. Pastor

Meghan made the point that we can’t be a light in the darkness if we are always surrounded by other lights, and she encouraged

us to put ourselves in places of darkness even if it is intimidating. Immediately I thought about my job placements and I’ve beenasking God to help me be a light in these places.

I’m excited to see the plans God has in store for my as I finish out this year, and in the rest of my life, although I often find

myself thinking that I know best I hope that I will be able to trust in the Lord because he clearly knows me better than I know

myself and he has plans that I may never have imagined.


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For Svenja’s birthday

we went roller skating

with Micah House!

morgan kratz; albany

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