Team Follow Up Meeting

Sankofa '08 participants are meeting Sunday, April 13 in RC 417 at 4:30. Please be praying for the team as we gather to talk about all that we have experienced and plan for all we'd like to do as we move forward. Thanks for reading about our trip.

First leg back home

Well, this is Dunn, and this is my first post on the Sankofa blog, and it's the second to last day! Sorry about that. But you're probably thankful I didn't post too many times here. I tend to be long-winded. It didn't help that I didn't have access to my computer for about a day and a half (long story, and you can read a little about it in my blog, areyoudunnyet.blogspot.com). Anyway, today we simply drove back north, leaving Jackson MS, and driving through MS, through TN, a little bit of AR, and now in IA. I don't even know the name of the town we stopped at for lunch. For most of the morning most of us slept. The afternoon was filled with an amazing discussion. Leon and I talked later, and we think it clocked in at about 6 hours long. It included a long talk about tangible, immediate things we can do at Bethel to help promote change, and fight oppression. It was great, and very encouraging. I love our students! They inspire me. I pray that they continue the momentum, working for change and against oppression.

Just four shots...

Sunrise at the Perkins Center.














All but about three students asleep.













Oh yeah, and some staff slept too.


















But some needed to be active, like Mike (Merv) doing a few wind sprints during our lunch stop.

Last stop in Iowa City, and then the final 6 hour leg home. Please pray for traveling mercies.

Shalom!

Friday - on the road!

Sorry that we have been missing in action for a few days. We arrived in Iowa City tonight after a LONG drive. (We left Jackson, MS this morning at 7:30 A.M.) Thanks for checking in. We plan to leave here at 9:00 and be home back on campus around 3:00. See you soon!

Thursday Photos in Jackson

In Jackson the whole team banded together to do what seemed impossible! We cleaned out the basement of one of the houses at the Perkins Center. Sure, "clean the basement" doesn't sound too intense but it was an incredible amount of work! We worked all day and in the end the team had a lot to be proud of.
Mike and Terrence doing the heavy lifting.

Korissa, Maria, & Jenn found an old box of jerseys.

Fiona & Naomi were waiting for the next assignment.

Ahmed and Moses kicking back on the tractor when we were finally finished for the day.

Wednesday Photos in Montgomery & Selma

We visited the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery on Wednesday morning. The round black granite memorial (designed by the creator of the Vietnam Memorial) includes a time line of the movement and includes the names of 40 people that were martyred working for Civil Rights.
The back wall of the memorial includes a quote from one of Martin Luther King Jr's speeches that inspired the designer, "Until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." It's hard to tell here, but the entire memorial is covered in flowing water! Mike, Maria, Charles, and Moses posed for this picture.

In the afternoon we took a tour through Selma, AL. Here most of the team is pictured with our tour guide, Sam Walker. We are standing on the steps of Brown Chapel AME Church where voting rights marches including "Bloody Sunday" and the historic Selma-Montgomery march were organized.
After visiting the Voting Rights Museum and having a pretty intense experience at the Slavery Museum, we were led across the Edmund Pettus Bridge by Moses and Ahmed. This is the site where police marshals beat peaceful marchers seeking the right to vote. It was incredible to follow in their footsteps, literally, in that way. Still, I think the team enjoyed visiting the park at the other side of the bridge a bit more. It was a moment of beauty in the midst of a heavy day.

From Selma we drove 3 1/2 hours to Jackson, MS where we debriefed our earlier experiences and had a great BBQ dinner at the John Perkins Foundation.

Wednesday / Thursday Plans

Wednesday is bound to be another very hard day. We will be visiting the Civil Right Memorial here in Montgomery before leaving for Selma where we'll visit the National Voting Rights Museum and take a guided tour of the city. From there we'll be driving on to Jackson. We'll be spending the night at the John Perkins Foundation and doing a service project with their organization on Thursday. Internet is unsure but we'll get new posts up when we can. Thanks for checking in on us. Please leave a comment. ;)

Tuesday Photos in Montgomery

Today in Montgomery was generally a positive day for us a team. We're experiencing so much together and we're going at a break neck speed! Please continue to pray for all of our group as we journey together through these intense conversations.

We visited the Rosa Parks Museum this morning and learned more about the bus boycotts that started in Dec of 1955. The picture above is of group members hanging out just outside the museum. (It's beginning to warm up. We're hoping to see 70's tomorrow) Although we were not able to take cameras in the museum, this photo shows the Davis Theatre, the bus spot where additional passengers boarded the bus prompting the driver to ask Mrs Parks to move. (I imagine the bus would have been about where the UPS truck is.) Dao and Tanden are chattin' it up as Katrina looks on. Dunn is looking back at the museum. Terrence and Amanda are in a good conversation and Korissa is sitting near the lamp post ;)

We had more soul food at Martha's Place today. Martha is a Christian woman that overcame incredible odds to open this restaurant in an old house. We sat together as a whole team in a room on the second floor. After lunch, Martha came upstairs to greet us and share her testimony. It was a blessing to pray for her and hopefully be as much of an encouragement to her as she was to each of us! This is just a small part of team... Terrence, Yer, Lindsey, Dunn, Liz B, Samantha, Mike & Tanden.

Elyse, Naomi, & Naomi sitting on the far side of the room. The zoom on my new camera works pretty well.

After lunch we visited the National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture at Alabama State University where we had the chance to hear from three people that lived in Montgomery during the boycotts and told personal stories of their involvement. Here Lindsey is talking with Reverend Bob Graetz and his wife Jean.

Here Ahmed is talking with Charles Varner. If you're not sure what to ask us about when we return, these stories would be a safe place to start. Not everyone agreed with everything that was shared but I do think that we each took something unique away from this experience.

Personal stories are powerful. We will each have so many to share when we return. Please begin now to prepare to ask. Even if it's hard for us to share, we have so very much to tell. And... for some, you may already know that you won' t need to ask. We're coming home with lots of new things to share and you can expect to hear hear our hearts on it.