So Why Do I Take Two Weeks Of Summer Vacation To Be The Work Camp Director? by The Rev. Bude Van Dyke, Chaplain St Andrews-Sewanee School EAM Work Camp Director One of the saving graces during the Great Depression in the 1930's was that other than a few ultra-wealthy, everyone was in the same boat. People I heard tell stories about those times say that knowing everyone else was going through tough times made it more bearable somehow. Think about how difficult it would be to face life with little or no chance of long term assistance or employment. Now add to that the knowledge that many people around you, in other areas of the state and region, are enjoying record employment opportunities and a terrific multiple-choice educational smorgasbord for their children. What would your overall outlook on life be like? Regrettably, I would have to admit that mine would be pretty miserable. And after spending two weeks at the Episcopal Appalachian Ministries work camps, I would have to add to "regrettably" the word "shamefully". I met people in entire communities whose economic and employment history and prospects are undeniably bleak. Yet a strong sense of belonging to a family and to a place erases any serious thoughts about leaving to go carve out a life like they see on television or in the movies. For those of us who push and drive to get ahead and have unspoken mottoes like "you either make dust or eat dust", choosing to stay home is far from the higher ground of life in the fast lane. Think of all the opportunities they miss for themselves and their family we would say. Just medical, dental, and retirement benefits alone prove a compelling case to "just do it" as the over a hundred dollar a pair sports shoemaker tells us. I met a couple of brothers in their late teens or early twenties who lived "back in a holler". They mesmerized EAM work camp participant with their tales of encounters with bears, snakes, and skunks in their efforts to earn financial bounties by collecting certain mosses and barks for herbal medicines sold in big city health food stores. The only reason I am not naming the complicated names and identifications of mosses and barks is that they said them with such familiarity, I didn't want to show my ignorance of not knowing what they were talking about. They could identify trees, plants, and animals with more ease and confidence than many University students of environmental studies I know. One has to ask, in terms of living what is it we do better than them? Grace House Director Vickianne Dotten says they know who their fourth cousins are. I hardly know any second cousins. They know their grandmother's cooking and prefer it to any restaurant in any city. She is their preacher too. Their church didn't have to have scores of theologians and Biblical scholars to make the case for ordaining a woman, they could see God at work in her life, in her words, and in her walk...so she was ordained as their preacher. Maybe it had something to do with the way she could pull hot coals out of the furnace when she "got in the Spirit" and didn't get burned. Or maybe it's the way she provides care for her husband with black lung, while cooking for her grandchildren, and dropping everything to go off and help a neighbor in need. Wasn't it Jesus who said, "love your neighbor as yourself?" Now it could be the way she put together the food bank that always seems to have just enough to help a family whose funds ran out before the days of the month ran their course. Her multi-tasking way of life that makes all in her midst feel like they are important would make most specialists or professionals I've encountered seem like rookies. So why do I take two weeks of my summer vacation to be the Work Camp Director ? It is not to give too little of my ability to help those less fortunate. It is to earn the right to sit at the feet of people who have embraced the questions about who they are by being devoted to a family system and a way of life that defies conventional logic. How two competent, capable, multi-gifted young men can happily choose to roam the hills and hollers to scratch out a meager living instead of selling their talents in a larger market is still a mystery to me. But what I do know after spending a couple of weeks with them is this: I had no problem seeing the Christ in them, experiencing the depth of their faith in Jesus, and their willingness to drop the day's plans to come help a bunch of city folks get a project done for their neighbor or family member. I saw the people we "helped" swallow pride to be the recipient of help instead of being the giver. And when we sang hymns with them, there was no doubt in my mind how much their faith is the glue that holds their lives together. It is a sacred sight to see, a shaming honor to experience, and something I hope to share with you and other adults and young people in the years to come.
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