Student Leaders: Camden, New Jersey
Christmas Break Service Trip
Considered one of America’s most dangerous cities, Camden, New Jersey is not without hope...
Students have the opportunity to spend winter break in Camden, New Jersey, volunteering, serving and learning with Urban Promise, a K-12 Christian school and community development program. Like many of our Urban Involvement partners in Seattle, Urban Promise gives our students a chance to look at challenging issues with a new perspective and in a new context.
Trip dates: December 8-21, 2011
Host: Urban Promise
Project Description: Team members will explore urban service, education and community development through work projects with Urban Promise, volunteering in classrooms, and learning about the history of Camden and Urban Promise.
Download a team application. Applications are due Monday, October 17, 2011.
Download tax-deductible donation information
Read more about students experience in Camden in SPU's Response.
For more information contact Owen Sallee, Coordinator for Global and Urban Involvement: owen@spu.edu, (206) 281-2932
Team Updates
December 21
Hello, friends of the Camden team!
Early this morning our team began their journey home. Their planes will land in Spokane, Seattle and Portland this afternoon. Victoria’s train brought her to family in Connecticut last night.
It’s been a full two weeks, with significant learning about urban ministry, poverty, education and teamwork. As both their Facebook profiles and personal conversations will attest, the team has very much enjoyed their opportunity to learn and serve with Urban Promise.
As the team returns home, I’d encourage you to set aside time to listen to stories and look at pictures as students reflect on their experiences and consider what Camden means to the rest of their lives. In January we’ll meet with the group to discuss ways to continue applying lessons learned in New Jersey.
If you missed the opportunity to give financially toward your student’s trip, there’s still time. Please contact him or her directly, or let me know if you have other questions.
Thank you very much for your support of this team. Please let me know if you have questions.
Merry Christmas!
Owen.
December 18
We are nearing the last stretch of our trip now. It is difficult to believe! As most mission trips tend to go, it feels as if we have just arrived and at the same time it feels like we have been here months.
Monday we began our week with a tour of Camden. It is such a small city, yet so many people are living within its borders. So many people ignored by the rest of the world are crammed into the city of Camden. The cycle of poverty is Camden’s history. Our hearts are broken for this city! Through the work of our God, we are using our hands to bring some degree of restoration.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we worked at the Camden Forward School (K-8) that is run by UrbanPromise. Each of us has been paired with one classroom. For the three of us (Ria, Hannah, and myself) who are working with the middle school, we have all of the middle school at some point in our day because they rotate to all of the teachers.
As we make connections with the students, it is hard to face the reality of where they live. We have been wrestling a lot with the fact that as we go back home soon, they will remain in Camden where they will have to persevere against the most difficult of circumstances to find stability and success. The kids of Camden know how the rest of the country views their city. I was shocked when kids were openly discussing that Camden is the second most violent city in the nation. Most people instinctively try to cover up shortcomings. They know there is no good part or safer areas of Camden.
This week the History/English teacher I have been working with taught about the civil war. One day she was talking about the period of reconstruction in the South. She asked the class what a city must look like after war. One of the students raised her hand and said “Destroyed. All shot up and nothin’ good left. No grocery stores or nothin’.” Then another girl shouted out “Like Camden!” That is a moment that will stay with me forever.
After school, we helped at UrbanPromise’s development office providing extra hands they so desperately needed as they wrap up the year. We wrote Christmas cards to donors and other miscellaneous tasks to make their jobs easier. On Friday, we spent the day getting everything ready for the staff Christmas party. We baked, and cooked, and decorated all day to celebrate all the ways the Urban Promise has sacrificed parts of themselves to serve these kids and this community. By that evening, we were utterly exhausted! Today (Saturday) has been a day to relax and enjoy each other. We ate, slept, and watched movies! Tomorrow we are going to church in the morning and the to NYC for the afternoon and early evening. It is wonderful that it is only a short drive away!
Our time in Camden has stretched us and taught us. We are searching and seeing why God has brought each of us here. We are really living in Camden. We are surround by the people of Camden and its violence, poverty, and problems. We are praying that the ways that we have been changed and the ways we have become attached to Camden will never leave us, but rather continue to transform us and mold our lives far into the future.
Blessings,
Porscha Smith and the Camden SPRINT team
December 14
Wonderful family and friends,
This week has been a whirlwind adventure. Monday started with a tour of the city of Camden. Jim Cummings, a man devoted to UrbanPromise and this city, showed us around. He talked to us about where the city has been and why it is stuck in the poverty that it is in. We also got to see one of the after school programs called Boatworks. This is a place where the students come after school and build beautiful boats over the course of the year. This is one of the many great programs that UrbanPromise organizes. After that we got to go and work in the Development Offices and help lighten their load.
Tuesday was our first day in the classrooms! We are in the K through 8. It has been really fun and a learning experience being with the kids. The teachers and staff work extremely hard to make it great for the kids. It has been a lot of fun working with the kids and being able to help the staff. We have also been back to the Development Offices doing a lot of work for them.
It has been a busy and fun few days. We have had some time to relax and hang out. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. We have one week left and are looking forward to the rest of our time here. Prayers are appreciated for energy as we work with the kids, and unity as a team as we go throughout this week.
-Camden 2011 Team
December 10
Hey Friends and Family!
Thank you so much for your prayer and financial support for our trip to Camden, NJ. We have had an amazing time so far! We left SPU at 4am pst on Thursday and arrived in Camden about 4pm est. We got settled into our house we are staying at for the two weeks and were able to share the space with a group from Deleware Friday night.
On Friday we were lucky enough to travel to NYC with a group of 11th graders from the Urban Promise High School. We had a great time walking through time square, Rockerfeller Plaza, and went ice skating in Central Park. We heard some great stories from the kids and enjoyed our time spent with them.
Saturday was full of much needed resting. We slept in, finally went shopping for food, watched The Grinch, played some Apples to Apples and Catch Phrase, and spent some quality time building each other up as we get ready to face a busy week.
Sunday we head into Philly to experience true Philly Cheese Stakes, tour the Mutter Museum, and attend church. On Monday we will head into a week at the Urban Promise School. We are having a great time and are very excited to continue seeing what God has planned for us in Camden, NJ!
Love,
Camden Team 2011
December 8
Good morning, friends of the Camden, New Jersey service team!
Seven SPU students departed SeaTac Airport this morning, bound for Camden, New Jersey where they’ll spend the next 2 weeks learning and serving with Urban Promise, a K-12 Christian school and community development ministry in one of America’s most challenging cities.
The group will spend their time volunteering in Urban Promise classrooms, participating in a class fieldtrip to New York, assisting in afterschool programs and other projects. They’ll also spend time learning from Urban Promise staff about the city’s history, issues and opportunities. The group has spend the past 5 weeks preparing, getting to know each other and discussing training material presented by SPU’s John Perkins Center for Reconciliation, Leadership Training and Community Development.
Camden Archive
Read reports from Winter, 2010, including a collection of videos produced by student Olivia Lenz.
Read more about students experience in Camden in SPU's Response.