Road Trip Post #4

Little Italy





The biggest slice of pizza we've ever seen.


Wall Street

We had a great time exploring New York City. Matt and Jacinda live right near the subway so we got around pretty easily. The city is so big that you really need a least a week (or more) if you want to see everything. We had a day and tried to make the most of it. We went down to Wall Street then walked up into China Town and Little Italy. We rode the subway back up to midtown and walked through Rockefeller plaza where people were ice-skating and the Christmas tree was being decorated. Later in the day we met up with Matt, Andrew and Jacinda and grabbed a drink in Greenwich Village. After a long day of walking through the city everything begins to feel the same. So many people and shops and dogs and buildings. Upon arriving back to Matt and Jacinda’s apartment Emily and I decided to walk over a few blocks to check on the car and sure enough there was a parking ticket. I was a bit bummed but thankful that it wasn’t towed. I’m not stupid enough to park in front of a no parking sign if anyone is wondering. The place I parked had no sign at all which is why I’ll be contesting the ticket.
The next morning we relaxed at the apartment. Matt and Andrew trained me on a music-recording program and Emily went out for breakfast on her own. She ended up at Toms Dinner, which is the café from the hit TV show Seinfeld.
In an attempt to beat the traffic out of the city we left at 2:00pm and headed for Boston. I will forever know the next eight hours as the escape from New York. As we made our way north out of Manhattan I could tell that the car was definitely having some problems. Luckily things went well as we got through the Bronx and made our way up into Connecticut. The traffic was bad in Connecticut and not good on our clutch that was getting worse by the minute. We traveled 40 miles in three hours and finally things cleared up. It was smooth going for a while but as we approached Providence Rhode Island the clutch just completely went out. We steered our way through traffic over to the shoulder and made the call to AAA. About 40 minutes later Dan the tow truck man arrived with a New England accent so thick I could comprehend maybe 50 percent of what he said. He loaded our car up on the flat bed and sped us the rest of the way to Boston. We arrived really late to Jacob and Amy’s place in Boston but they were very nice and accommodating. We we’re able to unload the car at the mechanic’s shop right next to their apartment. Long story short the clutch is out and it’s a lot of work and money to fix on our all wheel drive Subaru. The car should be done today and then we begin the long journey back to Mississippi.


The subaru breaks down outside of Providence

Road Trip Post #3

Evening session at CCDA conference



We’ve arrived in the big apple. The conference went really well. We were challenged and encouraged to go back to our community and to love others. Yesterday we drove for about 12 hours and traveled about 700 miles from Indianapolis to New York City. We’ve been enjoying Matt and Jacinda’s apartment and hospitality. Last night we had a delicious home cooked Indonesian meal and took a walk (constitutional as Matt would say) around the campus of Columbia University where matt is attending graduate school. We’ve also been reunited with Andrew from Seattle who is passing through N.Y.C. on his way back from Ukraine.
I was a little nervous about driving and parking in the city but with Matt as navigator everything has gone really smooth. Our car is having some problems accelerating. I really hope the clutch is not going out because we still have a lot of driving ahead of us.
Today Emily and I will head out into the city to explore. Our tentative plan is to see Wall Street, Chinatown, and possibly the village. Conan O’Brian called and wanted to lunch but I had to cancel, I don’t eat at Irish restaurants like McDonalds.
It has been refreshing for Emily and I to be away from Mississippi for a while.
The restaurant from Seinfeld is on the corner of matt and Jacindas street.
Peace
JB

Road Trip Post #2

Emily and Sarah walk the cold streets of INDY

Working the John Perkins Foundation booth


Matt and I get serious about Old Spaghetti Factory
Dixie and Emily

Things are rocking here in Indianapolis. The last few days have been packed with seminars, workshops, and networking. Its been encouraging to be around others who are working in urban neighborhoods doing similar work. Last night we had the priviledge of hearing Juan Hernandez (U.S. and mexico ambassador) speak and tonight we will hear from Jim Wallis of Sojourners.

Road Trip day # 1

Greetings from Arkansas! The road trip has begun. We escaped Mississippi and its tornado warnings last night and made it safely to the roadside town that is Osceola, AR. I may have forgot to mention that we are driving 2 cars for the first leg of trip. Our friends Lowell and Dixie asked that we drive their car to Urbana Illinois where they will be giving it to some friends. I should have never doubted Emily’s driving skills. She steered that Subaru like a champ through hard, driving rain and massive lightning strikes that lit up everything like a strobe light.
This morning finds me at the Huddle House restaurant in front of our hotel drinking weak coffee and picking up a wireless internet connection from another near by hotel. The view from my window booth is of a field with the interstate traffic racing by on the horizon. I could be anywhere in the country today. My first thought upon leaving the hotel room and entering into the cold, sunny morning was of Idaho. The flat farmland all around and the feeling of winter flooded me with memories of my home state.
Today we drop the car off in Urbana and then head east to Indianapolis for the first day of the conference. Gotta hit the road!
I will be attempting to update the blog daily over the span of our road trip adventure so stay tuned.

quick update

After Emily gets off work tomorrow we will embark on a road trip of epic proportions, well not really, but it should be fun. We will be heading north to the annual CCDA (Christian Community Development Association) conference in Indianapolis. We will be attending the conference as well as working the John Perkins foundation book selling both. The conference is a large meeting of people from all over the country who are living and working in poor communities. John Perkins founded the association many years ago and is still co- president. This will be our third year at the conference and we feel we have more to learn than ever before. Each day is filled with workshops and discussions on all sorts of things related to urban community development. I’m hoping to attend a workshop on running an after school program. We hope to be encouraged as we interact with others during the 4-day conference.
After the conference we will drive to New York City with our friends Matt and Jacinda to hang in the big apple for a few days. They moved to Manhattan in August so Matt could attend graduate school at Columbia.
Then we will head further North to spend Thanksgiving in Boston with the Robinson family. Jacob and Amy moved from Portland to Boston a few years ago and it will be our first time visiting them in their new city. We are also excited to meet the newest Robinson in the family, Samuel.
After that it will be a long haul down through the Eastern U.S. back to Mississippi.
I’m considering a daily road journal for the blog during our travels so check back for updates and photo journals.
Hope everyone is well.
Johnny

I just got back from having lunch with one of our after school students named Mario at his school. Mario happens to be in Emily's 3rd grade class so after lunch I went back to their classroom and sat in on their "best Halloween costume contest". It was nice to get a glimpse into Emily's daily surroundings and I think Mario was glad to see me.
We are enjoying the cooler weather now after a long hot summer. Our after school program has been going well. We have about 15 regular students now which is about all 3 or 4 tutors can handle. On Thursdays I am leading the Boys club. Boys club is basically a group of boys from the after school program and around the neighborhood who meet each week and do activities. Once a month we will do a community service project in our area. We will also take a field trip to do something fun each month. So far we have been reading a book together about growing up with out a dad and playing a lot of football.
I may have forgot to mention on here that Emily’s mean principle got fired about a month ago so things have been looking up for her at work lately.

Last weekend we were given some tickets to the Jackson State homecoming football game. It was a great experience despite JSU getting whooped.


Mrs. Bertram's class

Photo Journal

We've had 2 visitors from Portland this week, Emily's brother Julian and our friend Sharon who has been doing hurricane relief work in New Orleans. This is a photo of them at the Antioch house table with our housemate Teddy.





Needless to say with Julian around, there has been a bit a golf taking place. On Saturday we played about 40 holes.





On Monday morning we were up early with high hopes of catching our first bass. A local friend named Eric took us out to his secret pond/marsh where he has a little boat with a slow leak. His family owns the property so it doesnt get fished at all. When the morning was all said and done Eric caught 4, Julian and I combined for a big fat zero. Julian missed about 7 hits and I missed about 2. It was a great morning though with a spectacular sunrise. Eric said that there are 2 gators living the marsh but we never did caught a glimpse.

The most boring post yet (Only read if you have nothing better to do with your time)

( This is a photo of a hurricane evacuee from New Orleans named Boomer. He stayed with us for a few nights while his owners we're taking a few rest days. We came to love him as our own though I insisted on calling him Bowzer)

Emily and I have both come down with bad colds so the last few days have been pretty boring. I finally rigged our TV antenna to pick up fox, though it’s pretty fuzzy it allows us to enjoy playoff baseball at night. The sweetness of watching Yankees lose each year never fades, go angels.
This weekend Emily’s brother Julian will be visiting us from Portland. He has been on a cross-country road trip for the past few weeks and will stay for at least a week. I’ve been practicing my golf game in preparation for his arrival. There is a golf coarse here that has a monthly rate of $40 unlimited play. You golfers out there can appreciate that deal. I bought my monthly pass early in October and I’ve been playing with my new friend Dylan on the weekends. Hopefully I’ll be feeling better by the time he gets here.
Last week Emily and I did a golf seminar for the kids in our after school program. Having never been introduced to the sport the kids loved it. Its fun to expose them to new things that they might not ever get to try. I found some shorter kids clubs at a thrift store that I will probably pick up and maybe Julian can lend a hand while he is here.

The Struggle Continues

The after school program is back up and running after a 2 week hiatus due to hurricane Katrina. I was reminded immediately at how much academic help these kids need. Many are very far behind and need intense, long term, one on one tutoring. Last week I was helping a middle schooler with her pre algebra math homework when it became apparent that she was not able to add or subtract proficiently, with her we may have to go back to 2nd and 3rd grade level math to get her caught up. I will be working with the 5 middle school students specifically. I’ve decided to do group reading for several hours each week in hopes of instilling the value and joys of reading. Yesterday we began reading John Perkins autobiography, “Let Justice Roll Down”.

The Perkins center has new staff member from Denver named Ralph. He is now in charge of coordinating the volunteer groups who will be coming down to help with hurricane relief. He’s taken charge quickly and we are very thankful for him being here. With Ralph being in his seventies I’m beginning to notice a trend of old people doing all this work. John Perkins (75), Lowell Noble (78), John Lovelace (7?), and now Ralph. Where are all the young people? Not only could the young people help physically but we could also absorb the wisdom of these older folks. I long for the energy of these men; I think they are tapping into something I’m yet to discover.

As you may have been able to tell from my last post (10 things I miss most) we have been missing home and at times questioning “why are we here?”. Emily reminds me that struggle develops perseverance and knowing that, we have decided to make the most of our time here. There are no quick rewards working in this community. Sometimes I wonder is anything getting through to these kids. One day you think they are changing and beginning to take responsibility for there lives and the next it seems they’ve reverted back into the cycle that surrounds them. Emily reminded me last night that we didn’t come here to save anybody and that in many ways we are just as needy as the people we are seeking to help. It is not our responsibility to come in and change this community and in fact it is not healthy for us to pursue that. Rather we are here to live and learn in this situation, seeing the needs of our neighbors and friends and making them our own. The true change this community needs must be lead by the people of the community. Perhaps there is a future leader in our after school program who will one day complete college and return to this neighborhood choosing to invest in change rather than living in the middle class suburbs.
Truth be told we are learning a lot, mostly about ourselves. I see the devastating effects the American trinity of materialism, individualism, and racism are having on peoples lives and yet something in me is still drawn to those things. In a world that offers us fake forms of life while ignoring the reality of issues such as poverty and oppression we must be mindful that true life is found when we look beyond ourselves. The struggle continues.

10 things we miss most about Portland and Oregon (In no particular order)

10. Peets Coffee

9. Stumptown coffee

8. The Horsebrass Pub

7. A day where the high temperature is less than 90 degrees

6. The good live music ( especially Jackstraw , Tuesdays at the Laurelthirst)

5. Family and Friends ( Paka the cat included)

4. Imago Dei

3. Powell’s books

2. The Beach

1. Evergreen Trees, Mountains, Rivers that aren’t brown, trade up Music, lush forests, golf with Julian, Trader Joes, Micro Brews, thrift stores, American Spirits, Ole Ole’, Independent films, McMenamins, the Urban Grind coffee shop, the Parks, the Gorge, Bobs Red Mill, Burgerville, Flying pie, Music Millennium, Bulk mushrooms, sprouts, Hollywood bowl, Mississippi Pizza pub, Saturday Market, and Stumptown Coffee. (did I mention that?)

I learn from them I dress like them, I love old people.

This is a photo of my new friend John Lovelace and I. John organized and brought down a work group of 60 people from Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Over the past week they worked on rehabbing 2 homes owned by our foundation. In the next few weeks’ families forced by hurricane Katrina to leave their homes will move into these homes. John and I became the “moles” for the workers. For most of 2 days John and I made non-stop runs to Home Depot for supplies. Back and forth we went, with each trip learning a bit more about each other and before long we’d become great friends. John’s the kind of guy that I could spend weeks with just asking questions and hearing stories about his life. He’s a no nonsense guy who struck me as bossy old dude at first but as time went on and I saw his efficiency in organization, I came to understand that he was just a good leader. He told me stories of his 40 plus years working with poor people all over the country and in Columbia. He will be back with another group in November and I look forward to seeing him again.

We’ve had another group here from California who have made several trips south to the city of Laurel. Laurel was hit harder by the hurricane and will be in need of cleanup for a long time.
The past week was incredibly busy around here. Not only did we have the two groups working and staying at the center we were also hosting a prescheduled intimate leadership retreat with John Perkins. We had five people come for the retreat and they all stayed with us at Antioch house. We enjoyed getting time with all of the people. Then to top everything off we hosted The John M. Perkins Foundation board meeting on Saturday. Things have been going non-stop and we’re really looking forward to a few days of relaxing at some point. Even John Perkins, who is a workaholic at age 75, said he was tired and needed a few days to rest.
Our good friend Lowell Noble was in town for the leadership retreat. He was a great help in accommodating the people who were staying at our house for the retreat. On Thursday we took the group south to tour the some of the harder hit area's. We didnt ven get to coast but could see the massive destruction. Tree's everywhere snapped in half like toothpicks and others on houses. After seeing the damage I got a deeper understanding of what a long term process the cleanup will be.
Now its Monday morning and things don’t stop. This afternoon our after school program will start for the first time since the hurricane. It will be great to be with our young friends again. Hope y’ all are doing well.
Thanks for reading
Johnny
Elizabeth, John, and I with the folks from Food for the Hungry a few weeks ago.

Update from Emily

( John Perkins , Johnny, and Emily outside the coliseum shelter after visiting with evacuees)

The activity surrounding the Perkins Center hasn’t slowed as we drift from the immediate crisis stage of Katrina, into development. We’ve been able to attend various World Vision and Food For The Hungry meetings with John Perkins this week, which have been fascinating to take part in. Those who meet with JP, and witness his vision and inspiration firsthand, invariably latch on with enthusiasm. It is exciting to see that several organizations seem eager to partner with the foundation. JP says that he’s never chased money. He doesn’t determine where the money is and then create a proposal accordingly. Instead he comes up with a plan and depends on those with financial power to catch the vision-it seems to have worked to far. People love a leader. Presently it looks like there will be several areas where funding is needed that we are focusing on. 1. Tools, supplies, and professional services for volunteer groups to rehab and rebuild houses. 2. Housing and employment for newly placed families to our neighborhood from hurricane-effected areas. 3. The training and equipping of other leaders, local organizations, pastors and churches to implement this community development model. This will include JP conducting intimate leadership trainings and various speaking engagements throughout the state. 4. Education (After school tutorial program, Girls and Boys Groups, and Good News Clubs). Not only do we hope to enroll some of these new children in our program, but also JP hopes to encourage, support and help fund other programs to do the same, on a grassroots neighborhood level. Poindexter, the grade school down the street where I work full time, is going to be a high priority school for newly placed children to Jackson due to our low enrollment. Though it’s unclear just how many new faces we’ll see Monday morning, I’m excited by the possibility of some of them joining our program. The foundations plan is to house and employee up to 10 families, so naturally the children in these families would be part of the program as well. Funding for the education aspect would be used for computers, general supplies, snacks, training and maybe even a salary for Johnny. Throughout the meetings we’ve attended, the organizations have emphasized the need to have a full-time paid staff member to steadily lead programs and volunteers.
But the area we will focus most on is volunteer groups which come nationwide to offer their services. This has been the core and engine of the Spencer Perkins Center over the years. Now more than ever groups are expressing a desire to come be involved. They will rehab houses that the foundation owns (which we need to house families), fix homes that have been damaged here on the grounds, and also travel to southern counties to rebuild. There are many areas between Jackson and the Gulf Coast that have suffered major damage and aren’t a top priority of government and other relief organizations. The focus here will be to work from North to South. Next week we have two groups of 30 people each coming from California and Chicago. They’ll fill up the volunteer house, intern house and even the clubhouse in the backyard. Here at Antioch, we too will have a full house. There will be 13 guests here from all over the country and even from Ghana for an intimate leadership retreat presented by JP, Lowell and others. We’ve been busy preparing guest rooms as well as hosting others in the meantime from New Orleans, Food For The Hungry, an architect from Chicago, and now several contractors from Ohio.
Currently we have one “evacuee” family staying in JMPF housing. The father plans to work for the foundation with housing and volunteers, and will earn a salary each month until he finds other employment. There are several children in the family.
We are grateful to be closely involved with such a visionary as John Perkins, and to be in a place where the opportunity to learn is great. If I didn’t deeply believe in the idea that tribulation develops character, faith, and growth, this stretching time would be more difficult. I’m learning, among other things, to let go of individuality and submit to community.
Thanks to all of you who we love so much, that steadily support and encourage us.
Emily

Photo journal

( tonight we spent the evening at the shelter hanging out with kids and serving dinner. We have 3 people staying with us tonight who fled the hurricane from New Orleans and our now heading back south to see how they can be involved in the relief effort)

(no power means no air conditioning so we spent our evenings on the porch listening to our battery powered radio for updates)

(our housemate, Milton, was well prepared for katrina. On our first night without power he and I gathered togther in the living room with a guitar and wrote a song called "Its getting dark in my neighborhood" )

( Emily hides her fear with a smile as Katrina blows)

we're here

On Monday morning we lost power and it was not restored until last night ( Friday). We caught the west side of hurricane Katrina here in Jackson, which they say is the best side to be on. We have not experienced the devastation of the gulf coast but there has been some major damage done. Trees are down all over town, many houses have had trees fall on them and thankfully only one death has been reported as a result of Katrina here in our county.
This was by far the biggest storm I’ve ever experienced. We sat out on the porch throughout the day and watched as huge gusts blew the trees, knocking braches and leaves everywhere. The storm continued to blow throughout the night and in the morning it was gone. Tuesday morning we began to clean up. Everything was covered in small branches and leaves. As we began to get out into the neighborhood we could see huge trees blocking roads everywhere. Power lines were knocked down all around leaving most of the city without power. Luckily a group that visited us a few months back gave us their portable cd player complete with batteries, which allowed us to listen to the radio the entire time the power was out. The day after the storm it was very hot with intense humidity making it very hard to sleep at night. We have a new appreciation for electricity and especially air conditioning. I’ve become familiar again with a chainsaw, as we have been removing fallen trees around our neighborhood. Four of the Perkins center homes have been damaged.
We began to spend our evenings outside on the deck playing chess, listening to the radio with candles for light, trying to escape the heat of the house. As uncomfortable as it was to go without power, it was hard to be discouraged while listening to what others were going through further south.
John Perkins has begun a campaign that will allow us to host 10 families who have no place to go for up to a year. His plan includes giving them jobs and a place to stay so that they to do not become crippled by welfare. He sees great value in these people continuing to use their skills, thus affirming their dignity as human beings. We are planning on heading to the coast next week to see the destruction and get a better idea of how we can be involved in clean up and rebuilding efforts. John has been doing interviews with local news stations as well as national radio programs that want his opinion on the situation. World Vision has contacted John looking for ways to get involved, so it looks like we will definitely be included in the long process of rebuilding.

Many people have evacuated to Jackson from southern areas hit hard by Katrina. Yesterday we visited the Coliseum, which has become a shelter for 2,000 people. The conditions are set up for temporary stays and seem very uncomfortable for long periods of time. These people may not have anywhere to go for a long time. Most of the people are black, poor, and needy, with nowhere else to go.

It’s been shocking to us how slowly help has been administered to the people in New Orleans. I understand that this is a devastating disaster that no one could be completely prepared for, though I can’t help but wonder-if the people who were stranded we’re white and middle-class, would the aid have come faster? To me, the hurricane is half of the disaster. The other half is the lack of aid (and slowness thereof) to the citizens of New Orleans, most of whom are African American.
Thank you to all who have called or attempted to make sure we are ok. We are doing fine and looking to help here in whatever ways we can. We will be sending out a letter from John Perkins this week detailing our plans for working with displaced people. If you would like a copy mailed to you please email me your address:

( Johnny.Bertram@gmail.com )

Technical Difficulties?

Johnny and Emily would like everyone who reads their blog to know that they are alive and well now that Katrina has passed. They cannot yet update this page themselves, though, as the power is still out where they live. They do have water, and even a small amount of electricity (enough to charge Johnny's cellular phone, at least) thanks to John Perkins' emergency generator. They say that all the food they had that needed refrigeration is rotten by this time, but there are still some areas of town that do have power, and a few stores are still open and selling food.

It sounds like utility workers are having a tough time restoring power. Their trucks are out of gas, and they need the power back on to pump more gas. So, though I have no official time frame, it may still be some time before Johnny and Emily can update this blog again themselves. In the interim, they would like you to know that they are safe and will be back in contact as soon as possible.

-Luke