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JVC Update Emails

August 5th, 2003 - August 5, 2004. One year that changed my life.

This year of volunteering with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in the rural Willamette Valley town of Woodburn, Oregon was shared with four housemates in an old farmhouse, each of us living out our version of the four JVC values: community, spirituality, simplicity and social justice. My placement called for me to minister to the migrant farmworkers of the local parish by running a food bank and energy assistance program, as well as visiting the seniors and providing a listening ear to those who otherwise might not have any visitors. But it was so much more than that. Along the way we shared laughs, trials, and our share of pan dulce and burritos from Luis's, as I began to see firsthand the hopes and dreams of those people with whom God allowed me to cross paths. It is my hope that I made their paths a little easier.

Watch my progression through this year of service in the periodic email updates I sent out to my family and friends.

• One - "NASA to JVC"
• Two - " 'I am continually amazed at the huge trees...' "
• Three - "A day in the life of a JV"
• Four - "Christmas Eve in Woodburn"
• Five - "The Ultimate Oregon Weather Day"
• Six - " 'Today's a great day to be a duck' "
• Seven - "Strawberry picking"
• Eight - "Oregon to Oklahoma - and a prayer from Jack Morris"

Post JVC Updates:

• Nine - "My first tornado"
• Ten - "On to Columbia U. for 'Climate and Society'; OKC half-marathon"

(original update pictures to be posted soon)