Ball Bearings | Volume 3 Issue 4

BALL BEARINGS Volume 3, Issue 4 / Summer 2012/ Ball State University

The Adventure Issue

BALL CONTENTS BEARINGS FACES

BIG CITY LIFE

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LEARNING LATVIAN

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Intern works for dream company in NYC Student goes abroad to discover family roots

CHASING A THRILL

Storm team looks danger in the eye

FREEDOM FREE FALL

Thrill seekers reach new heights through skydiving

A DESERT PORTRAIT Photographer captures her love for the west

TOUGH ENOUGH New endurance competition pushes limits, builds teamwork

FEATURES CRIMSON HOPE

How human resiliency defies natural disaster

A VACANT CRIB Couple seeks adoption through local agency

ITALIAN CANVAS Painter illustrates her journey overseas

MOVEMENT REPEAT HEALER

Timmy Global Health group serves Ecaudor for third year

SUSTAIN

A DIFFERENT PCB

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10 12 16

18 22 28

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CRU members enter lion’s den on a mission

DEEP SEA DIVER Volunteer researcher explores Madagascar

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BALL BEARINGS Volume 3. Issue 4. Summer 2012

PRINT EDITORIAL STAFF editor-in-chief

design editor

Matthew Holden

Katelin Carter

managing editor

assistant design editor

Lindsey Gelwicks

assistant editors Brandi Terry Lauren Hardy Kelli Bennett

Sara Ling

photo editor

Valerie Carnevale

advertising director Jeffery Hurst

pr director

Haley Williams

adviser

Dr. David Sumner sumner@bsu.edu 765- 285-8210

CONTRIBUTING STAFF writers: Dayna Colbert, David Boulton, Taylor Ellis, Sam Harsh, Mat Mikesell photographers: Tyler Varnau, Tessa Tillett designers: Christine Bradway, Tessa Click, Andrea Giacalone, Annie Gonzalez, Chelsea Kardokus, Stephanie Meredith, Liz Spangler, Stephanie Stamm, Tessa Tillett

ONLINE EDITORIAL STAFF managing editors: Taylor Ellis, Karina Lozanno webmaster: Shannon Veerkamp photo editor: Michelle Zeman producers: Catherine Greis, Eric Marty, Emily Thompson video editor: Nick Ritenour interactivity editor: tarryn silver

www.ballbearingsmag.com

FROM THE EDITOR

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hat a year it’s been! I could touch on all the tragic events that have happened over the course of this school year, but who would want to read that? Instead maybe I’ll just touch on things I deem awesome, given the fact that my initial intent for this publication was do just that: the awesome.

I must say that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my stint at Editor-in-Chief of Ball Bearings. It’s a bit like trying to figure out how to build a bridge as you’re crossing it, but nevertheless it’s been quite the learning experience!

I’d like to thank my advisors, Dr. David Sumner and Prof. Mary Spillman, for helping guide me through this year, making sure I didn’t get anyone sued or set anything on fire (yet). I’d also like to thank my incredible staff, all of you have been so vital to the success of this publication, and I truly couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to work with. I can say from the bottom of my heart that we’ve started out as a group of students wanting to make something and we’ve ended up friends. I can’t wait to see what life has in store for all of you.

Finally I’d like to thank you, the person reading these very words right at this very moment. We work so hard at Ball Bearings to create content that we feel people would want to read and learn about, so I thank you for taking the time out of your hectic schedule to kick off your shoes and step into someone else’s for a bit.

The issue you are holding in your hands is very special to us, not only is it our last issue of the year but it is also our first attempt at what we called “themed” issues. The idea came to me while having a conversation about concept albums, which are albums that unite songs under some sort of common thread. This magazine is very much the same.

As you’ve already seen on our cover, this is our “Adventure Issue.” Now by adventure I don’t necessarily mean stories about kids going off into the jungle (although we do have some of those. See our story about a student who has made consecutive trips to Ecuador on page 32 and also a story about a kid who went to Madagascar this past summer on page 40).

To me, adventure is about doing something new. It’s about stepping outside your comfort zone in order to feel something or to learn something.

One way people do this is by sky diving, which we talk about on page 10.

Another way students do this is by taking alternative spring breaks, and we cover two very different spring break journeys on pages 18 and 37.

Sometimes adventure means having to go through lots of pain in order to find yourself. Whether it’s physical (check our Tough Mudder story on page 16) or emotional pain (We investigate the trials and tribulations of trying to adopt in America on page 22) sometimes you have to reach your lowest point in order to achieve your highest high.

In an age where the media is profiteering on sensational journalism, engulfed in sex scandals and budget cuts, we wanted to bring you stories about people who are doing things they’re passionate about. Things they care about.

You can turn on your television to hear all the dark and gloomy facts about how someone died. I want you to come to us to see why people live.

Matthew Holden Editor in Chief

Ball State University Muncie, IN 47306 Printed by Ball State University Printing Services

PHILIP JOHNSON Student discovers the importance of risk-taking during NYC internship

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have been told that as a Millennial I’m supposed to “want big things”—want the world and everything in it. I think that’s true, to an extent. I want big, exciting experiences.

I want to be on top of the world—and do it in my 20s.

With that in mind, I’ve ended up in New York City within a few days notice to begin my dream internship with one of the most renowned studios in graphic design, Sagmeister.

Only a couple of months ago I was saying, “Well, this is what

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I would love to be doing but it’s nearly impossible, so I’ll probably just be doing this other thing.” Now, my dream has become a reality.

Within a five-day period I left everything comfortable—everything that I have known for so much of my life—to leave school and settle into one of the liveliest cities in the world. I was going to work for people I had hardly taken the time to dream of working for. It had seemed so out of reach.

Now life is something entirely new. The days seem long and relentless, but they still get away from you so quickly. One week ends up feeling like two or three. I haven’t been here long but it feels like ages ago when I was in Muncie.

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The part of this city that has always captivated me is its accessibility.

Communities and professions are tightly knit. Culture is thick – a mesh of any and every kind of background you can think up. Whatever kind of food you’re in the mood for, it’s right there on the next block—right next to Starbucks. The city gives you a lot. Just expect to give a lot in return.

This is the most exciting time in my life thus far. I have a lot to give thanks for.

Luck, largely. I’ve convinced myself that rejection isn’t worth the worry I want to give it—if something’s worth pursuing I’ll either wind up exactly how I started (without it) or just maybe I’ll be surprised.

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ALEXANDER SALMINS First Ball State student studying in Latvia talks travel 7 |

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ondon, Paris, Rome – these are common choices for most students who choose to study abroad. As far as I know, no student from Ball State has ever gone to Latvia before.

I am currently studying abroad at the University of Latvia through the International Student Exchange Program. While taking courses on Latvian language culture and sustainability, I am also doing an independent study of landscape architecture in Latvia. I arrived in Riga, Latvia’s capital, on New Year’s Eve and will be here until mid-July. I live in the middle of Old Riga, within walking distance of all my courses. The University of Latvia isn’t your typical American university with a set campus; rather, it is a series of buildings throughout the whole city.

The reason I find myself here today is because of my interest in exploring my heritage. My father is Latvian, making me 50 percent. He was born to Latvian parents in Germany as they were fleeing the county during Soviet rule. I have always told my friends that I am Latvian, but never truly understood what that meant. To help myself understand, I decided

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to come to Latvia to learn the language and connect with family. I also chose Latvia because it is a nontraditional location for study abroad. I am eager to see how my experience compares to those in the west.

I have always had the desire to travel. I had my first extended amount of time away from home last summer when I had an internship in Alaska. I went there not knowing a soul and came back three months later with people I consider family. The experience taught me how you will be extremely rewarded if you just put yourself out there. After being back in Indiana for a few weeks, I was ready to leave again.

My sister has also always been an inspiration for me. She has traveled to nearly all of Europe and currently resides in Canada. After watching her travel for the past 10 years, I have seen how she has benefited from getting a global perspective on things.

Additionally, she has friends from multiple continents.

I can tell how traveling can become addicting, and it’s been hard to stop since I began last summer. I am already looking forward to where my next destination will be after graduating.

BRAD MAUSHART Severe weather junkie discusses the thrill of the hunt

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here is something about storm chasing that keeps me coming back for more. It’s an addiction, one that cannot be fully satisfied. Each and every time you hit the road, you have a general idea of where you are headed, but just as meteorology isn’t an exact science, you can never really predict where you will eventually end up. Each and every chase is different and no storm is ever the same as the one before it.

The scenery is always fresh and unique and surprises lurk around every bend in the road.

I’ve been chasing storms for about five years now, professionally for one year. I was in the eye of Hurricane Irene as it made landfall in Beaufort, NC last August, I’ve seen more than 10 tornadoes, and I have chased in 15 different states.

Storm chasing has become increasingly competitive over the past five years. With an influx of wireless data and technology came a proportional increase of weekend warrior weather enthusiast types turned “storm chasers.” This is not the type of activity that you want to just jump into head first. Chasing storms requires a strong understanding of the weather, as well as unique skill sets, such as severe weather forecasting, first aid and a lot of patience.

“Hurry up and wait” is the name of the game in chasing. Eighty-five percent or more of the chase is a boring drive through the rural countryside or sitting in a fast food parking lot for free Wi-Fi. The last fraction of a chase day is the most exciting and dangerous part, consisting of treacherous driving and, if you’re lucky, a tornado. Although the majority of the day is mundane, the few hours of real chasing make

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up for it. In some rare cases, such as a high-end risk day, you get more than just a few hours of chasing. In fact, during a tornado outbreak, you can chase from early afternoon hours right on into the night. I have chased on several of these days in the past, most notably a two-day storm chasing spree spanning from Iowa and into central Wisconsin.

My chase partners, other meteorology students and I left from Ball State early on a Saturday morning for what would soon become the most exciting chase I have partaken in. We drove 11 hours toward our target area in western Iowa, finally reaching our destination just in time to catch a super cell thunderstorm that had already spawned several other tornadoes just hours before. The sun had already set before we saw our first of many tornadoes that evening near Pocahontas, Iowa. The only way to see a tornado at night is when it is illuminated by lightning. We kept a safe distance and intercepted more than six tornadoes that night, including the world’s widest tornado, a 2.8-mile wide EF-4 monster. We also saw a pair of twin tornadoes, all from the same storm. It was an event I will not forget.

Storm chasing for me has been a ticket to travelling to remote corners of the country that I would have never experienced otherwise. It’s been a few years filled with tons of excitement, life changing moments and a never ending learning experience. It has truly been an adventure.

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LIVE TO DIVE Risk takers find thrill in the open air { story } Kelli Bennett

{ photo } Provided

The hum of the plane meets your increasing heartbeat as your instructor pats your arm. “Our turn,” he shouts as the two of you, tightly strapped together, scoot toward the plane’s opening. You gasp in amazement as you reach the winded threshold. The airy currents steal your breath. You look down to see the colored parachutes of fellow divers decorating the sky below. The weight of your instructor on your back comforts you as you squeeze onto your harness “One…two…” he shouts. As he reaches “three,” the two of you roll headfirst from a plane hovering 12,000 feet in the air.

A surge of adrenaline rushes through your body as the 110 mph dive captures your attempted scream, pulls your cheeks tight to your face and the rush gains control of your flailing arms. You feel a light jerk from the massive parachute as it deploys at 5,000 feet in the air, transitioning you from a 60-second electric free fall to a relaxing five-minute float

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back to the ground. You take in the scene around you; the blazing sun and white transparent clouds seem within arm’s reach.

“The fun isn’t over yet,” your instructor says through winded laughs.

He spins the two of you in amplified twists and turns, simulating a rollercoaster. As your pace decreases, you allow yourself to enjoy the view as you soar through the air, admiring the chiseled blocks of land and tracing the dark roads with your eyes. You firmly plant your feet back on the ground and let out a bellied scream. “Let’s do it again!” you yell.

William Dougherty, instructor at Skydive Indianapolis in Frankfurt, Ind., has felt the incomparable rush of skydiving for 12 years.

Dougherty performs approximately 20 dives a week, with each being unique. He enjoys the impact he makes as an instructor. “I have an opportunity to teach people to do something that makes them feel good.

When they smile, I smile,” he says.

Some students, after experiencing their first dive with an instructor, were inspired to form Ball State’s own club, The Flying Cardinals.

Scott Kollwitz, president of the Flying Cardinals, is responsible for the organization’s revival. Kollwitz has gone on five skydives, including his first jump in 2007.

He has experienced the awakening of both the tandem jump and the solo accelerated free fall. He enjoys the rush and freedom of the solo fall. “You’re like a bird. Nobody there holding your hand to say where to go or anything. You’re navigating yourself; you’re going any direction you want at any pace you want,” Kollwitz says smiling as he remembers his first dive.

Kollwitz has jumped from two different locations at different times of the year. “Every time you go to a different location it’s a totally different experience with the seasons changing.” He’s seen the vibrant greens of spring and the barren browns of autumn’s end.

Dougherty, through his experience as an instructor, has seen people skydive for various reasons from conquering fear to giving into peer pressure, he says. Dougherty remembers the MTV reality show MADE paying a visit to his family’s drop zone in Greensburg, Ind. The small camera crew accompanied a high school student as he made his first skydive. This was a step in conquering his fear of asking a classmate to prom.

Dougherty also believes skydiving serves as a stress reliever from life’s trials. “You are really living in the moment. The second you leave the air plane, all you worry about is skydiving.”

Many first time skydivers are attracted to the novelty and adventure of the sport. Brooke McNulty is no different. McNulty considers herself to be an adventurous person and didn’t want the typical 21st birthday celebration, she says. The moment her feet hit the ground, she wanted to dive again. “It’s like you’re in heaven. It literally feels like you’re floating,” she says.

With a sport this extreme, there are obvious safety risks associated.

But Dougherty says the drive to and from the drop zone is more risky than the skydive completed at the drop zone. The United States Parachute Association reported an estimated 3 million skydives in 2010, illustrating the security divers feel in the sport. “I’d rather skydive than do a lot of other stuff people do,” says Elizabeth Abel, secretary of the Ball State Flying Cardinals, referring to the numerous injuries of contact sports.

Regardless of one’s skydiving motives, Abel believes the sport speaks one language. “It is so universal,” she says comparing the sport to a universal smile. “You don’t really feel alive until you’ve skydived; I’ve never felt more alive.”

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ARIZONA: A PHOTO ESSAY { story & photos } Valerie Carnevale

Southern Arizona has always held a special place in my heart. My dad’s parents and many of his siblings live in that part of the country and I’ve spent many holidays at my grandparents’ ranch, exploring the desert landscape and admiring the unbelievable stars. As my friends and roommates made spring break plans, the idea of paying my Nana and Papa a visit and spending some time under the endless desert skies kept coming back to me. With graduation growing ever nearer and the “real world” on the horizon, I felt compelled to abandon my endless to-do lists and escape into the anonymity of this region. I wanted to feel invisible and let the vastness swallow up everything constantly weighing on my mind. I called up my Nana and invited myself into their home; a grandparents’ welcome can never be overstayed. I booked a ticket, packed a backpack and was on my way to lose myself in the painted scenes of the Southwest.

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mudder of all challenges Participants take on grueling obstacle course—just to say they did

{ story } Lauren Hardy { photos) Provided

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dam Moats doesn’t remember crossing the Tough Mudder finish line. After 10 miles of running and completing military-esque obstacle courses under hypothermic conditions, Moats was ready to be done—but he had one more challenge to face: electroshock therapy.

With his teammate by his side, he took a deep breath to clear his head. The two looked at each other for one last moment of reassurance and then took off.

Moats sprinted into the live wire jungle, praying to avoid the dangling 10,000-volt wires that were sprinkled throughout the field.

The finish line was getting even closer now. Eyes straight ahead, Moats barreled through the open wires with confidence. Somehow along the way however, he miscalculated his distance from one of the wires, and it whacked him right in the forehead.

“Some other wires were tangled with it and they got wrapped around my neck, causing me to fly backwards and get hit again by a 10,000-volt wire,” Moats says.

Knocked out cold from the shock, Moats fell onto the muddy ground.

“I still finished, but I was pretty delirious,” Moats laughs. “They gave me my Tough Mudder headband and I was so happy. That’s why everyone does it, for the orange headband. It symbolizes overcoming the challenge.”

Blood, sweat, tears, mud, ice baths, fire and risk of death. Since Tough Mudder’s creation in 2010, that’s exactly what half a million participants have endured, not to win but to merely finish the challenge.

Designed by British Special Forces, the Tough Mudder obstacle course varies depending on its location. The challenge ranges anywhere from 10 to 12 miles and contains 25 military-style obstacles—two of which are a mystery—for participants to overcome.

Although it hosted only three events in 2010, Tough Mudder’s reach is now global as its popularity continues to grow at an

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exponential rate. This year Tough Mudder, whose proceeds support the Wounded Warrior Project, will host 29 events around the world—it plans on hosting 51 in 2013.

Jake Dietrich says the unique nature of the course is what motivated him to complete his first Tough Mudder in November 2011.

“It pushes you to your limits greater than the typical 5K or mini marathon. It’s something that not only tests you physically but mentally, and I think that’s the joy of it,” he says. “Plus, you can’t do it on your own.”

Dietrich is right. Without team members, participants would not be able to get past the series of 12-foot walls, underground mud tunnels, ice-baths and muddy slopes they come in contact with.

Teamwork is so crucial to the Tough Mudder experience that competitors, or “mudders,” must take a pledge before the event begins. The pledge, which contains five objectives, reads: “As a Tough Mudder, I pledge that…I understand that Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge. I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time. I do not whine—kids whine. I help my fellow mudders complete the course. I overcome all fears.”

“Everybody really abides by the pledge,” Dietrich says. “If you see someone struggling everyone is going to help that person out.

It’s really all about getting a group of people together and working toward that common goal.”

That’s the idea behind Tough Mudder: to finish, to have a story to tell and to work with others as you challenge yourself.

Even after all of the adversities they faced—frozen legs, collapsed lungs, bruises, gashes and other ailments—both Moats and Dietrich plan to compete in future challenges as they continue to push their limits—something both see as being an important aspect of life.

“If you quit challenging yourself, you’re just going to think that you’re already set and don’t have to better yourself, but there is always something to rise above,” Moats says.

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a Ball State students repair a shattered community from the inside out

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he road ahead was long, narrow and cracked, and the four SUVs proceeded slowly. The sun was shining in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and it was warm, breezy and beautiful. Twenty-eight Ball State students looked out the windows of the vehicles at the unfamiliar terrain around them. Taking in what they were seeing, their excited moods slowly melted into confusion and shock. The weather was a complete contrast to the scene that lay ahead- a scene of wreckage and loss. As they climbed out of the cars, some of them compared what they were seeing to a movie set, or to a war zone.

Before the tornado that ripped it apart, it used to be a redbrick, two-story apartment complex. Primarily low-income families and elderly residents occupied these structures, but they’ve stood empty for a year. No one is sure what happened to the tenants that once lived in these buildings. Not that they can even be classified as buildings anymore; they’re ripped open, completely falling apart. Staircases lay in the parking lot; ceilings are caved in or missing altogether. Bricks and broken glass are everywhere, making the pavement glitter in the sun as if encrusted with small diamonds. Some apartments look as though a giant hand simply peeled off the outside layer to expose the rooms inside. Couches and beds still sit against the wall that was once there; rooms are still furnished and decorated. Personal items are strewn about – food, toys, movies, photographs. A closer look inside shows a closet still holding a child’s clothing. One living room still has a calendar hanging on the wall, turned to April 2011 – a stark reminder of the moment when so many lives were turned upside down.

This apartment complex was one of many facilities destroyed by the EF-4 tornado that ravished Tuscaloosa on April 27, 2011. The tornado was one of many spawned by a storm system that affected Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee. According to the Weather Channel, there were 202 tornadoes on April 27 alone. The storms caused billions of dollars of damage, left behind more than 10 million cubic yards of debris and claimed 450 lives, 210 of which were in Alabama. Forty-three people were killed in Tuscaloosa alone.

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PREVIOUS ALTERNATIVE SPRING BREAK TRIPS This year wasn’t the first for Ball State to host an alternative spring break.The map below shows previous years and locations of trips.

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Tuscaloosa, Alabama (2012)

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St. Louis, Missouri (2011, 2009)

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Galveston, Texas (2010)

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Jonesville, Virginia (2008)

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If you were to look at a satellite view of Tuscaloosa right after the storm, you would see a solid brown line traveling diagonally across the city, surrounded by green. The brown is the path of the storm and shows the destruction left in its wake. It demolished trees, homes, businesses – anything that was in its path.

This particular complex has not been touched since the storms hit, according to Marie Ostrander, volunteer coordinator for United Saints Recovery Project (USRP). USRP is a disaster relief organization with branches in both Tuscaloosa and New Orleans. The mission of the organization is to “help to revitalize economically distressed neighborhoods afflicted by blight and disaster.” At surface level, this seems like basic disaster relief: clean up, rebuild, repair.

For USRP, however, it goes deeper than that – the organization also works to help people heal on a personal level. USRP engages their clients, listening to their stories and offering not only a toolbox to use, but also a hand to hold along the way to recovery. For the next five days we were tasked to do the same, beginning with Marie’s stories.

Marie told the group that the owner of this apartment complex didn’t have insurance and left town immediately after the storm.

This is not unusual. At the time of the storms, 17.4 percent of Southern homes were not covered by hazard insurance. Because the complex is privately owned, however, the city has not been able to do anything to clean it up yet. It has been sitting in a state of absolute ruin for nearly a full year.

Along with the 27 other students beside me, I was awed by the magnitude of the destruction I saw. However, we were not entirely surprised. This was our purpose for being in Tuscaloosa. It was Spring Break, and we chose to spend it volunteering. This trip was part of the Alternative Spring Break program at Ball State, a branch of Student Voluntary Services. Each year, for fall and spring break,

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a group of Ball State students travels somewhere in the United States and does volunteer work during their time away from classes.

Seeing the apartment complex was just one stop of our tour of the city, designed to show us the scope of the destruction and prepare us for the week ahead.

The day after the tour, we started our work. We were split into two groups and given two different projects to tackle. I was part of the group that went to Nene Jones’ home. Her home hadn’t been in the direct path of the storm, but a tree had fallen through it and caused some serious damage. Our first day there, we demolished her bathroom, cleaned up some branches and bushes from her backyard and caulked her walls. Nene was there the entire time, but she didn’t say much. She watched us from afar, with a wary eye.

I found Nene to be interesting. She was rather reserved and mostly kept to herself, but she was a sweet woman if you took the time to talk to her. She appreciated our help and knew it was a step in the right direction – she just didn’t know how to be hopeful quite yet. Optimism seemed to shine through her in small patches when she saw us working, but I could also see some fear lingering in her eyes as she told me that she still gets scared if she even hears thunder. I didn’t know what to say to ease those fears, but I wished desperately that I did. I just hoped that seeing us working would let her know that people cared about what she was going through.

Two days later, I was moved to a new project at the home of a woman named Delois Sadler. Her home had been directly hit by the tornado, and was one of few left standing on the block. A lot of work had been done before we got there, but it still wasn’t completely finished. When we arrived at the house, we were greeted by a long street with only a few houses in sight, peppering the road as it sprawled ahead. This street used to be a typical suburban avenue, entirely lined with houses on both sides, but they were all brought down by the tornado. Trees used to blanket the area, but now it was almost completely bare scenery; the few trees that were left had scarred bark and gnarled, shortened branches, as if they were caught in a wildfire.

Before we started our work, Delois told us her story. She was getting ready to eat dinner when the storm hit. She said that she had a strange feeling; something told her not to sit down and start eating yet, so she waited. When she knew the storm was coming, she hid in the closet and prayed, pushing debris off of her body with her hands. She could feel her house tilting above her. Her home was not entirely demolished, but it was heavily damaged. A shed that she had in the backyard was reduced by half in just a couple of minutes.

As she told us her story, I kept thinking to myself about what I would have done in her situation. There was no doubt that Delois was a very strong, determined woman. I didn’t know if I could have that level of strength if I was her in shoes; would I have just given up? That’s when she said something that clicked for me. In the midst of her tale of loss, she spoke of something much more poignant: resilience.

“When you give up, you give in,” she said simply.

That’s when I realized that it wasn’t about having this innate, superhuman strength. It was about endurance, about looking inside yourself for the strength to carry on in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. It’s about knowing that giving up is not an option.

It’s about making the choice: when you’re knocked down, do you stay down and give up or do you pull yourself back up to stand tall?

Delois is not superhuman; she just chose to keep standing. There’s

(LEFT) Alternative Spring Break participants not only repaired the city, but explored it also. They were able to visit the University of Alabama on the second day in Tuscaloosa. (RIGHT) Efosa Ogbomo and Claudine Cuddy measure and cut wood and siding to repair a shed that was torn in half by the tornado.

no doubt, however, that Delois is a force to be reckoned with. Despite her setbacks, she’s never stopped moving. She knows how to survive, she knows how to recover and she knows how to dance and smile through it all. Her optimism and determination are equal to (if not greater than) the destructive forces of a tornado.

Listening to Delois’ story taught us all a lesson: nature is uncontrollable. There will always be floods, hurricanes, tornadoes. People will lose things and be beaten down. But more importantly, we learned that we can always pull ourselves back up. If it’s only by the tips of our fingers, we can hold on and we can triumph. The human spirit is undefeatable, if only we believe that it is.

We painted Delois’ house and her porch; we put siding on her shed; we nailed up some boards to her roof. We saw her home transform in front of our eyes. Delois saw it too and showed her appreciation through both words and edible gestures, constantly thanking us and making us homemade rum cake and sweet potato pie.

While working at Delois’ home one sunny afternoon, one of our group members, Courtney, made a surprising discovery: at the home directly behind Delois’ was a tiny puppy chained to a set of stairs. He was scarily thin, with visible ribs sticking up under his yellow fur. He had no water and no shelter. It wasn’t clear if anyone even lived in the house, but the puppy couldn’t leave. When we walked around the corner, he began barking and wagging his little tail, as if he hadn’t seen humans in weeks.

Courtney informed the United Saints workers, and they assured us they would contact local animal rescue agencies. For the next couple of days after that, we paid frequent visits to the little puppy – whom we deemed Henry the Ninth – and fed him most of our lunches. We continued to knock on the door of the home, but got no answer.

Two days after this discovery, however, a few people were sitting in the backyard with Henry when the back door of the house opened.

The owner came outside and told the volunteers point-blank to take the dog; he couldn’t take care of it. The dog is now in the custody of Marie, and has been renamed Charles Henry Ball the Ninth, or Charlie for short (after Charlie Cardinal, of course). If we hadn’t been working on Delois’ home, there’s a good chance that Charlie would never have been found or rescued. We not only repaired a home at that site; we changed a life.

Beyond Charlie, however, there were more changes happening within the volunteer group. We left Ball State as a group of 28 relative strangers, crammed into SUVs for 12 hours and dedicated to doing service together for a week. However, as that week went on, I saw bonds start to develop. Tentatively at first, and then more and more steadily as we continued to open up to each other. Through chats on the job, structured reflection activities, card games and late night heart-to-hearts, we slowly transformed into a cohesive unit, becoming a kind of family. Sharing such a unique experience, an experience that can never be replicated, allowed each of us to leave Alabama with 27 new friends that know us in a way that no one else does.

We spent five days working in Tuscaloosa. Between the 28 of us, we volunteered hundreds of hours to relief efforts. There’s no doubt that there’s still so much to be done. There are still homes that are caving in, businesses that are boarded up and lots that are covered with the remnants of demolished homes. It’s easy to look at the city as a whole and wonder how much we really contributed. But to do that is to ignore the smile on Delois’ face when she saw her new shed. It’s to ignore the flicker of hope in Nene’s eyes when she realizes she’s one step closer to having a home again. It’s to forget that we saved the life of a tiny, helpless creature. It’s to dismiss the many stories we were told, the many people we met, and the many words of gratitude we heard time and time again. We may not have fixed the entire city, but we undoubtedly made a difference in our little corner of it.

SUMMER 2012

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FAMILY

unfinished

STORY lindsey gelwicks PHOTOS valerie carnevale DESIGN sara ling

“Daddy’s home!” Laura and Dave shout as they run toward the kitchen. The 8- and 9-year-old hug their father, Jim Moore, before returning to their previous tasks. Dave sits contently doing his math homework in the dining room. Laura stays in the kitchen, curiosity taking over as she listens to her father and his wife, Erin, discuss dinner.

“I’m the luckiest girl in the world because my husband cooks for us,” Erin says.

“Not tonight,” Jim replies as he pulls out leftovers.

“Reheating is just as good,” Erin says laughing.

Soon Laura runs to the living room and returns with Wookiee the Chew, a book combining Winnie the Pooh and Star Wars.

“Erin, look,” she says pointing to Owl-B-Won on the page.

Wednesdays tend to be busy nights at the Moore household. After Erin picks up her stepchildren from their Alexandria, Ind., school, they go to Jim and Erin’s Muncie home. After homework and dinner, the family zips off again for Awana, a children’s Bible study at New Life Presbyterian Church.

Although seemingly complete, the Moore family is waiting for a new member of the family to arrive. But unlike most families who can count the arrival date down from nine months, Erin is not pregnant. Instead, the Moore family is adopting.

“

she wasn’t just looking for someone to go out with on the weekends; she was looking for someone to marry.

“It would have been disappointing if it was some sort of deal breaker, but it was what it was,” he says. “And the right thing to do was to tell her.”

Although Erin had never been married or had children, she took the news calmly. She knew that if she and Jim ended up together for the long haul, she would become a stepmother to his two children. What she didn’t know at the time was whether having stepchildren would fulfill her desire to be a parent or if it would be necessary to have a child of her own.

If that occurred, Erin knew they could turn to adoption.

“Even at that point I thought that it wasn’t going to be necessary for me to be pregnant,” Erin says looking back on the moment. “And I know that for some women that is a really important part of their life and that part of being a mother is having that experience. For some reason it didn’t bother me, the notion that I might not experience that part of it.”

Jim and Erin married on a snowy December day in 2007. About two years into the marriage, Erin began to feel the urge to be a full-time mom and not just a stepmother. Although she loved Laura and David like her own children and they loved her, Erin knew she would never be their mom.

Jim and Erin began to discuss having a child.

The number of options was mind-boggling to Erin. There was a vasectomy reversal, sperm donor, the foster care system, adoption. Under each of those options were even more choices to be made.

As Erin read up on vasectomy reversals she learned that while success with the reversal was nearly guaranteed, success of pregnancy was only 50 percent.

“There were so many unknowns,” Jim says about the possibility of reversing the vasectomy.

“If it was guaranteed that you reverse a vasectomy and you’re going to be able to conceive a child, I think that we would have done that.”

Instead, Erin began looking into adoption.

“Both of us have heard that with adoption there has never been a person that’s waited for adoption that hasn’t received a child,” Erin says,

“

F

Five years prior, at the end of 2006, Erin Lukesh sat in her Lafayette, Ind., apartment instant messaging on her computer. Jim Moore sat on the other end, 80 miles south in his Indianapolis apartment. It was just another typical night for the couple. Meeting on ChristianCafe.com, they were no strangers to staying connected online.

Suddenly, Erin received a message that worried her. “I have something I need to talk to you about, but I think it’s better that we do it over the phone,” Jim typed. Erin’s heart began pounding. She was starting to feel a real connection with Jim and this sudden urgency made her palms sweat. *** In Spring 2004, Jim Moore awaited the arrival of his second child with his first wife, a son named David. Throughout the caesarian section, doctors noticed some complications and told the couple that having another child would be dangerous. The couple decided a vasectomy would be best. *** As Erin sat at her computer, she thought back on the past month that she and Jim had been talking. Since the beginning they had discussed what Erin refers to as “some pretty heavy stuff.” Because Jim had been married before and had two kids from that marriage, the couple discussed how they defined family and how Christianity played a role in their lives.

One question they delved into was whether Jim would biblically be able to remarry after divorce.

The couple was used to talking about the deep topics that many don’t reach until months or even years into a relationship. But this sudden urgency to talk was new to Erin.

As Erin listened to Jim’s voice on the other end of the phone, he explained the predicament.

Two years ago, he had gotten a vasectomy. He explained that the decision stemmed from possible danger if his former wife had another child. At the time he thought their marriage would last forever so he thought nothing of it.

Looking back, Jim doesn’t recall feeling nervous about the conversation at all.

“I tell her everything,” he says. There was never a question of hiding the vasectomy. Erin was 29 at the time , and Jim 35. He knew that

And I know that for some women [being pregnant] is a really important part of their life.... For some reason it didn’t bother me, the notion that I might not experience that part of it.

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BALL BEARINGS

-Erin Moore

explaining their decision. “There are people that have started on adoption and decided that the wait is too long or it’s too difficult or too expensive and opted out. But anybody that has sought to adopt and stuck with it, it’s 100 percent guaranteed. That was pretty compelling to us.”

Soon after, the couple began working with a new Muncie agency called Adoption Connections.

Adoption isn’t a new concept to the Moore family. Both Jim and his sister were adopted as infants. Laura and David grew up knowing that “Daddy was not in Grandma Pat’s tummy but Grandma Pat is Daddy’s mom,” Erin says.

In addition, Erin’s grandmother was adopted (Erin does mention the process was a whole lot easier back then.)

Now, adoption consists of piles of paperwork, background checks, fingerprints, financial profiles, medical checkups and more. All of

which get wrapped up in one package called a home study. Many times, each agency a family works with will require a new home study.

Working with Adoption Connections, the couple completed a home study and created a profile book title “The Moore ABC’s.” They even have their own website, adoptingmoore.com.

As Erin began the adoption process, she immersed herself in everything baby-related. She researched the best strollers, car seats and baby carriers. And just like any expecting mother, Erin created an online registry of items friends and family could purchase for the couple once the baby arrived. Erin had a case of “baby fever.”

Then after six months, it suddenly stopped.

“It felt foolish,” Erin says. “It felt like I was buying things for a baby that didn’t exist.”

Another six months later, Erin began working on the nursery. She painted the walls of the guest

room a bright yellow. Her father helped add white paneling to the bottom half of the walls. She brought in a changing table and filled its drawers with little toys, onesies and enough diapers and wipes to last them through the first month.

Up until a month ago the crib was in its original box, leaning up against a wall. At that point, the nursery became a temporary storage area for Dave’s trophies, games and other knickknacks as they worked on his room.

Though she has now continued to work on the nursery again, Erin still plans on leaving the smaller details and decorating until when she knows for certain that a baby will be on its way.

“I worry that when everything’s done, there’s nothing else to do,” Jim says. “So when there was stuff to do still, I felt better about it for her and consequently for me.” ***

ERIN MOORE LOOKS at pictures she purchased from Etsy to go into the nursery. While she has many of the things that go into the nursery, not all of them have a place yet.

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LAURA MOORE READS a book in the nursery that Erin has for the future baby, while Dave Moore completes hi homework in the family’s dining room.

“

agencies. Erin got her hopes up that maybe some good news would come along. And then she heard mention of a home study.

Each year that a family is working with an agency, they must renew their home study.

“This is just a reminder that you don’t have a baby,” Jim says. *** While Erin stays focused on the nursery, Jim is involved in the adoption in a different way.

“I’m in a very different place than where Erin is because this is something that I’ve already been through with Dave and Laura,” he says.

“And I would be perfectly fine if that’s the way it stayed. It’s not that I’m not ok with having a baby. I think that would be fine; it’s something that we’ve talked about and that we’ve agreed upon. But we don’t have the same emotional connection to it.”

He credits part of this attitude to where each of them are in their lives and part of it to his personality. His motto is “It is what it is.”

On a daily basis, he just sees himself in a support role. When a hole in the wall of the nursery needed patched after reconstruction on the bathroom next door, he did it. When paperwork for the new adoption agencies became overwhelming for Erin, she passed them on to him.

He says Erin is definitely in the driver’s seat for the adoption, but he makes it clear that he is

just as involved. Everything is a mutual decision.

“We’re unified in what we want,” Jim says.

“It’s just a different…”

“Urgency,” Erin says, completing his sentence. *** Now in their second year of waiting, Jim and Erin have discussed how they want to move forward with the adoption process. They continue to work with Adoption Connection but have begun working with several other small Christian adoption agencies such as Miriam Agencies in Anderson, Ind., and GLAD Adoption Agency in Evansville, Ind. Twice they have been close to receiving a baby, but both times, the birth parents went with another couple.

Many times they have discussed whether to go with a bigger agency, which could cost upwards of $30,000, but have chosen to stay with smaller ones. Erin says there is absolutely no guarantee that a baby will come faster just because they pay more.

The couple has no way of knowing when a baby will arrive, so for now they are leaving it up to faith.

“It may be cliché but I think that God has a plan,” Jim says as he sits at the kitchen table with Erin. “Knowing and feeling, not just with the adoption but with everything, that we’re not in control but that God is in control, it makes all of that easier to deal with.”

“

Dave and Laura are both looking forward to a baby brother or sister.

Erin remembers the first time they told the children during dinner one night. After the initial silence, a then 6-year-old Laura began describing what everyone’s responsibilities would be. Laura would hold the baby, bathe the baby and dress the baby. Dave would get to hold the baby when Laura said. Erin’s job would be to take out the dirty diapers. And Jim would be there for support.

Dave says now that he doesn’t care whether he gets a little brother or sister. But Laura, who has three brothers between the blended families, has her heart set on a baby sister.

“Now if we get a baby boy what did you say?”

Erin asks.

“I’ll love him until he’s bigger,” Laura says.

Quietly she adds, “But then he’ll get annoying.” *** Some days are harder than others for Erin.

She recalls a moment a few weeks ago where she felt both the ups and downs of waiting in the same day.

Erin’s mother, who is looking forward to the thought of a new grandchild, will sometimes send Erin devotionals to help keep her spirits up.

Erin had recently received one from her mother, which put her in a good mood.

That changed when she returned home. Jim was on the phone with one of the adoption

It felt foolish... It felt like I was buying things for a baby that didn’t exist.

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BALL BEARINGS

-Erin Moore

ADOPTION BY THE NUMBERS ATTORNEY FEES

ADVERTISING

MEDICAL EXPENSES FOR THE BIRTH MOTHER

MISCELLANEOUS EXPENSES FOR THE BIRTH MOTHER

$300 $1,600 $850 $420

8 out of 10

$8,500

$2,500

$15,000

$8,500

THE COST OF ADOPTION

APPLICATION FEE HOME STUDY & PREPARATION SERVICES POST-PLACEMENT SUPERVISION PHYSICAL & PSYCHIATRIC EVALUATIONS OF PARENTS

* DOLLAR VALUES ARE BASED AVERAGE LOW TO HIGH FIGURES FROM ADOPTION.COM

88 Percent

Adopted children spend time reading for pleasure on a daily basis

Of adopted children ages 6+ exhibit positive social behaviors

TOP TEN

1. AMERICA

4. CHINA

7. COLOMBIA

2. KOREA

5. RUSSIA

8. INDIA

3. MEXICO

6. PHILIPPINES 9. VIETNAM

1,801,123

22,410

56,825

BIRTH COUNTRIES OF ADOPTED CHILDREN IN THE UNITED STATES

9,656

20,208

28,090

9,579

9,828

7,377

10. ROMANIA

6,329

5

1 3

7

2

4

10

8

9

6

Sources: Adoption USA, U.S. Census Bureau, adoption.com

SPRING 2012

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jArt

in Italy j

Illustrations & story by Tessa Click

Last May, along with 16 other art majors and two painting professors, I embarked on a five week adventure through Italy (and a tiny bit of Spain).

We saw incredible art, walked through beautiful places and ate amazing food. Our group made artwork during and after the trip, which was presented in an art show.

A weekend in Madrid was thrilling to say the least. You know that feeling that some people get when they see celebrities in person? T hey want to tell everyone they know that they saw “so-and-so� at the pharmacy getting vitamins. Well, in Madrid I saw some favorite celebrities including Goya, Velazquex and Picasso.

Oh, and speaking of celebrities, our little group of art students encountered the cast of Jersey Shore on two separate occasions while we were in F lorence, Italy. For some students, it was the highlight of their study abroad experience.

Just kidding. I hope.

I look up from my food to look out the window and see a fully nude man riding a bicycle, coming to a stop at a stoplight.

Everyone at the table turned around and looked out the window. We all left our food and belongings unattended and ran to the window.

T hen we just run outside, grabbing purses, some students begin taking photos and video of the nearly 200 nude bike riders going by. Some bike riders are wearing masks to hide their identity or hats or shoes. No one is clear as to why these cyclists are nude. No one sees any protest signs or flags accompanying the mass of nude cyclists. Crowds have gathered as both sides of the busy street now resembling a parade....

In Rome, our days were filled with Caravaggio, Bernini and Michelangelo.

A man makes his way through the jungle to the health clinic served by Ball State’s chapter of Timmy Global Health.

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Ecuador calling Members of Timmy Global Health return to Ecuador in order to bring medical relief { story } Emily Thompson { photos) Provided

E

mily Sullivan and her medical team are on a mission. It’s an early Tuesday morning in March, and a group of 13 Ball State students, nine medical professionals from all over the world and a team of local doctors are traveling to a community near Tena, Ecuador. However, the trek doesn’t go as smoothly as they had hoped.

Along the way the team runs into a roadblock, in the honest sense. In the middle of the road they need to travel on, a few construction workers are in the process of pouring huge rocks to form a road. They stop the trucks, and roughly 30 people pile out to help the workers put the rocks in place to level out the road.

“We literally had to build our road to get to the community,” Sullivan says.

The group was going to set up a medical clinic to see patients who hadn’t had access to medical care in nearly three months, and they weren’t about to let a few rocks stand in their way.

This was Sullivan’s third consecutive year traveling to volunteer in Ecuador. A junior health science major, Sullivan is the president of the Ball State chapter

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I was trying to wrap my mind around the fact that these people don’t have as easy access to healthcare and medicines like we do in the States, and it really just made me realize how much we take for granted.

- Emily Sullivan of Timmy Global Health (formerly the Timmy Foundation), an Indianapolis-based organization that plans and executes medical brigades to Ecuador, Guatemala and Nigeria.

One of 18 university chapters, the Ball State chapter was established in 2003.

When Sullivan was a freshman, she initially thought she wanted to study pre-med. She loved the idea of traveling and helping others, so her goal was to participate in Doctors Without Borders. Then one day, she received an email about Timmy Global Health. She went to the call-out meeting, applied for the program and was accepted.

The organization had Sullivan’s name written all over it. Her mother is from Cuba, and Sullivan had a strong interest in health education and promotion in Central and South America. She also grew up in Texas where she studied Spanish from elementary through high school. Today, Sullivan minors in the language. Before she knew it, Sullivan was on her way to Quito, Ecuador over winter break for the Ball State chapter medical brigade.

ABOVE: Volunteers spend a lot of time entertaining the kids while their parents meet with doctors.

RIGHT: Sullivan, president of the BSU chapter of Timmy Global Health, loves playing games with the kids.

FAR RIGHT: Generations of women: it’s typical to see young girls carrying babies and rare to see women 80 years or older.

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“What I realized from my freshman year trip is that I was able to make a difference without even being a doctor,” Sullivan says. “I was serving as a translator, and I was able to help out these patients without a medical degree.

When I came back, I knew I wanted to pursue something like that, so I changed my major to health science with an interest in health education and health promotion.”

The trip helped define her field of study, but Sullivan says that she definitely dealt with culture shock, as it was the first time she traveled outside of the U.S. “A lot of the people who came in to get medicine from us were just getting simple, over-the-counter medicines like Tylenol or cough medicine,” Sullivan says. “It was just so surprising to me. These people would come in and say, ‘I’ve had stomach pains or diarrhea for like three months straight now.’ One woman was coughing up worms. So I was trying to wrap my mind around the fact that these people don’t have as easy access to healthcare and medications like we do in the States, and

SUSTAIN |

it really just made me realize how much we take for granted.”

Last year, she traveled with the Ball State Timmy brigade once again. This time, Sullivan says she was more prepared.

“It gets easier, but I still am always very excited for it,” Sullivan says.

Although she had already been to Ecuador the previous year, her second trip was very different. Instead of traveling to Ecuador’s capital city, the group made its way to Tena, which is a five to six hour bus ride from Quito. Tena is in the Amazonian region of the country and is less developed than Quito.

After two consecutive years of working with the Ball State Timmy brigade, Sullivan was elected president for the 2011-2012 academic year. Although the group was planning a trip to Tena over spring break again, Sullivan says that the added presidential responsibilities made her third year a different experience. Another factor that made this trip different than the previous two was that Sullivan’s fiancé, Derek Miller, would be making the trek to Ecua-

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dor for the first time and was the only male student of the 13 going on the trip.

On March 2, the last day of classes before spring break, the Ball State chapter of Timmy Global Health left for Ecuador. The team spent all weekend traveling to Tena, and by the time they reached their destination, they were ready to get started. Beginning Monday morning around 8 a.m., the students split up into two groups that each traveled to a different surrounding community. During past years, the group has served around four communities, but by splitting up into two groups, this year they were able to set up clinics in nine communities.

Once they made it to the various destinations, the brigade set up five different stations: name check and medical history, triage station (where they took the patients’ vitals), doctors’ examination, pharmacy and a fluoride station for the children. The students rotated between the various stations, while the medical professionals worked to diagnose and treat the patients.

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This year was sophomore Morgan McCloskey’s first year going to Ecuador. Much like Sullivan, she went on the trip knowing that she was interested in some sort of medical career. McCloskey says that one of her favorite parts of the trip was learning about how to treat patients.

One patient had been dealing with pain from a cyst on her hip for 20 years, and McCloskey had the opportunity to assist the medical professionals in removing the cyst.

Because many of the clinics were set up in schoolhouses or public buildings, volunteers only had the tools and resources they brought with them on the trip. So the doctors lined up desks, sterilized the tops, hung up a blanket for privacy and asked the woman to lie across the desktops on her side. The doctors then made a small incision on the cyst, drained it and stitched it afterward. Although she didn’t actually get to make the incision, McCloskey held the forceps and passed tools to the doctors.

In addition to everything she learned from the medical professionals, McCloskey also says she really enjoyed working with Sullivan in Ecuador.

“I love Emily,” McCloskey says. “Our personalities are kind of alike, so we like to tease each other. If you heard us talk to each other, you would think that we don’t like each other at all, but she has a great sense

of humor, and she’s fun to be around. She’s a great president. She’s got a heart made of gold.”

McCloskey says she plans to follow in Sullivan’s footsteps and return to Ecuador each year she’s at Ball State.

“I don’t think that I’ll ever go back to a normal spring break,” McCloskey says. “I have no desire to go down to Florida or any crazy spring breaks. I just know that for the next two years, I want to go back down [to Ecuador], and I want to do the same thing.”

August Longino, the medical brigade coordinator who lives and works in Tena, Ecuador, says he also enjoyed working with Sullivan.

“I think her greatest achievement was keeping a gang of college students on-task and focused for a week in the jungle,” Longino says. “I was grateful and proud of her for that.”

As for Sullivan, she plans to return to Ecuador next year for her senior year trip. After graduation, Sullivan and her fiancé hope to join the Peace Corps to continue work in international healthcare.

“After these trips I’ve had with Timmy Global Health, I definitely do want to continue pursing international work,” Sullivan says. “It seems to be my calling.”

+

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out of the comfort zone Ball State students went to Panama City Beach for a spring break unlike any other. { story } Taylor Ellis

SUMMER 2012

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SUSTAIN |

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S

ix months. That’s all it took for Riley Watts’ life to do a complete 180. Today, he looks in the mirror and sees a new person—someone he never thought he could become.

Six months ago, Watts searched for acceptance in anything he could find to drown out the problems in his life—alcohol, drugs, parties—they all left him feeling empty, he says. Nevertheless, his habits persisted.

Watts worked long hours at a summer job in order to save hundreds of dollars, mainly for the booze and drunken nights he planned to have on his first college spring break at Panama City Beach.

These plans changed for Watts last fall, when he began his freshman year at Ball State.

Through a random interaction, junior Abby Jean Ray told Watts that everything he had been searching for—acceptance, love, security; they could all be found in Christ.

Because of this one girl’s willingness to step out of her comfort zone, Watts says his perspective shifted.

“If it weren’t for someone initiating an uncomfortable conversation with me, I would probably still be searching for answers,” he says.

So now he’s paying it forward—giving up his comfort in hopes of seeing someone else’s life do a complete 180.

Today, as he stands on one of Panama City’s many beaches, his stomach is in knots. He’s about to do just what Ray did for him, only in the middle of spring break, on a frenzy-filled beach.

Now that he’s finally there, he looks around at the people he planned on partying with and tries to muster the courage to spit out the words he’s been rehearsing in his head.

The guys he’s approaching see him coming. Finally, Watts introduces himself. “Would you mind taking this survey to answer some questions and talk with me about your spiritual beliefs?” he says.

The guys stare at him for a second and then at each other in disbelief. Meanwhile, Watts stands frozen, still clinching the survey in his hands. Seconds later, to his amazement, they actually agree to participate. As he listens to their stories, his nerves finally calm when he is able to share with them the reason for his new life— his relationship with Jesus Christ.

Watts is just one of thousands of college students who went to Panama City Beach for an alternative spring break trip called Big Break. The trip, hosted

by CRU, a campus Christian organization, gave 26

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BALL BEARINGS

Ball State students the opportunity to step out of their comfort zones by sharing their faith with thousands of other students.

But why would a group of college students want to sacrifice their spring breaks, comfort and reputation in exchange for possible rejection and fear?

Getting Uncomfortable

It took an atheist to push Robert Jones out of his comfort zone.

Pen Jillette, famous atheist and member of the magic duo Pen and Teller said something in a YouTube video showed during a CRU meeting that Jones will never forget.

In the video, Jillette said, “How much do you have to hate someone to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? If I believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that a truck was coming at you and you didn’t believe it, there’s a certain point where I tackle you, and this is more important than that.”

Jillette’s bold statement left an impact on Jones and motivated him to go on Big Break for the second time.

“It was a slap in my face. This guy called me out, and he doesn’t even believe in God,” Jones says.

Jones admits that sharing his faith isn’t always easy— he has faced his fair share of rejection. During his first Big Break in 2011, Jones had a girl tell him that she was there to have sex, do drugs and drink and that he needed to get Jesus out of her face.

Rejection can have many ugly faces—this is what the women who went on Big Break experienced. Some, like Bridget Floyd, a freshman majoring in psychology and sociology, weren’t ready for the derogatory comments they heard.

“We had guys say to us, ‘We just came here to have sex—so if you want to come to my room and talk, I’ll tell you where it’s at later tonight.’ “Being a tiny freshman girl, that was kind of scary,” Floyd says.

Jordan Thomas, a sophomore art education major, says that she had people make fun of her and try to flirt with her while she was sharing her beliefs. In these moments, Thomas says she had to remind herself that it’s not really her they are rejecting.

“Whether or not they reject [the Gospel], it’s up to them,” she says. “It’s essentially not my message, it’s

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Students from Ball State’s CRU chapter traveled

800 MILES

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These Cardinals were just part of

1,003 PEOPLE participating in Big Break’s first week.

from Muncie, Ind., to Panama City Beach, Fla. They spent their break sharing their faith for

WEEK

1

Big Break hosted different groups of students over the course of

4 WEEKS

God’s message. They aren’t rejecting me if they reject what we have to say.”

It’s All in the Approach

Bible-thumpers—that’s what a lot of people might see Christians as, says Thomas. But that little word and all the negative connotations that come with it motivated Thomas and the rest of the Big Break team to share their faith by listening, instead of the usual speaking.

“We don’t want to force our beliefs down people’s throats. We want to listen to what they believe and then ask for permission to share about our faith in Christ. We wanted to approach the whole thing with love,” she says.

Floyd says many people thanked the students for listening and were grateful that they weren’t just trying to convert them.

Anthony Pequinot, a junior construction management major, didn’t expect to have someone encourage him to talk to more people.

“I talked to a guy who said, ‘I’m set in my ways and I’m not going to change, but I hope you change at least one person’s mind out here today,’” he says.

Students were able to make an impact; during the course of their Big Break, 3,959 spiritual conversations took place and 124 people accepted their message.

The overall group contributed to

3,950 spiritual coversations, 1,630

Gospel coversations,

124

prayers to receive Christ.

The four sessions in total had

3,147 ATTENDEES

No Perfect People Allowed

We’re far from perfect—that’s the whole reason Christ came to die, says Jones.

And there’s no pretending to be perfect with this group—broken, messy, and sinful are words they use to describe themselves.

Ann Marie Mohr, an intern with CRU, says that followers of Christ are no better than anyone else on that beach. The difference—they have accepted that Christ came to die for their imperfections, she says.

None of the students that went on Big Break claim to have it all together—in fact they actually boast in their weaknesses.

“When I am weak, Christ is strong for me, I have to rely on him for everything, every single day,” Thomas says.

She also thinks that one of the biggest misconceptions about following Christ is that you have to clean yourself up before you can accept Him. But that’s not the case.

“In Scripture it says if you believe in Christ, God will forgive you. Not if you stop everything you’re doing and clean yourself up and then believe. It just says believe.

And when you believe that’s when your life begins to become transformed,” Thomas says.

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MOVEMENT |

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UNCHARTED TERRITORY NREM student ventures off the beaten path { story } Matt Holden

A

{ photo) Tyler Varnau

t 4 o’clock on a warm summer morning on the western coast of Madagascar, Ball State student Zach Deckard is already getting up.

It’s time for one of his routine night dives, where he’ll dress himself head to toe in scuba gear and explore parts of the Indian Ocean that are only comparable to outer space.

The night sky is illuminated by starlight. Due to heavy deforestation that has plagued the country for years, there is nothing to shelter the island’s inhabitants from the intimidating amount of natural light.

“It’s never not bright outside,” says Deckard, a senior majoring in natural resources and environmental management.

As Deckard slips into his gear, his team of volunteers plunges into the depths of the ocean on a mission to establish baseline data about the inhabitants of the coral reef that live under the sea. Deckard himself is also on a mission of selfdiscovery.

For Deckard, this mission started on Christmas break during his junior year. Growing up in Bloomington, Ind., Deckard’s family always emphasized the importance of travel; his dad served in Vietnam and spent years living in Hawaii.

“My brothers and sisters studied abroad when they were in school, but I knew I wanted to do something different,” Deckard says.

Over Christmas break, Deckard was searching through an atlas, trying to figure out where he wanted to travel.

“I wanted to go to all these places that hadn’t been

developed yet because obviously the longer I wait the more developed they’ll become,” Deckard says. “I can always see Europe, that’s not going to change much in my opinion.”

He had his heart set on visiting Madagascar, an island nation off the coast of Africa. Unfortunately he had no idea about how to get there, and he went back to school for his spring semester putting the idea out of his head.

As luck would have it, an email entered Deckard’s inbox from James Elfin, chairman of the NREM program. Inside the message was information about a trip to Madagascar through Blue Ventures, a program headquartered in London.

Blue Ventures is an organization that focuses their efforts on establishing sustainable fishing practices as well as social services in coastal regions. Another primary function of the group is to work closely with the locals in the area so they can one day vacate and know that everything is in good hands. Immediately, Deckard started getting all the necessary materials in place to go on the trip.

By the time summer rolled around, Deckard was ready to make his trip to Andavadoaka, a tiny village on the western coast that is home to roughly 12,000 inhabitants. He was in for quite the culture shock.

As soon as he arrived in Antananarivo, the nation’s capital, he knew he was far from familiar territory.

“As soon as we got in the airport I had six guys all over me trying to help me carry my luggage,” Deckard says. “They don’t speak any English yet they kept saying ‘Tips! Tips!’ I even had one guy walking behind me holding the weight of my backpack.”

As Deckard puts it, stepping out into the city was like

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“I felt like pushing myself about as far as I could go, and 100 feet deep in the Indian Ocean on the other side of the world seemed to be about far enough” -Zack Deckard stepping back in time. Biofuels are still the primary source of energy in Madagascar, so the emissions are palpable.

“A common saying among us was that you had to chew the air before you could breathe it,” Deckard says.

Once he arrived in the capital with all of the other volunteers from around the world, they had to make the complicated journey to their destination, which meant a four-day trip to a port city followed by a 14-hour drive in the back of a truck to the village where they would be staying all summer.

“It was one of the more miserable rides I’ve ever had in my life,” Deckard says. “I stood for eight hours just because I stood up once and people squished in behind me, leaving me nowhere to sit back down.”

Once they finally arrived in the village, they could begin their research. Blue Ventures was in the area doing what is known as “baseline research,” meaning they were building a foundation of research about what was around the coral reef. This research is then interpreted and analyzed by experts at a later time. The intent is to help maintain the coral reef in a time where the ocean water is changing, causing lots of coral bleaching.

Deckard would make two separate dives a day, both before noon. This was because they were in such a remote location that it would take roughly six hours for a helicopter to get them to a hospital in the event that something bad were to happen.

“Before I left I thought there was going to be something on site, and I thought wow that’s pretty advanced for an

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African village...then once I got there I realized that was too good to be true,” Deckard says.

Aside from diving, Deckard also helped teach English to some of the local villagers, who only spoke their native language of Malagasy. Because of the small number of people speaking English, Deckard had a tough time communicating with them. In order to help bridge the gap he would often draw up diagrams in his field book so that they could communicate through images.

“We’d do it for hours because it’s really the only way of communicating,” Deckard says. “I got pretty good at Pictionary.”

Deckard’s time on the island taught him a lot about cultures that are fundamentally much different than his own, while also making him appreciate his eventual return to the states. The biggest thing that surprised him about his experience in Madagascar was the number of smells that he had never come across before.

“It wakes you up as a person in general. You couldn’t be prepared for the things you were going to smell there,” Deckard says.

In the end, Deckard was looking for an escape from his life in the States. He was looking to stretch his boundaries as well as himself as much as possible, and he found that with his trip to Madagascar.

“I felt like pushing myself about as far as I could go, and 100 feet deep in the Indian Ocean on the other side of the world seemed to be about far enough,” Deckard says.

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