{"id":10573,"date":"2007-11-28T12:01:53","date_gmt":"2007-11-28T17:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=10573"},"modified":"2011-08-09T12:05:07","modified_gmt":"2011-08-09T17:05:07","slug":"5969","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/11\/28\/5969\/","title":{"rendered":"Journey to Mosaic Filled With \u2018Unplanned Moments\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

TACOMA, WASHINGTON (November 28, 2007) – Three years of dreaming and nine months of planning went into the North Pacific Conference\u2019s first Journey to Mosaic (J2M), says Lenore Three Stars, one of the trip\u2019s organizers, but it was the unplanned moments that may have had the most impact.<\/p>\n

Thirty-two people participated in the four-day bus trip from November 8 through November 11. The trip is patterned after J2M trips of the Pacific Southwest Conference and the Sankofa Journeys in the South.<\/p>\n

\"\"Sites visited included:
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Chinese Reconciliation Project \u2013 during the visit participants were told the story of the Chinese being ousted from Tacoma in 1885 due to anti-immigrant feelings and job fears amid an economic depression
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, a 1,000-bed facility that houses people waiting to be deported
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Yakama Nation tribe
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Minimum security prison in Portland
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Broetje Orchards, a 6,000-acre apple farm owned by Christians who give away 75 percent of their profits, as well as provide housing, day care, private schooling and college scholarships for their employees (lower photo shows two of the employees packing apples)
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Wing Luke Pan Asian Museum
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0A visit with three survivors of Idaho camp, where Japanese were interred during World War II
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Worshiped at Emerald City Bible Fellowship, an Evangelical Covenant Church that is involved in numerous justice and compassion ministries<\/p>\n

Unexpected events during the visit to the Yakama Nation at Celilo Falls, Oregon, brought painful history and hopeful present together. Krisann Jarvis Foss, director of North Pacific Conference Ministries, listened as a tribal member stood by a lake formed by a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam and told of watching the water rise to permanently cover their land. The woman\u2019s words grieved Jarvis Foss, whose relative had helped build the dam.<\/p>\n

Later that evening, however, Jarvis Foss and other members of the group received a special honor when they attended a powwow honoring veterans. \u201cHospitality is an enduring Indian value, and I wasn\u2019t surprised that the Yakama people were so warm to us visitors,\u201d says Three Stars, an Oglala Sioux. \u201cStill George Lee, the arena director at the powwow, raised the bar. He brought us up to the front for recognition and honored all of us by sending us out on the floor with the head woman dancer and an honor song for us. That particular honor is not done lightly. I\u2019ll always remember that spirit of generosity.\u201d (Top photo was taken during the powwow).<\/p>\n

\"\"In another digression from the schedule, Karina Whitmarsh of Lakebay Covenant Church in Washington was supposed to hear a presentation at the Columbia River Detention Center in Portland, but wound up instead sitting in the waiting room comparing and contrasting experiences with several people of different ethnic groups. Whitmarsh, who is Mexican, said the group \u201ctalked about many things in relation to racism, disclosing personal stories, hurts, anger and hope that as Christians we have the gift of reconciliation. This was the highlight of my journey, one I will always remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three Stars says she became even more aware of \u201chidden racism\u201d and the need to combat injustice, but like others on the trip, was inspired by the stories of people who had endured hard times, yet continued to work for reconciliation. She was moved by Roy and Mary Okada, who are members of Kent (Washington) Covenant Church and lived through being forcibly displaced to live in the Minidoka Internment Camp in Hunt, Idaho, during World War II. The couple shared their experiences with the group. \u201cThey are amazing people,\u201d Three Stars says.<\/p>\n

Participants say they hope other people will consider taking part in future trips in order to be challenged, surprised and awed.<\/p>\n