A Rocha

Here we are working planting garlic in A Rocha's 1 acre garden. The garden is cultivated to provide 25 shares for our Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) Project, 5 of which go to local shelters and community kitchens.



I work for A Rocha Canada. www.arocha.org/canada/ It is so great. A Rocha is an international Christian conservation organization who works to share God's love for all of creation.

A Rocha ("The Rock" in Portuguese), began in Portugal in the 1980s and is now working in 18 different countries around the world. We believe that God made the world, that He loves it and that He placed humanity as the stewards of it. Considering my loves, my passions, my convictions, I have found myself deeply committed to this work.

At the Field Study Centre in Surrey, we are working on salmon habitat restoration, migratory bird surveying, environmental education, Biblical theology of Earth-care education and funding it all. I have so much more to say about why I believe each of these categories are so desperately important, but I will let our extensive blog readership inquire for I could go on and on and on...

I am fund-raising right now and hope to take on my role as Community Organizer in a few months. My role is to connect the people in the community to the work of A Rocha Canada and make it accessible to people from all backgrounds. I will update you all more in the Spring as my role and work develop. Until then, I invite you all to the Field Study Centre to see our community and how we are working out our call to walk with care on the Earth.

To see a short film about A Rocha go to:

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-500919105068866289





Here I am with 2 of my biggest supporters, Caleb and Alissa McSharry. I love them.

Our New Home

We are just starting to feel settled in our new home with the Wiltons. Josh and Katie are long-time friends of ours that we have lived with on and off in Alaska and British Columbia over the past 8 years. They know us well and makes us laugh. We meet together on Sunday nights to pray for one another. We have really enjoyed living with Baby Eli. He is 3 months old right now. Sometimes he smiles in his sleep. Sometimes when you hold him, he puts his little arms around your neck.

The Withrows and the Wiltons... one big happy family.

Holding our godson and housemate, Eli.

Josh apologizing for one of his many bad jokes.

The Oregon Coast

There is nothing better to celebrate being back to the West Coast than to hang out on Oregon's Coast for a week with people you love. We spent a week at Gearhart Beach (just north of Seaside) with Andy's side of our family. Highlights include: funny children, sand castles, beach grass, board games, GREAT food, BBC's Planet Earth (amazing), reading, walks on the beach, great weather, hiking at Ecola State Park, wave jumping (you could actually stand the water this year), a little bit of boogie boarding, relaxing and the sheer presence of those that you love. It was so nice.

Dan, Matt and Andy work on one of the many family sandcastle. Note the monster crawling up the side.

Rachel (our niece) works on the forest.

Our nephew, Jacob, gets a little sandy.

Our nephew, Nathan, gives us "Crazy."

Nathan gives us "Sweet."

Nathan calls this one his "Happy."

Matt, Sally, Andy and Erin pose with another family castle. This one was awesome.

Andy proud of his work.

Tour De Washington

After 1 week of unpacking and settling in we went on our 2nd adventure. Our quest was to visit as many people as possible around WA. We had a great time reconnecting with friends and family. Most of our time was spent in Bellingham, Seattle and Wentachee and here are the pictures to prove it.

Katie gets to meet and feed the Goldsberry's first son, Sam. He is so cute.

Here we are pictured with our good friends Alissa and Caleb. We love them.

Andy at Pike Place Market in Seattle.

Andy with his best friend, Chris in Seattle.

Katie's dad.

Andy in the Ape Caves near Mt. St. Helens. The caves were formed from underground lava tubes. It was way cool.

Vancouver

We are enjoying life here in the city. Here are some facts about our new area of dwelling:

• Population of 587,891 who are actually in the city, with greater Vancouver over 2 million people. Vancouver is the 3rd largest city in Canada.



• Vancouver is multiculturally diverse with over 50% of the population that speak a first language other than English.



• The city was first settled in the 1860s due to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush.



• The port is the busiest in Canada and exports the most of any port in all of North America.



• Known as the Hollywood of Canada, it has the 3rd largest film industry in North America.



• Vancouver is tied with Vienna as the 3rd highest quality of living in the world.



• Vancouver is the 56th most expensive city to live in the world. The average 2 story home sells for $837,500.



• The 2010 Olympics will be held in Vancouver.



• Precipitation average of 48 inches/year.



• The city sits between the ocean and the Coastal Range and it is beautiful.

Please come and visit.

photo: by lonnes Carr from flickr.com

photo: by I am I.A.M from flickr.com

photo: by Proggie from flickr.com

photo: by thelastminute at flickr.com

Our National Road Trip 2007

For those with interest and endurance, here is the chronicle of our roadtrip across the United States.

July 15th: Goodbye Virginia

We got off to a late start because Andy sliced the back of his hand on the moving truck just as we were tying up the load and getting ready to leave. Having no place to clean up and attend his wound, we headed over to the Lovelady’s who were not expecting to see us again before we left. Luke administered some top notch Boy Scout First Aid and Jon was concerned about the depth of the wound, thinking that stitches may be in order. A phone call and a car ride later we showed up at the front steps of the Caulkins’ home for a little look over with the doctor. In the end no stitches were necessary as some scotch tape and a little superglue did the trick. We were back on the road in no time and managed to make it to a hotel in Buckley, WV that night.

July 16th-17th: Hello Grandma

The next day was a long driving day all the way to St. Louis. There we met up with Katie’s 96 year old grandmother. She showed us around the assisted living center and snuck us on her brand new walker for a couple of rides. She was proud of the walker that let her get around faster (and she was fast) but would not take it out of the center on any trips for fear of getting it dirty. She brought her old cane for these errands. We found out that she had gotten in trouble from the staff for giving rides to other residents on her walker. We stayed with grandma two nights and saw a few of Katie’s cousins and an aunt.

July 18th: Kansas is a Long State

The next morning began the longest single day of our journey and it was a tough one. We traveled through Missouri and Kansas and half of Colorado before collapsing at a Motel 6 in Denver. The temperature in Kansas must have approached 100 degrees and hotter in the car with no A/C. We had frequent stops at gas stations to fill up on ice and cold drinks that we held close to our bodies to keep us a little cooler. We stopped in Clay Center, Kansas to visit our friends Grant and Suzanne who moved there from Chicago a couple years ago to pastor a Covenant church there. We only had a couple of hours with them. We ate lunch and had a quick tour of the town and their church and we were on our way.



July 19th – 21st: Colorado Part I-Rocky Mountain National Park

We woke up in one of the less flattering Motel 6s we had ever seen or imagined, but the day ahead was an exciting one. We traveled through Boulder up to Estes Park just outside the Northeast entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. After lunch and a little looking around we headed into the park south to Longs Peak campground. Here we found a small camping area, about 26 sites in all, and pitched our tent. A little later, our friends Megan and Amy joined us who flew into Denver earlier that day from Seattle and San Francisco respectively. Our plan was to camp two nights and then climb Longs Peak, one of the Rockies most popular “fourteeners”, known for its non-technical trail to the peak. Our campground was above 9,000 feet leaving us under 5,000 feet to climb. The two nights we stayed were partially designed to help us acclimatize and avoid altitude sickness. On the second evening we were further joined by 2 more friends, this time from Greeley, CO. Nate had been in a men’s small group with Andy at Western Washington University in Bellingham back in 2000. He and his wife Jackie camped with us and joined us on the Longs Peak journey.

The morning of the 21st we awoke at 2:30am in order to be on the trail by 3:00am. We had to summit and return down below tree-line (which is pretty low when you start at 9,000 feet) before 3pm and the daily afternoon thundershowers arrived. The trail was crowded and we were above tree-line just in time for a beautiful sunrise. After about 7 hours of climbing we reached The Keyhole, a notched piece of rock along the ridgeline of the mountain providing spectacular views and a turning point in the hike. Here Megan turned back and the Mutz’ and the Withrow’s debated continuing on. After hiking for another hour we all had to turn back due to time and altitude sickness. The retreat down the mountain was a tough one for us as we suffered some symptoms including nausea, headaches, neck cramps (Katie couldn't turn her neck) and all around hurt!

That night we rested and ate some burritos which made us all feel much better.

The Keyhole

July 22nd – 24th: Colorado Part II- Desert Colorado

The next morning we said goodbye to the Mutz’ and packed up our tents and headed to Colorado Springs. There we stayed in a hotel and hiked at Helen Hunt falls. On the 23rd we went to Garden of the Gods and saw some amazing sandstone formations. The next morning we saw some caverns and then headed down to the Arkansas River where we met back up with the Mutz’ and went white water rafting.

July 25th – 26th: Montana Part I- Andy's Early Childhood

Megan and Amy both caught flights out of Denver on the 25th and we headed north towards Montana. We stayed the first night in Wyoming and drove all of the next day. The evening of the 26th we drove into Fairview, Montana, a small town of a couple hundred just on the border with North Dakota and also the early childhood home of Andy. Despite a 24 year absence Andy remembered many details from Fairview and nearby Sydney including the Presbyterian church his dad pastored, one of a few houses, and a childhood favorite pizza place (Happy Joe’s – now The Depot). That night we spent in Williston, ND.

Andy shaved in honor of his dad who used to be the pastor in town. He looked like Kip from Napolean Dynamite.

July 27th - 29th: Montana Part II- Glacier National Park

This morning we returned to Fairview to look for some folks who would remember Andy. We found Doris Taylor who was a good friend of the family and remembered Andy and told a few good stories. Then we left for Glacier National Park, which was on the opposite side of the state making for a long day of driving. We stopped at a few dinosaur sites along the way and then stayed the night outside of Havre, MT in an RV/camping park. The next morning we drove the rest of the way to GNP and set up camp at St. Mary’s campground. We snuck in a short hike before sunset and came within sight of a glacier, a number of mountain goats and big horn sheep. We were surprised to see mountain goats on the trail right up close and seemingly paying no attention to us. On the 29th we drove a ways north and hiked to Grinell Glacier. It was a long hike of a little over 5 miles each way. We passed by three lakes, all of which were glacially fed and ascended further right up to the glacier itself. There we ate and took a long nap before heading back down. It was beautiful. On the way down we turned a bend and walked right into a small herd of bighorn sheep who, like the goats from the day before, cared little about us.

These are the 3 lakes we hiked along.

Andy napping next to the glacier.

July 30th-31st: Back Home

We woke up on the 30th, a Sunday, and went to a worship service in the park. There were about a dozen park visitors in attendance. After worship we packed up and headed west. We drove all day through Montana, Idaho and Washington. That evening we stayed with Katie’s family in Wenatchee. The next morning we left early and made it to Vancouver, BC. We were excited about our new home on Inverness St. and we settled in over the next several days as we moved all of our belongings in from the ABF truck.

We had finally made it home.

Almost Heaven

Before we left Waynesboro, John Coleman asked me what I will miss about Virginia other than the people. My heart became instantly heavy as I thought about what I have loved about the land of the commonwealth.

Here it is in two parts:

Part I (hum County Roads by Johnny D as you read for full effect)

I miss... the fireflies, the rolling green hills in the spring, the strange bugs, the lightning and thunder storms, the reptiles and amphibians, the old geology, the cardinal (his song and color), wild rhododendrons, flowering trees in the backcountry, the fall, the Wengers' grape farm, the lilies in the gardens, the magnolia trees and the sunshine.

Part II (hum your favorite bluegrass song as you read for full effect)

I miss... contra dancing, the old music that has (literally) been passed on for generations, the live auctions, the stories of the land and people from the last few hundred years, the generosity, the hospitality, the quiet streets and the way people look at you as you walk by them.

We have been so blessed to be among these things. We did not live there long enough to take any of this for granted and will always remember the commonwealth with simple joy.

Special note: Photos taken by the Goldsberrys during their trip to the East Coast.

They Came From the West

Dearest Readers,

We would like to publically thank all of those who visited us during our almost 3 years in Virginia. We had 13 sets of people who came from WA, AK and Canada with some who even visited us twice! We felt very loved, cared for and remembered.

Thanks for the love,

The Withrows


Pictured to the right are some of our guests. Note: Not pictured are Katie's family in 2005 and Megan and Kevin Goldsberry in 2005.

The Withrow's Justice Revival

Last week we went to a conference in D.C. called Pentecost 2007: Taking the Vision to the Streets. The conference was sponsored by Sojourners/Call to Renewal (http://www.sojo.net/).
The purpose of this conference was to call the Church to cry out on behalf of the poor in order for poverty to be a part of the 2008 Presidential Debates.

As we have become students of the Bible over the years of our faith, our hearts have changed to care about those who God cares about: the forgotten, the poor, the enslaved, the exploited, the stranger, the sick, the desperate…”the least of the these.”

We were inspired and convicted to move into further relationship and advocacy for those who have been treated with inequity.

(Right: Katie at the steps of National City Christian Church where the Sojourners Pentecost 2007 Conference was held.)






We arrived Sunday night to a Justice Revival where Rev. Sam Rodriguez called for a generation “not to be known as the Ipod Generation or the You-Tube Generation, but the Generation of Justice.” What will we be known for? Will we truly be able to eradicate extreme global poverty? Will we be able to stop global warming?

(ABOVE: Derek Webb provided the Musical/Lyrical background for the conference)

Rev. Jim Wallis (who spoke numerous times throughout the conference and is the director of Sojourners/Call to Renewal) reminded us that the Gospel must be good news to the poor. He reminded us that all great movements had spiritual roots: women’s suffrage, civil rights, abolition of slavery and that the last place to change during a movement is in D.C. Movements start at the grassroots level with the people and then move to change policy. FAITH, then HOPE, then ACTION, then CHANGE.

Dr. Freddy Haynes with some feisty preaching regarding Amos 5:21-24 (read, it will kick your rear). He preached that “justice that is personal, overflows to justice that is social.”

“We are to use our hook-up, to hook-up the unhooked.”










We also heard from a panel who are all active in some sort of social justice. Their ministries and stories are incredible. Brian McLaren (Chandler’s twin) was the moderator.













Shane Claiborne was among the panel. We heard him speak numerous times throughout the conference. One word: AMAZING. You have got to check this guy out! He co-founded a community in Philadelphia called the Simple Way (http://www.simpleway.org/) that focuses on relocating to the poor and abandoned places, redistributing of resources (amazing stories) and of reconciliation. We are reading his book called Irresistible Revolution.

Then we went to a very informative session entitled “Making Work Work,” about what could be done at the federal level for the poor by Ron Sider (author of Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger).

Monday night we held a Candidates Forum at GWU that was broadcasts live on CNN. The presidential candidates were from the democratic end of politics: Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Barack Obama, and former Senator John Edwards. In the Fall there is a similar forum scheduled for the Republican candidates, so stay tuned. The agenda was again to put poverty on the minds of these candidates. The conference did not endorse any of these candidates, but sought for the candidates to seek OUR agenda. Each candidate had 15 minutes, some of the questions were asked by Sojourners some by CNN (stupid, disappointing). If you want to watch the forum go to http://www.sojo.net/ and look around for it. It should be easy to find. Look for us among the 1,300 others in the studio audience. Overall the experience was encouraging and exciting (we had never been to anything airing live on national news before). We have new efforts to pray for our nation’s leaders.

(LEFT: Former Senator Jonathan Edwards, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Rev. Jim Wallis,
Sen. Barak Obama, CNN correspondent)

On Tuesday we learned about 3 different issues that later we would lobby about (or in our case try to): Farm Bill (global/US small farmers rights, food stamps), Immigration and SCHIP (state children’s health insurance). For each issue someone spoke on the theological reasons why we are called to care about these topics and then someone would speak about the “nuts-and-bolts” of each of the issues. We were also taught how to lobby and felt prepared to go and advocate for the rights of the “least of these.” We helped pass out signs and then marched from the National City Christian Church (where the conference was held) to the Capital where we rallied. There were a few hundred people that marched, sang and shouted out slogans. We took up one lane of the road and were police escorted.



We missed the Virginian group for the actual lobbying and were pretty disappointed. Katie had a personal story regarding immigration all prepared to share with our 2 Virginian Senators.






Andy posing next to the Russell Senate Office Building, the site of Virginia's Senators' offices. Andy blended in well as no less than 3 people asked him for directions in the 30 minutes he was inside the building.



















We also got to go to a Capital Hill Reception where Nancy Pelosi and some other Senators and Representatives spoke with much passion.
Wow, this was one of our favorite parts. It was a bit of a surprise to be around so many people who have been given so much power to influence so many people.

Afterwards, we went to a dinner specifically for young people interested in justice. It was exciting to hear what other people are doing at such a young age.

On Wednesday, Andy went and heard Shane Claiborne speak again and Katie went to a session on Immigration and the New Sanctuary Movement (see www.newsanctuarymovement.org). To end the conference 2 awards were given. One to Rev. Romal Tune who came from a humble background to serve God and community, the other was given to Gary Haugen who used a position of influence to benefit those in poverty. We could not do either of their stories justice. They were tear-spilling and incredibly inspiring.

So now what? Pray for us that God would give us courage and obedience to figure out what our special anointing looks like to preach good news to the poor.

“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
To proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God,
To comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-
To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
And a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair...”
Isaiah 61:1-3