Life at Ivenwold

A day in history…

Since I am living in DC, I knew I had to go to Mr. Obama’s inauguration. I woke up at 3a and started layering up. I knew it was going to be freezing. I rushed to get to the Metro Station and jumped on the first train the second the door opened. When I finally got off the sardine packed metro, I got in line to the security check. Now try to imagine a line 3 city blocks long, packed so tightly you cannot move your feet except for a short shuffle forward. My legs ached and I was numb from cold. There were moments when I would pick my feet off the ground and stay up in the air from the force of other bodies around me.

I didn’t make it in for the speech. I could hear his voice like a train from a distance. But, I was thrilled to experience the Parade. Right in front of me, the long limo slowly rolled to a stop. The door opened and out walked President Obama and his wife. They raised their hands and waved my direction. Every one was cheering wildly, smiling and hugging.

At that moment, it hit me how much power he has, not just because he is president but because the people love him and the people will listen to whatever he says.

I did have the feeling of hope, but not the way you may think. I hope he doesn’t disappoint them or me. I hope he does not abuse his power. He and we have the chance to do something incredible for this nation or it will be an epic failure.

I think this because our nation is going through a difficult time and being from Michigan, I know full well the worst of it. If we don’t truly come together as a nation and start helping the poor and thinking and loving others as we do our selves our nation will fall. If we can learn how to serve rather then be served we will all be a lot better people. What we do with the space we occupy is the space of change or failure. If we can work on the things we agree on rather then trying to change the things we don’t agree on, I believe we can be much, much more productive. My generation needs to remember how to actually work and work hard from the bottom up and not expect to have the high paying jobs right out of collage. True leaders, lead from experiences that build character. You can always recognize a leader. He is the one with the people following him.

just some thoughts…

wes

September comming to an end (old)

Here’s the up date on what’s going on in my life…

I have a mentor!!!
I’ve finally got a mentor and he is so great.
On our first meeting we talked about why Africa is so corrupt and how to fix it. We discussed world issues that the United Nations are trying to solve and what is being done to help people.
For the past few weeks the guys in the house and I have been studying different topics for a week at a time. Our first topic was the gospels. I learned that the gospels are Jesus and his life, not just the first books of the New Testament. Also, Jesus is the Word made flesh and that God is directly connected to us through the Word.
I am learning about what the purpose of life and how to live that out. The purpose to life is to, ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself’. Following Jesus isn’t about trying to convert people to follow Jesus but, live in a way that attracts people to the Holy Spirit and let the Holy Spirit work on their hearts. And try and love people no matter what.
The guys and I are starting to volunteer at a place called the Southeast White House (SEWH). The SEWH helps in the inner city of DC and includes kids and youth. What I got to do was help kids with there homework and work on the new community center they are building. Very cool.
My highlight from last week was Friday when we were playing ultimate for two reasons. The first, I had fun and didn’t get mad and I didn’t care who won. Second, we go to this park that has a sweet soccer field and the grass is like turf but is real grass-it’s amazing. There is a youth soccer league that plays there and they were getting ready to start there game so that meant we had to leave. The coach of the team came up to us and said it is our time for the field but I have to ask you something, so we said ok. He wanted to know if we would play against them because the other team didn’t show up. Some guys said uhhh no we got to go eat and I said, “Yea, of course we would love to!” Then all the guys said that they wanted to also. It was so fun. We won but the kids thought it was so cool they got to play us. The coach and all the fans thanked us.
During the Bible study today and we were talking about believing and faith. I learned that just because you have a belief doesn’t mean its right, like you can have a wrong belief about something. And faith is the action of your beliefs and people should be able to see Jesus and truth in your actions if you believe what is true.
This past weekend I went to the National Student Leadership Forum, basically the things that I am learning smashed in one weekend. I really enjoyed the small group time the best, my group was very diverse, but we were all Christ followers. I learned a lot about my generation. My generation is all about change and really seeing the needs of the world and trying to fix them. Also, we are becoming the majority of the population around the world and that gives us a lot of power in numbers.
This past week I had the opportunity to visit the House of Representatives and hear the Rep. from Tennessee talk about the great leader Jesus. Who he was and who he is. It was an amazing experience and I will never forget it.
If any one has any questions about anything I am doing. Just post them and I will answer them the best I can.
I also wanted to thank you for your prayers and financial support that has made this entire emersion in love possible. Your continued support means so much to me and the guys, as some of the guys cannot pay their way and some of us have taken odd jobs to help everyone out. Some of the guys have no health insurance or cannot pay for their room and board and everyone helps out. Anything you can give helps so much.

Gentleman- a man who is both inside and out. Who never looks up to the rich or, down to the poor; who can loose with grace and win with out bragging; who is considerate of women, children and the old. Who is too brave to lie, to generous to cheat and who takes his share of life and lets others take theirs.

Much love Wes

end of Aug and on to month 2 (old)

end of Aug and on to month 2

Sorry I haven’t been able to bring you all up to date lately. I have been on the road for the past 15 days and I did not have even a few seconds of spare time to write. Anyway, the trip was great! We traveled to North Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; Nashville, Tennessee; Kansas City, Kansas; Champaign & Chicago Illinois; Rochester, Michigan; Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Columbus, Ohio. A little more then 4000 miles in two weeks.
It was such a GREAT trip. Some of the high lights were going to the world of Coke, Varsity (a famous burger place in Atlanta), WWI museum in Kansas City, Detroit Tigers game, bowling, and the art museum in Chicago. Every where we went was amazing. We even stayed in a hostel in Nashville. It was so cool. There were people from all over the world and we got to tell them about Ivanwold.
On a deeper note. I finally feel excepted here. All the guys and I have truly bonded in meaningful ways during our trip. I’m so glad that the guys are more comfortable with me. I shared a lot on the trip and I got rid of a lot of baggage I had been carrying around. I fell 100% better and my hart and spirit are lighter. I feel unstoppable now. And I know that Ivanwold is exactly where I need to be.
Also, I am much more intentional with the guys and our relationships are growing with each passing day. The part of the trip that meant the most to me was my time in Rochester. It was so good to see friends and family. I never realized or fully appreciated how great everyone is there.
The guys from Ivanwold and my former small group from high school played a game of night ultimate. The game was so good and so intense. Everyone had fun. It was crazy after the game though, having Bonerarro and Ivanwold together on the same field. I felt like the center of two worlds coming together. I can’t believe what a great community of men God has blessed me with… I love it and it’s intensifying every day.
When we got back from the road trip, we got 4 more new guys in the house. Two are from Nepal (near Mt. Everest), one is from Kazakhstan and, the last one is from Seattle, Washington. That makes the house full with 12 guys and only 4 are from the States…it’s so cool.
I know that I have been gone for a little over a month but, I am just now starting to comprehend what goes on here in this world called Ivanwold. I am growing so much each day. I am growing deeper in love with Jesus and loving others. I see this love everyday and I have an opportunities to practice what I’ve learned. I have been trying to study and live out the house verses; they are, Ecc. 4:9-10, Eph 4:26-27, Luke 16:10, Matt 5:23-24, Col 3:23-24 and Matt 22: 36-40. These are the foundation verses that Ivanwold is based on as well as learning how to love Jesus and others in a way that is Jesus plus nothing. It’s great and I love it.
I also want to thank those who have prayerfully sent prayers up and support to this mission. I am humbled and honored to have this opportunity and I don’t take it for granted. I hope that I can inspire some young person to welcome this kind of community into their lives and I know the world would be a better place for it. Your continued support is humbling to me. Every penny goes to support and my participating in this ‘calling’ God has on my life. I am in loving obedience. I know I am exactly where I am supposed to be at this time and in this place. I am eternally grateful for the sacrifices everyone has made.

remember love god love others

Wes tatum

first week (old)

The first 2 days have been really great. When I first got here, I got to sit in on a really great bible study. It was about how Jesus got people to follow him. After that, I met some of the guys here but, they had to leave right away to go work.
I then began to unpack. I thought to my self, what the heck did I get my self into? I started to feel sad and I didn’t know if I had made the right choice in coming here. Then I decided to get my work clothes on and head over to the work site. All the guys were happy to see me and we started to work. We were splitting logs for firewood. Me and one of the bigger guys here had to grab the tree trunk pieces, split them and hand them off to be stacked. Then we had lunch and then finished the job.
Next we played ULTIMATE! The guys here are real good, the only downer is the field is small.

Day 2: I can see the monuments and the memorials right from the water. It’s the weekend so we are just hanging out.
Monday we started cutting all the grass at the Cedars, it takes us 3 ½ hrs to just cut the grass. Then we worked inside the Cedars Mansion. All of us are working on the 2 bathrooms on the third floor. The bathrooms had really ugly brown and yellow tile. So for the next week we worked on busting out the tile. It was a difficult job.
After we got all of the tile out we went to see what we will be putting in to replace the old tile. We are putting in 12 x 12 marble in on the floor and the walls. It is going to look amazing when it is done. I was happy to do the work because I knew I could come back in twenty years and say that I worked on these bathrooms.
I had my first house meeting, and it was good but I couldn’t talk much because I hadn’t been there the previous week so I didn’t know what was going on. I am looking forward to this next one for sure.
These are small, but important steps. Learning about each other. Growing as a unified team. Creating ourselves as a family. Living each day, serving others and growing as men. I think that I am more comfortable now than I was when I first got here. But, I also know I have a long road to travel in this journey where God has placed me.
My first month’s rent and food bill was due. God provided this month. It is going to be a month by month faith issue, depending on God to call my friends and family to provide for me and the work at Ivanwald. It is work that makes a difference in me and around the world. It is a good place to be.

leaving and getting there (old)

As I was leaving Rochester, it was the first time I knew that I was leaving home. I said good-bye to my mom and gave her a kiss and I was on my way. Benjamin, a former German, VW intern who lived with us two years ago was visiting us this past week. He drove me to the Airport. When I was in the car with him I found my self-pointing out all the places that I would miss about Rochester. Even though all this was happening it still hadn’t hit me that I was really leaving. It wasn’t until I got to the airport and Ben walked me to the desk and he told me that he hopes that I find my self and what I am looking for. Then we man-hugged and he gave me some money, smiled, and left. Ben is my first contact that I have made so far on my journey. I now know that I will always have a place to stay when I go to Germany. After he left I got in line to check my bags on the plain.

While I was standing in line, I read a sign that had the baggage policy on it. The sign declared that for the first bag was $15, but if it was over 50LB then it was $100! But if you had 2 bags the charge was $40 and they had to weigh less than 50LB each. I knew my bag weighed 105LB. Thankfully, I had a extra duffle bag with me, so I jumped out of line and as fast as I could, I filled the duffle bag and re-stuffed my back packs. I did this with lightening fast speed. Lesson: When traveling it’s better to have 2 light bags and 1 heavy one.

After that I had to run through security and as all ways they stopped my big cameo back pack and they looked through it 2 more times. Of course, they didn’t find any thing and I grabbed my stuff and ran to the plane. I had 10 min to spare, but, I was the last one on the plane. After we had been in the air for a while I couldn’t comprehend why I didn’t have a return ticket home. Then it hit me, this is not just a short trip. This is my life for the next year not just a short term trip. It was the first step to my life long journey. There is no return flight.