I have found a lot of joy in exploring sustainable living. Bike commutes, neighborhood walks, and cooking vegan meals have become regular practices in Wilmington LVC. Living sustainably has also proven itself to be a challenge. As one of LVC’s pillars, sustainable living confronts notions of convenience, consumerism, justice, and community, among others, often guiding me to go against the norms of societal convenience. It’s a challenge that involves an understanding of my mindset: what I most commonly accept as ‘normal’ and why. Living in community with intentional values and goals has allowed me to better understand how I can justly engage in our worldRead More →

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When I began my journey with LVC one of the things I was most worried about was the Midwest Winter. The Wintery Weather came up at one of our monthly spirituality meetings in the fall through one of our discussion questions “In the book about your life, which chapter are you headed to next?” At the time, I had answered “Surviving the Midwest Winter: literally and metaphorically.” As we creep our way through March, I feel that that is the chapter I’m currently in- and hopefully ending soon. No amount of warnings, even from my Minnesota-bred dad, prepared me for how cold Nebraska really isRead More →

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Faith is like riding a bike. When I was younger, I was with my parents on a tricycle. I went to whichever church they wanted to attend and absorbed everything they said and everything the church said. When I went to college, I took the training wheels off, but I stayed on the sidewalks in the same neighborhood. For the first time, I was in charge of where I went to church. But I still attended a similar type of church. My beliefs altered some, but not in a dramatic way. Now I’ve left the neighborhood. I’ve found different paths previously undiscovered. I’ve ventured pastRead More →

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Stopping to spend a year in the cornfields of the Midwest between undergrad and medical school doesn’t seem like the most exciting or appealing post-grad choice to everyone, but our Volunteers know beautiful opportunities when they see them. Brittany Dymm is a medical school bound LVC17 Volunteer this year serving in Omaha, NE at Hospice House – The Josie Harper Residence. Brittany is a recent graduate from the University of Notre Dame where she studied Biochemistry and Anthropology, and saw a service year with LVC as an opportunity for reflection and spiritual growth before applying for school. Brittany is serving as this year as theRead More →

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Ryan with his Campus Minister and fellow Peer Minsters, at Augustana Lutheran Church of Hyde Park Originally from a small town in central Wisconsin, Ryan Eisenman is an LVC17 Volunteer this year serving at Lutheran World Relief in Baltimore, MD. Lutheran World Relief is a nonprofit organization that helps families in the world’s poorest communities build the resilience they need to thrive, working across 32 different countries. Ryan is serving this year as a Program Assistant for Communication Strategies & Services, supporting the team responsible for LWR’s major external communications. As a program assistant, Ryan might be doing many different things, like editing reports and grantRead More →

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