The Dwell program offers five core tenets: Intentional Christian community, simple living, cross-cultural mission, leadership development through faith in action, and vocational discernment. As an overview of my first few months in Miami, I have written about my experiences so far in relation to each core value.
Intentional Christian community
When I was applying to Dwell, one part of the program that especially appealed to me was living in intentional Christian community. Moving to a new place can bring plenty of anxieties, but it was reassuring to know I would be living with other young adults who would be having a similar experience. There are four of us in the house, and we all have many of the same interests, so living in community together has been lots of fun at times. I’ve always been an avid sports fan and, luckily, everyone else enjoys watching them, too. One of my roommates, Matt, is a Tampa Bay Bucs fan, so I had the pleasure of watching the Panthers lose to them on Monday Night Football, but I did manage to stay in the room until the game was officially over! Even though we enjoy spending time together, we know that living in intentional Christian community is not supposed to be easy. I don’t know a perfect picture of what that looks like yet, and I think it will be something that is always evolving throughout the year. Even though we live together and participate in many of the same activities, I’ve come to realize that our experiences will look very different at times. Learning to share those experiences and support one another will be one of the biggest challenges.
Simple living
Our first week in Miami, Savannah, Jillian and I were given our monthly food budget and encouraged to combine it and spend it as a community. Lots of grocery lists were made, we looked through coupons that came in the mail, and finally went on our first trip to the grocery store. Since then, we have been under budget each month! Since we decided to make it a communal budget and not split it three ways, we’ve also done our best to divide up time cooking, doing dishes, etc. I’ve never been much of a cook, always preferring to bake instead, but sharing a food budget and, therefore, the cooking responsibility, has forced me to learn some new things in the kitchen as well. We’ve also discovered some new favorite local restaurants and cafés. Palace, a café in our neighborhood has the best café con leche you will ever taste. A picture can’t even begin to do it justice, but I’ve shared one below anyway! We will often start our community days by stopping for a cafecito. I have loved being introduced to local places like Palace instead of going to many of the same chain restaurants I grew up around.
Another important part of the Dwell experience in Miami, and in many other sites as well, is that we use public transit instead of driving to our worksites. I take two buses to work each day. I have an app on my phone that tells me when the next bus will arrive, which saves me a lot of time waiting. Miami traffic can be awful, so I learned quickly that the bus won’t always be on time. Some days, I can get to work in 30 minutes if I don’t have to wait long for the second bus, and at other times, it’s taken me nearly 1.5 hours to get home, even though I live only about 10 minutes away driving. I feel pretty confident in my ability to navigate the transit system now. I enjoy the familiar faces that I see on my morning bus route, including many of the drivers. Despite my confidence, I did have one bus mishap recently … I got on the wrong bus by mistake and the very kind driver told me where he would drop me off and how to get home from there. My roommate ended up driving to pick me up off the side of the road … but only because it was dark and the next bus wasn’t coming for 45 minutes!
Cross-cultural mission
Having spent my entire life in North and South Carolina, Miami is definitely the most culturally diverse place I’ve lived. When talking to someone new, I can never guess if they were born here in Miami or moved here only recently. While talking to people at the bus stop, I have even been asked if I am Cuban or Nicaraguan. I was a Spanish major in college, and I have had some great practice with the language since I arrived here. I often speak Spanish at work while answering the phone and in the occasional conversation while waiting for the bus.
Every Friday is community day for our Dwell house. We participate in some type of group discussion, field trip, service project, etc. Early in November, we went to Immokalee, Florida, to visit the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and Misión Peniel, a soup kitchen there. We took a tour of the town, learned about the history of the coalition, and about the fair food agreement that they are trying to get grocery stores and fast food chains to sign that would increase workers’ wages. I have much more to share about this trip, so be on the lookout for another post about it soon!
Leadership development through faith in action
My work placement is Miami Rescue Mission Center for Women and Children. The Mission has been around since 1922 and the Women’s Center since 1980, serving people experiencing homelessness here in Miami. I work Mondays-Thursdays, and my job is essentially as an administrative assistant. Around the office I am usually referred to as an intern. I spend my time answering the phone and front door, filing paperwork, working on bulletin boards and wall displays, sometimes holding babies (Smile!), and really whatever else needs to be done. Each day is different, but it is balanced by a lot of routine jobs as well. The Mission is a Christian organization, and its core values are compassion, hope, restoration and transformation. There is a strong emphasis on prayer, and I am inspired by the strong faith and resilience shown by so many that I work with whether it be a fellow staff or a client. Every day looks different and gives me a new opportunity to learn from the people I’m working with.
Vocational discernment
This is perhaps the toughest core value to reflect on. I think I will have much more to say once I am farther into my Dwell year. I’m at a time in my life where I often get the question, “What’s next?” And the honest answer would be that I don’t know, but I have already been exposed to many new experiences and ideas that I look forward to exploring more during my time here in Miami and through this blog.
This reflection first appeared on Annie’s personal blog.
