Apr 2, 2022
Reflections from the 2021-2022 Precious Blood Volunteers
Abundance Fills the Soul When Excess Is Stripped Away
May 10, 2022
2021-2022 Precious Blood Volunteer, Aaron Wise
By Aaron Wise, Precious Blood Volunteer
I called her name. She rose slowly from her chair in the waiting room and hobbled toward me. She gifted me an enthusiastic greeting and a labored smile, that which is socially expected for decency. We entered the exam room, and I initiated the pre-provider tasks: taking vitals, gathering medical and family histories, conducting necessary point-of-care testing, etc.
Something appeared off.
Clearly, something deeper ailed my patient. I asked about her day, her holiday plans, her family. I found out the upcoming Thanksgiving would be difficult for her—the first one since losing her daughter. I asked about her daughter. I experienced my sister in Christ’s delight in sharing the memories of someone she loved so dearly. She showed me a beautiful, goofy video of her with her daughter—singing, dancing, and laughing. She teared up, a paradoxical moment of sadness and joy. Her heart was broken; from it oozed the Precious Blood, a combination of both suffering and pure love.
Read more of Aaron’s reflection at https://preciousbloodkc.org/abundance-fills-the-soul-when-excess-is-stripped-away/
Accompaniment
Apr 4, 2022
by Vincent Tedford, Precious Blood Volunteer
Last year, I was meditating on Christ’s Passion. Christ’s sacrifice and suffering were a focal point for all my emotions surrounding the injustices I witnessed in the world around me. Nothing else evoked the same emotion for me. However, when I became a Precious Blood Volunteer, I witnessed human suffering on a scale like never before.
In August of last year, I moved to Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood to begin volunteering at the Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation (PBMR). Within a few hours of landing, I met and heard the stories of those wrongfully convicted and/or formerly incarcerated, the victims of gun violence, the medically underserved, and generally marginalized people with whom I would be spending my year as a Precious Blood Volunteer. I thought I knew what I was getting into, but even on day one I was surprised at the reality our PBMR community was facing.
Read more of Vincent’s reflection at https://preciousbloodkc.org/accompaniment-2/
Receiving Welcome
Feb 1, 2022
Raechel with members of the PBMR community
By Raechel Kiesel, Precious Blood Volunteer
One sunny Sunday in December, I found myself in the PBMR hallway watching my friend Essie teach the niece of one of the moms in our Families Forward program how to play a clapping game. It was similar to many of the patty-cake-like games I played as a little kid, but it wasn’t one I had seen before, so I soon turned to Sr. Carolyn, and we tried to clap along with Essie and our new friend. After many rounds of trying and failing, I ended up playing with the young girl. We had both improved just a little, so soon enough we were shouting together, “Right! Left! 1 Right! Left! 1 2 Right! Left! 1 2 3!” and clapping faster and faster, and when we finally made it to 5—which was a major feat, let me tell you—we jumped up and down and cheered. It was then that I remember watching out of the side of my eye as Fr. Kelly walked past us, narrowly avoiding contact with our flailing, clapping limbs, and I realized just how ridiculous I looked at that moment. Not only did I have reindeer antlers on my head, but I had been bent over playing patty cake with a little girl, laughing, shouting, raucous, and happy, in the middle of the hallway on a Sunday. It took me a while after that to realize that, actually, it wasn’t ridiculous at all—not for PBMR. Because that’s what we do here.
Read more of Raechel’s reflection at https://preciousbloodkc.org/receiving-welcome/
Learn more about Precious Blood Volunteers at preciousbloodvolunteers.org.
Feb 1, 2022
Raechel with members of the PBMR community
By Raechel Kiesel, Precious Blood Volunteer
One sunny Sunday in December, I found myself in the PBMR hallway watching my friend Essie teach the niece of one of the moms in our Families Forward program how to play a clapping game. It was similar to many of the patty-cake-like games I played as a little kid, but it wasn’t one I had seen before, so I soon turned to Sr. Carolyn, and we tried to clap along with Essie and our new friend. After many rounds of trying and failing, I ended up playing with the young girl. We had both improved just a little, so soon enough we were shouting together, “Right! Left! 1 Right! Left! 1 2 Right! Left! 1 2 3!” and clapping faster and faster, and when we finally made it to 5—which was a major feat, let me tell you—we jumped up and down and cheered. It was then that I remember watching out of the side of my eye as Fr. Kelly walked past us, narrowly avoiding contact with our flailing, clapping limbs, and I realized just how ridiculous I looked at that moment. Not only did I have reindeer antlers on my head, but I had been bent over playing patty cake with a little girl, laughing, shouting, raucous, and happy, in the middle of the hallway on a Sunday. It took me a while after that to realize that, actually, it wasn’t ridiculous at all—not for PBMR. Because that’s what we do here.
Only a month before that, I had been asking Sr. Donna if I could come to the first in-person mothers circle since covid had rendered them virtual. And when I found out that my parents would be visiting that weekend, I asked if my own mom could come too. Of course, she said, “Oh yeah, that would be great!” So that Sunday morning, I sent my dad with my brother to explore the city, and my mom and I went to PBMR. We were one of the first ones there, and still we looked at Sr. Donna and said, “Are you sure that it’s okay if we’re here?” We were feeling the discomfort. As two white women, strangers to gun violence and the grief of having lost a child, we were hyper aware of entering a space that did not belong to us—and yet we were invited in. So we made our name tags, pretended like we were comfortable, and we sat next to each other as the rest of the circle filled with beautiful women from around the neighborhood.
I didn’t expect to have much to share. Here at PBMR, we sit in circle for staff meetings each week, and by that point I had a pattern. Even coming here, I knew that as a white woman, I had so much I needed to learn. So I had decided early on that my primary role was to listen. Which isn’t something I’ve often told myself—to be humbled and value others’ voices over my own.
But in the mothers’ circle that day, when the talking piece got to me, I told a story about losing my grandmother, and the beauty that I got to witness in her final days among my family, how important that was to me. Looking around the circle as I was speaking and teary-eyed, and then as my mom spoke after me, the other women were nodding. They looked at us with faces that knew loss deeply, even the loss that we had felt, losing my grandma, my mom losing her mom. That stood out to me. They didn’t have to let some white girl walk into their circle and try to say something about grief, but they did. Not only that, they listened and encouraged me, and I felt so welcome and loved in a space I didn’t know could be my own.
Raechel with fellow Precious Blood Volunteer, Vincent, at PBMR
Jacquelyn Grant, a womanist theologian, makes the case that God is a Black woman and, in fact, manifested “in the community of Black women” (Grant, Jacquelyn. “The Challenge of the Darker Sister.” White Women’s Christ & Black Women’s Jesus, Scholars Press, 1989). In the experience of ancestral Black women, she writes, “They identified with Jesus because they believed that Jesus identified with them. As Jesus was persecuted and made to suffer undeservedly, so were they.” I read these passages years ago, but only now, witnessing the power of the community of Black women who gather at PBMR, do I understand them more clearly. These women incarnate God’s love, strength, and pain in our community, as they’ve done for me.
So our women—our community—are the ones who really decide that hospitality is what we do at PBMR. I know it might have been the founders thinking it over in the beginning, but the mothers sitting in circle that day were the ones to tell me, no, you’re welcome here. Come into this circle, sit with us, be with us. We know your pain, and we can share ours, and the burden can be a bit lighter. We can share healing, too, and laughter, and breakfast, and we can play patty cake and laugh raucously in the middle of the hallway together.
Raechel is serving as a Precious Blood Volunteer at Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation in Chicago, Illinois. Go to preciousbloodvolunteers.org to learn more about Precious Blood Volunteers.
Jul 22, 2021
2021-2022 Precious Blood Volunteer, Vincent Tedford
We are excited to announce that Vincent Tedford will be serving as a Precious Blood Volunteer! Vincent will serve at Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation in Chicago, Illinois. He will be serving for the 2021-2022 volunteer year. Vincent is a graduate of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Physics. Vincent is from Brownfield, Texas.
Why do you want to volunteer?
“I want to volunteer because I want to put my faith into action. I want to love others as I have been loved. Vocationally, volunteering prepares me for, what I hope to be, a lifetime of service to the world around me.”
Why do you want to volunteer with Precious Blood Volunteers?
“I want to volunteer with Precious Blood Volunteers because I like the people and the mission. From meeting all those who interviewed me, I got the sense one of my biggest dreams would be fulfilled, to be part of a family-like workplace. I want to support the mission of Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation as I walk with those who suffer, especially from injustice. While I hope to use my educational background for furthering mankind’s understanding of the universe, I think it equally important to support the educational needs of those in marginalized or underserved communities. I want a stake in a future where true justice, reconciliation, and love are more important, and in fact fundamental to, the advancement of humanity.”
What are you looking forward to about your volunteer experience?
“I am looking forward to being a compassionate teacher/mentor who plays a role in the education and progress of the individuals I serve. I look forward to building relationships with people who are different than I am and what we can learn from each other. Most of all, I look forward to living more like Christ and his apostles by simply focusing on the people around me, how I can be of service to them, and growing spiritually to be a vessel of God’s love.”
Learn more about Precious Blood Volunteers at preciousbloodvolunteers.org.
Jul 20, 2021
2021-2022 Precious Blood Volunteer, Aaron Wise
We are thrilled to announce that Aaron Wise will be serving as a Precious Blood Volunteer for the 2021-2022 volunteer year. Aaron will serve at KC CARE Health Center in Kansas City, Missouri. He will live in community at Jerusalem Farm in Kansas City. He grew up in Huron, Ohio and attended Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Aaron graduated in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, a Bachelor of Science in Spanish, and minors in Chemistry and Biology.
Why do you want to volunteer?
“Over the past 16 years, much of my focus has been in developing the intellect God has given me in an academic setting. While study, in its own way, can give glorify to God, it can also feel isolating and self-serving. I’ve been yearning to honor God in a more direct and simple way, and I feel called to service. Through this service, I aim to help and learn from those who are marginalized, with the hope that after this year, I may be better able to serve and advocate for those who suffer as a future physician.”
Why do you want to volunteer with Precious Blood Volunteers?
“I was drawn to volunteer with the Precious Blood volunteers because of their commitment to faith, community, service, and reconciliation. I think there is something very powerful in a community of people living simply, authentically, and intentionally for Christ. I’m really excited grow closer to God with these people!”
What are you looking forward to about your volunteer experience?
“I’m looking forward to learning and growing in community with other volunteers and those we serve, and encountering Jesus incarnated in those who are in need!”
Learn more about Precious Blood Volunteers at preciousbloodvolunteers.org.