By Kate Stefanowicz

These last two weeks I have been at home in Connecticut with my family and friends. It was a great time and it was really nice to see everyone again and catch up with friends I haven't seen in awhile. A common question that came up and has been coming up recently in my life is why did you volunteer or why did you choose CAP (Christian Appalachian Project)? My story is pretty simple. I came to CAP for the first time in March 2008 for WorkFest, which is CAP's alternative spring break program. I loved it so much that I came again the following spring. As I was sitting and listening to different people talk on the last day I realized that God's plan for me was very different from what I had planned for myself. It was my senior year of college and I was planning on attending graduate school and getting my master's in school counseling. Yet, after this awesome week at WorkFest I felt this tug on my heart and even after I got back to Connecticut it still wasn't going away and that's when I knew I was being called to serve in Appalachia. After getting home I filled out my application for long-term volunteer service at CAP and the next thing I knew I was graduating from college and flying to Kentucky to visit the many programs CAP had to offer. Once my visit was over I was even more convinced that this was what I was supposed to be doing.

For me CAP was a right fit because I've able to grow in my own spirituality, as well as learn from others. I've met tons of great people and many of them I'd even consider family. Living in community has been great, but it hasn't been easy either. There have been difficulties but they all seem to work out in the end and a lot of these difficulties have been great learning experiences as well. When I decided to volunteer I wanted to go somewhere where I would be challenged and really grow in my faith and for me CAP has been the place to experience these things.

On a side note, this past weekend one of my former housemates got married and it was so awesome to see how much they love each other and to see how God is the center of their relationship. Congratulations Staci and Brian!!!!! 

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
And now faith, hope, and love abide, but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-13

Kate is a long-term volunteer in CAP's Housing program. She lives in Floyd Volunteer House.