Canfield
Our plans for next year
If you’re coming to this site, you’ve heard that Troy and I will be moving to inner-city Atlanta to be a part of Mission Year. After a lot of prayer, we both decided that God was calling us to quit our jobs, and to step out in faith to serve him.
This experience will be completely new for both of us. I grew up in a town of 2,000 people, so Anderson seemed like a metropolis when I moved here!
We’re really excited, a bit nervous, but most of all expecting God to do incredible things in us, and hopefully through us.
Here are the specifics we know so far about what we’ll be doing:
- We’ll be living in the inner-city, sharing living accomodations with another married couple who are also participating in the program.
- We’ll each be volunteering within the community for 25-30 hours each week. We get to choose our specific assignments once we get down to Atlanta.
- We’ll be connected with a local church near where we’ll be living. We’re required to plug into at least one ministry within the church during our time there.
- We’ll be consistently discipled, and we’ll have a lot of opportunity to process how this experience if changing us as individuals, and as a married couple.
We covet your prayers and encouragement. Thanks for being a part of our lives!
Katrina and Troy
About Mission Year
Mission Year is a year long urban ministry program focused on Christian service and discipleship. We take teams of young people, place them in an area of need, and help them to serve people and create community. We are committed to the command of Jesus to “love God and love people,” by placing the needs of our neighbors first and developing committed disciples of Christ with a heart for the poor. Learn more about our first year program…
Canfield's Blog
Tornado / Mar 19, 03:52 PM
We just wanted to let everyone know that we’re OK. You’ve probably heard about the tornado that came through Atlanta on Friday. We were actually right downtown in Centennial Park 10 minutes before the tornado hit. We had no idea the weather was bad and were just walking around an art exhibit. We walked past Phillips Arena and the CNN Center to the MARTA station, which is underground. Shortly after we were there, the lights went off. We were wondering what was happening, and realized there had been a bad storm when the train was delayed because of debris on the tracks. The damage is pretty bad, and we’re very thankful to be safe. We looked at pictures of the damage in the newspaper the next day, and it was eerie to realize we had been there only minutes before. Some of the kids of Troy’s afterschool program had a lot of damage to their houses and power outages, so please pray for them.
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Another reason for public transportation / Feb 21, 12:20 PM
My (Katrina’s) parents visited this past week for Mission Year’s “Come and See” weekend. We had an amazing time. It was great for them to get a firsthand perspective of what we do here, who are neighbors are, and what life is like here in Atlanta. They served in the food pantry at my service site, hung out with the children at Troy’s site, and got to hang out with most of the neighbors we are close to.
On Saturday night, we decided to take our car to Ikea instead of taking MARTA (public transportation). On the way home, we were in a car accident smack dab in the middle of I75. Troy was checking his blind spot to change lanes, and the Jeep in front of us slammed on their brakes. We couldn’t stop in time, and we slid under the Jeep. Luckily, no one in our car (including our neighbor, Sevila) was hurt. We were all wearing seatbelts, and the Lord definitely protected us from getting rear-ended by someone else. It was rather scary being stopped in the middle of 6 lanes of traffic. Now that we’re dealing with the aftermath (i.e. the $750 deductible we have on our car), it’s easy to be frustrated. I Troy and I keep reminding ourselves that it could have been much worse, and that we’re lucky we’re all safe. You can’t put a pricetag on that!
I miss my parents already, but it was nice to have a piece of home here in Atlanta for a few days.
Birthday(s) Fun! / Feb 5, 03:26 PM
Troy and I usally have a lot of fun celebrating our birthdays, which are only 2 days apart, and this year was no exception. On Saturday, we invited several of our neighbors over for a party, and about 20 people came. It was a blast! It’s always fun to be surrounded by people you love and care about, and in these few months we’ve been here, we’ve definitely grown to love our neighbors, almost like family.
Mission Year is now almost halfway over. It’s amazing how fast the time has flown by. The gradual transformation in our own lives and in our marriage over the past few months is pretty remarkable. Day in and day out we’re faced with challenging situations at our service sites, with our neighbors and with living in community. It sounds crazy, but I think I’m finally learning that I have to do all of these things through Christ’s strength. I know in my head I can’t do things on my own, but it takes some level of brokenness and surrender to truly let the Holy Spirit lead. When I’m weary, annoyed, frustrated, or just tired, I can’t always be the “nice” person I’ve been trained to be. I have to search within and let the Holy Spirit lead me through his love. This is such an abstract concept and I certainly haven’t figured out how to well at all times, but I’m definitely learning (slowly but surely)!
So being another year older helps me reflect on all of the growth I’ve experienced in the past year. Troy reminded me it’s leap year, so I have one extra day of being a twenty-something before turning 30 next year! Yikes!
MLK Day / Jan 23, 03:58 PM
Being in Atlanta for the Martin Luther King holiday was unlike any MLK day we’ve celebrated before. Actually, I can’t say I’ve ever really celebrated the life of MLK on that day—it was more like a day to stay home from school or work. At first I was a little disappointed that I had to go into work (let’s be honest). Unfortunately, homelessness doesn’t stop on national holidays. But my housemates and Troy came in and volunteered at the outreach center with me that morning, and then we were able to be a part of the march in the afternoon. It was quite an experience as people were lined up alongside the street advocating for different political candidates, for peace, and other social issues. We stood near several fraternities and sororities from Morehouse College while they performed Step routines.
We walked from Peachtree down Auburn Avenue, the historic street that Martin Luther King frequented while he was here in Atlanta and ended up in front of the King Memorial. There were only a few white people around, and it was cool to be able to walk alongside the black community and support this important day. I still can’t say I fully understand the impact that Dr. King made in this world, but being in Atlanta definitely opened up my eyes to how important it is to celebrate this day. (I’m not trying to make anyone guilty who took the day off, by the way). Hopefully in the future if we’re not in Atlanta, we’ll still use this day to celebrate such an important part of history.
First time at Starbucks... / Jan 17, 09:47 AM
Our neighbor Sevila’s 18th birthday is today, so we decided to take her to Starbucks last night to celebrate. She had never been before and she loves coffee, plus we had gift cards, so we thought it would be fun. When we told the people waiting on us it was her first time at Starbucks, they were literally shocked. So shocked, in fact, they gave her a free Mocha piled high with whipped cream and a piece of cake with a candle. It was quite a scene, actually. The Starbucks guy even took a picture with his cell phone and sent it to me today. Sevila moved here from Russia, so Starbucks must not have ventured into her part of the world yet.
I have a love hate relationship with Starbucks, loving the atmosphere and the coffee, but hating the prices. But this experiece made the few times I’ve spent $4 on a pumpkin spice latte quite worth it. And just so you know, Starbucks isn’t typically a part the “Mission Year lifestyle,” so thanks to everyone who gave us a gift cards to make these infrequent trips possible!
