Fordham Preparatory School - Ramview Ramview Fall 2018 | Page 8

Identity
imperative to show their love “in deeds rather that
words,” as St. Ignatius insisted.
In addition to impacting the lives of hundreds of families,
our students have also been transformed in so many
ways by these experiences. They have learned that Christ
can most easily be found when one lives in compassion
and solidarity with those in need, that young people can
bring hope and healing to places of poverty and injustice,
that the persons who are poor have much to teach us
about the inherent dignity of all people, and ultimately,
that there is no us and them, only us.
Brian Carney
Vice President for Mission & Identity
25 Years of Christian Service Immersion Trips
In the summer of 1994, eight Prep students traveled to a
small town in the Appalachian Mountain Region of West
Virginia to work with an organization called Nazareth Farm,
building and repairing homes for families in need. Those
students did not know at the time that they were pioneers
who had launched Fordham Prep’s Appalachia Program,
now known as the Christian Service Immersion Program.
Moved by their experience at Nazareth Farm, they
returned to the Prep and ignited a program that has
enabled thousands of students over the past 25 years to
answer the call to be “for and with others” in West
Virginia, Kentucky, Upstate New York, Tennessee, Mexico,
Ecuador and Camden, New Jersey. Partnering with
organizations such as Nazareth Farm, St. Francis Farm,
Sharing with Appalachia People (SWAP), Christian
Appalachian Project (CAP), Appalachia Habitat for
Humanity, The Romero Center, Community Links
International, Rostro de Cristo and the Center for Working
Families, Prep students have answered the Gospel
This school year also marks the 20th anniversary of the
program’s partnership with Appalachia Habitat for
Humanity in Scott County, Tennessee. As our program’s
longest and most consistent partner, Appalachia Habitat
and the Scott County community have welcomed
thousands of Prep students into their ministry. Working
with Appalachia Habitat, the Prep has already built 31
homes for low income families in Scott and Morgan
Counties and donated over two million dollars to fund
these projects. To mark this milestone anniversary, the
program will hold its first alumni-only Tennessee trip in
August of 2019.
As I write about the 25th anniversary of the Christian
Service Immersion program in this issue of Ramview, it is
fitting that I take this opportunity to thank the many
benefactors of these trips for their incredible generosity.
St. Ignatius taught us to pray “Lord, teach me to be
generous,” and we know that the generosity needed to
help build the Kingdom takes many forms. Our
community, especially our alumni, have lived Ignatius’s
prayer by sharing its time, talent, treasure and prayers on
hundreds of trips, thereby transforming homes and
hearts near and far.
We look forward to sharing more about our 25 years of
Christian Service Immersion trips in the next issue of
Ramview and encourage alumni to send us their
reflections from their trips. Thank you to all Rams, past
and present, who have answered the call to be generous!
Please email reflections on your experience serving on a Christian Service Immersion program in
Appalachia or Latin America to fordhamprep.org/fpcsitrips25.
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