A new community

We have had the afternoon off today and I am very thankful because I think I needed sometime to process at least a little bit of what has been going on. I know I will only continue to need to process over the next 2 years, but hey I can start now. I said I would write more about my experience at Potter's Field but I was reading my fellow US-2's blog and she has written it well so you can read her words, that are similar to my feelings http://wist.wordpress.com/ (Thanks Sarah).

These experiences and sessions have changed all of us. We have now been shattered of our ignorance and there is no turning back. We must fight these social injustices and we will. I find so much comfort and hope in the fact that 9 of us are about to go out to various parts of the United States and fight social injustices together. Our eyes have been opened and with God's help we will begin to help to open others eyes. It will not be easy, we are all pretty humble about that, but we do have each other. We made our class covenant last night and I will not disclose any specifics but we will be holding each other accountable each month and pretty much daily on how we are each addressing those social injustices and how we are serving God. We have built a beautiful new community of believers that want to go out and serve God through fighting social injustices...how wonderful is that?

Yet over the last few days I have been reminded of the communities of my past, communities that I was apart of for years, or just months, communities that embraced me and that I learned so much from. Those communities I love dearly and have brought me to where I am now.

There is my family community, my parents, brother and sister, and grandparents that have taught me to love and how to love others. They have been there with me through so much and will always support me.

Then there is the community of friends from college, my loving support network of friends that were there to challenge me, allow me to act silly, let me cry, scream, dance, and love. I will cherish each moment that I spent with them.

I was lucky enough to also have a wonderful community of Reach Workcamp Friends that will always be a special family to me, where I met my good friends Megan and Breck and where I will always know I have a place as a "red shirt volunteer" in the summers.

Another community that means a great deal to me is my community from Philadelphia, my dear friend Trish and her hospitality to let me live with her last summer, and everyone from Cornerstone that welcomed me with open arms to serve alongside of them and teach me how to be a missionary.

All of those communities have led me towards this community of Young Adult Missionaries that I am apart of now. I urge everyone to reflect upon the communities of support you have had throughout the years, they are a big part of your journey. And it is, the journey that defines us...