Reflections on what Mission is...

We had a speaker come talk to us today about what it means to be in Mission and what Mission is. So here are some random thoughts and things we talked about I thought I would share. First off here is the Wesleyan Prayer that I find is beautiful and want to share it with you...

I am no longer my own but yours.
Put me to what you will; rank me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you, exalted for you, or brought low for you.
Let me have all things; let me have nothing.
I freely and wholeheartedly, yield all things to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed God, Father, So and Holy Spirit, you are mine and I am ours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on Earth, let it be ratified in Heaven.
Amen.

I just really feel that this is a beautiful call to mission and our life with God.

Mission Is...

• Multi-directional and polyphonic, multi-centered, not linear
• moving from the center to the margins because God always moves to the margins
• linking people, opening the dialogue between the rich and marginalized people
• to hear the cry of God, identify the "sinned againstness"
• to scratch where it itches
• saying NO to alienating people from their culture
• working WITH the people to address the negative aspects in their areas
• saying YES to being God's people with all God's people

We also learned a lot about the Israel-Palestine Conflict and I am so thankful I am learning about the injustices that are taking place in this world. I hope I will become and advocate for this and much more. Things are going good...I have had to take a lot of time for myself lately but I am feeling refreshed. We have been here for about 10 days, it feels like 20! But I am glad we still have a lot more to go. This is definitely where I need to be.

2 Trips to Chinatown, Talks in the park, sunsets, and the piano bar...

So I have had 2 experiences in Chinatown this week. We did a community Mapping Activity and split up into a few groups and went to various locations around Manhattan Island. I got the opportunity to learn about Chinatown and the lower east side where there has been a long history of immigration. The Irish were the first to settle in that area and then came the Italians and now it is the Chinese. But right now the government, big corporations and developers are coming in and taking back the land where there are low income housing and making it into million dollar properties (it is waterfront property). This causes the people in the area to become displaced and loose their homes the place they have come to to try to achieve the "American Dream" or come to have a better life. It makes me sick how we treat people that are coming to our country. I could go on a soup box about immigration and how we have completely missed the point on how to handle "foreigners". Maybe everyone needs to re-read Exodus. Besides all that it was a great experience to see different cultures and also I enjoyed worshiping at a UMC church there this morning. I am a little sick of chinese food though..

Talks in the park...well let me just say that is one of my favorite things about this training is the people and the wonderful conversations. The other night we took another trip down to the pier to watch the sunset and we also sat and talked for 2 hours about relationships and life. I love hearing other people's stories and learning from them. Today I had a blast going to the park with Meg. We went to just relax and read...turned out we talked the whole time but had some much needed conversation. It was a beautiful day and hundred's of people were enjoying the beauty. We enjoyed it under a tree in the shade laying down looking at the sky and feeling the breeze.

Tonight we are headed to a Piano Bar down on Christopher and I am pretty excited. We have been exhausted from so much going on but a bunch of us decided a nice adventure would be good for tonight. So there will definitely be a post about that in the near future.

Overall each day I want to sing, dance, shout, cry, yell, run, jump, hide, love, and dream. It's a lot of mixed emotions, but its wonderful.

I need some energy...

The days are long during training so I am trying to pace myself by giving myself time in the mornings to be alone walking/jogging down by the river. It's beautiful in the mornings and I love watching the hundreds of people that are on their journey of the day running past. I have found a coffee place, 11th Street Cafe and I am not a regular customer for some Hazelnut coffee in the mornings. They are really nice there and have asked me why I am here and everything...I think I will continue the morning coffee routine.

There is a lot to take in, some long sessions of tons of information, emotional discussions, and also just lots of fun and fellowship. I am enjoying it so much but I also know I need to make sure I don't overdo it. So today was a little harder than the other days for a few reasons I am not going to share right now, but just pray if you would for the times when you really just don't have words. Pray for my friend Trish in Philly, she needs prayers for discernment.

I would just like to thank all my wonderful US-2's for listening to me and being there to talk, I cannot express my gratitude.

Sunsets are beautiful:)

Me and Sarah at the River

Greg looking at the Sunset
The 3 of us on our night adventure

This is down on the Hudson River at sunset. Greg, Sarah and I went down to the river tonight to just talk and relax, feel the breeze and enjoy each others company while watching a beautiful sunset. We had an intense day but a wonderful one....we made candles, heard more sharing of our lives, went to Queens and went through a labyrinth. It was extremely spiritual and challenging but so peaceful. Our subway ride was fun with jokes and songs:) Then Sarah, Fawn and I cooked dinner for everyone "Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup" it was lovely. I love serving people!!! Then I met a homeless man names Ray and I gave him some food before we ate. Last night we had a fabulous bible study about Exodus 1:8-22 I will share more later. I have just so enjoyed amazing conversations with people and just sharing life together. Life is good, challenging and beautiful...

Listen, listen, listen to my heartsong...

I thought I would give a quick update about training so far, I'm up a little earlier than everyone else and thought I should take a little time to process the last 48 hours. I got to NY and began to meet some wonderful people that are passionate about social justice and God just like me..it was really nice. My roommate for the training is Elyse who is just amazing and we have had 2 nights of wonderful pillow talk and I definitely cherish that time with her. The first night was rather low-key we got money and the schedule and had a vespers. Today we got up and went to The Church of the Village, a wonderful church near where we are staying that was so completely welcoming and just such a great place to worship. They were so glad we were there to worship with them and they wanted to know all about our placements and were just so affirming and encouraging. We all really enjoyed the music and a few of us got to help serve communion and it was just such a blessing to serve the Lord's supper to a bunch of welcoming brothers and sisters in Christ of all ages, races, and backgrounds:)

After church we came back and discussed the process of "sharing" which we will begin today. We each get around 30 minutes to tell our story of our life...the hard times, the good times, who gives me energy, my relationship with the creator, just a celebration of each of our journey's up until now. I am excited to learn more about these wonderful people I am building a community with. Pray I am open and honest in my time of sharing.

The rest of the day we spent time creating a visual to assist our sharing...I made a children's book and a slideshow of pictures. This time of creating with just a blast sitting and listening to one another talk and just be in each other's presence. We broke for dinner at this all Vegaterian resturant that was really yummy:)

We had a "centering" activity last night where we did Lectio Divina an ancient way of reading the scriptures that is just so wonderful in my opinion. We read Philippians 2:1-8 and focused on a word or phrase the first time, then more each time. I really love how it says "christ emptied himself" or other translations say "he became nothing". Reflecting in silence upon the scripture I really just stuck with the image and idea of completely emptying myself of everything (worry, doubt, frustrating, fear....) We sang a chant that just left me with so much joy and peace and I will leave you with this....

Listen listen listen to my heart song,
listen listen listen to my heart song
I will never forget you and I will never forsake you
I will never forget you I will never forsake you (repeat over and over, while placing your hand over your heart)

I am here in NYC!

I just wanted to let everyone know I am here safe and sound in NYC:) My flight was good and I had 2 US-2's Meg and Greg waiting for me when I arrived, after a cab ride we arrived to our destination and have had a few hours to just relax and grab lunch. I am excited about this new adventure, not really sure what to expect but I'm doing a lot better with just waiting on what the Lord has in store. So I say..Bring it on!

*side note but really funny...last night my family and I went to see Kevin Costner's band play at the Durham Bulls stadium to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the movie Bull Durham. There was a huge crowd that showed up and it was lots of fun. As the band finished and they begin to prepare for the fireworks this crazy rather intense storm came out of no where and everyone got pretty much trapped into the stadium, which lost power! We were all getting soaked and could only laugh at that point. Needless to say we saw all God Made Fireworks last night! It was a good family bonding experience:)

Off to Training...

And the training begins...I am off to NYC in the morning to begin my training to be a US-2 missionary for the United Methodist Church's General Board of Global Missions. I will be joined in NYC by 8 other recent college graduates, and our 2 supervisors. We will be living in the Alma Matthews House that is owned by the United Methodist Women and is located in Greenwich Village. We will be there for 3 weeks and will be commissioned as missionaries on July 27th, 2008. I am not sure as to exactly what we will be doing throughout training but our boss described training as this:

The goal of training is to encounter issues that you will face during your term of service as well as provide some tools to better equip you for the work you are about to engage in. We will give you methods to process and help you form relationships with those who can be there to support you during your time as a Missionary.
· Expect to form a community of young adults among those who are seeking a similar experience and who share similar passions
· Expect a little spontaneity so bring your flexibility
· Expect days that encourage you
· Expect days that anger you
· Expect to go home with more than you came with so leave room in your suitcase or bring an empty bag
· Expect to want to write stuff down so bring a notebook or journal
· Expect the unexpected

So as I head off I ask for your prayers that I will allow myself to absorb a lot of information, be open to building a wonderful community, be flexible & spontaneous, and grow. I am excited and yet a little nervous. I will post updates and also upload pictures on my phanfare site! Feel free to leave me messages! NYC Here I come!!

Please pray for the other US-2's & their placements...
Elyse Christensen - Atlanta, GA
Krista Dover- Detroit, Michigan
Carolyn Marcus- Superior, Wisconsin
Fawn White- Nome, Alaska
Greg Little - Baltimore, Maryland
Meg Koach - Chicago, Illinois
Sarah Martindell - Salt Lake City, Utah
Bonnie Monk - Alabama