December 2006
Advent greetings to you all!
The Rev. Jane Holslag is a PC(USA) mission worker in Lithuania
currently on a leave of absence.
This year Advent will be quite short, with Christmas Eve falling
on the fourth Sunday of Advent, something of a rarity and definitely
a factor adding to the hustle and bustle of the “season.”
In the face of that hustle and bustle, I wish you God’s
peace, refuge from the stresses of your days, and time for reflection
and quiet inthis season of “getting ready.”
The letters of the New Testament begin with a greeting. Towards
the end of each epistle are often words of practical advice, news,
and further greetings. Usually, the author launches into a theological
discourse, but throughout the letters are glimpses of daily goings-on—snapshots
of life in the congregation. Though it won’t be the usual
Pauline length, I’d like to reflect in a similar way with
you via this newsletter! A mix of news, some theological considerations,
and greetings!
These last months have been filled with ministry in this small
congregation (worship services, visits with members, confirmation
class) and with research activities, for example, a workshop to
learn new software for interview analysis, a seminar to learn
how history gets memorialized, another seminar on a family of
churches dealing with the past and the secret police records.
Along the way, I’ve watched and waited with prayerful anticipation
to see how the new structure of PC(USA) and its mission service
will be shaped. In between are all the events and issues of life
here in Germany: marches and counter-marches related to the neo-Nazi
scene, an unusually warm and dry fall with the warning of global
climate change growing louder, and yet another evacuation of thousands
of residents, a hospital, and a nursing home in Oranienburg, the
county seat, in order to disarm a bomb from World War II that
was just uncovered (on the day before the National Day of Mourning
and Remembrance for all who died in two world wars.
My days seem all very full and they fly by. When I come up for
air or sit long enough to breathe more deeply, I thank God for
his faithfulness, his steadfast love, and his promises made clear
in Jesus Christ. I thank God that I am living and serving and
trying to write a doctoral thesis in such an interesting time
and place. I thank God for you, your congregations, and the years
you have been with me in prayer and thought, with letters and
cards, and in many cases, the years of your steady financial support
in mission dollars!
I am tempted at this point to launch into a stewardship sermonette
but I’ll spare you. I am also tempted to tell you what I
think God should do for me and future PC(USA) mission service
in central and eastern Europe, but I’ll spare you that as
well. Suffice it to say, God willing, I hope to be returning to
Lithuania Christian College sometime after September 2007. We
don’t hear the phrase often or use it enough, but “if
the way be clear” by this time next year, I’ll be
much further along in the thesis writing, have bid farewell to
the Hohenbruch congregation and my colleagues in the church district,
and either be at LCC or en route. Will you pray with me between
now and September 2007 for a way to be clear?
Faith and trust and a willingness to let God do God’s work
are called for! But isn’t that the case all the
time? Why does a bump in the road, a restructure in the organization,
a loss of health, or any other crisis jog us into looking harder
for and at the One who is the maker, sustainer, and redeemer of
all life? I am reminded of Jesus’ words to the disciples
in the boat, rocked by mighty storm winds. After he calms the
storm, he says to them, “O you of little faith!” Yup,
that about sums it up! Actually, this story from Mark 4 is a great
Advent text, for it is just this time of year when it seems the
darkest: We’ve closed the church year and anticipate once
again the coming of our Lord, and in some ways, we are like the
disciples in that boat on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus is
with us, but there is little light and the winds seem mighty.
We watch, we wait, we yearn for him to hear us and to save us.
In these very weeks of preparation and waiting, I will
be praying with you—for our denomination, for our congregations,
and for our mission personnel spread over the globe! May these
weeks before Christmas be a time to look to Him who will come
and to Him who has already come, who knows our yearnings and our
fears and brings us light!
Grace and peace,
Jane Holslag
Mission Co-Worker (on study leave)
The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 180 |
