February 2008

Dear Fellow Travelers!

Jane Holslag in Anchorage, Alaska, before one of 20 different flights she took in October 2007.

Yes, we are indeed all on a journey of one sort or another, and the last months have been amazing in variety, landscapes, people, and in the lessons learned along my way (including how to relax while being flown over glaciers near Anchorage).

For five weeks in October I was privileged to travel on behalf of the denomination with Mission Challenge ’07. My itinerary took me to Alaska and the Seattle-Tacoma area in Washington. I visited more than 20 congregations, attended presbytery meetings, preached, and of course, ate at numerable pot-lucks! Sharing about global mission and sharing stories from my own life in mission service was sheer delight—no joke! In spite of arsenic in some places (water supplies differ from place to place in our country!), a bout with food poisoning (source shall remain unnamed), some critical but justified questions that challenged my “ambassadorial” role, and a number of days where I thought I was getting too old for this kind of thing (more than 20 flights in one month), the visits were genuinely encouraging to me. I pray they opened new doors for growing mission awareness in the congregations. More than once I thought, “I get to do this for a living! I get to share the good news and receive back a hundred-fold!” Though there were many meaningful encounters, attending the Yukon Presbytery (most of Alaska) meeting and preaching at presbytery worship was a highlight. In spite of the geographic challenges, that presbytery’s self-understanding and its commitment to sisterly/brotherly support and care in and among its congregations spoke in a most powerful way. Of course, Alaska Presbytery in the southeast part of the state, with its congregations reachable only by plane or boat was another wake-up call about how we “do” ministry in our connectional church. Seattle and Olympia presbyteries each left its deep impression on me as well, and the gathered images and feelings are still deep inside.

Jane's father on his 90th birthday.

November and December were Dad’s final months in his chapter of the kingdom story. I was with him every day for six of those eight weeks, often for 10 to 12 hours. A trip back to Germany to move from Hohenbruch to Berlin-Koepenick afforded me just enough time to pack my worldly belongings (with more than a little help from one dear friend from Boston, who happened to be in Berlin!) and to start to unpack when I was called back to Colorado Springs. This was one of few chapters in my life when I have experienced and simultaneously realized it was truly a time made precious by its passing. God granted us some wonderful moments, some real laughter (Dad could be a hoot!), the joy of just being together and even a peace in knowing what we were about—waiting. That may sound odd, but a lot of the time, if asked directly what I am up to, I’d have to say I don’t really know what I am doing. I am making it up as I go! This time, that was not the case, and for that I thank God. My brother Tom and my nephews were also able to be there before Dad passed away. The loss sits deep in me, but it belongs and the time was right, just right. We had become good friends over these last years. I shall miss my father.

Upon my return to Berlin, I was taken aback, first by a few warm, mild days (which started a whole bunch of flowers and trees to blooming, achoo!) and then by a shift to icy cold and crisp winter air. I have also been caught off guard by unpacking, all the while knowing it is a temporary stay. In the summer, I head back to Lithuania. So, I’m using the remaining days as best I can to work on my dissertation. One chapter is taking shape. It will need to be condensed, the fact that it is coming along is good news. It is a gift to be able to focus and think and write. I covet your prayers for productive and diligent, disciplined hours.

Though I am sitting still in my almost-unpacked apartment, the journey continues. I am finding my perspective on the thesis changing, or better put, expanding. I am enjoying writing! Also, in the back of my mind, I’m already anticipating new students and the fall semester at LCC International University. The prospect of teaching again is enticing, and in April I’ll participate in an European Union-related seminar in Klaipeda ntitled, “Culture and Dialogue.” The topic of my study is bound to both; I look forward to sharing what I can and learning lots more.

I close with an abbreviated and paraphrased form of the Old Testament text for the second Sunday in Lent. God is calling Abraham (and us?), “Go from your country and your kindred and your understanding and your plans and what is familiar to the land, to the place, to the person, to the task, to the new and to the unfamiliar that I will show you…. and Abraham went and he journeyed on by stages” (Gen. 12). God grant us grace to hear and recognize the call, so that we too may journey on.

In Christ,