July 1, 2006
Dear Friends,
It is with both delight and regret that I announce to you that I will be leaving Rwanda and returning to the States at the end of next August. I have decided that I will cut short my usual three-year contract of service by one year so that I can seek employment as a professor in a college, university or seminary in the homeland. The time for the submissions of applications until the actual start-date of teaching is about one year. I am going to use this period to serve as the Interim Pastor of the United Parish of Bowie, my home church in Maryland. The former pastor of the church, Carl Bickel, was a wonderful man and in many ways a mentor. Sadly he died earlier this year. It will be my joyful responsibility to help the church during this time of transition to discern what type of church it now wants to be, which, practically speaking, means selecting the right pastor to serve and lead the congregation in the years to come.
As I look back on my service in Rwanda, there are many things that I will miss. First among them are the students, often so earnest and dedicated. I think, just to name one thing, I’m going to miss especially their wonderful French names: Célestin, Providence, Ernest, Valentine, Innocent, Aimable, Fidèle, Léonidas, Viateur, Espérance, Pudencienne, Perpétue, Dativa, Immaculé, Jean de Dieu. Faultlessly patient with my sometimes awkward French, profoundly dedicated to serving the Lord, kind, soft-spoken, full of good humor, endlessly fond of singing to the beat of a drum, many of them have become friends with whom I hope to stay in touch and whose lives, families, and careers I will keep in my prayers.
There are other things that I will also miss: the beautiful green hills of Rwanda, crowded with trees, flowers, gardens and crops that grow in its dark fecund soil. I’ll also miss the colorful dresses of the women and the lively church music. I’ll miss running around the track at the university while a small herd of longhorn cattle wanders on to the playing field to the angelic sounds of a church choir practicing in the stands. I’ll miss my fellow missionaries in the field, who never ceased to inspire me with their faith, devotion and cheerfulness in the midst of often trying circumstances. I’ll most definitely miss my work at the Faculté. I’ve enjoyed being with my colleagues, teaching history, speaking in French, giving meditations and sermons, helping students with their senior projects. I’ll also miss teaching American literature at the National University of Rwanda. I was especially delighted with last year’s class; I’ve guided several of these students through their senior theses of varying subjects: Emerson’s essays, Shakespeare’s MacBeth, Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage.
In the spirit of John Steinbeck, who wrote in The Grapes of Wrath, “A man could get so as he’d miss the sound of a buzz saw,” I may also come to miss the high-pitched squeaks and cries of the several thousand bats that live in the trees behind my house, who never fail to begin their cacophonous racket around five o’clock in the morning. In the same category is the deep mud on the roads in the rainy seasons, reading by the light of a lantern because the electricity has been cut, bathing from a bucket because the water supply has run out, and always traveling with a plastic bag on the winding mountain roads of the country just in case …
If all good things must come to an end, there are inevitable regrets because there are always things that are left undone or just hanging. Earlier this year I was instrumental in helping to start an English-language service in Kigali. It’s now off and running, but I wish that I could be around for its first full year to make sure that everything runs as smoothly as possible. There are also a few student projects left unfinished, and a replacement history professor has not yet been found. And, not to be maudlin, I’ll regret leaving behind my dog, Cassy, who has faithfully guarded my house these last three years, and who wants little more than just to be with me, even sometimes going so far as to sleep under my bedroom window at night.
Because I will begin my work as an Interim Pastor immediately upon my return to the United States, I will not be visiting churches this year and talking about missions. And this is also something that I will miss and regret not doing, being with all of you who have so faithfully been supporting me all these years—since 1995. But life goes on, and God is leading me into new fields of work in locations, in the States, of which I can only guess. Please don’t hesitate to stay in touch. My mailing address will change, but my email address will remain the same for at least the next six months.
May God continue to be with all of you as you seek to do His will in the world and, especially, as we all continue to support the missions program of the PC(USA).
Que Dieu vous benisse!
Michael Parker
The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 322 |
