December 4, 2006
Dear Friends:
Holiday greetings to you from Michigan! Since September, I have
been based here doing my “interpretation assignment.”
Three years ago, the first time I did this, I felt like it was
an interruption of my work and life. But while I was doing it,
I began to see the significance of connecting with folks in PC(USA)
churches and found it was a pleasure to serve as a bridge between
people and the work of the church in Central and North America.
This time, interpretation assignment has been equally meaningful,
because it has given me another chance to relate with people in
the United States and connect them with PC(USA) mission in Nicaragua.
The time has also served, as it was intended, to nurture relationships
with family and friends, and it has given my children the chance
to live with their grandparents, visit their cousins in Indiana,
and be immersed in the language and culture that I grew up in
and is a part of their life and heritage.
I have enjoyed the many people who have graciously hosted me
and my family in a dozen locations in four states. We have been
enjoyed being guests and have appreciated the differences in culture,
cuisine, and church life in the presbyteries we’ve visited.
One woman lost her husband, a highway patrolman, in a roadside
shooting over 30 years ago. A painted portrait of her husband
in uniform sits on the piano in her home. She is a gentle spirit
and a kind hostess who served delicious homemade oatmeal cookies
with frosting. Delicious!
In another town the church had a “covered dish” supper
(I call it a “potluck”), and someone brought fish
he’d caught scuba diving the day before in the Atlantic
Ocean. I’ve been in traditional worship services in congregations
that date from the 1700s, and I’ve been in contemporary,
informal services in which I felt like a stand-up comedian, sitting
on a barstool in the spotlight.
I visited a congregation in North Carolina that meets in a circle,
sharing reflection and weekly Communion, and where everyone is
purposefully welcoming, bringing in the homeless and the housed,
people of different races, sexual orientations, and mental and
physical challenges. For the All Saints’ Day service in
one church we heard an impeccable and moving performance of Rutter’s
"Requiem," with a well-rehearsed choir and professional
musicians. At another church, the choir sang well and from the
heart, but were not so polished. Their director emphasized, “This
is about worshiping God. It is not a performance.” Each
congregation gave me a sense of how some people in the United
States worship God and experience community.
My time here has been good because it allows me to return to
Nicaragua with fresh perspectives. It is good, at times, to go
from one reality or culture to another. Experiencing the differences
and recognizing what we hold in common allow us to see our selves,
our lifestyles, and our “normal” contexts in new ways.
Being here, I feel the jolt or recognizing my roots in North America.
I’m grateful to be able to share about life in Nicaragua,
and the life of the Church in Nicaragua, with congregations of
the PC(USA).
World mission pushes the boundaries of our everyday life that
we may encounter the “other.” Engaging in world mission
we come face to face with people who don’t look like us
or speak our language; they live at the margins, hold different
worldviews and values, and experience their life and faith differently.
Yet we realize that these people, who are not like us,
are still our brothers and sisters in Christ. And because of the
relationships we make with them we are changed. The experiences
that have been most formative—and informative—to
me and to my Christian faith—have been in places that are
farthest from home. The first time was when I was 17 and I went
to Finland through a seven-week Youth for Understanding program.
Then, in college and after college, I had three different mission
experiences in Central and South America. And now I’ve been
in Nicaragua for nine years.
As Christmas nears, I invite you to think of the birth of the
Christ Child as a border crossing, the ultimate “interpretation”
assignment to put us in touch with God’s mission
through Jesus: Liberation from the heavy burden of sin, healing
for the sick, justice for the oppressed and marginalized. We know
that by sending the Christ into the world God has given us the
gift of salvation. And while God’s salvation doesn’t
require us to engage in God’s mission, it calls
us to do so precisely because Emmanuel, God-with-us, is engaged
in our lives.
How do you cross borders in your life? Where is God calling you?
How do you already participate in local and world mission, to
engage with those who are radically different from you in some
way? How do you reach out to—and allow yourself to be touched
by—people with whom you engage in mission? I urge you to
consider these questions and renew or seek a commitment to mission
in the New Year. Finally, I ask you to continue supporting PC(USA)
world mission with your prayers and financial resources so that
the church may keep participating in mission around the world.
With love,
Ellen Sherby
The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 57 |
