Week 5 - "Do you still see the fireflies blinking September, and do you remember?"

As I write this week, leaders from all over the province are gathering in Johannesburg for Provincial Synod, which is the equivalent to General Convention for the Episcopal Church.  I’m still here in Cape Town, but I’m excited to hear how it goes. My fellow Cape Town missionary, Amanda, is there.

I really cannot believe that it is September 30 and the end of my first full calendar month in Cape Town! It’s been a good week though, and I’m excited to tell a bit about it.

Last weekend was a long weekend here in Cape Town; Friday was a public holiday.  24 September is Heritage Day in South Africa; it’s an entire day devoted to the celebration of the diverse cultural heritage of the nation which makes it the country that it is today and gives South Africa the nickname “Rainbow Nation.” It’s also considered National Braai Day, so naturally, many people hold braais. In case I didn’t mention this before, a braai is essentially a backyard barbecue.

In honor of this holiday, many of the museums in town were FREE. I always consider museums a worthwhile investment, so this is exciting. Amanda and I took the train into Cape Town and checked out a couple.  We spent the morning wandering around the Iziko Slave Lodge, which is housed in one of the oldest buildings in town.  Some of the things that we saw included maps of slave routes, artifacts made by slaves that reflected their home culture, a slave memorial, & a mock-up of a slave ship. My favorite parts were the political cartoons, the artifacts from Ancient Egypt (always a weakness for me), & the Nelson Mandela exhibit.  There were at least five rooms devoted to the life of Mandela. Each room was filled with big banners with photos and paragraphs on his life. It was like walking through a biography. It was a lot of reading for a museum, but it was so interesting to learn so much about Mandela’s life!

After the Slave Lodge, we had lunch at the café in the crypt of St. George’s Cathedral (don’t let the word crypt defer you – it was awesome) before heading to the South African Museum, a natural history museum. We checked out cave paintings, an exhibit on Darwin, the African Cultures Gallery, and a sea-life exhibit. The sea-life exhibit narrowly beat out the African Cultures Gallery as my favorite part.  The immense blue whale skeleton reminded me of the immense blue whale in the Museum of Natural History in New York City and was impossible to miss. One of the things that I found most fascinating was this deformed sperm whale jawbone; it was shaped almost like a question mark. Apparently, sperm whales can survive with these jawbones, but I can’t imagine how. There were also some crazy looking fish there:

The long fish is white with these gray leopard spots on it and red fins; they can grow up to eleven meters long. The round one interests me because the females can lay 30 million eggs at a time. How crazy is that?

    I promise I’ve done more this week than think about fish. Every day, I’m thankful for the support of all my friends and family who have supported me in my journey; I carry you all with me in my heart. The other day, while on my way to the train station from work, I could not help but be amazed at the beauty around me. To the left is Table Mountain; to the right, I can see the ocean. Then, straight ahead, down the hill is the city center. Awesome.

Songs: “Change” by Carrie Underwood & I have to acknowledge this other one only because it plays EVERYWHERE here (but I insist that it is no reflection on my personal taste!!!!) “Baby, Baby, Baby” by Justin Bieber

Week 4 - "The beginning is now..."

Those of you who know me well know that I love to go on adventures of all kinds; I love to travel and see new places. Deciding to spend a year living here in Cape Town is one of my biggest adventures yet and is filled with lots of little adventures that I get to tell you about here in my blog and post pictures of on Picasa or Facebook. I could gladly go on forever talking about the thrills of standing at the top of Table Mountain or the beautiful (wealthy) beaches of Camps Bay, but if I’m really going to give an honest account of my trip here, then I need to be all-encompassing on exactly what I’m seeing. If I’m really going to experience this place, then I need to experience all parts of it, which means an honest blog entry for this week means covering both some sweets and some sours.

Let’s start of with the sweet song line that loaned itself to my blog’s title; it’s straight of the soundtrack of a brand new multi-media musical called Brothers at the University of Stellenbosch.It told the story of two brothers from an Anglican monastic order called the Community of the Resurrection who ministered in Stellenbosch from 1969-1970. Fr. Robert Mercer, Rector of St-Mary’s –on-the-Braak, and Fr Bernard Chamberlain, the University Chaplain, were deported for a welcoming church leaflet that went against the established anti-apartheid government. Many of the play’s characters were students, grappling with the issue of race and possibly challenging the establishment. The play was a really great snapshot of Stellenbosch at that time… another story of apartheid struggle. My new friend Maro played the very interesting character of Themba, a black janitor who went on to be the Dean of Students after the fall of apartheid. He did a great job!!!

Now, shifting gears a bit, I don’t have many pictures to share this week, but I do have this one (notice cloud-covered Table Mountain in the background):

Most weekends, I join Suzanne and Thembi on a field trip or two to one or more really cool parks. This was taken on a trip to the forest… but as you can see, it’s from before we actually got to the forest. There’s some really beautiful countryside here, but unfortunately, not every place can be so pretty and spacious.

Let me tell you a bit of local history… Monday through Friday, when I go to work at the ASF office, I take the train into Cape Town and then board a taxi to ride the 2-3 km uphill to Zonnebloom, where the office is. Every time, we drive through a part of the city called District 6, which is a giant empty field – a series of barren, empty blocks in the middle of this bustling city. On all sides, District 6 is surrounded by “normal” development, so what’s with the empty spot?

Apartheid.

Under apartheid, non-whites were evicted from the city center and forced to the outskirts. In the 1970s, over 60,000 non-whites were evicted from their homes in District 6 and the entire area was bulldozed (It is said that these event was one of the events that inspired the movie District 9). Many of the people forced from District 6 and areas designated as whites only settled into townships on the outskirts of larger towns and cities. Today, they still remain as undeveloped settlements – although I don’t think “undeveloped” really gives you a complete picture of just how undeveloped these places are.

On Saturday, I went with for a car ride with Suzanne and Thembi to Gugulethu, a South African township. According to the 2001 census, Gugulethu is home to over 80,000 people. It is one of many townships; Khayelitsha is a township with a population of over 400,000. Googling Gugulethu revealed that the township was the subject of a documentary called The Gugulethu Seven, about the seven young men killed there on 3 March 1986 in an ambush by South African apartheid security forces. Many of the people in Gugulethu now are on wait lists from the government for free houses, which the government doesn’t seem to be building. It raises an interesting question; would Habitat for Humanity Global Village work here? Would people work for a house in the near future if they knew the government might give them a free one in an unknown amount of time? I’d like to think that they would. As we rode through the narrow dirt streets of Gugulethu, I became very aware that I would never ever forget what I was seeing and smelling. It was like those adds you see on TV that ask you to send in $3 a month to provide school supplies and medicine for a child and they send you a picture of a kid (who’s supposedly the very one that you’re helping). Somehow, everything looks different when there’s not a TV screen and the Atlantic Ocean in between you and this place you see during the commercial break of your favorite television show. Riding down this dirt road, I contemplated taking a picture, but sitting there in a car, feeling very white and very rich, I just did not have the gumption to take out my digital camera and take a picture of the brook with clotheslines next to it or any of the houses where entire families occupy a 1-2 room space which is smaller than my last dorm room and which does not have running water. I did a Google image search instead and hope you check out the pictures here:


http://www.capetown.dj/people/people.html
http://www.worldofstock.com/closeups/AAB2246.php

I couldn’t seem to find any that were close up. I guess I’m not the only one who finds it all a bit overwhelming. Knowing these places are there and seeing them there are two different things; I don’t know why it’s that way, but there it is.

Thanks again to everyone for the love and prayers and support that got me here, and for taking the time to read this. If you get a chance, shoot some love and prayers in the direction of Gugulethu.

-A banner at St George's Cathedral, with a prayer we say at the end of each service

Songs (one old obsession and one brand new one): "Night Ride Home" by Joni Mitchell & "Something Beautiful" by Needtobreathe
Movie: Where the Heart Is

"Ulysess" by Alfred Lord Tennyson (Or How I Learned to Name My Blog)

It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.

I cannot rest from travel: I will drink
Life to the lees: all times I have enjoyed
Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when
Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vexed the dim sea: I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known; cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honoured of them all;
And drunk delight of battle with my peers;
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough
Gleams that untravelled world, whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!
As though to breathe were life. Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains: but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it were
For some three suns to store and hoard myself,
And this grey spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

This is my son, mine own Telemachus,
To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle —
Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfil
This labour, by slow prudence to make mild
A rugged people, and through soft degrees
Subdue them to the useful and the good.
Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere
Of common duties, decent not to fail
In offices of tenderness, and pay
Meet adoration to my household gods,
When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.

There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:
There gloom the dark broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought with me —
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads — you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew

Tho' much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Week 3 - “It’s been two long years now, since the top of the world came crashing down, & I’m getting it back on the road now…”

Maybe it’s because I heard/read three sermons about it or maybe it’s a memory of a couple Septembers back, but I found myself thinking a lot about this week’s gospel reading from Luke 15. The parable of the week is the Shepherd who left the herd of 99 to find the one that was missing. The lesson was immediately reiterated with the tale of the woman who lost one of her ten silver coins, and when she finally found it, she was so excited that she threw a party. The story carries a powerful message of God’s love and reminds us that every single one of us, as humans, is valuable – valuable enough to track down at any expense, in the name of love. Valuable enough to celebrate in our own right for our own individual faith, even with 99 other sheep or 9 other coins.

Now, I’m going to let my geek flag fly here and tell you what this honestly reminds me of… Even though I haven’t seen it in a long time, I can’t help but think of the third Star Trek movie, The Search for Spock. I may be a little rusty on the details, but I remember the important stuff. A short while after Spock died to save them (which actually occurred in movie 2 - The Wrath of Khan), Kirk & co. learn that Spock might be alive and they steal a ship to go get him, risking their live and their careers in the process. At first, Spock doesn’t get it because, as he says, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” He initially neglects to take love and friendship into the equation, obviously. It makes for a great story on screen, but if you’ve ever seen the parable play out in real life, it’s even more amazing. After all, who wouldn’t everything for someone more beloved than any thing?

I’m not writing all of this because I lost something; I know exactly where my house keys are and am as confident as I can be that I’m where I need to be right now on my own journey. Still, this parable is as relevant to me as ever…and makes me think about my own life…Nine silver coins isn’t a bad haul to have, nor is herding 99 sheep around the great green pasture circuit for a living, but even with 99 sheep and the greenest pastures your heart could desire, God might call your shepherding self to leave behind the herd you’ve know for the chance to hear what’s baa-baaa-baa-ing in some unknown woods, half a world away… in a gorgeous city between the mountains and the sea – where I can now say I’ve been for three weeks!

A few hours after posting my last blog, I made my first visit to the UCT campus. It’s a beautiful campus on a mountainside, and last Thursday evening, it was the place to be to hear Alice Walker speak! She seemed to cover a little bit of everything, and did not hesitate to make her feelings know; she is not President Zuma’s biggest fan. Looking back, the line that stuck out the most to me was when she spoke on leadership; I cannot remember her exact words, but she firmly believes that there is a leader inside each one of us, a Jiminy Cricket conscience voice, waiting for its chance to shine (although, her way of wording this didn’t mention any Disney characters). It was an evening to remember… oh, and did I mention that is was in Jameson Memorial Hall – a big old building in the center of campus with a bunch of white columns and stone steps in the front? Yeah, it reminded of another Memorial Hall back home with the Blue Hens.

Saturday, I continued on my quest to explore. With my fellow Cape Town YASCers, Amanda and Emily, I rode the cable car up to the top of Table Mountain and if you’ve checked back to my picture link from the last blog post, you’ll notice it’s rather gorgeous up there. Also, while we were there, Venus (yeah, the planet) made a quick cameo before darting behind the moon. I may watch rather large quantities of science fiction, but I’m no astronomer. Still, I think it’s a safe bet to assume that Venus doesn’t do that too often, but three young Episcopal missionary ladies probably don’t show up on the top of Table Mountain on a regular basis either.

When we were finished with checking out the beautiful mountaintop views, we went down to Camps Bay to see the views from one of Cape Town’s most beautiful beaches (The mountains behind me are called the Twelve Disciples… although you can't see them all, I think there are more than twelve of them). The water was freezing when we stuck our feet in, but it was worth it.

Most days though, I’m not sightseeing. My placement has me working most of my days in the ASF office. I’m still orienting to this new position and taking everything in; for as many new things as there are to learn, I’m still amazed by the familiarity of it all – the ways in which I see it resembling my own experiences in campus ministry from trying to organize committees of over-scheduled students (I’ll admit I was one, too) to making sure everything comes together for The Event. For now, I’ve been proofreading, writing reports, planning a presentation, and mailing out registration forms and information about the upcoming chaplains’ retreat.

I enjoy the work; the only thing I don’t like too much is commuting. The trains are OK, now, but the taxis are an entity to themselves. Every morning, I leave the train station and walk to the taxi stop by the KFC (Yeah, they have those here, haha). I ask which taxi’s going to Zonnebloom (it’s a different taxi in a different spot everyday), and hop on. Now, see, taxi’s are a bit different here. When I board, I hop in a van with other people going my way. The van doesn’t leave until it’s got ten people on board or twenty minutes have passed; at least, this is the “rule.” Today, I waited half an hour and there were only seven… but hey, I got here and spent R5 (> $1 in the process). In the grand scheme of life and public transportation, this is still considered a victory. In the event of any confusion in finding the right taxi, my thick foreign accent works to my advantage to identify me clearly as “Confused Foreigner.”
I’m also continuing to get more involved with Ansoc at UCT and should have some stories about that for next week’s post, but these are my musings for this Thursday. Thanks & blessings again to the wonderful family, friends, and churches that have supported my presence here and to you, whoever you may be, taking the time to read this.


Songs: The Long Way Around by the Dixie Chicks, Tattoo by Jordin Sparks, & Pride (In the Name of Love) by U2
Books: finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett (and highly recommend it OR if you’ve already read and loved this book, I encourage you to check out Anne Moody’s autobiography Coming of Age in Mississippi) & am starting The Mind of South Africa by Allister Sparks
Movie: Cry Freedom

Week 2 – “Clouds are shrouding us in moments unforgettable…”

First off, I just want to say that I hope that everyone in the States had a wonderful holiday weekend. We may not have had Monday off here, but I know I enjoyed the holiday – although, I am definitely still getting used to the idea that I’m twenty-four. I survived that stressors over the course of my twenty-third year (and I had my share), but I also had a blast. If God brings you to it, He’ll bring you through it. I had lots of love and support helping me survive the workload of my last year of college, and I came out the other side strong and having discerned this awesome call that brought me here to Cape Town, where I am writing this blog to all of you back home who have offered me all kinds of love and support which has gotten me here. As my friend Sarah so wisely said to me earlier this week in an email “God is so totally NOT BORING!”

On Friday, I went over to the Ansoc house at the University of Cape Town (UCT). I may have mentioned this in my previous entry, but if not, here’s a refresher. An Ansoc house (which stands for Anglican Society) is the same as what is called a Canterbury House for Episcopal campus ministries in the United States. The Ansoc house at UCT has a big kitchen, living room, meeting room, several bedrooms and bathrooms, and an office for the chaplain, Fr Christopher Swartz. I’ll be moving in there this summer (US winter, remember!) after the students leave.

Anyway, Friday’s meeting was great; it was a transition meeting with the outgoing officer board passing the torch to the incoming officer board. Ansoc had 40-50 members and an officer board of over half-a-dozen (it’s hard to remember exactly how many since not all of the officers could attend). In addition to learning more about how Ansoc at UCT works, I found this meeting especially energizing because I got to really talk with the students there. I love meeting people as much as I have since I’ve been here, but I’m terrible with names when I just mean someone for two minutes in passing. It was great to get the chance to start to know these students more and to really talk to them – rather than just meet them in passing, learn what their role in ASF is, and be told how I’ll be seeing them around. One of the greatest things I’ve gained getting to know people in the context of the church is getting to know people in a real, authentic, way – to hear people’s stories. It made for an excellent afternoon!

My only drama on Friday was getting TO Ansoc house on the train (if you haven’t checked out Amanda’s blog on Cape Town transit, then you should, because she nails it). It’s literally a four minute train ride to Rondebosch, where UCT is; you would think that makes it simple. You would also think the fact that I’ll spend over an hour on two NJ Transit trains and three NYC Subway trains to go visit my cousin without blinking an eye or feeling the least bit tense would also cause me to be stress free about using Cape Town Metrorail. Yeah… but no. My friend Mary, the fabulous UD Wesley chaplain, told me that as a white woman, I should never ride third class on the train – especially alone – so I was very wary when my new friend Maro told me it was safe… under certain conditions. I should ride the train only during peak hours (7-9am, 2-6/7am – when the crowds are), in a full-ish car, and only on weekdays (although weekend mornings are ok – because that’s time when there are people). Naturally, this made me nervous at first, but I’m getting used to my rush hour travel. It’s no longer as unnerving as it was last week when I first tried it alone. I just have to be smart about it. I must confess, the whole experience has made me much more appreciative of the luxuries of NJ transit: clean two story cars with an abundance of seating, illuminated signs and announcements notifying passengers of which station they’re arriving at, and the fact that I’ve never once felt unsafe on a NJ transit train. The NYC subway system isn’t too shabby either :-)

Anyway, except for the time on that first day when I was trying to get off the train while a sea of twenty was trying to board (eek!), I have had no drama in transportation, and am very grateful for the ease with which I have traveled so far.

Saturday naturally brought about the excitement of turning twenty-four. My mom was the first to wish me birthday greetings at midnight Cape Town time (which was 6pm EST), and I’d like to thank my other friends and family across the globe who took the time to send me an email, card or wall post with birthday greetings. I spent my birthday weekend with Suzanne, Amanda, and Thembi, who made my first international birthday celebration one to remember. After a nice lazy morning, I went with Suzanne to a clean-up in Retreat (which is actually a town… which I did not at first realize). We spent over an hour working with at least thirty others from all walks of life, and together we picked up waste from all over the park and from the edges of the pond. Some people even walked out along a small dam to clean up waste and mud that was slowing down the flow of water there. It was so energizing to see the difference we all made, and in this park, halfway around the world from the ones I grew up with, I felt right at home. The litter problem this park faces is the same as the one at Watchung Lake, two minutes downhill from the house I grew up in.

After the park, we picked up Amanda and headed to dinner at Poncho’s, this super-yummy Mexican place near UCT. Amanda and I enjoyed a delicious Mexican feast, complete with yummy fruity drinks and a banana split for dessert (unfortunately, Suzanne wasn’t able to join us until dessert). We reflected on our first several days in Cape Town.

I am very aware of how blessed I am: wonderful friends and family, comfort, security, good health, having ten fingers and ten toes. And I am very grateful for these amazing things that I have in my life. Also, I am constantly amazed that I can look back on the last several year and all the wonderful things that have happened by the Grace of God – the person that I grew into when I opened my heart and tried to be a better listener in prayer. As Thomas Merton says in that awesome prayer he wrote, “I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.” So while I’m sure I make my fair share of mistakes, I’m trying to figure out exactly what it means to live the Gospel, which is a daunting quest I’ll probably continue for the rest of my life.. and while I may not be too close to figuring out the answer, I cannot help but look at my amazing life and the wonderful world around me and think that I must have done SOMETHING right along the way.

Anyway, the point of all these musings is that one of my big reflections since arriving here in Cape Town is that I have a stronger sense than ever of God’s guiding hand on this crazy beautiful adventure. In the States, when I thought about the blessings of the day, I thought of people and events, with an undercurrent of awareness for the blessing of being in a place… but here, the sense of the role of place in my daily life is so much stronger! In the US, that sense I had of place was sort of “I’m thankful for being in this place with these people and I’m thankful for being safe here and for the opportunities I have.” Here, I am so aware that this is a place I followed God to to meet these people and have these experiences… I’m not sure I can explain it better than that… just that I’m meant to be here in this city in this country beyond just being present in an experience. It blow my mind.

The fun continued on Sunday. After another wonderful service at the beautiful St. George’s Cathedral. Suzanne, Amanda and I took the RedBus tour of Cape Town and saw some of the city’s most beautiful sites: from museums to mountains to the lovely coast. Then, we went out for a Japanese dinner, and I got some birthday sushi! Happiness.

Then, it was Monday again. This week, I started my work at the Anglican Students’ Federation of the Province of Southern Africa (ASF) (http://www.anglicanstudentsfed.org.za), which networks all of the campus ministries (or Ansocs) for the whole province and calls them all together for an annual gathering somewhere in the province each June. I’m still getting oriented here, but I feel like this is a really amazing opportunity for me to learn a great deal about campus ministry here. I hope that my experience can be beneficial to the people I work with as well. I have no doubt that I will learn a lot, and I hope I can find some way to share it not just in this blog, but when I return to the States (even though I won’t be on campus anymore). So far, I’ve been working on writing a letter inviting the provincial chaplains to the upcoming conference and writing a strategic plan of action for the year for ASF.

I just want to again thank my family and friends and the wonderful parishes of Holy Cross, St Thomas, St Peter’s, and St John’s for supporting me in my mission. While it will be awhile before I see you all again, I carry you all in my heart on this exciting adventure. Also, thanks to everyone who takes the time to read my blog and was able to make it all the way to the end of this long entry. Peace!

Books: just starting “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett
Movies: Out of Africa, Gorillas in the Mist (talk about a unique yet important call), The Trouble with Angels (I know I mentioned this before, but it’s still the best movie ever… so Amanda, Suzanne & I watched it on my birthday), & Love Actually

PS -Check out my pictures!

PPS - FYI, to find the time in Cape Town, just add 6 hours to Eastern Standard Time

Week 1 - "This is Africa..."

“Hey, does anyone here know the Wacka Wacka dance?”

When Amanda Akes, my fellow YASCER and missionary to Cape Town for the next year, first uttered these words last Saturday night, I thought she was talking about Fozzie the Bear (I didn’t know Fozzie had a dance!?!). You know, the muppet… but I caught on fairly quick after that. She was referring to the Shakira song from the World Cup this past June. Naturally. I thought I’d heard it before, and little did I know, after tonight, it would be in my head for several days… but back to Amanda’s initial question – and the fact that we did indeed find someone to say “Yes” to it, leading us to learn (or more like attempt to learn) the Wacka Wacka dance by the light of the braii (which is a South Africa barbeque dontchaknow) forty-eight hours after landing in Cape Town.

After being here for a week, I’m finally getting used to the fact that I am, in fact, here in Cape Town. God called me to mission (and I definitely asked “Are you sure?” enough times to know that the answer was, in fact, “yes”). I answered, and now I am here. It took over twenty hours and two airplanes, but I made it to a new country on a new continent in a new hemisphere, where I am embarking on this new adventure.

Cape Town is the only city with two YASCers (Young Adult Service Corps missionaries) in it; Amanda (whose fabulous blog is linked to over on the right) and I arrived together last Thursday night, meeting up in Amsterdam before flying to Cape Town. After we staggered out of security with confused internal clocks, the first think I remember seeing upon scanning the crowd was Emily Beel leaping towards us and waving her arms in the air in what may be the most exuberant airport greeting I’ve ever received (and those of you who have known me for awhile know that I have indeed had plenty). Emily introduced Amanda and me to some of our new friends at Hope Africa, Donna, Jenny, and Maropeng, before we split all split into separate cars and received rides to our respective destinations, expecting to reunite in the office on Monday.

Currently, I am staying with Suzanne, an Episcopal priest and fellow American missionary who has lived in South Africa for over a decade (plus another stint a few years before that), and her dog, a wonderful yellow lab named Thembi, which is short for Thembisa (sp?), which means “hope” in Xhosa. Suzanne has been a wonderful hostess and is incredibly helpful in helping me adjust to life in this new culture. After I spent my first day settling in and getting over the jet lag (it took awhile to shake that feeling that “I stayed at the Hotel Muntenia last night”), Suzanne graciously showed me around over the weekend. I am now in possession of my very own South African cell phone! Also, on my first grocery-shopping expedition, I discovered that Hannah Montana’s is far more extensive than I had ever realized; she can be found on school supplies here.

On Saturday night, Emily Beel, another YASCer here who is finishing as Amanda and I start, hosted a braii, which was bursting with good food and even better company. So many new faces to meet and break bread with! Bread like… braii bread, which is like grilled cheese, but with tomato and onion, too, and of course, cooked on the braii with (or after?) the meat. I highly highly recommend it. Anyway, it was here Amanda and I laughed and danced and tried to keep up with our Wacka-wise instructor. I wish I could show you pictures! As we danced, I felt myself let go of another chunk of my travel tension; dancing and laughing with friends (even ones that you’re just meeting) is some of the best kind of joy that’s out there. I felt a resurgence of joy for what my next year is likely to hold.

On Sunday, I attended my first church service here at St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, right next to Parliament. It was one hour and forty-five minutes of awesomeness – in three languages, with a choir from a local private Anglican all girls school. The three language thing especially fascinated me; the three being English, Afrikaans, and isXhosa. I’m not sure I’ve ever been in a service that ever so fully utilized more than one at almost every single point in the service! It was inspiring; I hope to worship there often and make a point of looking for more multi-language services, when I return to the US.

Another highlight of Sunday was joining Suzanne as she took Thembi to a park near Bishop’s Court, the home and offices of Archbishop Thabo. The park was beautiful and natural, colorful flowers grew wild and calla lilies were everywhere. It was fun to watch Thembi frolic across the grass and play in the stream. Do you know calla lilies grow wild here? Yeah. How awesome is that!?!? Calla lilies are one of my favorite flowers; my Grandmother Ann carried them in her wedding bouquet.

On Monday, I started at the Hope Africa, which is a really awesome place where I don’t think I’ll actually be working. Allow me to explain. Hope Africa is an amazing amazing organization which works in partnership with other aid organizations (including Episcopal Relief and Development) as well as parishes and dioceses across the Province of Southern Africa, which includes the countries of South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Lesotho, & Angola. Hope Africa carefully learns about each dioceses before offering help, and the programs and aid they offer aren’t about giving handouts. Hope Africa’s aid and programming is focused more on providing tools and support to communities and building partnerships for a sustainable future. It’s a wonderful office to be in while I figure out what my job will be! There’s a wonderful sense of community here; I look forward to hearing about Amanda’s experiences here!

Slowly but surely, my placement is coming together. Right now, it looks like I will spending three days a week at the ASF office and the other two at ANSOC (Anglican Society, equivalent of ECM or Canterbury in the US) at UCT. The Anglican Student Federation (ASF) is the provincial student group; it’s not provincial in the way that we have eight provinces in the US. Provincial in the global Anglican Communion is regions of one or more countries rather than several states; The Episcopal Church (the US) is its own province in the global communion. Every June they have a student gathering/event (much like the US’s Gather from what I hear) and next year it will be in the northeast part of South Africa. On Monday, I meet with Odwa, sort of the “Douglas Fenton” or young adult/ASF coordinator, for the Province of Southern Africa. Then, I’ll learn more about what my work with ASF will look like. Earlier today, I met with Father Christopher Swartz, the chaplain at the University of Cape Town, and we discussed what my work there might look like as a resource for their campus ministry and for the students. Some things that I might do include leading a Bible study, discussing ecumenical ministry on campus, and perhaps even doing a survey of young adult ministry in local parishes, similar to what my friend Jesse and I did as interns for the Diocese of New Jersey two years ago. It was a very energizing discussion, and I will continue to post as my ministry continues to take shape.

Well, this is running a little longer than I had initially planned, but it has been an exciting week! I can’t believe I’ve already been here for 7 days! 1/52nd of my trip is now officially complete, and it’s September, which means a very special holiday on Saturday and, if this September follows suit for the last several, something really big and life changing and (usually, hopefully) awesome. We shall see!

Until then, thanks for reading and for supporting my ministry here. Peace!

Songs: “This is Africa” by Shakira & “Love Like Crazy” by Lee Brice
Books: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (the third in the Hunger Games series, an awesome awesome airplane read that was released the day before I left the states)
Movie/TV show: Smallville (I watch it to relax before bed some nights as part of my introvert time. I love following the journey of young Clark Kent as he learns of his origins, develops his powers, and discerns his call – and following the journey of his best friend Lex Luthor as his journey leads him towards darkness. Personal development and science fiction – sounds corny but it makes me happy)

"Crooked little smile on her face, she tells a tale of grace that's all her own..." (aka The Fundraising Sermon)

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Think of how many times you’ve been asked this question… or there’s that other gem, “What do you do?” Career plans are some of the more important plans we make over the course of our lives and a common topic of conversation both among people just starting to get to know each other and friends who you’ve known for decades. They’re important, but don’t’ necessarily require a person to dig too deep… like they would if the conversation took a turn towards talking about vocation. “Where is God calling you?” is a question that just sounds heavier from the start and is a whole lot more meaningful in the long run.

Over the course of the five years I spent at the University Delaware, my career plans and ideas of my vocation have been flipped upside down more than once. God’s call is full of surprises; if you want to hear Him laugh, tell Him your plans. Answering that call to start the ordination process in our diocese was one of the most exciting decisions I have ever made… even if it wasn’t at all part of my original plan. It was a decision preceded by a lot of prayer and asking the questions “Who me? Really? Are You sure that You want me to do that?” But even if He is working in mysterious ways all along, God makes His call clear, even if it takes time for us hear it, which it did for me, especially with the call I’m now answering to spend a year abroad as an Episcopal missionary.

It all started three years ago, and I didn’t even realize that anything was starting at the time. I had the honor of being selected for a two-year term on the national Episcopal Student Leadership Team. At our first team meeting, we had dinner with another group of young adults a few years older than we were who called themselves YASCers, who were training for a year abroad in a program coordinated by the national church office called the Young Adult Service Corps. Each one of them was about to spend an entire year abroad in a new place somewhere in the Anglican Communion away from everyone and everything they had ever known. It sounded kinda awesome, but mostly terrifying. I remember thinking to myself, “I would never do that! Leave everyone I love for a year!” Still, I admired them for what they were about to do, and I enjoyed hearing more about the Young Adult Service Corps as I continued to be involved with the national church.

Now, flash forward to almost two ago. In November 2008, I started thinking about this program again, and, much to my own surprise, I started thinking about it as something that I might do – that I might just feel called to do. The Young Adult Service Corps accepts applications every January, and since, at that time, I still had plenty of time until graduation, I was in no rush to apply. Still, I seized the opportunity to talk to past participants and 2009 applicants and the directors of the program, and I resolved to keep the idea in mind for the January 2010 application date… and for a full year, that’s exactly what I did. Through work and classes and discernment and campus ministry, I quietly kept this very intriguing possibility in the back of my mind - all the while excited at the chance for adventure, but still wary of the idea of being so far away from everyone for so long.

Last fall, with the application date getting closer and closer, I looked for ways around this call that just couldn’t be… For awhile, I thought I might just go right on from college to seminary, and then, unexpectedly, I gave my heart away to someone wonderful in a way that I had never done before. With all this happening, why would I want to leave when I was so sure I had everything I wanted? But then my discernment timeline changed, giving me an extra year, and it turned out that the timing just wasn’t right for this wonderful guy to keep holding onto my heart… but after all the dust settled and the last of the leaves had fallen from the trees, I could see that my heart was still holding onto to something else.

So, after a few advent Taizé services at Newark United Methodist Church and a whole lot of prayer, I decided that, at the very least, I was called to be part of the Young Adult Service Corps application and interview process, but by the time that my paper application was complete, I already realized that I was called to more than just a follow-up interview.

… Which brings me here before you today, telling you about my journey so far, and how I got to be here. On Wednesday night, I get on a plane for Cape Town, South Africa, where I will be working for a relief organization run by the Anglican Church in South Africa called HOPE Africa and the Anglican Student Federation of the Province of Southern Africa (probably with some special attention devoted to the campus ministry at the University of Cape Town). This is where my call to mission work is directing me. This is where I will be serving as a missionary of the Episcopal Church in the USA – specifically, as a missionary of the Diocese of New Jersey. I grew up attending the Church of the Holy Cross in North Plainfield, NJ, where every Easter I looked for an “Allelulia” egg, where I ran up and down the aisles with my friends on the day of our first communion – all of us wearing white dresses and red American Girl capes, where I learned what confirmation was all about, where where I feel safe, where where I can talk about God, where I learned how to be the best me out there, and where my journey began. Before that journey led me to South Africa, it brought me to St Thomas Church in Newark, Delaware, home of the Episcopal Campus Ministry at the University of Delaware; my time as a member of the St. Thomas family shaped my journey with all that changed and grew in my life while I was there and enjoying the many blessings offered by the community of the St. Thomas parish and campus ministry.

The Young Adult Service Corps missionary program is all about community, but it goes beyond the diocesan boundaries and focuses on building relationships in the Anglican Communion around the world. There’s nothing I do that I ever really do alone. As a YASCer, the Mission Personal Office of the national church sponsors me with $10,000, but, like every YASCer before me has successfully done, I as well will need to fundraise $10,000 to support this mission by asking the dioceses that I have the pleasure of calling home. So, here, I ask humbly for your support by both prayer and money; please take one of my envelopes and join me in my journey as a missionary. Also, follow me on my mission blog. The funds I am trying to raise will pay for my living expenses, travel, training, housing, and health insurance, and I am grateful for every bit of support. After all, that $10,000 breaks down to $30 a day or $200 a week, and looking back on our own lives we know that even one day can make a difference.

Sometimes, when I think about what the next year holds, anxiety overtakes my excitement, but each time, I know to pause, take a deep breath and pray it through… because every time, I come to the same conclusion. There is not a doubt in my heart that this is the right thing for me to be doing. This is where I hear God calling me right now. Even if I don’t know what exactly it will bring, and that what is does bring won’t always be easy.

I’d like to leave you with some wisdom from theologian Frederick Buechner whose words have become my mantra. He wrote “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet,” These words summarize how I feel about my call to mission and my continuing discernment beyond just career plans, but to a deeper sense of my vocation.

“It started out as a feeling, which then grew into a hope, which then turned into a quiet thought, which then turned into a quiet word, & then, that word grew louder and louder…”

When I was a little girl, I had this little vision of what my life would be where I would live in the town that I grew up in forever. My little girl world was too small for anything but simplicity, even in my little girl relationship with God. There wasn’t even enough room for any of those mysterious ways you always hear about.

When I was less little and turning nineteen, moving to 119 miles away to Newark, Delaware seemed like the worst idea I’d ever had, but sometime while I wasn’t looking, my life got big enough for there to be room for you-know-who’s mysterious ways, which I would eventually realize were very much at work in my life turning this quiet girl into a young woman who is in love with her life in Delaware and who knows how to use her voice – and what she wants to use it for. It was about this time that the adventures started.

In the just-over two-and-a-half years since my twenty-first birthday, I have (in no particular order):

-Answered the call to start the ordination process in my home diocese, the Diocese of New Jerse

-Met more incredibly amazing people than I can count (Their handprints cover my heart, always with me)

-Helped plan the Gather S.e.e. the Light: The 2008 Gathering of Episcopal College Students

-Called three different states home... simultaneously.

-Spent a week insulating apartments in Oarja, Romania with Team Nutella and Habitat for Humanity Global Village

-Chaired a wonderful-but-dysfunctional (and surprisingly now non-existent) national ecumenical student group

-Had my life fall apart… and then back together again (Happens to the best of us, right?)

-Learned time and time again that I could not have picked a better major than English Education

-Survived student teaching 173 fabulous high school seniors at Christiana High School

-Had an amazing summer internship (with some really remarkable people) helping to launch young adult ministry in the Diocese of New Jersey

-Fallen in love

-Served as president of an amazing campus ministry and a fabulous regional campus ministry leadership team

-Had another incredible summer internship learning about parish ministry at St. Peters by-the-Sea in one of my favorite places in the world – Gulfport, Mississippi.

-Answered the call to serve as a missionary for the Episcopal Church

It’s that last one that brings me here writing to you. In November 2008 (during the time I mentioned in the list above when my life was less than together), I watched the movie Across the Universe and started thinking about this program I’d heard of called the Young Adult Service Corps (YASC), a mission program run by the Episcopal Church. It seemed kinda crazy, and since I was under more stress than usual and still had another year left in college, I put the idea on the back burner (but while at Gather 2008 over New Year’s, I seized the opportunity to learn as much about YASC as possible from people who had done it and people who ran it). Then, I walked around for a year distracted by other adventure, but always wondering about this remarkable idea – this call - always in the back of my head. Once, someone almost succeeded in giving me a beautiful reason compelling enough not to leave for a year… but in case you haven’t heard, God is the master of not being out done. Life is full of unexpected turns.

In the months before the 2010 application deadline for the Young Adult Service Corps, the tide came in, and the waves on the shore got bigger and bigger, calling me to submerge myself in this next great adventure. After some serious prayer, a barrage of promotional emails from church mailing lists my leadership positions got me on, and more than one of Newark United Methodist’s incredible Wednesday Taizé services (I seriously recommend these to all of you), I answered the call to fill out the application, and by the time I got to the discernment weekend last February (where I met the group of rock star aspiring missionaries pictured below), I knew where God was calling me and where I wanted to be and they seemed to be pointing the same spiritual direction.

Since the discernment weekend, I have the honor and the privilege of saying that I am going to be an Episcopal missionary to South Africa, where I look forward to working for a relief organization called HOPE Africa run by the Anglican Church in the province of Southern Africa (http://www.hopeafrica.org.za/). I’m still anxiously awaiting more information than that, but I’m excited for what I know so far about how I will be serving God over the next year of my life. In the many beautiful places I call home here in the United States, I’ve gotten to see some remarkable people working to live the Gospel in some really extraordinary ways, and now I’m excited to have the opportunity to see people doing this in a community another part of the Anglican Communion. The blessings of some amazing communities have gotten me here. Words cannot express my gratitude to the Church of the Holy Cross in the Diocese of New Jersey (my home diocese); Saint Thomas Parish in the Diocese of Delaware, which has been my home during my college years; and the other places listed on the right in my “I wouldn’t have gotten where I am without…” list – and the journey’s still going. In order to be a proud representative of these communities as I travel to a new one, I need to raise $10,000 (to add to the support that the national church is already giving me) to cover supplies for my work and my living expenses. I know this sounds challenging, but it breaks down to about $30 a day or $210 a week. Every little bit counts, and I truly deeply appreciate any support that you are able to give. (Just click on the link below to download my fundraising letter and mail to the address listed on the bottom of it) Also, I ask for your love and support through prayer as I set out on this journey.

Download my fundraising letter here!

Some amazing people and a whole lot of love have gotten me this far, and I’ll be carrying you all with me in my heart while I go off on this adventure. I heard this corny line in a movie trailer once, “Sometimes you have to be apart from the people you love, but that doesn't make you love them any less. Sometimes it makes you love them more.” My somewhat nomadic college lifestyle has proved to me how very true this statement is!

Thank you all! Feel free to contact me for more information!

Ann Email

You know how lots of online retailers have those “If you liked this, try...” sections at the bottom of product pages? Well, I’m going to have one for each blog entry where I share with you whatever’s inspiring me at any given moment or simply matches the vibes of my current entry.

If you liked this , try...

Songs: “Red Dirt Road” by Brooks and Dunn, “The Call” by Regina Spektor, & “Dream” by Priscilla Ahn

Book: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Movie: Across the Universe