Last week I was in Sydney for a week off. It was good to take some time out to be able to just sit and do nothing. In the few days that I have been back I have taken on far too much of the stress I thought I was going to avoid and am looking at a week’s worth of tasks and e-mails that were waiting for me.
In 15 days the Radical Journey team, who will be working here for ten months, will fly into Sydney. I am so excited to have them arriving and yet also staring at everything that needs to be done before they get here and wondering what kind of superwoman I need to become.
I have been driving a cute little red Festiva that is owned by a family from church since I move to Australia a year ago. I knew I needed to get my own car but was slow in getting around to it. I know so little about cars that I dreaded having to look at cars and talk to dealers. Then near the beginning of July I got an e-mail that one of the families in the church was moving overseas and wanted to sell their car. I jumped at the chance, and two weeks later became the owner of a silver blue Toyota Camry. The car is big enough to be able to fit 4 passengers easily, which means that I will be able to transport all of the Irene’s Place interns at once. It is reliable enough that I can drive to Sydney or Melbourne in it if I need to without worrying if it will make the trip. I feel like this is a huge answer to prayer and have also felt the support of my church community in getting it through inspection and registration.
For part of July I travelled to Paraguay for Mennonite World Conference with over six thousand Mennonites from all over the world. It was amazing and pushed me to think to say the least. The singing, worship and diversity of people amazed me and I was drawn into the beauty. I attended the Global Youth Summit the weekend before the main conference and found it both challenging and the highlight of my trip. Let me tell you a few stories.
The first night of the main conference I was approached and asked if I would be willing to sign for a young man named Chris, who was deaf. The conference had been looking for someone to interpret and had not been able to get anyone. I have not signed much in years so I quickly turned them down. I sat through that evening service interpreting in my head and feeling guilty for saying no. The next morning I told the organizers if they couldn’t find someone else I would do my best and I ended up signing for most of the main sessions. This was challenging and exhilarating at the same time. I made lots of mistakes and learned so much. It made me dream about signing again and wonder how sign might fit into my future.
On the Sunday of Youth Summit we were all sent to churches to join their community for worship. I boarded a local bus with 6 other participants and rode about an hour and a half out of the city to a little community church. They greeted us warmly and welcomed us into worship and fed us generously. After lunch a group of young adults from the church led us through the town and up onto a little mountain where we could see the surrounding area. Along the way I befriended Anna. Anna is the pastor’s daughter and spoke English. She told me stories of how her younger brother was killed in a supermarket fire five years before and the struggle of their community to live through that grief. I heard how her family lived in the city during the week and came to this town on weekends to serve the church. She explained her dreams of study and work. I was sorry to have to say goodbye and glad that I saw her a few times over the main conference.
We were told that we were going to stay in dorms, which turned out to be classrooms cleared of desks with mattresses placed on the floor for us. Yet our little "classroom 6" ended up being a highlight of my experience. Riding the bus back and forth to the conference and hanging out every night with these women; we discussed what we were experiencing. We debated the life of the church and what we saw as young adults place in it. I was invited into conversations where woman spoke of their cultures and what it means for them to be a woman; working, studying, being in relationships and trying to lead. We were drawn into a level of intimacy with each other because we were all out of our comfort zones and yet in this place because of our shared faith.
Chris Marshall, one of the keynote speakers, spoke about unity in Christ. He used the passage which say “there is one faith, one hope and one baptism, one God and Father of all. There is one church, one body and life in the spirit given freely to all”. Chris’s words rang loud and clear and hit home for many there. It is easier to see our differences and the edges of separation in the international church than it is to name how we are one in Christ. His study along with many other teachings and actions over the week called us beyond divisions over worship style and theology to a place of unity in Christ that include all cultures.
Overall the conference was soul food for me. I spend my time revelling in seeing friends, singing with full voice, thinking long and hard, playing with people who don’t share a language with me, getting hugs, having my views and lifestyle challenged and forming new relationship. It was a rich time and has given me much to think about and also to sustain me for the work ahead.
The weekend after I returned from Mennonite World Conference I was delighted to welcome my friends the Grabers to Canberra. They were travelling for a few weeks in Australia and came to my lovely city for a few days. The Grabers are part of my church in Indiana and also serve on my support team there. I loved showing them around and introducing them to my church and some of my favourite places. I have not had visitors here from the USA for a long time and it was so good to catch up on news. Here is a picture of my wonderful Mennonite friends out front of the War Memorial. =)
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