Packed and shrink-wrapped

Bags: 2010

Has it really been a year since I first went to DR Congo? There is truth to the worn adage, "Time flies." Yes, the bags are packed, shrink-wrapped,
and in the care of Delta Airlines. Plans and agendas not so much.

Africa confirms what Al-Anon has taught me: I waste my energies and daily joys by being anxious about plans and expectations. My African friends and mentors remind me that my responsibility is to...
be open to the Holy Spirit and enter into the flow of activity and opportunity--"to learn what God is already doing, and then to be invited into what God is doing" (Bishop Zac Niringiye of Kampala, as quoted by Paul Robinson).


Since being involved with Congo Initiative, I've also begun to learn that to engage in ministry or mission is to engage in a partnership. My experience is that the western church is inclined to think in terms of "sending" people (e.g., "missionaries") to "serve the Lord" and "serve others." Congo Initiative is teaching me that mission is collaboration and partnership. My Congolese sisters and brothers have experience, knowledge, and wisdom from which I need to learn. My experience last year certainly opened my eyes to that.

So in answer to the question, "Are you excited to go?" my answer is, "I am excited to sit with my Congolese friends and the students at UCBC--excited to learn what they have to teach me."

So while my bags are packed and shrink-wrapped, I go to DR Congo with a humble heart and, I hope, an open mind.

Thanks be to God.