There and Back Again

It’s been nearly a month since I arrived back from a week of teaching at the Angaza Torchbearers School near Embu, Kenya.  The retreat center that hosts the month-long school is a two-hour drive north from Nairobi. It was a delight to be at the school, and travel internationally for ministry–which I’ve done a fair amount of, but not for 20 years. I used the Apostles’ Creed as a jumping off point to teach 10 sessions of scripture and theology. I’m still processing the whole experience, but a few threads are emerging.

The most encouraging piece was the chance to be with students–60 college age-ish young adults, half from Kenya and half scattered around the world (U.S., Canada, Albania, Germany, Uganda, South Africa). In these days when surveys consistently blare reports of declining American church life and younger generations uninterested in faith...to be with 60 diverse students from around the globe who are deeply committed followers of Jesus was a great blessing. Many were facing decisions or starting the next chapter of their lives, and they were approaching it not by asking, “What do I want to do?” but rather, “God, what do you have next  for me?” It was very refreshing. I hope I am looking ahead with the same desire to discern God’s will.

My week at Angaza included two visits with student ministry teams to local schools in the Embu area, one for students with severe physical disabilities and one for kids with serious mental challenges. Both schools had kids in heart-breaking situations with so much to overcome, and both woefully lacked even minimal resources. And yet...the kids themselves, despite everything, were full of joy and eager to greet and be noticed. I was moved several times to observe how they cared for one another. Though every person had major challenges, they watched out for one another, stopping to help those who were less mobile or needed more time. It was beautiful.

Reminders were everywhere that a “third world” locale is utterly different than what I experience in everyday life. The city of Embu, about 15 minutes away from the retreat center, was full of noisy dirt bikes, simple markets, children, people walking everywhere, agricultural products, garbage and dirt. In the rural area, the basic strategy people seemed to follow was simple survival, and my previous experience in the huge slums of Nairobi remind me that urban challenges are at least as daunting. Things that animate us in the States don’t even fall in the top 100 of problems needing attention.  The challenges created by a lack of clean water, food and sanitation, the absence of almost any health care and a dearth of automation to help with construction or agriculture consume many people’s entire lives.  I couldn’t help but think of the stances that the U.S. is currently taking to isolate from the world, the abrupt funding cuts for life-saving assistance, and the repeated call to take care of ourselves first. My heart broke as I was reminded that such actions affect not just statistics, but real people–with names, families and histories.

You can tell from my musings above that I’m spending a lot of time thinking about...people.  People who bless, people with challenges, people in critical need. I don’t want to lose that awareness. What will keep our hearts soft towards people in these strange days of conflicts and walls, drone bombings and civilian deaths, disinformation and lack of compassion?

I know that in order to lead people in such challenging times, I need to turn myself and all I hold over to the Lord, again and again. Toward that end, I noticed a prayer from St. Ignatius of Loyola’s (1491-1563) Spiritual Exercises on my bulletin board today. It’s often called the Suscipe Prayer, Latin for the key word in it: receive:

“Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,

my memory, my understanding,

and my entire will,

All I have and call my own.

You have given all to me.

To you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours; do with it what you will.

Give me only your love and your grace,

that is enough for me.”

I’m thinking this would be a good thing to pray today. And tomorrow. And on from there.

Peace of Christ,

Dan Baumgartner

Dan Baumgartner is the senior pastor at The Cove in Santa Rosa CA and formerly served as Secretary on The Fellowship Community Board.