Reflections from the Scenic Route

If I'm being honest with myself, this journey started years ago for me. I've never been one to take the reasonable route, I tend to take the long way around and this trip is no different. I was not living in Indiana when the partnership was forged, but I sure knew about it. In 2012 I took my annual pilgrimage to northern Indiana to counsel camp and heard the remarkable stories of one of the 2012 pilgrims. I was awed, I was inspired, I wanted to go. He recommended I apply for the next trip and I vowed that I would (I'm looking at you, VJ Stover!) Yet as time passed and the due date for applications for the 2014 trip loomed, I started talking myself out of it. In the spring of 2013 I was focused on graduating from Vanderbilt Divinity School with my M.Div., I was spending my time trying to figure out where this M.Div. would take me once I had it in my hands, and I was dreaming about my ordination. How quickly I had forgotten the remarkable stories from the 2012 pilgrimage, how quickly I had brushed off my dream of traveling to Mbandaka to visit my brothers and sisters in Christ in Congo. Next time, I promised myself. Between the spring of 2013 and the spring of 2014 I moved back to Indiana, started a new job in full time ministry at Geist Christian Church, I was ordained, and I wished I had applied for the Congo pilgrimage. The Holy Spirit works in some remarkable ways. Sometimes it comes as a rush of wind, a pillar of fire or an e-mail from Sarah Riester. On March 31, 2014 (yes, I looked it up), an e-mail landed in my inbox telling me that some of the pilgrims had to drop out and would I be interested in going? I swear I stopped breathing. In less than two months I have renewed my expired passport, gotten 2 vaccinations and (the most remarkable) raised $4500+ for the trip. It has been a humbling experience to talk to people around the region about the trip and have them support me not only through prayer but monetarily. I have gotten at least one donation from someone I did not even know. Here's the thing. I have been committed to this trip for less than 60 days and that time has been full of trip preparation. But as I prepare physically, I realize that I have not had a moment to prepare mentally and spiritually. In the next 5 days I need to pack my bags, but I also need to reflect on the enormity of what has happened in 58 days. I need to process the kindness and generosity of those around me, some I have known my entire life and some I have never met. I need to spend some time in prayer for and with those I will meet in Congo and those with whom I will travel. It is fitting that we will be worshiping in Congo on Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit breathed life into the Body of Christ. It amazed the body gathered in Acts 2. It amazes us still. And I, for one, cannot wait to see the work of the Holy Spirit throughout our 13 days in Congo. God of Grace, who sends the Spirit like a rushing wind into our lives when we least expect it. Open our hearts to your work and your word. Give us a new understanding of what it means to be the Body of Christ not just in our comfort zone, but wherever we are called. Amen.