First leg of the journey

Last summer, when I knew I would be transitioning to a new job as director of Agora (check out www.agora-elca.org if you'd like to read up on what that's all about), I applied for a Pastoral Study Grant from the Louisville Institute (http://www.louisville-institute.org/). As we work to develop lay leaders for immigrant and multicultural congregations, I thought it would be interesting (and fun) to visit some of our global partners to see how they do it. I chose places where I knew the church was growing, largely through the efforts of energetic lay leadership, and places where our synod has connections to facilitate the arrangements.

Last November, I received an email informing me that my grant had been approved, so this morning I'm headed off on the first leg of these journeys, and by Wednesday morning I'll be in Iringa, Tanzania. I'll be visiting Salem's partner congregation in Magome, and then I'll be visiting classes and interviewing students involved in the Theological Education by Extension (TEE) program there. I come back home on June 17, resting up for 10 days before heading off on the second trip, to Guatemala and Nicaragua.

I'm grateful to many folks for helping to make this happen; first of all my wife, Lynn, who has had to re-arrange a number of things to make this work (and she and Sarah will also be traveling to Guatemala with me); to Peter Harrits, our Bega Kwa Bega coordinator in the synod office; to the Agora board for their support and encouragement in this process; and to our amazing global partners who have helped and will help make these connections happen.

Lynn asked me this morning for an itinerary of my trip, and she may have been underwhelmed by the sketchy outline that I gave her. I know my flight times, and I know where I'll be sleeping most nights, but other than that, I'm not exactly sure how things will go. I am trusting that the emails sent asking for help in making these visits and interviews happen have been received and that folks will be ready to welcome me and work with me when I arrive. In my planning conversations with Peter Harrits, we agreed that it's healthy to balance my "Anglo agenda anxiety" with a good dose of "hakuna matata" (no worries). I have a general sense of what I hope to do there, and I trust that God will work through me and our partners there to create the space for some wonderful conversations and experiences. My prayer is that God will help me remain open to whatever happens, and that I will indeed have a "safari njema" (good trip)!