I know, it comes as a surprise to me, too!  It has all happened rather suddenly.

Mike and I see our main role here as supportive.  As I talked about in the previous post, that means stepping in where there is a gap we can fill.

In October, we sent 2 DTS teams over to central Asia for their outreach.  (There are updates on their activities on the YWAM Nanaimo website if you are interested.)  Usually when we send out a team like this, the leader of the school or another experienced staff member will visit them on the field to encourage and provide pastoral care.  Because this is the first team sent out from YWAM Nanaimo, and the first team sent from here to central Asia, and because several of the leaders are leading their first teams, this pastoral visit is particularly important.

Our base leader, Livé, who also lead the DTS, was planning to do this visit.  A couple weeks ago, they welcomed a new baby girl into their family.  There have been some stresses and complications with her health, and so it became unrealistic for him to do this.  So I am stepping in as a pinch-hitter!

I leave Wednesday morning, and will be gone for a little over a week.  I am really looking forward to seeing the teams, and this unexpected opportunity to participate in outreach around the world!

As I was writing the previous blog post, I was trying to find a link back to explain what it was we were actually doing in Pennsylvania last year, and couldn’t find one.  I guess that explains some of the conversations I have had, where I was confused when people didn’t seem to know.

I always struggle to describe most of the actual work that I do: it looks like sitting at a computer, or having coffee, or running projector slides…  It is the work of being present and helping people figure out what it is they are called to do in the world, and then how to go about that.

It rarely makes a good picture, to say the least.

Our friends in Pennsylvania are incredible people.  For years, they have had a growing vision to launch a church.  Not just another place for people to gather on Sundays, but a deep community of people who are encountering God, growing, loving each other, and taking their gifts out into the world in a whole variety of ways.

A project like this takes years of patiently laying groundwork, which our friends have been doing diligently.  They have practiced patience, perseverance, wisdom, and plain hard work.  When we arrived last August, it became evident that we were stepping in to play a short-term role in a much longer and larger process.

The launch of any project is when all of the groundwork suddenly becomes visible, and often involves problem solving in the midst of a flurry of activity.  There are a torrent of details that remain minor if dealt with well.  It is a time of setting precedents for what a community will become.

So our daily activities looked like chauffeuring, cooking, coffee-ing, praying, and setting up chairs.  On a more important level (in the midst of our own healing and restoration) we were contending for our friends’ calling, and working alongside them to see this community launched well.

Most of the time our work is quiet incremental, and doesn’t look like much – certainly not immediately.  But we were seen and appreciated by this community as we served them.  It was  an honour to be able to return to Harbor last month.  It was quickly apparent that individuals and the community have  grown since we left.  It was deeply gratifying to know that we have played a part in that, and to spend some time encouraging that growth, and planting some new seeds.  (Described by one as, “Amanda going around and telling everyone what to do,” which I think is a bit strong, but I guess the nickname “Demanda” is funny for a reason.)  Because I spent the time last year, I was able to say things, both encouraging and challenging, in ways that were more likely to be heard.  (Although I do need to be a little careful – I’ve been hanging out a lot with people 15 years younger than me, which has been making me feel much older and wiser than I actually am. 😉 )

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

-Margaret Mead

It looks like having coffee…  but I’m changing the world.

We’ve been slowly nesting in our new place.  We have been picking up furniture and needed items here and there, but we haven’t really felt settled.  I had hoped that after a couple months, we would be further along in the settling in process than we are.

But alas, this, like nearly everything else, has taken much longer than this impatient woman would like.

A few things happened that really helped the process along for me.  The first thing was going away and coming home.

In August we traveled to Winnipeg for a conference (which was so good).  We spent two weeks on the road.  It was the first time in over two years that we were able to leave from a place and come back home, instead of just going from one place to the next.  The whole trip was so much more enjoyable:  we only had enough stuff in the car for two weeks, instead of ALL our stuff, and at the end of the trip there was a known destination, where we would be able to decompress and rest without having to negotiate a new space, new people/schedules/family cultures.

Arriving back at our place after being gone for 2 weeks totally changed how at home I feel here.

The other thing might be a little less relate-able, but made me feel like I live somewhere enough to organize and plan:

Kombucha!

I had a pretty regular system for fermenting things in Rwanda.  It is a process I appreciate and enjoy.  (Although I’m not fanatic about it, I do think eating fermented foods makes Mike & I healthier.)  It doesn’t take that much work – but it took finding a starter culture, and having a couple weeks in which I knew I would be around to do the steps.  We’ve been enjoying this for a couple of months now.  It’s a concrete sign to me of a new rhythm.

I originally started this post in September, and then was swept up in actual work, without a lot of time for reflection.  It has been a full and rich season.  I hesitate to say this so publicly, but it is true, and many of you have been following our journey and so I think you deserve to know: I’m actually feeling like myself again.

I want to write more about that because it has been significant, but I hate rambling blog posts, so I’ll try to stick to the point and write more about that another time.

In October we were able to return to Pennsylvania for the 1 year anniversary of the launch of Harbor Fellowship.  Words fail me now to talk about what a sweet gift this was – but again, relevant to this post – when we flew back home, the skies were clear, and as we approached the airport and I was able to identify the different islands and towns along our approach, my heart was singing out that I was arriving home.