Three years ago, a few months before graduating college, I first attended the Placement Event for the PC(USA) Young Adult Volunteer (aka YAV) placement event. I went hoping to serve in Kenya. I left very excited to serve in Northern Ireland. I spent a wonderful, enlightening and very formative year serving in Northern Ireland, that can be read about in the archives of this blog. The experience pushed me to grow as a Christian and as a person, and confirmed my sense of call to continue to serve God through the Church.
I returned to the US exhausted, stunned by the heat and humidity of a Virginia summer. I rested for a few weeks, and started seminary. Through all of this, I continued to feel called to East Africa. I began poking around, looking to see if I could go to East Africa as part of an internship. I discovered that yes, in fact, I could--and the Supervised Ministry staff here has been and continues to be wonderfully helpful and supportive. I explored a few options toward actually getting myself to Kenya, and eventually realized that the YAV program would be the best option.
Thus, last week, I again attended the Placement Event, triggering a great deal of déjà vu, and a flood of mixed emotions as I began to really think about what it would mean for this dream to become real, and entertained serious doubts about whether or not it would happen. It did. I was placed in the Kenya site, and will be departing in August. All that remains between me and going is a pile of paperwork, sorting out a few final details about the internship side of it, and time.
I am incredibly excited about going. In many ways, being placed there marks the culmination of 3 years of work and dreams. In many more ways, it marks a new beginning, a new chapter in my story. And, of course, launches me into a period of transition. Transition from being a YAV alum back to being a YAV; from classroom based education to field education; from dreaming to living; and from being just a few hours drive from most of those I love to being across an ocean and a continent.
All transitions carry with them both the pain of loss and the joy of opportunity. This is no different. Over the next few months I will be filled with joy, overflowing with sadness, and overcome with awe at the majesty of God, who has carried me so far, and will carry me still further. I will try to share much of that here, but some I will have to keep back, some I will forget to put up, and some I will be too busy to find the time for. I welcome you all to share the journey with me, and invite you to use the comment section to more fully participate.
Grace and Peace to you all.
I returned to the US exhausted, stunned by the heat and humidity of a Virginia summer. I rested for a few weeks, and started seminary. Through all of this, I continued to feel called to East Africa. I began poking around, looking to see if I could go to East Africa as part of an internship. I discovered that yes, in fact, I could--and the Supervised Ministry staff here has been and continues to be wonderfully helpful and supportive. I explored a few options toward actually getting myself to Kenya, and eventually realized that the YAV program would be the best option.
Thus, last week, I again attended the Placement Event, triggering a great deal of déjà vu, and a flood of mixed emotions as I began to really think about what it would mean for this dream to become real, and entertained serious doubts about whether or not it would happen. It did. I was placed in the Kenya site, and will be departing in August. All that remains between me and going is a pile of paperwork, sorting out a few final details about the internship side of it, and time.
I am incredibly excited about going. In many ways, being placed there marks the culmination of 3 years of work and dreams. In many more ways, it marks a new beginning, a new chapter in my story. And, of course, launches me into a period of transition. Transition from being a YAV alum back to being a YAV; from classroom based education to field education; from dreaming to living; and from being just a few hours drive from most of those I love to being across an ocean and a continent.
All transitions carry with them both the pain of loss and the joy of opportunity. This is no different. Over the next few months I will be filled with joy, overflowing with sadness, and overcome with awe at the majesty of God, who has carried me so far, and will carry me still further. I will try to share much of that here, but some I will have to keep back, some I will forget to put up, and some I will be too busy to find the time for. I welcome you all to share the journey with me, and invite you to use the comment section to more fully participate.
Grace and Peace to you all.
