Wednesday, September 27, 2017

A Prayer for Them and for Us

This was a prayer that I prayed and wrote on one of the flights back to the US, probably from Frankfurt into DFW.  It still holds true for me this morning as I contemplate the good people and our experiences back in Swaziland.  And in terms of what this blog is all about, I wonder about and pray for their abilities to bring shalom, justice, and goodness into the lives of those with whom they converse.

Please join me today in praying for them as well.

Dear Lord:

We are soon to touch down in Texas. Not long after that we will pull into our own drive way, unpack, see family, and sleep in our own bed.
 
We will re-establish our long held rituals, eat our own food, and rejoin our church. Slowly we will probably adapt to our own time zone after a few nights of less than normal rest. 

Lord, you know me. You know me well. You were there before, during, and after my birth. That was a long time ago. You know that I will re-acclimate with baseball, football  internet, unlimited wifi, and Buddy the Boxer. 

And we both know and understand how the rituals and routines in Swaziland were so different. The flat, foods, accents, worship styles, greetings and other acts of respect, and so many other things compelled our focus and drew upon our energies. We have been in those places before with other people groups, but still, you know of the changes though temporary that we experienced. 

My life will go back to normal. 

Charla's will go to normal. 
 
Or will they?
 
Can we really return to normal. 

Can we go about our daily walks unchanged by Swaziland and African Christian College and its students?
 
You know, Jesus of Nazareth, what it was like to enter the spaces and places of humanity. Charla and I now know something of entering the spaces and places of people from across Southern Africa and even from across parts of the US.
 
I am uncertain as to how those three weeks will change Charla and me. You know her well, and she'll be shifting through it as well. 
 
I will be formed in different ways by those people and our encounters. As I said in chapel on Friday as we wrapped up the two week class schedule, I was born to be a teacher and a healer and I felt reborn to do the same. I am clueless as to what those words meant, but they came out anyway. 
 
How to begin to process it all? Where to begin? How to begin? 
 
The very idea that the students recognized the inadequacy of their medical systems, the woeful state of behavioral healthcare, and the never before thought of possibilities of creating structures for the integration of those two is staggering. 
 
They know that beyond the unique cultures of their six countries, their homelands and their people have things in common. People live in extended families, people get sick and recover or do not, and medical conditions enslave the diseased and those who love them. 
 
I will remember those ten students. I will remember Charla partnering with me in teaching those students, and her even demonstrating those practices with us. 
 
I will remember wrestling with understanding each other. I will remember the unique greetings, the warmth of the students and others, praying in chapel, sharing meals and conversations with them, chatting about important matters in our flat over coffee and cookies, and watching and listening as they grappled with complicated ideas of the theory and practice of medical family therapy. 
 
They love you, Lord, they worship you expressively, and they love their homelands and their people. They will not return to make a lot of money, though some may. They will return to their people to share the love of Jesus with them by doing this important work of offering hope in Your name. 
 
So, Holy One of Israel, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God of Admire, Ncobile, Veronica, Clide, Charity, Prudence, Tendekai, Judith, Julia, and Tadala, annoint them with your power and Holy Spirit. Give them eyes to see and ears to hear and wisdom for doing your holy work. 

Finally, Father, may the seeds we sowed within them spring up in works of service far beyond anything that we could ever dream. 

Through the sweet name of the risen Lord, 
 
Amen 

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