After 44 hours, 5 airports, and 4 flights, I arrived! As of Monday, the 21st I am in Port Elizabeth (PE), South Africa and have received the warmest welcome by the staff and parishioners of Newton Park Methodist Church. In fact hospitality seems to be the theme of my trip thus far, perhaps God is trying to elucidate something about the spiritual discipline for me.
I had an eight hour layover in London. I had never been to Europe even, so I knew I must take advantage of this opportunity. I have always wanted to visit London, yet when the opportunity arose I was overwhelmed. There are so many must-sees and dos, what could I really do in my few hours? Posing the question only a local could solve, a friend put me in contact with one of her friends who lives in London. I thought he might tell me where to go and what was reasonable to do in my timeframe, I never expected the reception I received. My new friend, Lyall, could not have provided a better day. He wanted to make sure I got a true taste of London. When I travel I seek a local’s experience, rather than that of a tourist. My day in Greater London consisted of visiting Hampton Court Palace where Henry VIII lived, touring Surrey (with commentary, so I got to soak in what living there would really be like), and lunch in a classic English Pub of their signature dish–Yorkshire Pudding. Hampton Court Palace was beautiful and so pertinent to my discipline. We toured the gardens, the palace, and of course we had to take on the maze. Our accomplishment is pictured below, and I am proud to say we beat our 10 year old fellow visitors in the race to the center.
The day in London was a great break in my long commute, and Lyall’s hospitable spirit was just what I needed to be readied for the reception that awaited me in South Africa. Rowan, my supervisor and Senior Pastor of the Church in which I am interning (Newton Park Methodist), and Lisa, the Youth Pastor, were waiting for me at the PE airport when I arrived. I was greeted with hugs and excitement, and was taken to the church to see the facilities, meet my host, and to be greeted by more warm welcomes. I cannot imagine a more empowering and gifted staff. I was greeted with familiarity; just as I have been preparing for months to venture here they have been awaiting me. I have been showered with gifts of welcome. Everyone here is so thoughtful, and is striving to make sure that I am comfortable and have what I need.
There’s also been an effort to make sure I’m getting a fair taste of South African cuisine. In fact on Tuesday (my first full day here) a welcome dinner was held for me in Rowan’s home so I could meet several of the church’s leaders. I loved hearing each person’s connection and dedication to the church. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that numerous persons of the church community are PE born and raised and lifelong members of Newton Park Methodist Church. They are proud of their community and so eager to share it with me. I am excited to learn from them, yet they are excited and open to learning from me.
Can you imagine such a welcoming community? I am not sure I fully grasped the spiritual discipline of hospitality until meeting such dear, new friends as Lyall and those of Newton Park Methodist Church. Yet, they are so naturally inclined to being so. For instance, I was told that when the church heard they had a Southerner coming they thought they better up “their game” to compete with Southern Hospitality. I laughed with appreciation at the familiarity of our ideal, but truly we’ve got nothing on them.
I had a crash course in the Methodist Church of South Africa this week at Synod. It is similar to Annual Conferences of the United Methodist Church in the US. I got to meet numerous pastors in the area, participate in worship and observe voting sessions at Synod. Held in a township, members of that community led us in worship. A choir of beautiful voices with South African dialects led us in worship in several common languages of the area, including English, Afrikaans, and Xhosa. Xhosa you will recognize as the African tribal language with “clicks”–I’ve been practicing.
I was also able to help with youth on Friday evening and with leading worship Sunday morning. This was a good taste of the duties that await me for the duration of my time here. Youth is a very exciting time. The younger children play games alongside an interactive Bible lesson. Whereas, the older youth meet in their youth room that they have transformed into a coffee shop. Everyone hangs out, sips coffee, and then a short interactive lesson is taught. Each of these formats are familiar, but so enticing. The youth are passionate about the lessons and so active in growing their ministry. They own their ministry in an empowering way. A person’s age does not reflect their ministerial ability; we must remember to trust in them, for they will lead the Church universal.
Being from music country I was quickly put on the Worship team, so Sunday morning I lead worship in song (with two other vocal leaders), led prayer, and read the Pentecost story, Acts 2:1-21. It was a great way to get my feet wet, without total immersion. You may remember, Pentecost is the event when the Spirit overcame apostles and gave them the ability to speak many tongues. After I read the Scripture, Rowan jokingly said how nice it was for the congregation to hear the Pentecost story in a different tongue. Meant to be a joke, because my primary language is the same as the majority of the congregants. Yet, my accent is quite different from that of the congregation. Therefore, it served as a good reminder to the fluid nature of the Spirit and the significance for persons of different tongues (and even dialects) to be able to communicate and find common ground through our belief and reverence for God. It was significant for me to hear dialects different from my own throughout the worship service, as well.
I’ll close this week’s post with the most humorous event of the week–yesterday’s driving lesson. Let me begin with saying that my host, Janet, is a saint. She has welcomed me into her home wholeheartedly–even refers to it as ‘our’ home. I have my own bedroom and bath for the duration of my stay, and am quite comfortable. She is so hospitable that she let me borrow her car yesterday to get acquainted with the roads. With her sweet and calm spirit, she directed me in the best tactics for taking on PE’s roads. Believe it or not I am driving a manual transmission car, on the opposite side of the car, on the opposite side of the road, while turning on my indicator (rather than blinker) to turn, and reading my kilometer speedometer (miles are never mentioned).
This first week has been a whirlwind. Yet, with driving under my belt and such a great reception I could not be feeling more at home. I am truly blessed to be here. I know it is God’s intention for me, yet I do not know yet if this calling is for what I will learn from this community or for what I will bring to it. Pray it is a combination of the two. God works in wonderful and mysterious ways. I am living one of the most significant seasons of my life thus far, and could not be more excited about how it is educating my ministry. I am a sponge, soaking up so much everyday. I learn from each conversation and each new custom I am exposed to. God’s people are constant though. My newfound community is familiar, because, like me, they are striving to live enslaved to righteousness (Acts 6). My engaging in this community is growing my ability to do so; I can only hope it is doing the same for those surrounding me.
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