We have arrived!

After 30 hours of travel, last night we arrived in Durban and were then driven to Pietermaritzburg where our country representatives live. For the next few days we will be staying in jail- or anyway a re-purposed jail which is now both the home of our reps as well as a center for a number of smaller organizations which aim to provide support to people in the community in a variety of ways.

here's a picture of our team once we arrived- bleary eyed but excited!

From here, we will have a few days of regional orientation with two more team members who are coming from Zambia and Cambodia and then we will head off to our placements.

Thanks all for your prayers as I traveled!

And the travel begins!

After a week of orientation with about 80 young adults, today we are all about to begin our travels to over 30 countries with all different types of placements.

here is the group photo of all those in my program!

This past week has been a time of incredible learning both within sessions where we talked about a variety of topics to help us as we transition into our placements as well as informally as we went through this training with a number of young adults from all over the world who are coming to the U.S. and Canada for similar types of placements. These young adults came from many of the places that we will be going and were able to give us great insight into the many cultures we are heading into.

As I think about heading to South Africa, one of the things that I hope shapes my interactions is the concept of motives. As our group will be heading to cultures, many so different than our own, we may often encounter cultural differences that may frustrate or upset us. In these situations it is so very easy to think that the way others approach certain situations may be wrong. Instead, a fellow SALT member encouraged us to think about how their motive comes from love. We all try to think and act certain ways because we believe that it is the best way to love- so why would we not consider this to be true of those so different than ourselves.


So now we will be leaving- beginning each of our own journeys. Journeys bound up in the histories, the cultures, and the hearts of the people we will live and work along side of. In this, I want to share a quote that was shared with us that I believe gets at the heart of why we should serve:

"If you want to help me, you're wasting your time. If you come because you're liberation is bound up with mine, then come, let's work together." -Lila Watson

So now my 30 hours of transit begins!

Thanks you all so much for your thoughts and prayers.

Grace & Peace

A new adventure!

Tomorrow, August 9, 2012, is the beginning of a new adventure as I will embark on a journey that will begin with a week of training in Akron, PA, and then take me all of the way to Durban, South Africa!

I will be going to South Africa for the next year through Mennonite Central Committee's SALT program which sends young adults to service placements all over the world. I will be putting my recently completed social work degree to good use at an organization called Refugee Social Services. There, I will provide services for newly arrived refugees who need support and care as they adjust to a new society. Also during this time, I will be living with a host family and hope to become part of the diverse community that exists in Durban.

In recent days, I have spent many hours preparing, thinking, trying to bring order to my life before I leave, though I'm not sure I'll ever be ready! So now with this leap of faith before me, it becomes ALL about trusting God, even in the face of the unknown. As I say the last of my goodbyes, I have had my fair share of tears and uncertainty. In spite of this, I know I have been blessed in ways I could not have imagined for myself throughout my time of preparation bringing confirmation again and again that I am heading in the right direction. As I now move forward, I am expectant- expectant that God WILL be working in and around me in mighty and powerful ways as he has already revealed his great faithfulness to me throughout this process.

So now I'm off-- ready (or not!) to begin my travels to the ends of the earth...