The big WHY of YASC
So at this point, the blog has still not gone public, so I feel like I'm lecturing to an empty room as it were, but I know it's just a matter of time before others will be reading some of my ramblings. With that in mind, I wanted to dedicate a post to this questions I've been getting a lot since telling people of my acceptance to the Young Adult Service Corp (YASC).
Why?
Such a simple question, such an extraordinarily complicated answer.
I suppose the easiest answer for me to give is that I can't not go. When I look back on all the lovely blessings I've been given by God, and all the terrifying struggles He's helped me through, I can clearly see that the path I've been walking, although it seemed aimless and wandering before, was a bee-line for mission such as this. When you first tell your family that you want to move to who-knows-where for a year serving the church and the response is, "I figured you were gonna do this years ago. It's about time you figured it out for yourself," I guess the only thing that ever stood in my way was me.
My family has always prioritized service to others and encouraged the same in my sister and me. I was prompted at age 5 to choose my Lenten discipline and selected to volunteer in my church's food pantry as a way to focus on Christ's sacrifice for us. I continued after that to grow in service (and clearly in stature too) and participate in both local short term service work, local mission, and international mission trips as well. As I prepare to go work at Vero Beach for a week this summer, I'll be counting it as my 10th week long trip.
As much as I love mission trips, at this point I feel called to engage in a very different kind of service. The beauty in the design of the YASC program is that it is not about quickly providing "fixes" for problems. It is dependent on building relationships with the global Anglican community. I'm not going to "knock out" a to do list. I'm going to experience life with other Christians, and learn from their traditions and interactions with our God. I go, simply, to learn to love my neighbor as myself. I aim to seek to understand and not to be understood. I go as an emissary and representative of my church, my diocese, my country, my race. Some days that feels like a huge amount of pressure. Most days I remember that I was made by God to love. It's not always easy, and certainly not always my first instinct, but it is precisely what my heart and spirit were purposed for.
To me, another great factor of the program is that I do not go alone. I go in partnership with my church, diocese, friends, and family.While my physical self will be the one to travel around the globe, it will be accompanied by the prayers and support of many. Yes, there will be necessary fundraising, but I view it as a tangible sign of partnership, just like committing to join with me in prayer support. There is a place for all whom I know in this mission, and I will do all within my power to involve them in each step of the journey and to celebrate with them upon my return.
I leave you now with a couple songs that I feel help express my thoughts on this choice. The first is a song I heard on my very first mission trip. It resonated in my heart and stuck with me for the many varied years since.
The second song is similar in many respects, but I find it a bit more up beat. It also clearly illustrates, for me, that service to God and to others are a continual choice. We are given free will by our maker and in order to follow His will for our lives, we must choose to align our own priorities with his, sometimes repeatedly. I know this will be a struggle as I butt heads with linguistic and cultural barriers, but I know that it is always within my power to choose to give my service and all of my self to God's purpose.
Why?
Such a simple question, such an extraordinarily complicated answer.
I suppose the easiest answer for me to give is that I can't not go. When I look back on all the lovely blessings I've been given by God, and all the terrifying struggles He's helped me through, I can clearly see that the path I've been walking, although it seemed aimless and wandering before, was a bee-line for mission such as this. When you first tell your family that you want to move to who-knows-where for a year serving the church and the response is, "I figured you were gonna do this years ago. It's about time you figured it out for yourself," I guess the only thing that ever stood in my way was me.
My family has always prioritized service to others and encouraged the same in my sister and me. I was prompted at age 5 to choose my Lenten discipline and selected to volunteer in my church's food pantry as a way to focus on Christ's sacrifice for us. I continued after that to grow in service (and clearly in stature too) and participate in both local short term service work, local mission, and international mission trips as well. As I prepare to go work at Vero Beach for a week this summer, I'll be counting it as my 10th week long trip.
As much as I love mission trips, at this point I feel called to engage in a very different kind of service. The beauty in the design of the YASC program is that it is not about quickly providing "fixes" for problems. It is dependent on building relationships with the global Anglican community. I'm not going to "knock out" a to do list. I'm going to experience life with other Christians, and learn from their traditions and interactions with our God. I go, simply, to learn to love my neighbor as myself. I aim to seek to understand and not to be understood. I go as an emissary and representative of my church, my diocese, my country, my race. Some days that feels like a huge amount of pressure. Most days I remember that I was made by God to love. It's not always easy, and certainly not always my first instinct, but it is precisely what my heart and spirit were purposed for.
To me, another great factor of the program is that I do not go alone. I go in partnership with my church, diocese, friends, and family.While my physical self will be the one to travel around the globe, it will be accompanied by the prayers and support of many. Yes, there will be necessary fundraising, but I view it as a tangible sign of partnership, just like committing to join with me in prayer support. There is a place for all whom I know in this mission, and I will do all within my power to involve them in each step of the journey and to celebrate with them upon my return.
I leave you now with a couple songs that I feel help express my thoughts on this choice. The first is a song I heard on my very first mission trip. It resonated in my heart and stuck with me for the many varied years since.
"As much as I love mission trips, at this point I feel called to engage in a very different kind of service. The beauty in the design of the YASC program is that it is not about quickly providing "fixes" for problems. It is dependent on building relationships with the global Anglican community. I'm not going to "knock out" a to do list. I'm going to experience life with other Christians, and learn from their traditions and interactions with our God. I go, simply, to learn to love my neighbor as myself. I aim to seek to understand and not to be understood. I go as an emissary and representative of my church, my diocese, my country, my race. Some days that feels like a huge amount of pressure. Most days I remember that I was made by God to love. It's not always easy, and certainly not always my first instinct, but it is precisely what my heart and spirit were purposed for."
ReplyDeleteYou are so beautiful and you wrapped it up so perfectly.