A GAME CHANGER

by Cheri Roland

Greetings from this blogger to all you blogetts! I know it has been ages since you last heard from me. I guess I do not get inspired as often as my boyfriend does.

It has not been a quiet week in Pietermaritzburg, but our lives are getting back to normal after three weeks of popping back and forth from work to home to wait for detectives, police, workmen, or security folks. We’ve come to realize several silver linings to the robbery: Ross had A/C (“air con”) units installed in our dining/living space and bedroom (thick layers of red dust throughout the house, necessitating another round of spring cleaning); we are promised a security system; and it’s been quite an adventure.

Another adventure has been the transformation of the feel of this seminary by the welcome addition of 44 new seminarians, now constituting almost half of the student body. Our wildest dreams did not prepare us for the sheer delight of students who are more educated, literate, professional, and eager to participate fully in the offered opportunities for learning and formation. WOW!!! Personally, this has lightened our work load immeasurably. Instead of suffering overtime through many workbooks, puzzling over the meaning of each word and guessing the intent, our weekends are now our own. Our necessary emphasis on “developing the disciplines of adequate preparation and following instructions, and reading carefully for understanding before writing” still hold for the second and third years, but these new guys are burning it up! The attitude is a 180 degrees switch to the smile side. The first day of FEM we received three calls from a group of new seminarians hopelessly wandering through the unfamiliar countryside in search of their assigned agency, only to arrive at quitting time. The next day the driver of said van apologized to Doug for the mix-up and wondered if their group could go back on Thursday morning to make it up. My husband almost fell over. Instead of whining about being turned into slaves and no remuneration and ministers being too good to get their hands dirty, this new group’s reflections speak of the blessings of serving for Jesus in whatever capacity their agencies require. Have we died and gone to Heaven?

Our new class schedule, necessitated by more students and the proverbial transport problems, finds us having FEM visits on Monday afternoons and Tuesday and Thursday mornings. This affords Doug and me more opportunities to visit the seminarians while “on the job”. We’ve been able to hold talk back sessions with several groups. Particularly important were those following visits to White Cross Disabled Hope Centre, a very challenging and challenged orphanage for severely physically and mentally disabled children whose problems have been exacerbated by unconscionable abuse. (Just ask the HPUMC mission team who visited us last August.) The seminarians facing their own morbidity and mortality during exposure to old age home and Hospice clients struggle with unchained emotions; they grateful for the chance to voice their doubts and fears to “safe” foreigners not bound by traditional black cultural expectations.

My needed inspiration to send along these thoughts came from the reflections of one of these new seminarians. She is the only white woman in our first year class, and scored highest on the English proficiency and comprehension assessment during orientation. Did I mention how cute and personable she is? Her assignment to the psychiatric hospital had filled her with dread, and, then during her initial visit, this was exacerbated by the hospital staff’s admonition to never be alone with certain (horny) old men. The assigned scripture for her second visit was Philippians 2:4-5: “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” Mind you, I had prepared the workbook for this current semester in October-November, focusing on discerning spiritual gifts in oneself and others using Biblical passages relating to the various gifts.

I am going to simply quote her so you may share in another seminary God thing. She wrote her scriptural reflection the day before her visit. “The biggest challenge is of course turning away from my interests to God’s. Often in ministry we want to use the [spiritual] gifts which best suit us, being loving with people who are easy to love and operating from a place of comfort. Town Hill Hospital is not a place of comfort. The challenge for me is to shine as Christ’s light even though I am uncomfortable and woefully ill-equipped. But Jesus was brave and He walked with God to do what had to be done. I must put my selfish desires of not wanting to go to one side and do this with a glad and willing heart. I pray Jesus would spark in me a desire to be brave and willing to engage with these men where they are at.”

She wrote after the visit, “Today Thobeko and I laughed and prayed with these men and there were some tears and some more prayers and laughter. There seemed to be a happy light spirit in the room, making for a very uplifting morning with God’s special people. After spending time with Doug and Cheri [in the Utsig E-F parking lot] after our visit, I realised there is perhaps more I can do if I step out of my comfort zone further. My pride sometimes get in the way of being able to let my guard down . This scripture reminds me today that humility is all important. Jesus was always authentic with people; so I pray God will help me to be as authentic and creative offering myself as a channel for His love. The ironic thing was what these men taught me about faith. My ability to learn as a teacher was enriched by my time with them. As I become less afraid of them, my faith is being strengthened immeasurable. Christ does indeed shine in the dark places when we can put our egos and fear to one side and allow Him free reign. “

This is but one example of why we were called here. What a privilege it is to be able to journey with these future transformers of church and nation.

P.S. I’m so bummed. Here I am, dressed in my “township clothes” – closed-toe shoes, huge official SMMS golf shirt, ball cap complete with lion scratches, new camera at the ready, sun block slathered on, beaded earrings from Ethembeni – ready to go with the gang to Mpophomeni Township. And it seems that we are so efficient this year seeing six groups off to their appointed rounds that I missed my van! Ach shame.