ALPHA AND OMEGA

  BY  DOUG ROLAND

              After the sermon on a warm Florida morning in July, 2010,  we were invited to go up to the front of the sanctuary of our home church, Hyde Park United Methodist.  We knew what it was about - our little contribution to the unsuspecting folks in South Africa.  

The clerical staff surrounded us in a half circle. This was the moment our commitment would be broadcast and become final. Until then, it was fun to think about.  Fear gripped my stomach.  I thought to myself, "Please, could we just forget about it and continue our ordinary lives"?  I also thought about making a break for it, or throwing a Hail Mary. Where were our allies, those who thought we were crazy to be leaving to serve in an unknown and very dark place? They must have decided to stay away. Instead, members of the congregation were asked to come forward and lay hands on us. The weight of their expectations sealed any notion of backing out.  Escape was no longer an option. We had been well taught, and, in the 38th year of our marriage, we heard "Who shall I send?"  We answered, "here we are Lord, take us".    

South Africa is a tough place to live.  You know that if you've read this blog regularly.  Nevertheless. the urge to bag it and go home never got traction.  We had answered a call that had been forming for decades, and we have been  surrounded  by prayers from around the world. 

 It has been very difficult this last week to say goodbye to our colleagues at the seminary, to the seminarians, to the people who helped us get an important program launched, and to our "outside" friends from Run/Walk for Life who gave us three farewells. 

 Tomorrow morning, we leave South Africa with a piece of what has been another life, one that is attached to us and has made us different. We will forever see the world differently, filtered through the struggles and successes of another culture. 

This morning, 33 months after we left Tampa, the people of Wesley Methodist Church in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, gathered for one of several Easter Sunday services.  As part of the service, the minister, who has become a friend, thanked us for our work at the seminary, and  prayed for our safe return.  The seminary president happened to also to be there and promised that he would endeavor to build upon the program we created and nurtured at SMMS.

We left home in 2010 buoyed with a prayer. The morning, we ended with a prayer.  Between the bookends of prayers are volumes of sweet and sorrowful memories. Though it seems like the end, it may not be.  It's going to take us a long time to assimilate what we've done, though in several ways, it's a new beginning.  Life's rhythms  carry on and we would do well to listen to them.   

Finally,  we end by encouraging you listen to

ask yourself what your passion is, and step OUT OF THE BOX.

Note:   We intend to continue this blog when we return home.   A different kind of life may be waiting for us.  We have fewer years now and we are determined to make them count.