Dearly Beloved,
What a gift to be home and what a joy to have gotten to spend a week with Brooklyn Votaw, Colton Leibbrand, Jeslyn Haux, Lucas Gardner, Daniel Gardner, Calen Clapp and Noe Cantu. We were sad that Braxton Heldt got sick and was not able to come along -- we are grateful for his recovery and look forward to the next time when he can be part of our mission trip crew.
I've had a number of you ask how the trip was. And I cannot say enough good things. I cannot thank our youth and adult leaders enough for the week we had together. It was a lot. We had about 15 hours of drive time (round trip). Most mornings involved early wake-ups before we set off to volunteer our time, energy and skill at various social service sites. We learned about New Mexico's history and the layers of occupation of indigenous lands -- first by the Spanish settlers and then by Anglo Americans. We explored the ways in which oppression, injustice, poverty, unequal access to education, healthcare, employment and land ownership continue to mean that the indigenous peoples of New Mexico (and Colorado!) face disproportionate challenges when compared to their Anglo and white peers. We engaged in challenging conversations around justice, charity, service, racial inequities, and other systemic injustice. And we built relationships with each other, the people with whom we served and the amazing Be the Neighbor Site Staff in Albuquerque.
It was hard work. For our bodies, our minds, our hearts, and our spirits.
And the five young people who went on the trip engaged with their whole selves. I heard not one complaint about early mornings, tough physical labor, uncomfortable social settings, or the demand on their minds and hearts. Again and again, Jeslyn, Colton, Brooklyn, Calen and Lucas showed up with their minds wide open, their hands and feet at the ready, and their hearts engaged.
As I think about what it means to be church, I am overwhelmed with gratitude knowing that I got to see church, I got to see faith, I got to see the inclusive welcome that our congregation proclaims in action all of this last week. We are so blessed as a congregation and a community to have these young people in our midst. I was blessed to get to learn with and from them. To watch them at work and play, at rest and fully engaged.
Thank you for your prayers for us this last week. I encourage you to speak with Calen, Lucas, Brooklyn, Colton, and Jeslyn directly -- ask them about their experiences. Ask them about what they learned. And ask them about what they think about what's happening in our country and our world. About how they think God is calling our congregation in this season. Because they are each wise beyond their years. And it was a privilege to learn, to serve, to live alongside them for a week. I hope you will take the opportunity to engage deeply with each of them over the coming weeks. Sometimes in talking about our youth as the future, we forget the profound gifts they have to offer (that they are actively offering) in the present. We have much to learn from these young ones. I hope and pray that I will continue to learn as curiously, play as energetically, and love as fiercely as I saw them do this last week.
With love and so much gratitude,
Thandiwe
