NieuCommunities

It’s hard to believe there are just five weeks left before the end of this year’s apprenticeship. As we look forward, and begin to answer questions of what’s next, focus on finishing well here, transition out of the ministries we’ve become involved in and the like we are all experiencing and processing things a bit differently.

I think my favorite thing about this time is that as we discuss what next year holds for each of us we are all doing something amazing. A few may be getting married, or going back to school, or joining the mission field, or having a baby! I’ve come to realize during our last posture [Imagining] that this apprenticeship truly is an on-ramp to what God is calling each of us too.

Mixed emotions that include the sadness of pending good-byes and excitement of experiencing God’s intended plan for us hum and throb throughout our community. At nearly all times of the day one of us can be found withdrawing, another engaging, one crying, another laughing. I believe we actually might be living up to the drama of the way people try to explain us back home. “It’s like a Christian version of ‘Real World*’,” said one of our road trip participants.

[*That would be without the fighting and/or inappropriate relationships!]

I very much look forward to the next five weeks. We’ll be handing off our ministry responsibilities to partners [luckily I have been working with either full time missionaries or South African residents!]

We’ll be having a host of “Goodbye” celebrations. We’ll be creating art that reflects what God has done in us over the past year. I think my favorite thing is that not one of us hasn’t been changed completely this year.

We’ve all been opened up, the yuckiness that held us back from living as God intended has been poured, pushed, and picked out, and we’ve been filled with the Holy Spirit.

It’s been an amazing journey so far, and I’m looking forward to running the race to the end.