Fact: It has been a long time since I've posted here.
The past month and change have been full of moving, settling in, and a new semester's worth of classes! I've been back in full swing with this project for a few weeks now. I've got a working outline and have started typing. :)
However, I need some help!
The culminating section of my paper will be a pastoral care packet that returning young adults can take with them to their pastor (or even a therapist) to help them process their experience of coming back to their homeland. A large part of this will be about storytelling. One activity I want to include is linking their story to various Bible stories. For example, Romans 8:38-39 about God loving us through everything and nothing separating us from God. This means God loved me when I was Poland and was dreadfully homesick. God loved me when I was on the plane home. When I spent an hour looking at Cieszyn on google maps from my parent's living room because I missed it so much. I think you get the idea.
It would be phenomenal if I could read the whole Bible in the coming weeks and pull out all the texts that speak to me about my experience. I'm sure I would end up with lots to write about. HOWEVER, I believe the packet will be more fruitful if it contains Bible stories that connect to people other than just me. So in the comment section or in an e-mail please send me the Bible story that got you through your journey abroad, your journey home, and your journey today. What words speak to your experience of coming home? What speak to reverse culture shock and making sense of your homeland again? It could be a Psalm, a parable, anything!!! I appreciate your input and helping me get out of my own head and seeing a bigger picture.
Peace,
Colleen
When I was getting ready to move to Palestine, my pastor used the Matthew 14:22-33 text, which is the walking on the water bit. Specifically, he talked about getting out of the boat and going to Palestine by faith in Christ. When I was flying back to the US, I thought about that same passage. Instead of getting out of the boat, I was getting off the plane and figuring out how to trust that God was leading me...again.
ReplyDeleteI'm also drawn to Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God." Job's story, depending on the day of re-entry, since my heart breaks when I hear about the people I love who are in Palestine and how powerless I feel sometimes. Romans 12, talking about the whole body of Christ, but how we have different functions in the body. Since returning to life in the US, I've tried to figure out when I'm supposed to be an exhorter or a teacher of the Palestinian narrative that was shared with me.
Those are just a few off the top of my head! :)
Hello, when I returned from a year of service in the Philippines I found Isaiah 25 helpful...it was meaningful because we were working in human rights and in many ways we felt like we were abandoning the people we were working with when we left. Also, many in our group felt as though our efforts were so small in the face of such an overwhelming situation. In this way Isaiah 25 reminds me that the promises of God are trustworthy and that these promises can withstand my deepest doubt and despair. I often return to this text for strength.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it reminds me that I am not God!!!
DeleteThis actually comes from an experience previous to YAGM at Christian Appalachian Project, but for me it applied to both.
ReplyDeleteLuke 9:28-37- The Transfiguration
Peter, John and James go up the mountain with Jesus, encounter the divine(experiencing Jesus' divinity for the first time), and Peter thinks that this is what Jesus' story has been leading up to. He wants to stay there and build altars. Instead, Jesus leads them back down the mountain to where a crowd is waiting, because the real story of salvation still needs to be told. In both Kentucky and Slovakia, I wanted to stay in that place where I had encountered the divine in the relationships and personal growth I experienced. But the story needs to be told, and we are not meant to stay at the 'mountaintops'. The people we go home to need to know about our encounters with Christ in other cultures. These experiences are not just meant for us.
A song by Bebo Norman called 'Walk down this mountian' tells the story beautifully. Find it at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1eheUw20jc&feature=colike
By the way- awesome project!! I would love to see the results when you are finished.
DeleteThese aren't the most accessible parts of the Bible, but what about some of the bits about the exiles returning from Babylon, and the difficulties they faced upon returning to their "home" which no longer felt like home? (Ezra and Nehemiah, also some prophets) Here's a link with a bunch of citations from various parts of that story: http://www.crivoice.org/othpersia.html
ReplyDeleteLooking at another part of biblical narrative, some of the wanderings in the wilderness texts might be useful. Certainly serving abroad can feel like a wilderness experience, one that, for all its gifts, might very well evoke some "murmurings" ("back in America, I had this and that..." or even, "back in Slovakia, this was better..."). See Numbers 14 for complaints followed by God promising to be steadfast and lead them through the wilderness by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (so cool). And see Exodus 16 for the first appearance of manna, God's response to their complaints of being hungry.
Otherwise, one that was important to me while in Slovakia was Psalm 30, especially, "you have turned my mourning into dancing." It was a tough year due to things happening at home, and I clung to this!
You already mentioned my favorite verses from Romans 8. I also love Job 38 and 39, where God describes all of the things He created and controls. Not that it was easy to forget in Tisovec that God created all the natural beauty around us, but it never hurts to be reminded.
ReplyDeleteI don't so much come at this from a particular verse as from an entire language. I take my Slovak hymnal and my New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs (I don't have a complete Bible yet, but I will soon) to church every Sunday. I read the Scriptures in Slovak as I listen in English, and I usually at least look at the creed and the Lord's Prayer; sometimes I even say them in Slovak. Just as I read in English while I was freezing in church in Tisovec, it helps me remember that God hears me no matter where I am and no matter what language I'm using.
I have this verse marked in my New Testament: Romans 14:8b, "A tak či žijeme, či umierame, Pánovi sme." Whether we live or die, whether we worship in Slovak or English, no matter what, we are God's.
Rachel
What comes to mind is Luke 24 - the Road to Emmaus text. Your description of longing for Cieszyn or for home reminded me of feeling described by the disciples on the road: "Were not our hearts burning within us?" they ask themselves, as they remember their encounter with Jesus. I believe that any type of longing for place, either out of sentimentality, romantic memory, or homesickness, etc., is the longing sensation of our hearts burning within us. For Christians, this feeling, I believe, originates from our beginnings - God choosing to be in relationship with us, e.g., in Genesis 2 or in the birth narratives. Just a few thoughts - good luck with the project!
ReplyDelete