When I was about seven years old my mother signed me up for swimming lessons at the municipal pool. I remember well how cold the unheated water felt at 7:30 AM. I remember what seemed so simple for others was so difficult for me. But, what I really remember is the day we had to climb up the slide and were told by the teachers to slide down into the blue waters below. The scene this little boy made while perched atop that slide was not pretty. I was holding up the line as I sat there trying to decide whether or not to let go and enjoy the ride.
Tonight I am in the final stages of packing things for a two-week trip to India. I will be a member of a twelve-person delegation composed of United Church of Christ Conference Ministers and members of the United Church of Christ's Wider Church Ministries Board. This is the 200th Anniversary year of the founding of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). This trip is one of several that have happened during the anniversary year. We will be visiting sites in Delhi, Agra, Mungeli, Chennai, Madurai, Kanyakurmari, Colachei, and Mumbai. I am traveling with trusted friends.
This is, for me, the adventure of a lifetime. Who would have thought that a parochial country kid from the hills of Missouri would be invited to travel to a land with so rich a mission heritage? I remember how the missionaries would come to our little congregation to tell of their work in far-off lands. "Mission Feast" was a big annual celebration in the church of my youth. Now, I am going to see and experience the places where our mission partners are engaged in their ministries: schools, hospitals, a seminary, a vocational training program for unemployed youth, tsunami rehabilitation and housing projects, diocesan offices, and more. Yes, the adventure of a lifetime starts on Tuesday morning at 4:30 AM when my travels begin.
But somehow, I cannot get the memory of that little boy, perched atop the slide at the municipal swimming pool out of my head tonight. Learning something new, experiencing life, celebrating ministry, requires letting go. The bags are packed. Ministry in New Hampshire must, for a time, be left far behind. My family has been encouraging. I'm ready!
(Our group will be blogging from India. I'll let you know where to find that blog once I have that address.)
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