Makeni

After a three-hour drive from Freetown, I arrived in Makeni and was introduced to Fr. Francis Sedhu Sessay and the house in which I will be staying. Fr. Francis actually grew up in Makeni, and has been ordained for nine years.


For an air conditioning enthusiast like myself, these two months will certainly be an extreme test of character. The little A/C unit that comforted me in my Freetown setup is long gone. I don’t think there is any power running in the house until at night when the generators may kick on for a few hours, so I will be using my laptop sparingly. Also, there is no internet here in the house, but Fr. Francis teaches at the local university and I will try to utilize their computers as often as I can. The town uses no electricity during the day, which is culturally quite jarring. Please forgive me if I do not update for a while more, as I get my bearings and figure out where is power/internet available. Especially to my family (ESPECIALLY to my mother), know that I wish I could be more in contact than my environment allows.


Fr. Francis took me to meet Bishop George Biguzzi. He is a very humble and Spirit-filled man hailing from Italy. As soon as I arrived, he told me that before anything else I had to meet “the Boss.” I wish I had brought my camera, for the Bishop took me to his private chapel filled with carvings from a local artist. Intricate designs were etched into the wood that made up the altar, ambo, and the tabernacle (the top chamber was a carving of a hut with a lamb at the door, literally a “house” for the Lord). We spent a moment in prayer before chatting about the details of my trip. It was a warm welcome.


From here on out I will be shadowing Fr. Francis and helping with the local youth organizations. Tomorrow I will be attending a deaconate ordination for their diocese, which is pretty cool since I just witnessed two for St. Petersburg, but now I will get the African taste. PLEASE pray for my continued courage in the face of this new culture. It is jarring, sometimes scary, but very much full of love. I have encountered nothing but smiles and hospitality when introduced to the people. For a population possessing little or nothing, they are spiritually rich indeed. Please also pray that my body might adjust to this climate quickly.

I don’t think I’ve sweat this much in one day in…well, ever.


Thank you for the thoughts and prayers, know that you are in mine constantly. I love and miss you all.


In prayer,
-Bob

**I'm at the University of Makeni now. Fr. Francis teaches here, and has allowed me to hop on his computer. I should be able to access the internet at least a few nights a week...thanks be to God!

Freetown

I landed in Africa after what I think was 26 hours of travelling. Time-zone swaps and a lack of sleep have been my travelling companions, along with a band manager from Tennessee, a college-aged girl from Germany, and a Taiwanese ex-masseuse (who gave me the best hand massage of my life).

From the airport I had to take a small ferry to land within Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone. The area was first built upon by the Portuguese at the end of the 15th century. British philanthropists founded what would become Freetown for freed blacks in 1787. The slave trade unfortunately fed out through the city until 1928. Encountering the city first in darkness (I arrived around 10pm, locally) had a very eerie effect; the headlights from the jeep illuminated the snaking roads, the horrid potholes, and the locals walking about. I eventually saw a city built into a large hill. Random windows and street lights gave me some comfort if pending life within, but also stirred up a level of fear. Fear, I suppose, of this new reality and my utter lack of control.

This journey is just about as out of my hands as it can get! From the itineraries to the assignment itself, the lodging situations and the work I will be doing, I am forced to either cling to what I know or step out into the deep unknown. The pitch blackness of last night’s arrival seemed to illustrate the necessity of entering such a dark night before any dawn could possibly break.

We have to periodically put our power back into the hands of God. If we never make ourselves empty, the Spirit never has room to work in us. I know this, and I’m fine with the logic of it, but in practice I certainly struggle, or I compromise on just “how empty” I think God wants me to be. Now I feel akin to a child, completely dependent on those around me. BUT, my friends, God certainly does deliver on his promise: “What’s more, I will be with you, and I will protect you wherever you go” (Gen 28:15). CRS officials have been walking with me ever since I stepped off the plane, and tonight I was invited to have dinner with the director of programming and his beautiful daughter (we played ‘Hang-Man’ for about 10 rounds; she won). They hail from Montana, and the comfort of their presence gave me much psychological and emotional comfort.

Tomorrow I will be transported to Makeni, a town to the Northeast, where I will begin my official assignment under the local priest. Thank you all for your prayers…they’re helping me to sleep better at night!
-Bob
“If everything is Yours, I’m letting it go—it was never mine to hold”—Audrey Assad, Everything is Yours

Off to Africa...

  I leave for Africa tomorrow.  For about eight weeks I will be working with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in the country of Sierra Leone.  Explicitly, I will be shadowing a priest and organizing activities with the youth of the area, but truly the day-to-day work will be whatever God puts before me.  My little brother, Dan, will be heading to Liberia in June to participate in a similar mission.     

I wouldn’t have necessarily been the first to volunteer for this assignment.  In reflecting upon my imminent departure, I’ve realized just how much I gravitate towards stability and staying in that ever so lovely ‘comfort zone.’  In my high school yearbook, I wrote about how my future plans were to “attend a Florida university, get a great job, and start a family.”  Now, Blessed Mother Teresa cautioned us that when we pray, we must be SPECIFIC (I technically never asserted that I would have a physical wife…I figured that was implied).  Nowhere in that list or in my wildest dreams did I expect to be discerning a call towards the celibate life of a Catholic priest or that I would be a missionary in Africa.  I never anticipated that a ‘great job’ could entail being a physician of souls, or that I could participate in a spiritual fatherhood with a family larger than any biological unit could hope to contain.  Our lives don’t always pan out as we planned it, but our response to these ebbs and flows must be one of gratitude and openness to the mystery that daily knocks on the door of our hearts. 

I am also not a blogger, nor have I ever been comfortable sharing my emotions and thoughts with the World Wide Web.  And yet here I am.  I’ve been asked to blog about my experiences, to share these adventures with my family, friends, and the greater Church (as often as I have internet access, that is).  A dear friend pointed out to me the strength held within our names, and I’ve reflected upon my own name: Robert Angel—“Bright-Famed Messenger.”  I do not state this from a position of exalted arrogance or egoism, but from a growing understanding of the responsibility of that name.  I am a messenger, whether I want to be or not.  What I will be a messenger of—selfishness or selflessness, narcissism or humility, comfort or truth—is up to me.  

If I told you that I am without fear in the face of this mission, I would be lying.  This is AFRICA we’re talking about, and the lifeguard in me still likes to know how deep the pool is that I’m diving into.  But there is a trust deep within my heart that I can only attribute to the intercession of Mary, the Mother of our Lord, who faced the great unknown herself with a simple but profound affirmation:  “be it done to me according to Thy word.”  We'll never have certainty on this road of faith, but we must have trust. 

If much is being asked of us, it is because He knows that we can give much.  Every man is called to give totally of himself without counting the cost, to either his physical bride or to those lives that surround him.  We cannot hold back; we otherwise risk living an unfruitful life devoted only to ourselves.  I have been asked to preach Christ crucified, who is the power and wisdom of God.  I have tried to preach the Gospel as best as I can in my young adult life, using words when necessary…but perhaps the time for words is now. 

Thank you to all my family and friends who have accompanied me thus far.  Your prayers certainly give me strength when my own fails.  Enjoy the air conditioning, Vanilla Coke, and Maio Kart while I am away. 

May the Lord Jesus Christ guide my steps and fill my words with His power.  TTM

-Bob