Transitions

Twenty-three-plus years ago, Carol and I were attending one of those classes expectant parents attend to calm their nerves and give them something to do while they await the presence of their first child.  Our instructor routinely used words generally reserved for hushed conversations as she told us detail after detail of the birth experience, right down to a discussion about what most couples do with the placenta - that rich mass of nutrients essential during pregnancy and useless afterward.

It was in this class that I became familiar with the word:  transition.  While the goal of pregnancy is the baby, there seemed to be one last battle to be won, one last Jordan or Rubicon to cross, one more travail to endure:  transition.  Transition was that time when the baby's  delivery was soon and very soon.  Though extremely hard on the birth mother, it was simultaneously a moment of exhilaration and anxiety.  And it would be worth it:  new birth, new life, and all that entails.

Five kids later, transition is taking on a new meaning.  It was over a year ago that my mentor, Ben, mentioned the book, "Managing Transitions: Making the Most out of Change" by William and Susan Bridges.  Ben was helping me work through the changes in my life -- ending ten years in Cambridge, moving to Haiti for one year, preparing for life after Haiti -- and he helped me see that we don't really move directly from one thing to another but instead we have a time between the two things where our attention to the former is starting to wane and our attention to the latter is continually growing.  In other words, there was a place between Cambridge and Haiti called transition and there would be a place between Haiti and "whatever is next" called transition.

Transition is life partly in the old and partly in the new and actually not fully in either.  It is also a place of great inner growth, when we allow it.  The Biblical narrative shows God's people in transition almost always.  In the Old Testament we saw them on the move, toward the promised land, and even when they physically arrived, they weren't fully 'there.'  Even the New Testament story, with the coming of Jesus is described as a time of "already, but not yet."

The season our family officially kicked off on Friday is the season of transition.  Meghan and Kristin returned to Ontario then and Erin will move back on Thursday of this week.  The rest of us return June 5th.  It has been an incredible year, but it is time for transition.

Carol and I are both having conversations with employers in Ontario - actual and potential - and much of our thoughts are simultaneously consumed with the shaping of life to come while continually giving good attention to the life, ministry, and opportunities that lay in front of us here.  While I speak, Carol and Erin are planning a seminar they are leading on Tuesday.  Tomorrow I will be in front of a class of pastors teaching the difference between hermeneutics and homiletics (yes, it matters!).

I'm sure that in future blogs we'll be able to share more about our life to come and we look forward to doing that, but for now it is important for us to park in the transition, to take this time seriously for the lessons to be learned in it, and to enjoy the presence and leading of God for TODAY.  In a sense, we are like babies in the womb, and while the "nutrients of this placenta" might not be useful for the life to come, it is intensely life-giving to simply pay attention to and feed on now.

If you are in a transition, I get that you are either mourning what was (looking back) or eager for what will be (looking ahead), but let me urge you to while you mourn or anticipate to be sure you give lots of attention to simply BE.  Live in the day that God is giving you, today.  Notice the people who ARE around you, rather than focussing on the people of the past you are missing or the people of the future who are unknown to you.  Notice the way your stretching in so many ways is actually creating a new you now.  

Developing Pastors

One of the greatest joys I have had throughout my years of ministry so far -- whether as a youth pastor, a pastor, or now a missionary -- has been to be involved in the growth of others.  Whether it is watching someone begin a new relationship with God, develop their gifts for serving others, or simply plumb the mysteries of God's love, grace, and majesty, being part of these conversations -- which are really conversations between them and the Holy Spirit -- is something I would call a blast.

I'm a whistler.  I usually don't realize when I am whistling.  You can imagine what it can be like for people to share an office with me, their peace and quiet irregularly interrupted by a shrill sound from across the room.  But my whistling isn't always an annoyance.  Sometimes it is a signal to those around me that I am in a good mood.  Over the past few months, my family has gotten used to me coming home Mondays and Fridays around 5:30 whistling a happy tune.

On Monday and Friday afternoons since December, I have been teaching at SKDE, which is an evangelical seminary here in Port-au-Prince.  I have been teaching two courses to pastors from around the area as part of their three-year program.  Pastors travel as much as 2 hours one-way to come and develop their minds and skills so that they can serve their communities effectively.

One course was Eschatology - the study of last things.  While sometimes Christian conversation around the end of time often centers only around the book of Revelation and can therefore devolve into disagreements about the nature and timing of the rapture and millenium, we have had focussed conversation about the whole sweep of Scripture pointing to Jesus' return.  We have been able to focus on the big things that all Christians can hold in common -- that God wins, that Jesus will return, that the Holy Spirit assures us of our citizenship in heaven, and that our certain comfort and hope of these things combined with our love for the rest of the world can drive us to live passionately missional lives until Jesus returns.  As I mark the exams they just did (all in French, so it is taking me a little time to translate and mark them!), it is inspiring to hear their personal faith shine through in the answers they give.

The other course was Spiritual Formation.  In addition to talking about the pastor's personal need for a close walk with God through Scripture reading and prayer, we talked about accountability, worship, mission, disciplines, disciple-making, and a host of other things.  In the context of our class, these developing pastors shared stories of the people God has used to shape them and the ways that God has called and continually calls them to ministry.  Again, they just finished their exams as well and reading their responses is giving me great hope for the congregations and disciples God will develop through their service.

Our shaded rooftop classroom provides an ideal place to develop our capacities to serve the church against the backdrop of the sounds of the city and people we are called to serve.  Here, the 'Spiritual Formation For Pastors' students are writing their final exam.

In this week of marking exams, I am also preparing to teach one more course yet before we return to Canada in June.  We will be studying "Biblical Interpretation" or "Hermeneutics".  I anticipate that there will be lively discussion and deepening skill as we talk about the origin of the Bible, translations, Exegesis vs Eisegesis, Hermeneutics vs Homiletics, Observation, Interpretation, Correlation, and Application.  And if a few words in that paragraph blew by you, that just means you are normal, but believe it or not, it will be an exciting time for me and the pastors.  I anticipate much whistling on Monday and Friday afternoons.

As you remember my work with them here, please pray for them by name:  Junior Frantz Abellard, John Enock, Patrice Vilaire, Louis James, Noel Melius, Luxama Velony, Lero Obed, Bellune Lucnel, Cliford Chery, Paul Amos, Sandro Edzer, Norelia Robinson, Domingue Striplet, Pierre Paul Wisnel, Cambrone Pierre Kersaint, Djef Rosalva, Garcon Benito, and Augustin Joseph Walner.  Pray for their families, their churches, their teaching, their pastoral care, their leading in mission, and their personal walk of faith in this place where religion is everywhere and yet each sign of the Gospels work is a new miracle, a miracle which makes not just a seminary professor, but our Lord himself, whistle!