I´m sorry I have no pictures with me today but I will post some soon so you can see my new home! Here´s a few tidbits to give you an update...
-The trip from Lima to Chimbote was loooong. A large portion of the highway is getting redone so we were in a charter bus on a dirt road weaving through huge sand dunes, at times beautiful and at times seeming so desolate. The rest of the trip was a highway with the coast on one side and sand dunes on the other, and there were small smatterings of tiny homes interspersed with huge haciendas (farms) of corn, hogs, strawberries, etc. I saw a couple fields being tilled by a single farmer pushing a plow and lots of little fruits being hand-picked. There were also a lot of hog confinements right along the ocean, and I wonder if the waste is going directly into the water, but I don´t know.
-Chimbote and the house are wonderful! Our house is HUGE, and I am settling nicely into my room. I have a very large window that overlooks the street, and this morning I spent several hours cleaning a thick layer of dust of the window and scrubbing the drapes! We wash everything by hand, so it was quite the process, but I love being out on our rooftop washing and hanging clothes. It was a very good time to be alone with my thoughts and the sounds of our neighborhood.
-Most vehicles on the streets are modes of public transportation of a few variations as it is one of the biggest employers in the city, after fishing, of course. We did go down to the ocean and try Chimbote´s famous ceviche, a raw fish dish with garlic and lime and some other garnishes.
-Kelli and I made our first friends! Jefferson, 10, and Nayeli, 9, caught us leaving the house today and we have a playdate scheduled for tomorrow afternoon :)
-Marcela (third community mate) is attempting to teach us how to get everywhere. She is a wonderful guide, but only the busiest streets have signs and the smallest don´t even have names, so it will take a little time. I think I´ve got the ones directly nearest our house down, and I can find my way to the church (San Francisco/Saint Francis.. that´s our parish, but there are many others in the city that we will hopefully visit in time) and the sisters' house.
-We went to Mass last night and it was great. The music was really good, and there were a lot of people there for Mass and even for adoration beforehand... on a week night! Of course the gospel reading was the infamous, "The poor you will always have with you." Bleh! Well then, I guess I will always be with them! It´s a good reading though, lots of room for interpretation ;)
-My goal right now is to soak up, observe, ask questions, meet people, be open. I am working to avoid judgments, conclusions, opinions, preferences. In the next weeks, I hope to establish habits of active days, times for prayer and reflection, earlyish nights and early mornings. We have yet to visit many of the ministries that are available to volunteer with, and we will likely start doing so next week, but the idea is to take is slow. We want to become familiar with the community and have time to discern the options before commiting to a set schedule with certain sites.
-Chimbote is a city. I´m sure our neighborhood and the church community will get smaller once we get to know more people, but right now it´s a little intimidating. There is very little structure, and at times I am tempted to feel entitled to a grand welcome or something. It is far different from entering into a small community like Majagual, where everybody knows you are there. I have found this to be just a little difficult but only for short moments... then I give myself a reality check. I am in Chimbote, Peru! This is finally my life! Praise God. Smile. Enjoy. Be.
I hope you feel as blessed as I do. Peace and smiles to you.
Showing posts with label orientation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label orientation. Show all posts
Friday, September 17, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
mission is venturing into the heart of another
A long awaited update, I know. I admit that blogging is a difficult thing, but everything seems at the same time too ordinary to write about and too indescribable for words. Still, I'll do my best. Let me warn you though that it is heavy on spirituality and theory, since that's kind of what we've been doing. If that doesn't interest you, feel free to skim... after orientation I'll have more activities and cultural excitements to describe!
We have just finished day 16 of our orientation, which will end this Friday. I have learned so much about the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, mission, the church, culture, community, etc. It's been a very rich experience, so let me try to share pieces of what I've learned...
On our second day, Sr. Corine talked to us about CCVI (abbreviation for the congregation) history. If you'd like to learn about it, you can find it on their website, I won't bore you with all the details right now. However, she did make some interesting points about women religious in general, especially the fact that they really led the women's empowerment movement in the US (and still are around the world). She said that women religious are the most educated group of women in the US and that religious women were the first women to hold administrative positions, especially in schools and hospitals. For Mom and Dad, she also talked to us about our parents, and that we need to understand how difficult it is let a child leave home and enter into the unknown, and that "they will be blessed, too, for that."
We spent time with Sr. Rosie and Sr. Tere Maya talking about CCVI spirituality and charism, delving more deeply into discovering who Jesus really is and how the sisters live out their missions. Sr. Tere Maya emphasized that the charism of the congregation is not "historical," but is about recognizing the needs of the times. Their charism statement is beautiful: "That the love of God, as it is made manifest in the Incarnation, be made real and tangible in the world today." The love that Jesus gave us is the love we are called to give each other! By becoming human, God "dignifies our human condition to the level that is is divine." Being fully human is not only good, but divine, of God!
We have also studied a bit of Christology and Ecclesiology, and if you want to hear more about those discussions, you can e-mail me. I don't think it would be the most interesting read! Basically, we are gaining a deeper understanding of what it means to be a missionary in the catholic church today... i.e. building relationships, sharing love, etc.
I should also tell you that my departure date has been delayed to Sept. 9 due to visa delays. Kelli and I will be staying here in San Antonio working with the sisters on some projects and in some classes at the university. It is a little disappointing but I think it will be a really good time! One of our sites in Chimbote will be helping to establish a branch of Women's Global Connection, which you can read about on their website, womensglobalconnection.org. They are doing some research and work with the program here in SA so we will get to learn more about that!
I will leave you with a few reflections from our retreat this past Friday and Saturday. It was really beautiful, at a retreat center on a nice piece of parkland in the city, with a pond, great climbing trees, and a labyrinth. There was one tree overlooking the pond that I climbed a couple times, and I could watch as five or so turtles slowly swam to the shore and rested on the banks. It was really nice to feel like I was escaping from the city. Anyway, here are a few art projects I made there and some explanation to help you understand where I am right now...
This is a door tag to the door of me! We were directed to decorate a door tag with images or words that signified the message we want to radiate to others. I wrote, "Aqui estoy, contigo," which means, "I am here, with you." I first chose "I am here" as a humble offering of myself and my desire to be in relationship, recognizing that I may not be able to help, per say, but that I am offering my presence. I added "contigo" to remove the emphasis from myself and instead emphasize being present to the individual in front of me.
This is an oil crayon image that I drew in response to a reflection on the fact that God really came to earth and really cares about human beings! It spurred from a poem about a little girl telling the Christmas story, which ends with, "And she jumped in the air, whirled round, dove into the sofa and buried her head under the cushion, which is the only proper response to the Good News of Incarnation." So... we were asked to think about our response to this Good News. I went out by the pond and sat observing and meditating and this is what I came up with! It is a spider, just beginning a web. The metaphor is something like this... a spider, when setting out to build a web, has to contribute the materials and energy for the project, but then relies upon the breeze to carry it where it may, and there it begins building. I feel a bit like the spider in midair, trusting the Spirit or love or my deepest desire (whatever you choose to call it) to lead me where it may.
Finally, this is a symbol of my holiness! Or, at least, what my symbol would be if I were to achieve sainthood :) We were asked to imagine that Sr. Bridget Marie (leading the retreat) did a Google search for holiness, and our name popped up. What would the blurb say? What symbol would represent us? So, it's looking at what we hope to become or the way we strive to live.... the symbol is hands (working in the world) holding out a yellow light (warmth, light, self-gift) with a blooming flower (recognizing room for development and learning and growth).
My self-description is this: She never doubts the sincerity of others, but meets each person with gentleness and gratitude. This is not due to naivety, for she has a grounded sense of reality, but due to her belief that as a community and by the grace of God, we can each move beyond our limited sense of the possible into a reality where peace and common dignity triumph.
Ah, and tonight we met with some sisters and some students from the University of the Incarnate Word. The students are all involved in campus ministry leadership, so it was very interesting to hear some of their perspectives. One of the sisters shared about a homily she heard this weekend, in which the priest said the line that titles this entry, so that's where it came from! I think it sums up the last 2 weeks quite well.
So, if you made it all the way through, congratulations and thank you for reading! I apologize for any typos or poor writing... I kind of went straight through and wrote because I knew if I thought about it too much I would end up writing nothing (and I'm too sleepy to proofread!). If you want to know more about anything or if I failed to tell you about something that you want to know, e-mail me! emilyruskamp@gmail.com
Paz, laughter, and all good things,
Emily
We have just finished day 16 of our orientation, which will end this Friday. I have learned so much about the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, mission, the church, culture, community, etc. It's been a very rich experience, so let me try to share pieces of what I've learned...
On our second day, Sr. Corine talked to us about CCVI (abbreviation for the congregation) history. If you'd like to learn about it, you can find it on their website, I won't bore you with all the details right now. However, she did make some interesting points about women religious in general, especially the fact that they really led the women's empowerment movement in the US (and still are around the world). She said that women religious are the most educated group of women in the US and that religious women were the first women to hold administrative positions, especially in schools and hospitals. For Mom and Dad, she also talked to us about our parents, and that we need to understand how difficult it is let a child leave home and enter into the unknown, and that "they will be blessed, too, for that."
We spent time with Sr. Rosie and Sr. Tere Maya talking about CCVI spirituality and charism, delving more deeply into discovering who Jesus really is and how the sisters live out their missions. Sr. Tere Maya emphasized that the charism of the congregation is not "historical," but is about recognizing the needs of the times. Their charism statement is beautiful: "That the love of God, as it is made manifest in the Incarnation, be made real and tangible in the world today." The love that Jesus gave us is the love we are called to give each other! By becoming human, God "dignifies our human condition to the level that is is divine." Being fully human is not only good, but divine, of God!
We have also studied a bit of Christology and Ecclesiology, and if you want to hear more about those discussions, you can e-mail me. I don't think it would be the most interesting read! Basically, we are gaining a deeper understanding of what it means to be a missionary in the catholic church today... i.e. building relationships, sharing love, etc.
I should also tell you that my departure date has been delayed to Sept. 9 due to visa delays. Kelli and I will be staying here in San Antonio working with the sisters on some projects and in some classes at the university. It is a little disappointing but I think it will be a really good time! One of our sites in Chimbote will be helping to establish a branch of Women's Global Connection, which you can read about on their website, womensglobalconnection.org. They are doing some research and work with the program here in SA so we will get to learn more about that!
I will leave you with a few reflections from our retreat this past Friday and Saturday. It was really beautiful, at a retreat center on a nice piece of parkland in the city, with a pond, great climbing trees, and a labyrinth. There was one tree overlooking the pond that I climbed a couple times, and I could watch as five or so turtles slowly swam to the shore and rested on the banks. It was really nice to feel like I was escaping from the city. Anyway, here are a few art projects I made there and some explanation to help you understand where I am right now...
This is a door tag to the door of me! We were directed to decorate a door tag with images or words that signified the message we want to radiate to others. I wrote, "Aqui estoy, contigo," which means, "I am here, with you." I first chose "I am here" as a humble offering of myself and my desire to be in relationship, recognizing that I may not be able to help, per say, but that I am offering my presence. I added "contigo" to remove the emphasis from myself and instead emphasize being present to the individual in front of me.
This is an oil crayon image that I drew in response to a reflection on the fact that God really came to earth and really cares about human beings! It spurred from a poem about a little girl telling the Christmas story, which ends with, "And she jumped in the air, whirled round, dove into the sofa and buried her head under the cushion, which is the only proper response to the Good News of Incarnation." So... we were asked to think about our response to this Good News. I went out by the pond and sat observing and meditating and this is what I came up with! It is a spider, just beginning a web. The metaphor is something like this... a spider, when setting out to build a web, has to contribute the materials and energy for the project, but then relies upon the breeze to carry it where it may, and there it begins building. I feel a bit like the spider in midair, trusting the Spirit or love or my deepest desire (whatever you choose to call it) to lead me where it may.
My self-description is this: She never doubts the sincerity of others, but meets each person with gentleness and gratitude. This is not due to naivety, for she has a grounded sense of reality, but due to her belief that as a community and by the grace of God, we can each move beyond our limited sense of the possible into a reality where peace and common dignity triumph.
Ah, and tonight we met with some sisters and some students from the University of the Incarnate Word. The students are all involved in campus ministry leadership, so it was very interesting to hear some of their perspectives. One of the sisters shared about a homily she heard this weekend, in which the priest said the line that titles this entry, so that's where it came from! I think it sums up the last 2 weeks quite well.
So, if you made it all the way through, congratulations and thank you for reading! I apologize for any typos or poor writing... I kind of went straight through and wrote because I knew if I thought about it too much I would end up writing nothing (and I'm too sleepy to proofread!). If you want to know more about anything or if I failed to tell you about something that you want to know, e-mail me! emilyruskamp@gmail.com
Paz, laughter, and all good things,
Emily
Monday, August 2, 2010
San Antone!
Just a few words to let everyone know that I'm doing very well here in San Antonio! There are currently five of us new missionaries here, and I am really enjoying getting to know the other girls. Today was our first day of orientation, so we haven't done too much yet, but I definitely feel that I am in the right place. We got to hear from the Congregational Coordinator of the Sisters of the Charity of the Incarnate Word today, and she is a spectacular woman. She is the highest-up person in the congregation and still lives in the Visitation House, which is a house of hospitality for women and children who have nowhere to go. She also studies and teaches feminist liberation theology and mujerista theology, which looks at Latina women in the Church. She is very charismatic and I have a very good impression so far of the incarnational spirituality! Here are a few words she shared with us; it is an excerpt from their foundational letter, sent by a bishop to a congregation in Europe requesting their service. I believe it is truly a call to all of us and is, indeed, the call I am seeking to answer!
"Our Lord Jesus Christ, suffering in the persons of a multitude of the sick and infirm of every kind, seeks relief at your hands." -Bishop Claude Marie Dubuis, 1866
Otherwise, it is very hot here in San Antonio and we walked around downtown a bit this afternoon. We are staying at a retreat center very close to downtown and our evenings are very open so it is nice to have lots of time together as a community!
I miss you all and I thank you for keeping me in your prayers!
Peace, laughter, and all good things.
"Our Lord Jesus Christ, suffering in the persons of a multitude of the sick and infirm of every kind, seeks relief at your hands." -Bishop Claude Marie Dubuis, 1866
Otherwise, it is very hot here in San Antonio and we walked around downtown a bit this afternoon. We are staying at a retreat center very close to downtown and our evenings are very open so it is nice to have lots of time together as a community!
I miss you all and I thank you for keeping me in your prayers!
Peace, laughter, and all good things.
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