WHEN WE ARE OPEN TO NEW THINGS, WE GIVE GOD A CHANCE TO WORK
WHEN WE ARE OPEN TO NEW THINGS, WE GIVE GOD A CHANCE TO WORK
Br. Michael Valenzuela, FSC
Lasalle Brother
Last month, a group of volunteers went on a mission trip to the Zotung Refugee Catholic Learning Centre. Amongst them was a Lasalle Br. Michael Valenzuela, FSC, known as Br. Mike. He shared his feelings after the mission trip and three pieces of advice.
My Heart is Full
Last night, when we were dancing on the rooftops, I saw so much joy, and in liturgy this morning, my heart is overflowing.
What struck me was that when the dancing was going on, many kids were singing Rivers of Babylon. They were singing it with such passion. I wondered what that song meant for them. When I came home, it struck me that it was a song of people in exile. By the rivers of Babylon, the Jews were taken to a foreign land where we sat down and wept, and there we remember Zion, our homeland.
By the rivers of Babylon
There we sat down
Yeah, we wept
When we remembered Zion
When the wicked
Carried us away in captivity
Required from us a song
Now how shall we sing the Lord’s song
In a strange land?
- Rivers of Babylon (1978)
Those kids were singing not just with joy but with a certain defiance. They know they’ve got so much of an uphill struggle ahead. They don’t have recognition by the state. They have no rights, no protection. There is no security. In many ways, their plight is as bad as the original exile in Babylon. And yet, they sing. There is joy. There is hope. For me, that’s a sign of the spirit.
I’m also moved by the teachers. The dedication and the way God work in the lives of those who never even thought about teaching as a vocation reminds me of my founder, St. John Baptist de Lasalle, who never thought about becoming a teacher, but to have it 'forced' on him by circumstance. As he encountered the children, he couldn’t pull away and his life direction changed. And that sounds so much like the story of Joseph (a teacher at Zotung).
I just saw so much grace on this trip. Despite the conditions the kids are living in, there is so much confidence as I look at them. When I asked Henry (a former student) last night if he likes his time in Zotung, he said, of course, this is where I learned moral values. That’s what moves me, and that’s why my heart is overflowing.
Three Pieces of Advice
If you’re new on a mission and you’re deciding to come to this place:
1. Be open to surprises
Be open to the experience. Don’t come in with set plans about how things should happen. Immerse yourself in it. Give yourself to it with a Jesus lens. Be prepared to see where grace and love are glimmering. I think that’s where you will find the presence of God and the assurance that, in a way, this is God’s work.
Be open to surprises. Remember that God is the God of surprises. God works in the disruptions. Sometimes we need those disruptions because our expectations are, many times, creations of our egos. When we are open to new things, we give God a chance to work.
2. Give yourself time to unwrap God’s gifts and relish them
Keep a journal. At the end of each day, write down what I am most grateful for. Relive the day, replay it, relish those moments of contact with persons who touched you. Many times, God tries to get through to us, touching us through someone’s smile, through someone’s words, through someone just holding us. But we’re anxious to get to the next thing, and we don’t give God time. We don’t unwrap God’s gift and put it aside.
I would say that if you’re preparing for a mission, make sure you have the time and space to sit with God and unfold the gifts. Hear what God is trying to tell you not just about the situation, but about yourself. Because if something has touched you, God allows it to touch you for a reason. That reason could be to give you encouragement, correction, or strength. You have to be open to the gifts of God, but give time to unwrap the gifts.
You know when a cook prepares a gourmet meal for you and you take it with 'Okay, thanks'. When he asks how that tastes, you say 'Oh it's okay'. Did you give the time to taste the dish? We have to taste the dish - savour the experience.
3. Remember the surest sign of God’s presence is love
God is love, and that is not metaphorical. It is very very real. One spiritual director once told our group for the next 30 days you will float in an ocean of God’s love. God is an ocean. He is a flow of love that creates the universe. It’s God who loves through us. When we love, we participate in God.
What moves me is not just the people I have met at the centre, but also my mission partners. Through their touching babies and pinching their cheeks, through their fellowship drinking into the night sharing stories, through their breakfast with croffles and beer, through their generosity of spirit, you see God at work.
No act of love - no matter how imperfect - is ever wasted because it all participates in the love of God. So, can you fail in this mission? I think the only way you can fail is if you don’t try to love.