And So It Begins

8765 Higgins Rd (Where Lutheran Magic Happens) - July, 2009

Two are going to Papua New Guinea. Other couples are bound for Romania, Ghana, Bolivia, Cameroon, Tanzania, Egypt, and Mexico. Four will be teaching English as a Second Language in Japan, joined by others in Hong Kong and Colombia. Still more are going solo to Egypt and Honduras while three others, like me, are preparing for a year of Pastoral Internship serving congregations in Germany, Slovakia, and Mexico City while I'll be stationed in Petaling Jaya - a satellite city of Kuala Lumpur, 20 minutes out from the base of the Petronas Towers by light rail.

From 8:30 - 4:30 we gather on the top floor of the Lutheran Center (home base for the churchwide offices of the Evangelical Lutheran Church). Seated in a large conference room, the reality of our assignments is made clear as we are introduced to and oriented by the entirety of the Global Missions Unit. Each day has been utterly fascinating, exhausting, and terribly exciting as I try to wrap my brain around the size and scale of the worldwide operation.

Looking out the windows to the west, the constant stream of airplanes landing and taking off from O'Hare serve as an immediate and palpable reminder of the imminent departures facing us all as we prepare to join in this ongoing work (God's work, for those so inclined) in the world.