Greetings friends and family! It is currently the church season of Lent for Christians across the world. Lent is a time of reflection and preparation as we wait for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as celebrated on Easter. This season is one of my favorites during the church year because it allows me to remember all of the reasons I feel connected to my faith. This being primarily God’s unrelenting and everlasting forgiveness, mercy, grace, and love.
For this week's addition to my Lenten blog series, I wanted to delve into a little bit about my unique inter-faith YAGM experience. While I am in the midst of one of my own church's most important seasons, I thought it would be a good opportunity to reflect on the interconnectedness of faith in my country of service.
In Senegal, I am serving as a Lutheran missionary, living with a Muslim host family, and worshipping at a Catholic church. This is nothing like what I expected when first signed up for YAGM, where I thought I was going to in super Lutheran mode all the time! However, I wouldn’t change my site-placement for the world, because in this beautiful mix of faiths I have learned more about God’s love than I ever would have being stuck in a religious bubble. In the spirit Lent, I thought I would share with you some of my reflections about each of the religious communities I have the privilege of interacting with this year.
Lutheran
It seemed to me that going into this year of service I knew everything I needed to know about being Lutheran. I went to all the summer camps and vacation bible schools, regularly attended church, and participated in my university’s Lutheran Campus Ministry. But, boy was I wrong! The Lutheran faith is far more expansive than I previously thought, both geographically and in how different congregations interpret worship. I have enjoyed hearing both my Senegalese community and my cohort’s stories of faith and grace. One of the biggest growing points for me personally in the context of my relationship to Lutheranism, is the ELCA Global Mission’s model of accompaniment and how I can best carry out its practice as a volunteer and back at home.
Accompaniment is a way of understanding the idea of mission in the context of reconciliation. Whereas “mission” was previously thought of bringing someone else your own interpretation of God’s story, accompaniment instead focuses walking directly alongside communities, talking honestly with one another, and growing together. The model focuses on five core elements in order to develop these meaningful partnerships: mutuality, inclusivity, vulnerability, empowerment, and sustainability. Within the story of my Senegalese community, I am learning that my role here is not to “fix” or change anything really, but to simply be present. What my community needs from me in our walk together is to be teachable and malleable. While I can offer certain skills in my workplace, it is also my job to be shaped by my neighbors to become a better advocate for those seeking justice. I hope that by seeking to understand accompaniment as a global volunteer, I will continue to live into this solidarity in America. And I am thankful for a church committed to fostering this mindset in their community.
Catholic
In Senegal, I am currently the only volunteer who does not regularly attend a Lutheran church. While the other YAGM are participating in Lutheran congregations of various sizes, the only Christian church available nearest me in my host site is a Catholic parish. Initially I was a little sad to hear this, I was really looking forward to being involved with a Lutheran congregation in Senegal. However, all of these feelings immediately melted away the first time I stepped foot in my local parish.
Back in the states, many of my family members practice Catholicism. I had gone to and celebrated several weddings, first communions, and confirmations and was generally familiar with a typical service. This became important to me during my first few weeks in Foundiougne. When I was scared and finding my footing, trying to adjust to a completely new culture, the familiarity that the Catholic church brought filled me with a sense of calm. The familiarity reminded me of my family at a time when I missed them the most. During my first visit, I decided that my participation in this parish would not only be a way to discover how Senegalese Christians worship, but that I could learn more about my own family back home.
While every church is different, one of things I find beautiful about the Catholic church is its consistency in worship. You can be from any country and still be able to go through all of the motions of a service without a problem. In this way, I hope that my participation at my parish this year gives me further insight into my own community and the ability to ask questions and learn more about Catholicism upon my return.
Muslim
Coming to Senegal, I had the most to learn about what it meant to practice Islam. In America, I think we as a society have too many misconceptions about what a Muslim looks like, what they believe, or how they worship. When I learned that I would be living with a Muslim host family this year, I was beyond excited. I wanted to put away any previous ideas I had and begin anew, ready to soak up how my family embodies their faith. In doing so I have observed two things about Senegalese Muslims that I deeply admire. Dedication and openness.
First, is dedication. Previously, I knew that praying five times a day was one of the Five Pillars of Islam, or a mandated practice. However, I was surprised just how seriously these prayers are taken. Whereas many Christians pray only when we need something or just at Sunday services, my host family and neighbors entire days are scheduled around their prayers. For example, I have often heard from my family “be back by timis!” which the Wolof word for the prayer done at sunset. I was also surprised by the dedication of my host sister, who is just nine years old. At each call to prayer, she performs her absolutions, rolls out her mat, and dans her head covering. Thinking back to myself at her age, I remember going to Sunday School, but never taking such care like this in my prayer time with God. In seeing this, I wanted to challenge myself to rededicate myself to the practice of prayer and to spend more intentional time with God. So far, I started praying at each meal, but I hope to expand beyond this to include intentional prayer time into my everyday routine.
My second observation is of the openness in this community. Every Senegalese Muslim I have met so far this year has been so incredibly loving and welcoming to me, despite our different faith identities. Through mutual curiosity, we have been able to share about ourselves in such an honest way. Only on a few occasions have I seen this type of openness in the states. I hope that I can learn from my Muslim brothers and sisters here how to carry this unquestioning love back home. We share prayers for each others families and wish for blessings. There are more similarities between Christianity and Islam than meets the eye, and I am truly thankful for an experience that allows me and my host community to discover that in each other.
A Lutheran missionary, going to a Catholic church, and living with a Muslim host family. I wouldn’t trade this unexpected year of inter-faith growth for anything in the world. There is so much beauty in this cross-religious experience. And I am so happy to participate in and learn more about each community.
This blog entry is the first in a series during the season of Lent. If you would like to read the other entries, you can find them here.