New Role, Renewed Focus
If you missed it, I have a new role! I am now a Global Ministries Mission Advocate for the North Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church.
To catch you up: Sometime in the summer of 2022, I discerned that 2023 would be the year I closed out my six years of mission in Sierra Leone in its original form. In August of 2023, I got on a plane with my two African cats back to Texas. I still have a lot of feelings about it. But I also have confidence that the same prodding that got me on the flight to Sierra Leone sight unseen in 2017 also put me on that plane to start a new chapter in 2023.
On the boat that brought me to the plane that would bring me home…with a very drugged cat name Texmex.
If you didn’t receive my newsletter, I’ve pasted the big announcement below that explains my new role in more detail, including what that means for me as missionary (I’m still a missionary), the kind of work I’ll be doing, my upcoming move (!!), and my continuing relationship with Sierra Leone.
However, I’m writing today to set my intention toward a renewed focus on writing, reflecting, missiologizing (new word alert!), and generally sharing more of my spirit and thoughts on this platform. One wonderful thing about the work of Mission Advocate is that there is some space to make it what you want it to be.
For me, teaching and preaching are my primary gifts and greatest joys in ministry. In Sierra Leone, I had a classroom with brilliant students and regular opportunities to dig deep into the big questions. With the stress of the last three years, I focused on what was right in front of me in SL, on the work at hand. I feel sorry that I didn’t have the bandwidth to share it out. Because let me tell you, it was rich. And so, so good. And deeply gratifying.
I feel a bit like I’m missing a piece of myself without it.
Enter: this blog and all of you! I have the bandwidth now, and I intend to put it to the task of writing. It will be part reflections about my life in Sierra Leone, part public theology, part sharing my learnings and spiritual journey in this new season. I hope you come along and contribute with your thoughts. If you want to sign up to get this in your inbox, you can do it here. If you’re getting this in your inbox and you don’t want it, you know what to do. I hope that this space - the ideas and stories shared here - will be enriching, edifying (there’s your church word) and, yes, challenging for me and all of you.
Love to all of you in 2024. See you back here soon.
With my new Mission Engagement Team in November 2023
Announcement December 12, 2023:
I feel very blessed and excited to announce that I’ve been appointed as a Mission Advocate to the North Central Jurisdiction (NCJ) of the United Methodist Church. That means that I am a Missionary to the Midwest!
The role of Mission Advocate is basically a mission connector. Global Ministries’ task is to “connect the church in mission”. As the missionary on the ground in the NCJ, my life will be about connecting the church in that area in mission – from domestic and international disaster relief with UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief), to Volunteers in Mission through UMVIM, to Missionary Service, to Multiethnic Ministries with our many grants and our Racial and Ethnic Ministry Plans, to local and international young adult mission with the Global Mission Fellows, to Global Health. There are so many opportunities to find our way into God’s redeeming work. It’s super exciting to be in the mix!
What that means for me (and us):
I’m still a missionary!! I'll keep my Advance Number, raise my own funds, and we can maintain our missional and Covenant Relationships.
I will be moving in 2024! Global Ministries has given me some time in Texas with my family and friends, but I’ll be moving closer to the folks in the North Central Jurisdiction to better serve the role. I have my choice of nine states to choose from and I’m in active discernment about where I’ll land.
I can still visit you in Texas for a while. My main focus is on the work of Mission Advocate, but while I’m in Texas I can still visit my partner churches to share the story of my mission work in Sierra Leone and (now) in the US.
With this role, I get to maintain some of my relationship with Sierra Leone and the United Methodist University – SL through the global connection. I feel really thrilled about this.