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Invited outside myself
I grew up in a monocultural WASP (white Anglo- Saxon Protestant) suburb where the most "different" you could be was to be Jewish or Catholic or have a "foreign-sounding" Italian or eastern European last name. By the standards of the majority culture, I was a person of privilege, but I have come to realize how impoverished I really was — living behind walls forged through historic racial, ethnic and economic divides. High-school church work camps to a Navajo reservation, to the "colored" section of a segregated town in rural Arkansas and to a "holler" in Appalachia convinced me I want to live a life connected to all members in Jesus' family. Recognizing these limitations is a big part of why I chose to move to a multiethnic neighborhood of Chicago to plant a church. Here I am enriched by the deep and expressive faith of my African-American sister Nieta, our prayer elder, for whom praise is the way out of the many oppressive situations she has faced. Through her ecstatic dancing and shouting, I am invited out of my quiet, reserved style of worship to expand the vocabulary by which I can approach our God. I am awed by the endurance of my Cambodian sisters and brothers who survived the "killing fields" of Pol Pot, fled to refugee camps on the border, and had to start life from scratch in this country. Through their strong work ethic many have purchased homes, started businesses and given generously to God's work here and in Cambodia. They continue to evangelize and bring others into the church. The deep dependency on God for many coming from backgrounds of poverty, family brokenness, street violence, warfare or dislocation challenges my own faith and prayer life. I have to examine myself and ask, "Has my relatively comfortable life made me too self-reliant and not as confident in God’s power and love as I need and want to be?" The witness of these sisters and brothers is stretching me to embrace the suffering of the pastoral vocation in a deeper way, take on bigger needs, and trust God more. It's not up to me to solve everybody’s problems — but we can take them to the one who is able. Sally Schreiner Youngquist is senior pastor of Living Water Community Church, a Mennonite Church USA congregation in Chicago. She served on the home ministries committee of Mennonite Board of Missions and was a board member of MBM from 1986 –1990 and 1991– 2001. In this issue: Features Highlights Viewpoints |
