Elie Speaks.

“Are you excluding yourself from the community?”
“Only from this one.”
“There is no such thing. Whoever situates himself outside one community, repudiates them all.”

and later….

“Not being tied to any place or person modifies your relationship with others and with yourself… With your every move, you shift the center of the universe.”

- The Oath by Elie Wiesel

I’m reading this book slowly, so slowly… it makes my heart ache a little bit as I am thinking about it all. Thinking about the pain of others that we are compelled to carry, we are blessed and chosen to carry. Yet when we carry that pain it hurts our own hearts so deeply.

New Possibilities.

Yesterday a good friend and I talked and dreamt about what it would be like if she moved in with me. Yes, I live in a one-bedroom, yes, I have a cat already, yes, I have enough furniture and books for five people… but we imagined cooking dinners together (in my 5×5 kitchen), or waking up two feet from each other in bed in the morning (because two feet is as far away as we will get in that bedroom) and telling stories and secrets (at 7:30 am, because I am SO chipper first thing in the morning). I will clean the kitty litter and do dishes, she’ll cook and vacuum the floors. In the evenings we’ll sit and watch TV and do homework/create Excel spreadsheets for WMF administration. We’ll say things like “what are you doing tonight- you wanna go see a movie?” or “let’s order Chinese, I cannot stand one more tuna sandwich!” We’ll share jewelry and sweatshirts and soy milk. Maybe we’ll even buy each other friendship rings.

 

It just sounded so perfect…

 

Forget marriage, I’d rather get a roommate!

The Long Awaited Support Letter…

Oct. 1, 2007

“For You are a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in distress; Shelter from the rain, shade from the heat.” Isaiah 25: 4 (NASB)

My Dear Friends and Family, Oct 1, 2007

How are you? I hope that you are enjoying the gifts of serenity and friendship this fall! I know I have received those gifts in our times talking and sharing life together, whether it has happened lately or not in several years.

I have big news to share with you… I am moving to Kathmandu, Nepal for three years, starting in summer of 2008! Surprise! I am so excited and honored to be able to serve with Word Made Flesh, an intentional community serving Christ with and among the poor. What does that mean? It means that each member of our community has been called by Jesus Christ to love Him, love each other, and live that love among the poorest of the poor around the world. Our method of service is ecumenical and incarnational- living simply, and seeking solidarity with those who become our friends across economic, cultural, and social boundaries.

In Spring of 2005 I spent a life-changing semester with Word Made Flesh in Kathmandu, Nepal. Many of you walked with me in that journey through prayers, financial support, or fun times overseas. I returned in July 2005 from my time with Word Made Flesh with a broken heart for the poor and burden to serve the elderly. After spending several years in discernment, the Holy Spirit opened my heart to several things. First, I have been led to confirmation in the Catholic Church, a process that has brought many challenges but also much beauty, and second to know my vocation as a full-time member of the Word Made Flesh community. (If you’d like the deeper story for either of those discernment processes please inquire within. :) I graduated in May 2007 with a degree in Sustainable Business and International Studies from Aquinas College, and am working full time here in Grand Rapids until leaving next summer.

During my time in Kathmandu I will be serving with Jyoti and Shiva Bhattarai at Prem Ghar, WMF’s Home for Elderly Women. There are currently three Ammas (Nepali term for Grandmother) living at Prem Ghar, and I will be entering into relationships with them and the Bhattarai family, discovering what my role in the home will grow into. I will also spend many hours in language study and serve the WMF community as Field Administrator. I guess I will never leave the skills from my Excel 101 class behind!

I spent five days this summer at a retreat for the staff of Word Made Flesh. As a community we gathered together to reaffirm our commitment to follow Jesus Christ to a life spent for each other and for our suffering friends in the majority world. It was a beautiful time of connection and silence; challenging for me in many ways. The North American staff of Kathmandu prayed, talked, laughed, and ate lots of cheesecake, as we imagined the future together. Kim & Silas, Kara, Jesse, Brook, and Calvin, already dear friends of several years, will not only be my coworkers but family for me when I live in Kathmandu. I know that just as Jesus sent out His disciples in pairs, so we also go in community, and not alone!

You, my family and friends, are also members of my community, and I’d like to invite you further into my journey. Will you come with me to Kathmandu? Will you keep myself and the people of Nepal in your thoughts and prayers? My heart is that first and foremost you would partner with me in prayer. I am responsible for raising all the financial support I will need overseas, and if you feel called to support me in this journey financially, I hope that brings you and I closer together and you closer to God.

Henri Nouwen says, in his book The Spirituality of Fundraising, about partnership in ministry: “When compared with a new freedom and new friendship in a new communion, money is the least exciting thing.” I feel that is so true, and though it is least exciting for me to share my financial needs with you, it is also an opportunity for me to seek solidarity with those who have no choice but to ask others for food and money.

My total monthly needs, including health insurance, airplane tickets, and salary will be about $1100 a month. Any amount you send in my name to Word Made Flesh, a non-profit, will be put in my support account and my needs are paid out of that. Before I head to Nepal, I will need to have about $6000 in my support account. If you use the card enclosed in this letter please do not write your name on the memo line of a check, for tax purposes.

Thank you for allowing our stories to come together and being a part of my life! I’ll be writing you again soon with some snapshots of life in Nepal and in Grand Rapids as I prepare to leave.

With Much Hope,

Liz

One Reason I Love my GR Life.

Scene: Large party at my apartment, 5 people in a deep conversation about the value of following the rules of the Church and why Protestants should or should not receive communion at Mass.

All of sudden, shouting is heard: “LOOK! I’m a gymnast!” from Jan.

Moments like this make me sad to move…

Homely Food.

I went home to visit my family this weekend. Our house is crazy chaos- animals, kids, adults, coming and going. My sisters have a horse named Trent, he used to be let out of the pen everyday but he recently discovered how to crawl under the fence, so he lets himself in and out now. He wanders up to the house and drinks out of the swimming pool. Sometimes he gets into the neighbor’s yard and the girls have to run over there to bring him back. Sparty, the indoor/outdoor dog, sleeps in bed with you. Literally… like he’ll put his head on the pillow. This is not a lap dog, this is Lassie- on crack.

This weekend was typical I_ style- cards, my Dad’s comments, Sparty, random kids coming over… but I had nothing to do except read. It was magnificent and pure serenity. When I came back to my apartment there was silence, but too much to do and think about to read.

Tuna noodle casserole reminds me of building pyramids out of sugar cubes to learn about ancient Egypt, and reading The Chronicles of Narnia. I used to hate it, but now with canned peas and chocolate chip cookies…

it makes me miss home.