"Elaina! Over here!" Walking down a street in Jerusalem, trying to find our hotel, I saw my family for the first time in over 4 months. After an eventful trip to get here, I don't know who was about to cry first: my parents for having all 3 of their kids together again or me.
In talking to people who have participated in Young Adults in Global Mission or those who work with the program, no one has heard of siblings serving the same year. So this year, my parents not only have sent two of their children half way across the world where internet is spotty at best. but their youngest just left for a semester abroad in Norway. My mom is a mother who doesn't often worry that her children will be safe, until all 3 are literally thousands of miles away. Serving in YAGM, each participant's story is different from the next, with each country's having very different contexts for how the participants are serving their communities. My brother lives with a Lutheran pastor and his family in the basement of a parsonage. I live in a 2 bedroom flat above the cafeteria of the local Lutheran High school. My brother works 25- 30 hours a week. I have duties scheduled 7 days a week. Even between my brother and I, we cannot make comparisons because even within the countries that we serve, our contexts are so incredibly different. Walking down the streets of Jericho, my mom grabbed my hand and asked what I was thinking. Visiting Carter, I realized how little I knew about the world. There are so many layers, politically, religious, and other wise, into Israel and Palestine and it was a lot to process in such a short period of time. But, as our family was able to see where Jesus was born and died, where he was baptized, floating in the Dead Sea, and seeing my family, my eyes were opened to cultures so vastly different from the one I grew up in and the one that I am currently serving in.
1 Comment
Beth Johnson
1/13/2017 06:49:32 pm
And God is good - All the time! I'm so proud of both of you - no - all of you! Mom!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Elaina JohnsonI am from a town on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin. I grew up in Hudson, WI, where I had the privilege of returning after graduating from Winona State University with a degree in Therapeutic Recreation. Archives
December 2016
|