So today is my official last day in San Francisco…
This change has not come easy and will be needed to be wrapped in prayer. I will be moving home with my final flight back to PHL on the 15th…
I am anxiously anticipating the next chapter in my life and where that will take me…
Even though there have been times of struggle while I have been here in San Fran, I am happy and blessed to have been given this opportunity. I will treasure all of the AWRC and AFSC staff and TA’s…
Bishop Kammerer said at the latest GBOD meeting, “At a time when the rest of the church is having a difficult time figuring out how to be a global church, the young people are living into it and showing us the way.”
One Lord, One Church, One World.
After returning home from Berlin and Woltersdorf, Germany I have a renewed sense of United Methodist connectionalism and enthusiasm for young people in our Church worldwide.
From the 21st of July until 26th of July (I stayed until the 30th of July for the Division on Ministries with Young People’s Annual Meeting), I had the unique and amazing opportunity to be a part of a global event that gave voice to young people around the globe. Global Young People’s Convocation and Legislative Assembly was a time where young people from around our global connection came together for worship, ministry, fellowship, leadership development, and time for legislation.
We all came together for an amazing time of worship on the first night where we all needed to use translators to understand the service. People spoke in their native languages and it was amazing. English was not the only language used…we had translation into English, русский, Deutsch, Français, and Português. It was a different experience, as an English speaker, to wait for the translation. But my favorite part about it were the jokes. Depending on which language the speaker was speaking there would be waves of laughter, because the jokes were being translated and everyone got them at slightly different times, SO GREAT!!!!
While at Convo, we went on cultural excursions to places in Berlin.
We first were able to worship in the historic Berliner Dom. The entire GYPC-LA body went and had an ecumenical service that was opened up to the community of Berlin. We had a youth worker from Berlin (I forget what denomination she was from) speak. Then we continued our worship experience with a Thomas Mass. There were a ew different stations set up around the Dom and we were able to move freely between them During registration time people were able to create a “wall” and this was transported to the Church. We were able to lay our laments on that wall. Write prayer requests, whatever we needed to say. There was another place where we were able to light candles, write little notes of praise, have a special blessing by one of the Bishops, and look at pictures of both pain and happiness and reflect on them. In addition to that, there was an area where we sang Taize chants. Now, to give you the setting of the Berliner Dom, it is a huge, high ceilinged Cathedral-like building…thus the acoustics-AMAZING!!!! When the Taize chants began they brought my right back to my Taize community from last summer. I really felt like we were truly the Body of Christ. We all might have found worship in a different sense while there, but yet we were all together as one body, worshipping together.
After worship time at the Dom, we all departed and went on cultural excursions to better identify with the history of Berlin. I went to a GDR remand prison called Hohenschönhausen. This prison was used until 1990. “The list of those arrested ranged from the leaders of the 17 June uprising in 1953 to Jehovah’s Witnesses. But many others also spent months in the tomb-like cells, from reform communists such as Walter Janka, head of the Aufbau publishing house, to politicians fallen in disgrace, such as former GDR Foreign Minister Georg Dertinger, a CDU party member, and even one disgraced ex-SED Politbüro member, Paul Merker. Moreover, this period – long before the Berlin Wall – saw the Ministry of State Security (MfS) actually kidnapping critics of the SED Party who were in the West and bringing them to the Hohenschönhausen prison – the most famous case, perhaps, being Walter Linse, a West Berlin lawyer, kidnapped near his home in 1952 and executed a year later in Moscow.” (http://en.stiftung-hsh.de/document.php?subcat_id=CAT_253&recentcat=CAT_233&back=1).
The second day of touring, I went to Sachsenhausen – Oranienburg. This was an old concentration camp that was used by Nazi Germany. It was built by concentration camp prisoners and then was used until liberated in 1945. Some of the odd things that we learned about the camp was that certain buildings are still being utilized today. German police train their forces there and use some of refurbished buildings. It was odd and somber experience to visit the camp. We all had been at the Estrel earlier in the day and were joking around/having fun with one another on the bus ride to Oranienburg. Once we arrived the entire mood of our group changed. We were no longer laughing and joking around with one another. I think it began to sink in that people, many people, had died in this very place not that long ago. We saw the barracks were the prisoners slept, the work they were required to do, and also the places where the prisoners were killed. All that I could do to reconcile this to my mind was think that this needed to be remembered as not to repeat this in the future.
After our excursions each night we went to a local congregation and shared in a meal with them as well as a “vespers” style service. Each group, regardless of the UMC, had the same liturgy used. So it only demonstrated more the idea of “unity” in the body of Christ. We might have been in different congregations, but we were all still united.
In all, I feel like GYPC-LA was encouraging to young leaders around our connection. It is a rare occurrence when you get together over 300 young leaders from over 20 different countries to discuss how ministry is occurring within their own cultural context. We were able to bring voice to issues that were concerning to young people worldwide!!! While we did not always agree with one another on every issue (i.e. legislative assembly time) we respected one another and still loved on one another. To say that to be “One body” we need to think the exact same way is false logic, I believe. To me, there is unity in our diversity. “Red, and yellow, black and white…all are precious in Jesus’ sight.” This was only made more clear at GYPC. Different languages…different cultures…different styles of worship…but all for the same thing…to Glorify God. The last night’s cultural celebration allowed for this to truly be felt. Whether we were swimming and skiing with the NEJ, 2-steppin and ‘Single ladiesing” it with the Texans, doing a dance with the FIlipinos, rappin’ our names with the Africans, finding a partner with the Russians, doing squats with the Germans…it didn’t matter, it was amazing sharing our cultures with one another…
I feel honored and privileged to not only have been a participant in this event but to have also been on the planning team. There were many nights that I only got 3 hours of sleep, but it was more than worth it and I would do it again in a heartbeat. To all my fellow GYPC’ers…it was really my honor and pleasure to have met you all. I am changed for the better because i had the opportunity to meet you. I hope and pray that each one of us is able to bring home to our conferences, jurisdictions, central conferences, etc. the love that was shared with one another in Berlin. Let’s keep modeling what a truly global Church could look and act like. I know that I’ve made close friendships with people from around the world that will last a lifetime. For this I am grateful.
Please add any quotes that you can vividly remember from the weekend…
“I’m a tosa, tosa, tosa…TOSA!!!”
“Now, let’s remember what the covenant says about that…”
“I am Bethany Amey, delegate number 238, Northeast Jurisdicition, DMYP member.”
“Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim swim….SHARK!!!”
Hello from Berlin…so even though I did onlly et about 3 1/2 hours of sleep last night I am happy to be here again today!
We had a great morning devotion from one of our Russian friends Rev. Pavel. We as plenary session have all had the experience of having to have things translated for us. I think that this is great for US folks that are used to conversations being predominantly held in English.
We are starting legislation today. Thank goodness we are only going to be dealing with legislation that has already been written. Our poor translators would definitely have not gotten ANY sleep at all if we had opened the floor to new legislation.
So tonight is the Ministry Fair. It will be great to get to see how others around the world are doing ministry and hopefully be able to bring some new and fresh ideas back to the States!!!
Anyways…I am excited to read facebooks posts about legislation breakout sessions that people are feeling encouraged and respected. Hopefully this spirit of togetherness will continue throughout the rest of Convo. I am hopeful for fruitful conversations and a community of trust.
Pictures from communion and worship this morning will be posted soon!
Much.Love.
Hopefully, if all VISAS actually work out that 27 countries will be represented.
I will post more information soon.
Please be in prayer for us!!!
Traveling mercies to all participants!
So today has been filled with preparations for Convo that will start tomorrow. We are all hurrying to finalize what’s going on and setting up of the conference rooms. The team is excited to get this Convo started! I can’t wait to see how everything comes together. It has been a year in planning and I know that this will be great.
Here is the scripture for our conference!
Ephesians 4:1-6
In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.
You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.
One Lord. One Church. One World.
❤
You know you’re in San Fran when…
you no longer realize you’re being squished like a sardine on MUNI…
Fisherman’s Wharf is no longer appealing…instead you see it as solely a Tourist Trap…
you no longer hear the people shouting at you in Chinese on the street…
people push you on Stockton Street and it no longer phases you…you simply push back…
when organic produce is cheaper than non-organic produce…
So since Saturday night (Friday morning east coast time) I have been in Manila, Philippines…
My journey to Manila began in San Francisco at 5:20 AM when I boarded Supershuttle and headed to the airport.
All my travels went smoothly and I was greeted at the Manila airport by a special guide to help me get through customs and get to my transportation to the hotel. I was so relieved to have a friendly face meet me at the airport. I was also glad because I was so sleep deprived that I had not filled out my customs sheet correctly. I had forgotten to write my name and sign the papers. OOPS!!!!
So after getting through customs without any problems I proceeded to baggage and got my luggage and changed some money! The exchange rate was definitely in my favor. It is 44 Filipino paesos to every American dollar.
I was absolutely amazed when I arrived at the hotel. I stepped out of the van and into a beautiful lavish hotel lobby. I was greeted by some of the hotel staff with a warm hello and “Welcome ma’m.” I was ushered to the check-in desk and was then swiftly escorted to my room. This was wonderful considering that I had been in transit for about 33 hours.
The next morning all the CT (Connectional Table) and the SCWWNC were all headed out to local congregations to worship with them. Stef Schutz (the youth DMYP member on the CT), Karen Greenwaldt (General Secretary of General Board of Discipleship), Stef’s mom Nancy, Mike Ratliff (Assoc. General Sec. in charge of DMYP), and I all went to Solid Rock Ministries. This is a New Church Start that is hoping to be chartered by next year.
Worship here was amazing. 3/4 of the congregation were all children, youth, and young adults. The fire and the passion that these people had was absolutely amazing. The service is a contemporary worship service with a praise band. They rocked it out!!! The rest of the congregation worshiped with such intentionality and praise. They felt the praise music through their entire body! Pastor Joubert was great and you could feel his commitment to this congregation flowing through him and the members of his church. During the service the children of the congregation came forward and performed a song. There were 2 children playing the keyboard, 4 boys singing, and another boy on the drums. The girls were all doing a choreographed dance in the front. They did such a great job! They were just so excited to perform and all of them sang from their hearts. Pastor Joubert preached in both English and Tagalog. Even if he hadn’t been translating for us, his passion seeped through his preaching and we were able to feel the emotion of the sermon. After church was over, they invited us to stay for lunch and have some time of fellowship.
From the time that we arrived at their church from the time that we departed they demonstrated to us such radical hospitality that I felt privileged to even have met them. At all times they kept thanking us for coming to visit their church and seeing their ministry. When in all reality, it was my (our) benefit, our pleasure to have been able to be there.
The warmth of the people.
The smile in their hearts.
The joy in their worship.
The radical hospitality.
The love of Christ that comes transcends through all.
This is just the beginning of the stories of my trip. I have only been here for 4/5 days and I have been changed.
What does it mean to be a worldwide church?
“The 2008 General Conference created the Worldwide Nature of the Church study committee after the denomination made a step toward reorganizing so it does not appear to be a U.S. church, with satellite locations in Africa, Asia and Europe. ”
I am contemplating that exact sentiment as I sit here in our joint meeting with the Study Committee and the Connectional Table. We are here in Manila, Philippines contemplating this idea…
What would you say to the Church if you could? What are the words, thoughts, and insights that you have for leaders of our denomination? These are tough and heave questions. Are we moving towards regional conferences rather than central conferences and jurisdictions? What happens if the constitutional amendments fail? What happens if they pass?
Is the Church ready to let young people in our denomination step up to the plate and serve in roles of leadership? Are we as a denomination ready to have a shift in our thinking? What will our Church look like in 20 years if we maintain the status quo?
More thoughts to come soon…
.Community.
According to wikipedia community is defined as is a group of interacting organisms (or different species) sharing an environment. In human communities, intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, risks, and a number of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness.
Though I have been struggling to find community here in San Francisco, I believe that i am turning a new corner out here. I have been visiting a few local churches recently to see where I feel as if I “fit in.” Let me preface by saying that church out here is definitely different than being home and having my dad as my pastor. But when there are periods of uncertainty, there are also blossoms of growth. Being challenged in my faith has reaffirmed my beliefs and allowed me to live into and be firm in what I feel is my own personal credo. However, I do believe that I have finally found that place where I feel at home and feel comfortable. I mean really it has only taken a few long months. haha. Just kidding. So in order for me to find community I had to get out and seek new places for community and not restrict myself to trying to produce community where there is none. Little by little I feel as if I am regaining my true self. I am not longer being a social anxiety bearing hermit! For those of you that know me, I’m sure you’re thinking “social anxiety, Bethany?” Yes. I retreated to the comforts of my room and myself because of previous encounters that made me nervous and worried about not fitting in. But now I am back. I have closed chapters on parts of my life and even though they tend to want to be revisited I am staying strong and looking to the horizon on new opportunities.
Ok. So what have I been doing lately for work? Well…I have still been working with the afterschool program at Asian Family Support Center. We currently have 10 students enrolled and plan on enrolling another 5-10 students starting in April. The children are great and I see them progressing everyday! I hope that I can move forward with the development of this summer reading program for the kids! Hopefully, I will have a reading program for the kids where they would come 1-2 days a week in the summer for a reading program. Have people come in to read stories to them, encourage them to read books on their own, work on reading comprehension, and also on developing their “tones” while reading! I know that this program would be vital for almost everyone of the students that is currently enrolled in our program. One subject area that they are struggling with is reading and phonics. Hey, I’m definitely not a certified teacher, but I can do my best and hope that they somehow improve! Will update on whether the program happens!
Anyways, so for this Lenten season I have taken on the task of seeking out new ways to enjoy San Francisco. I mean this is one of the largest tourist traps! With that in mind, I have recently taken on seeing different sights within the city.
Last weekend I went with a former DMYP member Emily to the Golden Gate Bridge. Wow! It was incredible! The bridge is so picturesque! Here are some pics for those near and far far away (Mongolia, Cambodia, South Africa!!!).
Ok so here’s some information for everyone to know…I will be traveling to Manila, Philippines in 17 days! Please keep me and the other members of the Connectional Table in your prayers. I will keep you updated when I get there with pictures and blogs as the internet permits!
To my friends near and far- I miss you all. Much love <3.
So things have been quite busy since my last update (JoBrad- I know I said I’d be better at updating…so sorry!!! I will get there eventually!!!)…At the end of January I was extremely sick and was in the ER for a night. It was scary to be so far away from my family and to be so sick. The doctors took really great care of me ($5000 worth of great care- just got the health insurance breakdown!!! insanity!) and it would up just being severe dehydration and the flu! Drink those fluids friends- no joke! RIght after that I traveled to Epworth by the Sea in February for the Executive Table Meeting of the DMYP. We had a very successful meeting and it was more than well worth the time off.
The rest of February continued without much going on. Everyday I go to Richmond- Asian Family Support Center and do an afterschool program. The kids are great and I see them improving everyday!
March started out and everything was fine. One morning I woke up to find out that my grandmother in PA had passed away. Things seemed to go like a blur. After getting the text from my uncle I finally got a hold of my mom and got right on a flight back to NJ that same day. The funeral was beautiful. My dad did the ceremony and I was able to see cousins and an aunt that I had never actually met ever! I am 26 years old and this was the first time I ever met my Aunt Joyce. When we had walked into my Uncle Brad’s house my mom looked at a woman and was like who are you. It was her sister Joyce. She hadn’t seen her sister since my grandfather’s funeral 18 years ago. It was great to see them embrace. The picture below is of my mom and her 13 brothers and sisters. The other photo is of just about 1/3 of my cousins. I have tons of cousins, 1st cousins, 2nd cousins, etc. You guys get the point…HA! The other pic is of just the great great grandchildren. Anyways, I got to go home for the funeral and that was a time of grief but healing as well. My mom’s side of the family seemed to get closer with one another. They all were never really great at keeping in touch with one another. I mean there are 14 of them and all of them live in Western PA except for my mom and her sister Joyce that lives in Texas…But now my mom has said oh well I talked to my sister today, or I talked to my brother today which makes me soooo happy to hear!
My grandmother was the mother of 14 children. She had over 100 grandchildren, great grandchildren, etc. She was a strong woman. She was a Christian. She was a cancer survivor. She was the matriarch of a great, big family. She made sure that even though we were a big family that we ALL knew how much she loved everyone of us. We miss you everyday Grandma. But we know now that while your earthly body prevented you from signing because of the cancer in your voicebox, that you are now whole and able to sing in Heaven. Love you.
So I know it has been a while since I have updated my blog. So I will do my best to catch everyone up on what’s been going on!
November- Time was spent at Methodist Disneyland (aka Lake Junalaska) with the Connectional Table. I spent a few glorious days there relaxing and having meeting from sun up to sun down!!! Back in San Fran I continued to work on the development of an afterschool program that is scheduled to begin January 5th, 2010…hardly any time to plan but we’re making it work. Thanksgiving was spent with lovely friends out in Livermore, CA about a 45 minute BART (Bay Area Rapid Transpot) away. It was nice to be with my dear friend Amanda (from college at Eastern U) and to meet her husband James. We went to a family in her church’s house for dinner and it was great to get out of San Fran and just relax with an old friend.
December- More planning and more planning for this afterschool program. We began to interview families and enroll students. One thing that I still don’t understand is how this program that we’re offering here is free, while the families are more affluent than those in Chinatown…and the families in Chinatown have to pay tuition to attend the program. Tell me how that makes any sense city of San Fran…In addition to the work put in to the afterschool program the Chinatown afterschool program’s teacher and teacher’s assistants all took a trip to Tahoe, California. Yes there was much discussion between my mother and I as to whether I was in Nevada or in California. I assured her that I was still in California, but still to this day I don’t think she believes Tahoe is in California…Anyways, so we took a nice 4+ hour ride to Tahoe through about 1-3 feet of newly falling snow. It was great to be back in the driver’s seat of a car! Oh how i missed it. The snow was intense! Nothing like snow in NJ. I mean I have seen snow, but I haven’t seen snow like that in a LONG time. It was a great weekend…there were a few hiccups along the way and some learning about things I did not understand, but I made it through. I still may not understand them, but eh it’s over and differences are what makes the world beautiful.
So later in the month, we had our annual AWRC Christmas party where all the Parent Child Program (PCP) kids and their parents and the TA’s go to a party at Far East (where else) and enjoy a visit from Santa, some performances by classes, and get this LINE DANCING to Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean. I believe that last part will make Michael turn over in his grave, but hey…it seems that the Chinese LOVE line dancing. It was quite interesting…Fun though…
Oh and then the 22nd came around…and do we all know what that means??? I WENT HOME TO NJ FOR CHRISTMAS!!! I have never been more incredibly happy to go home in my entire life! I had the LONGEST flight ever…here let me recap, San Fran to Houston- Houston to Chicago- Chicago to Cleveland- Cleveland to Philadelphia…yes that is 4 flights my friends…it was well spent relaxing and hanging with my family. It was nice to be in my home church for Christmas Eve service and to be with my mom! I had a lovely get together with my friends at my house on Sunday. It was great to see friends that I hadn’t seen in forever!
As soon as I got back to San Fran I was busy busy busy!!! We were only a few days away from beginning our afterschool program- The Learning Place. At the agency we were also preparing for our United Way Benefit DInner/Gala. This dinner is a collaborative effort between 12 agencies in the San Francisco area. Every agency contributes something towards the event and in the end all of them share in the profits from the dinner.
New Years Eve I worked until 6 as it was not a half day for us. I went down to the Cheesecake Factory to get some take out to ring in the New Year. Yes, i am pathetic but the Red Velvet Cheesecake was definitely not, it so DELISH!!! Spent the evening trying not to fall asleep before 12 AM. Man, does this mean I am getting old? Ha.
SO the New Year has now rung in and I’m thinking that things are going to be better than the last. I am letting go of old baggage and looking to the new opportunities that I will have this new year. Things to come are great like Exec DMYP Table Meeting in Feb, NOLA/BR in March, Philippines in April, Brother’s wedding in June, and Germany in July!
So please keep praying for me and my work out here in San Francisco. Things are not always easy and the culture is definitely challenging. I am lonely sometimes while I am out here as I haven’t made any real friends that live close by. So please continue to pray for strength and patience. Love to you all.
SAN FRAN, What? 