The latest news from Heida and Monica.

«

»

In January 2005 Grace-St. Luke’s joined with Calvary Church, St. Mary’s Cathedral and Church of the Holy Communion to send two Anglican missionary nuns to South Africa.

Monica & Heidi are living in a small village outside Grahamstown simply being with and attending to the needs of children who have lost their parents to AIDS.

June 2010

Dear friends,

Warmest greetings from South Africa!  It’s been some time since a letter has gone out.  I have been struggling to write in any coherent way that reflects some of the many blessings, treasured moments of these past days, months, and even years.  Since the feast of Pentecost, I have been reflecting on how the Spirit has been at work these past 5 years since our start in the Diocese of Grahamstown. She has been very busy indeed! 
Let me start with this weekend.  Monica and I invited the managers and supervisors of our 3 Isibindi sites for a care of caregivers time together at the monastery in Grahamstown.  The workers from the sites rarely have had time together, or if they did it was at a tightly packed scheduled conference.  So this was their first visit to the monastery and their first time to really share together all of their joys and struggles as leaders as well as their lives in a nurturing environment.

Warm, deep connections were immediately established, and they decided to share rooms with the people they did not know, (something we would most likely never consider).  After choosing their rooms, they all gathered in one of the 6 available bedrooms, huddled two to a bed and the rest on the floor, and began catching up with each other.

Later on during the nickel tour they immediately absorbed the natural beauty surrounding them, the abundance of trees, birds, plants, flowers, and stunning vistas that embraced them.  Sindiswa even mentioned she felt the pain in her knee start to disappear.  You could see the tension beginning to lift from their shoulders, faces, and the ordered relaxing began to take effect.  They were so grateful to be in such a nourishing environment, to just be away, it was so evident.  We all need time to get away and see the world and life from another view.  While here they were introducing who they are and what they do to a visitor of the monastery.  While explaining, many heard themselves voicing almost for the first time their role as cycw’s, speaking with confidence about their work, profession, and they surprised themselves how far they have come, how much they have grown, how passionate they are, and how impressed their new friend appeared.  She became their mirror and it was a gift to them.  Sometimes you have to get out of your context to see things more clearly.  I could almost see the light bulb go on, and they were so proud of themselves, deservedly so.  There was the comment, “did you hear how we threw out those words like life space, working in the moment, developmental plan…” snapping their fingers.  There were many robust nods and returns of “Ewe!!!” (Yes!) Confidence.  Affirmation.  Pride.  Who are these people, I quietly asked myself?  Certainly not that motley crowd we interviewed 4 years ago?  Yes, one and the same!  It’s been moments like these that have moved me so deeply and got me to reflect on how the Spirit has been at work among us.  A great sense of pride welled up in me to see them “get it”, get how far they have come.  I have seen it gradually over these four years, and it’s now more evident than ever they have come such a long way, professionally, and personally. And now they are beginning to see it too.  They have always been so eager to learn, to grow, to grab life and run.  Our therapist, Lesley, who worked with 2 of our teams, said that she never experienced clients who were so ready to work on themselves, they didn’t dip in a toe, they dove in head first.   And that’s how it’s been these 4 years.  From being hired to immediately becoming project managers and supervisors, … to learning how to take an airplane for the very first time (and no, you don’t need to carry your blankets, the hotel will provide them), … to learning how to count their hours for their timesheets, making clocks with paper plates to count the time,  … to learning how to paint, play with clay, do a puzzle, …to learning how to ride those famous yellow bicycles, clad in their helmeted wigs,  … when the Alice team received their new car…how to change a tire, check the oil, and use all the available cup holders….to how to welcome and greet all the odd foreign visitors we bring, with their funny ways of greeting, and even funnier ways of introducing their dogs along with their children, … they have grabbed every single thing and ran with it.

They are on the verge of graduating with their FET certificate in Child and Youth Care Work, a certificate that will allow them to work in the field anywhere in the country, the equivalent to the first year of university studies.  We have been receiving news of them completing their 14 modules these past few weeks, one by one.  It has been a wonderful celebration, day by day, cheering the next one who “has been found competent”.  With each news of completion come the celebratory cheers, ululations, hugs, and kisses, even tears.  It’s been like this for weeks, and I’ve been savoring these treasured moments of achievement, joy, pride, and relief, with silent reflection.  I haven’t the words to share the emotion that abound in the cycw’s and within myself.  They fall far too short. 

And the realization of how many children’s lives they have transformed (over 2300), the countless families they have touched, people that have been empowered, and those who have touched another, and another, it becomes exponential.  Not to mention how their own lives, the lives of their own families, have changed so dramatically as well.  Women could leave abusive relationships because they have a job and can support their children, houses have been rebuilt, food has been consistently put on the table by their own hand, lives have been empowered, and more choices have become available to them. 

Oh, the Spirit has been on the move, making connections within the townships and villages, into the towns and cities, and across the seas around the world.  Many people have come to visit these communities of Ilinge, Ezibeleni, and Alice where child and youth care workers are implementing the Isibindi model.  I have witnessed how these people have been deeply touched and moved by the Spirit that abounds here, the passion, love and commitment that is tangible and almost contagious, the gift that is ubuntu (I am because you are) which is alive and well, and these lives have been equally transformed in ways that are a mystery.  A mystery that only the Spirit can uncover, an unspeakable sacredness unique to each one, a treasure bestowed to them between their heart and the ear of God.  This mystery that is lived out daily in ways that are unknown, and will be in ways yet to be revealed.

See what no eye can see, go where no foot can go, choose that which is no choice-then you may hear what makes no sound-God’s voice. -Angelus Silesius

“Little by little one walks far.” -Peruvian saying

In the heart of God,

Heidi and Monica