Our travels have been very smooth. The idea of gathering at
the Cathedral with family and friends to send us off, both for lunch and a
Eucharist, was a marvelous one. The liturgy our chaplain Elizabeth Popplewell
had developed ended with an extended “send off blessing”. I invited people to
form family and friend groups so that the travelers could be prayed over by
those sending them off. In the Eucharist
my wife Donna had prayed for all our connections – especially at Atlanta which
was a small window of time for such a trip, but proved effortless – and with
our luggage at the end of our flights. Her prayers were answered. What remains
is her final request – for God to bless our connections with the next
generation of our Companion Relations in Swaziland. May our hearts find one
another and our common hope to be ambassadors of reconciliation in Christ be
ignited and launched.
One of my responsibilities at the Conference is to teach on
Sunday morning about the Cross. It dawned on me this early morning that our
theme for the trip and our logo for the t-shirts give me my opening image –
“Under One Tree”. I think it was intended to convey that special meeting place
in the rural areas of Swaziland where previous trips have met with people and
leaders – a symbol of a gathering together. And yet of course, it has even
deeper meaning when we understand that we all are gathered by God under that
one tree on which Christ gave Himself for the world. Never too early to capture
the Spirit’s nudging. Pray for us as we gather in Swaziland.
Watch this space and the Under One Tree blog for updates
from Bishop Scarfe and others among our delegation to Swaziland.
