We have so much to learn

Excerpt from Journal by Phoebe Warner (Rhode Island)

Each moment is not so much a moment, but a place that we all live in. So, though I cried saying "Goodbye" to our Mozambique friends and to South Africa, should I have? I might not see some of these people again, but because of memories and photographs, we can always remember and continue living with these thoughts close to our hearts.  Goodbye isn't really forever. And we remember this too, through Jesus' death and resurrection.  Did he not come back to life and ascend into heaven? If we didn't believe this we would be liars every time we recited the Nicene Creed.  He came back to life and we will too, metamorphically and literally, all because of him.

All this I learned from two books and a week of making friends, listening to others and seeing new things.  And as I begin to make a mental list of everything I am going to do when I get home to improve myself and the world, I realize what a blessing these memories are and what a blessing it is to be alive knowing that we will continue life beyond the grave.  And so as the angel said at Jesus' tomb... "Why do you weep?"

Kayla Iacobucci (Rhode Island)

We have so much to learn.

The pilgrimage to South Africa was called a "once in a lifetime opportunity" for many of us when embarking on this journey, and on our final day there, some of us took time to discuss what our actions would be once we were home from this trip.  It was evident among the group that we all wanted to help the people we had met in the diocese of Pretoria, the children at the Tumelong Haven, and those suffering at the Hospice.  Fundraising ideas were in abundance, from evensong benefits at church, to events at individual schools, to micro-lending to individuals and businesses in South Africa.  We have been forever changed by this experience, and now it is up to us to carry the stories we heard, the lessons we learned, and the pictures of the people we met back to our homes to share and inform our communities.  We still have so much to learn, and God has given us the tools to make our "once in a lifetime opportunity" into many many more lifetime opportunities for those who have touched our hearts.