A letter from Liz Searles serving in Romania, March 2015

A letter from Liz Searles serving in Romania

March 2015 – MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE: Renewing HOPE

“Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.”    —St. Augustine of Hippo (born in Algeria; 354-430)

I am back in Tulcea, Romania, after visiting family and sharing news with people in 20 congregations in Texas, Oregon, and Connecticut.  I like to call this time “making the invisible visible”—we see each other and understand each other’s challenges and ministries in person—in the flesh. As I speak in congregations I am privileged to meet the many people in the pews who make ministry in Romania possible. In that way itineration helps make the invisible visible.

That’s what our shared ministry is about, isn’t it? Making invisible realities such as faith, hope and love visible in the world. Just as the Word was made Flesh in Jesus Christ, these invisibles become visible as we share incarnational ministries worldwide.

We gain energy from seeing what God is doing somewhere very different from our home. Similarly, we are energized when we can share what God is doing where our work is a critical presence—both the joys and the challenges. We all gain energy from sharing our struggles to forge an ever-wider circle of caring and commitment.

Healing may happen too—healing of doubt, of discouragement, of fatigue. These stressors begin to melt away as we share personally about our often sensitive and disheartening work. It’s a joy to meet those who support and participate in and care about our ministries.

Of course worship with U.S. congregations feeds my spirit in familiar ways: singing in the choir, the “good ol’ hymns,” folk music, Scripture, liturgy and the message in English.

And yet, traveling, meeting throngs of people, sleeping in different beds easily can become disorienting and tiring. It’s good to be home in Tulcea, Romania, in my own bed, for sure!

When I return after even a few months away, the things that concern me or even make me angry in my work in Romania—how institutions treat children, “the system” and systemic stigmatization and marginalization, bullying and gossip, assumptions about orphans and Roma—I bear witness to these realities as if for the first time. And it makes me angry.

Recently I stumbled upon St. Augustine’s equation above: Anger + Courage expresses Hope. In a way, courageous actions make what is invisible—hope—visible. It’s another one of those incarnational realities. Hope is embodied in the person who transforms anger about realities—what is—into hope about what may be. This transformation from anger to hope is made possible by courageous action. The energy for action may be driven by anger, but the anger is transmuted into hope. It’s an incarnational miracle.

Perhaps this oversimplifies, but without the courage to work with the belief that change is possible all our anger does is contribute to hopelessness. Without courage in the mix, active and healing hope is not possible.

What is true for incarnating hope is also true for incarnating love, faith, and so many other qualities that go into sharing the message of Jesus Christ.

I have to admit I am sometimes in danger of losing hope. I cannot say that my vision never dims, my energy never flags, or my hope never falters.

And yet courage is woven into the textual warp and woof of the Bible, in the many “Fear not!” passages and in the Old Testament promises of GOD: “Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings as eagles, they will run and not be weary; they will walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

As I traveled I asked pastors and people to select “Great is Your Faithfulness.” Worship in English in home churches is always a moving experience, but that hymn says it all for me. God has been faithful and YOU have been faithful.

We need your gifts and contributions for this ministry—yes.

We need more staff—yes.

We need stronger interventions for education, health, spiritual guidance—yes.

But most of all, we need courage to do the work of NOROC (God Bless) for at-risk children—courage to transmute anger into energetic and active hope—advocacy and action toward the way things might be.

Your prayers and care and gifts help us “wait on the Lord”–help renew our courage and our hope.

Thank you for this.

And I hope to thank you in person when I again itinerate in the U.S.A. in the first half of 2016. May I visit with your congregation? Please be in touch if you wish to have me visit.

Together, we make the invisible visible—we awaken courageous hope!
Liz

Elizabeth Searles, partnered with NOROC in Tulcea, Romania
“New Opportunities for Romanian Orphaned Children”
PC(USA) mission co-worker and
Global Ministries (UCC / DOC) mission associate

Great Lenten Prayer:

May God bless you with discomfort

at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships,

so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger

at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people,

so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears

to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war,

so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and

to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness

to believe that you can make a difference in the world,

so that you can do what others claim cannot be done

to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.


—Franciscan benediction

The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 320
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