Reunited and It Feels So Good...

It was almost two weeks ago that a team of eight of us gathered at the York Alliance Church Fellowship Hall to weigh luggage and make final preparations. "Team Simms" (Dan and Nathan) headed to Dulles, while the remaining six of us took off for Newark. We arrived about a day apart in Libreville, and the roller coaster began. We've experienced: displays of deep joy, heroism, the sovereignty of God, steps of faith, unusual bravery, the reality of the church, real worship, rest, celebration, and today, the renewal of community.

Steve left as the rest of us were getting out of bed, in order to make the 90 minute flight to Bongolo to retrieve our team. The rest of us had breakfast and caught up on some details as we waited. Dan was a bit sick, so he moved in and out of bed through the morning, trying to get enough strength to push through the day. Around 1:00pm or so, we heard the familiar pair of double beeps from the horn of the truck, and we quickly went out to greet the returning dental team!

If you've never taken a short-term mission trip, something happens within the team during the time spent together. In their recent book "The Faith of Leap," Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch describe the need for communitas versus simply community. The difference is essentially one of purpose: community for it's own sake is OK, but a community that serves together, risks together, and works together is far better. At York Alliance, we often say it this way: We don't have the mission of community, but rather, we're called to be a community on mission! As a team (community) serves together, they grow closer more rapidly and the relationships reach new depths. This rag-tag bunch had served together in various ways for a few weeks, through some challenging ordeals, and our hearts had been knit together. So when the dental half of our team returned, it was like getting part of our family back.

We spent the day debriefing in various ways: talking and laughing over lunch, playing at the beach and catching up on stories, a bit more formally reporting about the two major aspects of our trip (EG and the dental work), sharing some laughs around an enormous round table at a local Chinese restaurant, and finally, by looking at just about every single picture that every single one of us had taken during the last two weeks on the Straws living room television set. We told more stories, we remembered, we encouraged, and at one point, we laughed for nearly five minutes straight... It was a joyous reunion.

Tomorrow we'll get some souvenirs, do some packing, connect with our friends at the health clinic for lunch, and then hop on a plane to make the long journey home. We'll reconnect with family and friends that we've missed so much, we'll process all that we've seen and heard, and we'll try to get back into the swing of normal life. But just as is true for every event like this, we'll go back a little different. That's what God does; when we encounter Him, we're always changed.

But here's the thing we so often miss: it doesn't take a trip to Africa to change! Communitas will change us right where we are, as long as we're willing to commit to it. It can be difficult, it is most certainly inconvenient, and there will be more than the average amount of frustration along the way. However, like rocks in a rock tumbler, all of that "friction" does it's work. The rocks bounce around the cylinder, hitting one another as well as the sand and other elements that provide friction. As they do, the stones slowly change from dull and rough to smooth and brilliant. However, if there was no friction, there would be no shine. If there were no movement, then no polish. But living in fellowship with others (friction) for a common purpose (movement) smooths our rough edges and brings out our deepest and richest colors.

I'm looking forward to going home. I can't wait to see my wife and my kids. I'm looking forward to wearing a coat, although I hear I might be too late for that... I have a wonderful job, and I'm looking forward to doing it. The community of faith at York Alliance is an incredible blessing to me, and I can't wait to be back with them. And I'm looking forward to communitas. We have a small group of friends that are intentionally connecting to one another in specific ways during this Lenten season, so that we can be a blessing in the world and can help each other become more like Jesus. They are folks that I can truly share my life with, and them with me. As we do, it will be a daily reminder that transformed lives are not just found across the ocean, but if we're willing, they're here at home as well.