USA May 20, 2013

In all my efforts around the house to do some necessary Spring cleaning, I’ve somehow overlooked my blog. Well, fear no more! The dust and cob webs have been swept away from my dreary, abandoned journal and a new post has been presented for your reading pleasure!

I’ve been doing an okay job staying in touch with my USA friends but a terrible job communicating with friends abroad. And this is all due to my 3 months in the US. Yes folks- three. It’s indeed a long time to be on an unscheduled vacation, but I’ve been making the most out of it.

So, you might be wondering, ‘What the heck have you been doing for the past three months?’ 

Well, just about everything imaginable!

Since coming home in February I’ve had many snow adventures- most involving a shovel and two or three winter jackets layered with an equal number of sweaters. I’ve consumed an entire tin of hot chocolate, read another 10 books, made quilts with my mom and friends, baked zillions of cookies, mowed the lawn, planted a garden, installed a toilet, painted a house, stripped a deck, cut down trees, built and painted a shelf, tore out a different shelf, ate TONS of Missy’s pie, experienced general anesthesia for the first time, took some road trips, knitted slippers, hats and blankets, visited and spoke at churches across three states, two words: China Buffet, went bird watching in my backyard, performed in my sister’s final school band concert, created hand-made graduation invitations, went to Waypost twice (crosswayscamps.org/Waypost.htm), and drank roughly a zillion oodles worth of REAL coffee. *sigh*

I’m sure there’s more to add, but I don’t want to risk boring you with my list of hyper-productiveness.  

It’s been really good to see family members and old friends, and I fill all my ‘in-between’ time with projects to keep my mind busy. So long as I’m busy, I’m not wallowing in frustration in regards to the uber-long visa renewal process. If any of my kids are reading this, please know that I miss you all dearly and I’m hoping to get back soon! To all my friends and family in the US, thank you for your continued prayers for my health and my visa. I have loved spending time with you and exchanging stories, and I know that you’ll be both happy and sad to see me go.  

We send back music February 6, 2013

Hello Friends,

This post is actually a story shared by a friend serving in Chile with Global Ministries. It’s an absolutely beautiful story of environmental awareness, education, and music- all of which are my personal passions. I’ve included the text and media from the original article here, but if you would like to see it on Global Ministries’ website: click here

And, if you would like to read more about Elena and her work in Chile, you can visit her blog here

Mission Stewardship Moment from Chile:
Shortly after posting this week’s blog about my experiences in the Barrio San Francisco and the stream at the Jack Norment Camp in Caacupé, Paraguay, Carolina, one of my former Sunday school students in the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ in Paraguay sent me a video about the program she has been coordinating.  Though she did not live in the Barrio San Francisco, Carolina as a camper at the Jack Norment camp, was particularly interested in my environmental education activities.  She, too, grieved over the polluted stream and at age thirteen, visited the children of the Barrio, playing games, presenting puppet shows, planting trees.  Even though I felt that my activities as a Global Ministries Volunteer at the Camp and in the Barrio were ineffective “band-aids” stuck onto the massive, festering environmental wounds, Carolina is evidence that something shifts, something heals when we concentrate on doing what we can do, no matter how insignificant it seems, rather than on the freezing fear that what we finally manage to do will never be enough.

As I share Carolina’s video with you, imagine a thread that stretches down through nearly 20 years, from those environmental experiences with my campers at the Jack Norment camp, to the present.  In many ways, nothing has changed.  You will see the garbage.  You will see the poverty. You will see the families and children living on a dump. And yet, there is music, there is hope, there is new life recycled from the garbage. I feel like the grandmother of this story: I planted  seeds of justice in the heart of Carolina when she was a teenager; as an adult, she is beginning to harvest peace.

 

Serendib February 1, 2013

Now the first thing you might have noticed is that my blog’s got a new name. *gives you a minute to double check* Yep! New name!

the view as the road climbs up toward Kandy

When I first started this blog, I thought about lots of different themes and titles for my blog with what I hoped to do in Sri Lanka or what I guessed I would be doing there, but without knowing for certain, it didn’t seem right labeling my journey before it began. But anytime I write, I always save the title for last so as not to slant my thoughts in any direction other than the way they want to freely develop. Also, for all my technologically-challenged friends and family, the title ‘Julianna’s Blog’ was just easier to understand.

Well, no more, my friends! I’ve traveled a lap around the sun while walking with our brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka and it is time for a name. My work is not finished yet, but I think it’s time for an identity.

This year, I’ve been fortunate to receive many MANY great book recommendations from friends in my quest toward 100 books. (I completed 101 books for 2012, by the way!) And I got some really good recommendations for books on theology. Don’t we all read theology books for fun? Well, don’t we? Okay okay. So I’m a little odd, but you all know this anyhow.

Anyways, Saving Paradise was one book recommended by Brandon Gilvin in my quest to understand the hows and whys of my faith, and it is this book that inspires my title. The cross and the suffering Christ were not always the primary icons of the Christian church. In fact, the first didn’t appear until 1000 years after Christ’s death and resurrection. The book explores the early images and accompanying liturgy of our faith. (Also a huge thank you to Diane Faires and Saint Paul’s Christian Church for getting the book to me!)

a small copse on the outer banks of Jaffna

Historically, the church was filled with images of Eden, of paradise, and of the wealth of abundance we find through seeking God. This story not only begins our Christian and Jewish religious stories, but it can also be traced back to ancient Sumerian/Mesopotamian culture. Fascinating!! I’m afraid I’m at the risk of boring all you non-theological readers, and so I’ll get on with my story.

But yes, one way of interpreting our faith can be described as creating God’s Kingdom here on Earth. ‘Thy kingdom come,…on earth as it is in heaven’ Jesus calls us to love our neighbors- both the friendly ones and the not-so-friendly ones as a way of ushering in the Kingdom. All this talk of Kingdom points back to the early ideas of a Paradise. While the story tells of our exile from Eden, we as a people are always striving to right ourselves and to rediscover the joy and abundance once experienced in that garden paradise.

Historically, Sri Lanka went by many names as it was a common port on the Silk Road trading routes, and peoples spanning from China, to Persia, to Egypt, and most of Europe all knew of this ‘Pearl of the Indian Ocean’. Other than its previous name, Ceylon, the most famous historical name for the island was the Arabic corruption, Serendib, which later led to the word serendipity. I used this in my title A: because it sounds cool, B: it’s a historic name and my title is about remembering our past to inspire change for the future and C: it led to the meaning of serendipity or of accidentally finding something wonderful.

private shore land on Jaffna coast

I can see my ministry here in Sri Lanka as exactly these things; working with our neighbors to interpret the meanings of our faith, rebuilding a small piece of God’s Paradise, and maybe finding some serendipity on the way.

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If you are interested in learning more about the historic icons of the church, the history and meaning of the Genesis story, and the subsequent moral development of our church, I highly recommend this book!! Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire by Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker

Tai Pongal January 23, 2013

Tai Pongal, the Tamil harvest festival, was last week, and I’ve been slow in getting these photos uploaded to share with you all.

I celebrated the holiday with some of students and their family who live nearby the school.  I was so happy to be  invited for the ceremony and celebrations and excited to get to know some of my students better.

The name Tai Pongal has a two part meaning. Tai refers to a month within the Hindu calendar and Pongal is the name used for the sweet milk rice that is boiled on this holiday. The holiday sort of acts as a celebration of the winter solstice/rice harvesting time and so is a celebration of the Sun God and the subsequent crops harvested.

The ceremony begins before sunrise as we prepare the ground and ceremonial objects for the boiled pongal. It is timed so that the rice is boiled as the sun is rising, and the first meal can then be offered as homage to the Sun God. Once this first banana leaf has been prepared, prayed over, and blessed, we all then enter the house for our own servings of the harvest meal. We sit on floor mats, our food is served on banana leaves, and we eat with our hand all in the traditional customs.

After the meal is finished, extra meal parcels are created and delivered to neighbors and friends who are not able to celebrate the holiday or who are in the year of grieving after a death in the family.

And special, just for my own Tai Pongal experience, my students put together a music/dance/drama show for me and the family. The events were tri-lingual (english, tamil, and sinhala) AND they even created a written playbill for me illustrating the different acts. So sweet!

Below I’ve included some narrative photos of Tai Pongal. If you click on the first photo, it will bring up an enlarged slideshow and show the photo captions.

preparing the sweets- the tool on the left is for carving out and shredding the coconut

making the flour outline for the pongal ceremony

it’s cold before sunrise, better wear a hat!

all the elements of the ceremony are given a pottu (bindi) blessing

everyone helps bless the elements

fire crackers and rockets while we wait for the pongal (milk rice) to boil

the fire crackers are TOO loud!

the milk rice

lighting more fireworks from the lamps

everyone adds a handful of rice- even me!

making the first meal as a sacrifice to God- thanking God for the harvest

singing/praying

burning incense to bless

the girls have made a special Tai Pongal design at the front gate (the words read Tai Pongal)

eating of the pongal and sweets

special art, music, and drama show for the special guest :) Here is some melodica playing

Tamil singing and dancing

more singing!

more melodica!

Also some videos of their stunning music skills How can you NOT love them?!

happy [new year] January 16, 2013

“One year is gone since we landed in Jaffna. I look back upon the scenes through which I have passed, as I used to those at home: some sickness, some anxieties, and some enjoyment, with some attempts to serve God, have made up the variety. On the whole, I believe I never was more happy.” –from the memoirs of Harriet L. Winslow, founder of Uduvil Girls College

my trip to Galle

After my first year in Uduvil, or as Mrs. Winslow called it Oodooville, I don’t believe I could summarize my feelings any better. I have indeed suffered many setbacks and illnesses, and yet, I am so truly joy-filled to be working here.

As some of my friends and family can vouch for, I have been planning such an outreach throughout my college years, and probably to their irritation, have been talking about it for just as long. But my concept of faith and ministry is a long story for another time, maybe one involving coffee or Missy’s Pie. I’ll leave that choice to you.

With today being my first day back to teaching for the school year, I was abnormally upbeat, not unlike all teachers get at each new year’s start. New notebook and school uniforms, the strong smell of pencil shavings from all the students’ new pencils…how can you not be excited? Even meeting my students in their new classrooms conjures a smile. *sigh* If I’m this sentimental with my students of one year, I can’t imagine how sappy I’ll be with any future children. I think I am destined to be ‘that mom’; crying at every milestone however real or made-up and playing little montages in my mind every step of the way.

Well, in all my sentimentality today, I couldn’t help but start the terrible practice of naming the ‘lasts’-‘Today is my last first day of school here at Uduvil’- followed with a dramatic sigh. And I’m sure that throughout this school year I’ll find many more such occasions. I think I’ve picked this habit up from my KY church youth. Every trip seems to be cataloged with such details as ‘Tonight is our last night before our last day before going to the airport before going home.’

This school year I’ll be changing my schedule a little to accommodate for the recent retirement of our Primary School’s music teacher. While last year I was able to serve more of a supporting role in Grades 1-5, this year, I’ll need to be in charge. This meant having to reduce my older classes, but I’m hoping to still see a number of them in band and piano classes after school.

Right now everyone is gearing up for the Upper and Lower School Sports Meets happening in the beginning of February. The student body is divided into 4 houses (Yes, just like Harry Potter. No they won’t play Quidditch.) As I was saying, 4 houses, and then spend an afternoon competing in track and field events and silly relay races. The band plays in between events (this is my responsibility for the events), lots of snacks and goodies are passed around the crowds of parents and onlookers, and trophies are presented to each of the event champions.

Well, this is certainly the most disjointed of all my writings, but it served my purpose of a small, quick update. Wishing you all well! And for my friends in high latitudes: wishing you warm as well!

Post Christmas Fun December 30, 2012

I celebrated the holiday at a teacher-friend’s house with her two daughters, their husbands, and three grandchildren. We ate a variety of Sri Lankan and Western foods, had lime cheesecake and Christmas cookies for dessert, and sang Christmas carols accompanied by the piano and Cephas on the ‘drum’ (plastic food container and two big kitchen spoons). The grandchildren are adorable, and I’ve gone to visit a few times since Christmas just to play with them.

Tonight I’m off to Colombo for Christmas with the Mills’ family and then in a few days I’ll be headed back to India for Lala’s wedding! Expect many photos in the near future.

Christmas Eve Service, Uduvil CSI and ACM congregations December 25, 2012