Lutheran Young Adults Experience Accompaniment Overseas

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- At age 22, Andrea Metcalfe, Augustana
Lutheran Church, West St. Paul, Minn., discovered what it means
to "slow down in life." It took an experience in the United
Kingdom last year to learn that "sitting down and having tea"
with an older adult is just as important and productive as
anything else in life.
In 2002 Metcalfe served as a volunteer at the Ryelands
Methodist Home for the Aged in London. As part of the "Young
Adults in Global Mission" program of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA), Metcalfe traveled to the United Kingdom
to learn about giving, receiving and "accompaniment."
Young Adults in Global Mission is a one-year international
service opportunity for ELCA members ages 19-30. Young people
serve as volunteers and work in a supervised setting. Travel,
housing, medical insurance and allowance are provided, and
volunteers are required to raise a minimum of $3,000 for program
support.
This age offers "one of the only times in life where you can
drop everything and live somewhere else. We have the opportunity
to do stuff that is not in the travel guide," Metcalfe said.
For the 2003-2004 service term, which began in mid-August,
32 young adults are volunteering in Argentina, Egypt, Germany,
Hungary, Kenya, Thailand and the United Kingdom. Service in each
area is designed to build leadership skills, spiritual growth,
global awareness and understanding.
To prepare for service, young people take part in an
orientation session to learn about what it means to be in
mission. "We gather in small groups and get to know one another.
We also meet with mission personnel and missiologists of the
church to learn about the ELCA's accompaniment model and the
changing roles of missionaries," Metcalfe said. After
orientation volunteers depart directly to their country of
service, she said.
The ELCA's Division for Global Mission employs an
"accompaniment" model for mission overseas. In accompaniment,
churches "walk together in service in God's mission, each church
having primary responsibility for its area."
Metcalfe's work at the Ryelands Methodist Home for the Aged
varied from day to day. "Ryelands is a residential home for
elderly people who cannot live independently and do not require
nursing care. Residents have a diverse range of mental and
physical abilities," she said. "My work included visiting those
who had not had a visitor in a while, taking residents grocery
shopping and escorting them to the hospital. I also sat with
residents when they passed away. That was very difficult."
"Life in the [United States] is fast-paced, and it's also
fast-paced in the U.K. But life in an old-persons' home is not.
In our day-to-day lives, we wouldn't consider sitting down and
having tea with someone to be all that productive. But it is,
especially with someone who hasn't had a visitor in a long time.
Spending time with that person is just as important as anything
else," Metcalfe said.
"The relationships I've made with people at Ryelands will
last far longer than relationships made on any vacation," she
said. "I have a greater appreciation for the trials some people
face in their day-to-day living."
Today Metcalfe serves as recruitment assistant for young
adults, Division for Global Mission, a one-year contract
position. Her responsibilities include meeting with students
attending the ELCA's 28 colleges and universities, as well as
with students involved in Lutheran campus ministry programs at
state colleges and universities. Young adults make up 30 percent
of all ELCA missionaries, she said.
"I share my story and experiences with others because they
had a big impact on me," said Metcalfe, who advocates, encourages
and recruits students to participate in the Young Adults in
Global Mission program and one- to two-year teaching ministries
in other international programs of the ELCA.
Metcalfe keeps in touch with young adults currently serving
overseas. They are required to write letters about their work
and experiences to family and friends.

Argentina
Alana Hansen is spending most of her time at a center for
babies, children and teenagers. "I would say my job has more of
a potential to be fun than anything else. 'El Sembrador' (The
Sower) is a great place with a ton of great programs," she wrote.
A "highlight from my first 10 days [in Argentina] has been
visiting La Plaza de Mayo. La Plaza de Mayo is where people go
to protest, because the plaza is right in front of La Casa
Rosada, sort of like the White House. People here know they will
be heard," wrote Hansen.
"I have wanted to visit La Plaza ever since I learned about
the women who are called 'The Mothers of La Plaza de Mayo.' They
are a group of mothers whose children were taken in the 'Dirty
War' of Argentina. When children began to disappear, their
mothers went to the Casa Rosada demanding to know where their
children were being held. The officials denied it and told the
mothers to leave, to go walk. So, every Thursday since that day,
women have been walking around the Plaza de Mayo from 3:30 to
4:00 p.m. They want the government to know that these mothers
and the rest of Argentina will never forget what happened," wrote
Hansen.

Egypt
"It has been a busy month of learning and adjusting here in
Cairo," wrote Renee Banas. "The weather is hot, about 100
degrees during the day. It wouldn't be so bad if one could wear
shorts and tank tops. It's proper for women to cover their knees
and shoulders at all times."
"Knowing English is a very desirable [commodity] for
Egyptians, so the Ramses College for Girls puts a lot of stress
on students to learn English. The administrators are very
excited to have a native English speaker working with them. It
makes me feel like I have a useful purpose here," Banas wrote.

Rob Nelson, who is also serving as an English teacher at the
Ramses College for Girls, said attending worship at an Egyptian
Christian church has been a highlight.
"It was a powerful reminder of the unity we have as
Christians, despite cultural and language differences. The
pastor introduced us [to the congregation] and welcomed us in
English. After the service, we were welcomed by most of the
congregation," Nelson wrote. He said many children in the church
are studying English in school, "and they wanted to talk to us in
English. This congregation can serve as an example to many
American congregations on being welcoming to guests. Despite not
knowing Arabic, I felt at home there."
Nelson also shared that his experience with Egyptians has
"been very positive. Most are very friendly. I talked to an
Egyptian actor, who made only one request of me. He wanted me to
tell people in the United States how Egyptians really are and how
Egypt really is. People here are generally very concerned with
being a good host to guests. This is true in their homes, and in
general as a nation towards visitors from other countries such as
the United States."

Thailand
"Thailand is a beautiful country and Chiang Mai is a lovely
city. We took a tour up north Chiang Mai, almost to the border
with Myanmar," wrote Laura Koepke.
"The people we visited are refugees from the fighting in
Myanmar and, because of that status, they are not allowed to hold
land. They live off tourism. They sell crafts to tourists and
use that money to lease land they can farm and use. To me, it
seems like an inherently unstable system, so it's tempting to
want to stay away from buying the crafts, not to be just a
'tourist' and to avoid propagating this system. At this time,
the tourist money is really the only source of income for the
Badong people, and so I did buy a couple of things in hopes that
it might do some kind of good," Koepke<