And, then, I talk to my neighbors Ellen and Dennis. They have fallen in love, passionately and actively in love–with the people of Farato, a small village in Gambia, one of the poorest countries in West Africa.

Here is how it started. Ellen is an artist. Her husband Dennis, a Vietnam veteran, is retired. Both are in their early 60s. They own a large house and decided to host foreign students studying in the United States. One of these students was Biran Sallah, from Gambia, the smallest country in Africa and a former British colony. Both Ellen and Dennis enjoy traveling and decided to visit him in Farato when he returned home. They had never been to Africa before but they expected that they would see real poverty and they did. What they did not expect to discover was how easily they fell in love with the people of Farato, not as victims but as real individuals with families, wanting the best for their children.

There was a problem in Farato, however. The nearest school was six kilometers away and that was a long way for the children to walk back and forth each day. Dennis asked why the children didn’t just ride a bicycle to school liked he had done as a young boy. he reply? There was no money for bicycles; the average income in Gambia is only $350. Dennis nodded and then fretted … “if only these children had bikes”… and when he and Ellen returned home, he decided to fix up the two old bikes stored in his garage and to ship them to Farato. Ellen organized the photos she had taken in Farato into a slide show and at our neighborhood pot luck dinners she showed them, telling the story. One of the neighbors wanted to help but had no bicycle to offer. Instead she suggested raising money to buy bikes and, well, the whole thing snowballed from there. Ellen set up a web site and arranged a fundraiser at a local restaurant. Progress is being made. Right now 25 village children have bikes and attend school for the first time. There are 77 others waiting for their bikes so that they, too, can go to school.

Ellen and Dennis continue to visit Farato–in this African village, these two ordinary people who live on my street in West Roxbury are enabling kids to go to school. In the process, they have been changed as well into advocates for outreach and connection across continents. All it took was a willingness to fall in love.

I invite you to take a look at Ellen’s photos at www.futureforfarato.com, and to keep their work in your prayers. I invite us all to be open, too, to those unexpected loves and places where we, ordinary people, can serve as the hands of God.

– Terry Hofmann
Terry is the author of a series of occasional columns in our newsletter in which she shares with COS her continuing journey in formation as a permanent deacon. Terry has been a frequent contributor to Loaves and Fishes, often writing about mission, service opportunities, and linking us to interesting talks and events. Her columns will continue this tradition and give her free rein to talk about whatever is on her mind and heart.

Another found its way to Koinonia, a Christian farm community in Americus, Georgia, which strives to be “a demonstration plot for the kingdom of God.” Visit their website to find out more about their ministries and buy pecans, baked goods, and books.

The Arlington MLK Committee thanks COS for sponsoring the annual Dr. King observance and making a strong public statement in support of justice and equality for all people.

The Arlington Food Pantry appreciates our on-going support and gifts.

The Rev. Steve Smith, from Trinity Wall Street in New York City, offers an understanding of mission to contrast with more popular notions:

For most people, the word “mission” conjures up two images.  The first is from the bad old days of U.S. and European colonialism–a white missionary dressed in clericals, a Panama hat on his head, lecturing at the natives of any given country.  The second is contemporary–the evangelical Protestant or Mormon going door to door to recruit.  These images are part of the mission story.  But they are not entirely of the mission story.  Mission is much more than these two images.

Mission is our human participation in God’s on-going mission in the world.  God’s mission, which we join, is a mission of justice and peace so that all of us are able to live fully flourishing, fully abundant, lives.   Our joining in God’s mission is embodied in so many ways; the most are service with and for others (soup kitchens, school tutoring, Habitat for Humanity) and social transformation (actions that challenge the systems of oppression that keep so many of God’s children from fully flourishing).   In service and social transformation, the missionary moves across boundaries of human experience to share in the lives of others in a meaningful way.   Through mission we journey in companionship with others.   In that journey, we hope to realize the goodness that God desires for the world– for our neighbors near and far, and for us.

Over the next few months, I would like to explore how we, at COS, might be called to engage in mission within our own local community – especially to service with and for others.  I invite you to consider where there are areas of need within Arlington and where you feel the Spirit nagging us to pay attention.   I hope that we may have conversations and identify opportunities to work together,  journeying in companionship.   Realizing that we are all busy people with many responsibilities,  I envision us not trying to take on some major project but rather engaging in little ways that are meaningful–perhaps a collective work day here or there or small groups working informally.

Please let me know your thoughts and hopes.   I look forward to what surprises lie ahead for us,  as missionaries!

–Terry Hofmann