We Are Thankful

By Marcelle Keating, Kelli Nelson and Emily Ruskamp, IWMs serving in Chimbote, Peru

Thank you, sun, for warming the cement!  Coming into August, we here in the southern hemisphere are in the heart of winter.  In Chimbote, that means cool temperatures and a lot less sun.  But when the sun comes out, it washes away the gloomy grayness with a loving embrace that is hard not to smile at.  It is especially significant for me right now, as these couple of months have brought many “shady” moments of questioning, challenge, and frustration.  There are conflicts I never expected to encounter as a missionary – in my service site, my house community, and my personal life – and problems which I’ve felt ill-equipped to handle.  I knew, for example, that there would be challenges of cultural misunderstandings, frustrations at the poverty that surrounds us, and meaningful conversations lost in translation.  But what happens when my roommate feels offended by something I thought was harmless, or when the youth council breaks out in an emotional argument fueled by long-lasting group conflicts that I’m supposed to create something positive out of, or when my Peruvian friends open their hearts to me when all I can offer is myself in the present with no way of making long-term promises?  These are just a small slice of what have been some moments of “shade” that at times just feel cold and gloomy.  I have gratitude, though, because shade can’t exist without the sun!  As Sister Katty told me, the fact that a certain situation hurts means that we have truly come to love the people and the work involved in that situation.  So, in short, I am grateful for the nights I’ve spent unable to sleep and the tissues that have been damped by my tears, because they are a living testament to what happens when we really invest our hearts in something.  Plus, they are pushing me to discover new capacities inside myself – new capacities of patience, of reason, of laughter, and of love -- and they are teaching me that I can’t do it all; this is a team effort that’s not just about me.  So let’s walk through the shade smiling, because we know, one way or another, that there is sun behind it!

--Emily Ruskamp

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Rita (una de mis mamas peruanas),

I know I tell you “thank you” a lot: “Gracias por todo, gracias por todo, gracias por todo…” over and over and over again, but I don’t think you know just how much I mean that.  Your effortless generosity and kindness is my teacher these days among classes in the kitchen (from butchering ducks to frosting cakes to eating and eating), sharing birthdays, weddings, and woes over coffee and cookies.  Though busy with taking care of your mom, your family, baking and selling cakes and crafts, volunteering with me, and combating injustice in your many ways, you’ve opened yourself up to me like I never thought possible here.  You’ve invited me into your life and have given me a sense of home, which is a gift that, as Henry Nouwen would say, touches that original goodness inside of me, and allows me to see myself as the Beloved, and want to be better.  Remember that day we were both struggling with things and we cried at your table passing back and forth the one napkin we had?  We held hands between wiping tears and dunking crackers in our tea. The raw nature of that moment is one I revisit often, and each time it’s like opening a new gift.

Be seeing you,

Kelli

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I am filled with gratitude as I finish my service.  I am thankful to the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word who gave me this opportunity to serve the people of Chimbote.  I am thankful to all the people of Chimbote who have looked out for us in the mission house.  Our neighbors, friends, the people in the parish and in our volunteer sites-- they are all truly inspiring with their generosity.  They have taught me how to get by with less and not feel limited.   They make the best of what they have and never fail to share the riches of their culture of music, food and dancing.  Peruvians do know how to celebrate life.   My Spanish is not fluent but I know I will be able to communicate with Spanish speaking patients in a hospital setting so I have not wasted my time.  I was told back in 2009 to enter missionary service is life- changing.  Without the perspective of time, I cannot tell you what my most valuable life-lesson has been.   I have grown a lot spiritually and I am grateful for God’s unconditional love that has followed me so closely on this journey.  To quote John Walsh, a Maryknoll  Missionary, “Mission is to go to a no-place, to serve God’s no-bodies, and, in the eyes of the world, to accomplish no-thing.  Yet in doing this we realize we are at the heart of what time, meaning, and history are all about.”   So check back with me in a few years, I may have an answer for you.

– Marcelle Keating