Incarnate Word Immersion

Good evening! I am writing from a computer lab in the conference center/international student dorm at the the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. Since Sunday, September 2, I have been here at the university, which was founded by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word -- who sponsor the Incarnate Word Missionaries that I am participating in. Though we have been staying at the Conference Center, I stayed at a different spot on campus my first night and took a photo from the window that you see here (the view out of my current room is much less exciting).

The past week has been a mixture of getting to know the four other missionaries and numerous Incarnate Word Sisters, having some helpful orientation sessions on avariety of topics, continuing some reading in preparation for the trip, and down time to explore the campus. Yesterday we went to mass at San Fernando Cathedral in downtown San Antonio, the oldest standing Catholic church in the United States. The bilingual Mass there was recorded for airing on a few local and regional stations, including Mexico. After Mass, a couple sisters and our program directors took us on a walking tour of downtown San Antonio, including the market, the hospital founded by the sisters in 1869, the famous River Walk, and lunch at a Mexican restaurant. The weather has been fairly hot and humid with a little rain here and there -- they definitely make a lot of use of air conditioning.:)

The other Incarnate Word Missionaries that are entering with me are: Nicole and Emily Tardio (nurses from Cincinatti who will be going with me to Peru), Tessia Pierce (University of Dayton graduate who will be serving at a home for homeless mothers here in San Antonio), and Laura Koeppel (Catholic school biology teacher from Milwaukie, WI, who will be working at a home for Mayan teenagers in Santa Cruz del Quiche, Guatemala). We also met yesterday three novice sisters from Peru (one is from Chimbote) who are in San Antonio for a few months to study English. I had a lot of fun practicing my Spanish by talking with them about their stories and life in Peru. It made me anticipate even more the opportunity to live as a long-term resident in another country, remembering how profound that experience was for me (though only eight weeks) in Guatemala in 2003. Here you can see a photo on the River Walk of, from left to right: Laura, Tessia, Gladys (IW sister from Peru), Emily, Meghan (IWM assistant director), Nicole, Tere (IWM director).

I don't know many more details about my ministry in Peru except that it will include helping out with youth at one of the local parishes. However, we have met several people who have visited and/or served in Chimbote with the sisters there, and Nicole, Emily and I have noticed a few commonalities among the comments: a frequent smell of fish from the port and factories, a lot of stray dogs (Peru in general), insufficient trash collection, many people living in poverty, and beautiful, warm and generous people. Also, everyone we talk with wants to make sure that we visit Machu Picchu of the Incas. To be sure, we are going to a place with a lot of need.

On typical days here (including Saturday) we have morning and afternoon sessions, with a couple evening events as well. There is a university pool which they have obtained permission for us to use while we are here for our training, so I have been there a few times to swim some laps. The presenters and discussion leaders for our sessions have included IW Sisters, university professors and other lay people. Topics so far have been Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word history/mission, journaling, the Enneagram (comparable to Meyers Briggs), strategies for living/working in new communities, making choices to intentionally the principles of spirituality, community, simple living, and service, Incarnational spirituality (seeing Christ in others and allowing Christ to work through us), personal and community practices for maintaining a life of prayer, Latin American cultural/spiritual reality, and dealing with violence in mission (personal, systemic, environmental, etc). From our incarnational spirituality talk, one quote I liked was that "we are called to see Christ within each person we meet, and to make it as easy as possible for them to see Christ in us." Many of our presenters have lived and served in Latin America themselves, and they share with us a lot of practical wisdom and personal stories.

Next weekend we will go out of town for a retreat (a couple of hours away), and the weekend after that I head to Peru. I thank you for the interest you have demonstrated in reading this whole entry, and I wish you a blessed week.