On Community

We prayed this morning about the brokeness of this world, both around us and in our own hearts, and asked for eyes to see the redemption God is accomplishing even here in Bundibugyo.  The ripping apart of our team life as the Barts depart is yet one more area of brokeness—as I prayed the words came to me that we were created for permanent relationship, not for project cycles, so that coming to the end of even a decade of good work and closure still feels painful.  Yet we have hope that our true community transcends space and time, as we move through life we are continuously moving back towards each other and the perfect friendship we will have in the New Heavens and the New Earth.  And we get a glimpse of that permanence and continuity as we keep in touch with each other after departure.  Scott Ickes taught here for only a year, yet left his mark on our community and in our hearts.  I have thought of him often this week as the track he labored to create for the CSB cross country team has been getting a new layer of marum.  Then I checked his blog, which has been dormant, and found he had posted a great poem that expresses the pain of leaving here.  Check it out:  http://scotticcus.blogspot.com/