We are excited about the possibilities for future ministry here in Senegal and throughout the West Africa Region with the arrival of Pastor Jim Gonia as ELCA Program Director for West Africa. And we were delighted to welcome him to Senegal this past week as he met with his new team of regional representatives (current Senegal missionaries Viking Dietrich, Anne Langdji, and Willie Langdji). Mostly he was here to meet with them, to start to plan how they will work together—from who will do what, to where the regional offices will be, to who specifically will represent the ELCA to various churches and other companions in the area. But he also took time to meet with us and other ELCA mission personnel, as well as with key leaders in the Lutheran Church of Senegal, the EELS/Senegal Lutheran Development Services, as well as the Fulani Christian worshiping community in Linguère.
Jim brings a deep sense of pastoral vocation to this overwhelmingly administrative job. His first two “official” communications with missionaries and local leaders both spoke about the need for prayer in all we do, and the necessity of grounding even our most administrative work in solid spiritual practice. We’re looking forward to what that will mean to our work here, to more intentionally ground what we do in prayer and reflection. Already, I feel that intentionality coming from Jim in these very early encounters.
He’s got a lot of hard work ahead of him—a steep learning curve, he himself has admitted—as he moves into this position of ecclesiocrat after having been a parish pastor for 10 years and a missionary (in Madagascar) for a decade before that. We promise not to overwhelm him in these early days—and to not put too many unrealistic expectations on him all at once. But what a blessing to have a new leader that sees the work of global mission administration as flowing from his vocation—as a baptized child of God, as an ordained minister, as a former missionary to Madagascar and current missionary to Chicago. What an affirmation to my vocation, too, to know that the connection he seeks to make with me and others “on the ground,” even early on is primarily one of prayerful support, of discerning discovery, and of spirit-led inquiry and of one-bread-one-body style participation.
Welcome, Jim. May God bless our ministry together.
Grace and Peace,
Peter
Great to hear this news, Peter, and to hope for good partnership through Jim to the ELCA. I'm also looking forward to catching up with you--it has been too long. I was just saying to Sonja that I'd love to connect. We're were talking at dinner (Ethiopian) and Grace mentioned something about how when you call moved back to St. Paul and we had to break it to her that you all might not settle here in the end!
Peace,
Chris
Posted by: Chris | April 04, 2009 at 02:52 AM