Our travel journals for today talk about liminal space. Liminal space is described as an “in between” state where you are separated from your norm, and not quite settled into a new norm. In other words, it’s time outside of your comfort zone. As our journal notes, journeys tend to cultivate liminal space. By this third day, it has become clear to those of us on this journey that we have stepped out of our normal. We are separated from our family & friends, our routines, our language, our regular diets, and our luxuries - like readily available internet and hot showers.
What’s exciting about liminal space is that it is a state where transformation occurs. Before we left for Haiti we stated our intentions and our hopes for this experience. Many of us claimed that we are ready to see God create a change in us, to show us something, to guide us, to grow us. In other words we are hungry for transformation.
Our brothers and sisters from Haiti have lifted up hunger for transformation in various ways this week as well. In the lecture this morning Haitian pastor Rev. JM Admirable spoke about a need for transformation in Haiti through Christians who are able to be evangelist with a keen awareness of context. Christ is not only needed in the church, he said, but on the soccer field, in the grocery store and everywhere. A main theme of his message was to go with Christ to where the people were. There is a journey required in that.
As we gathered for Wesley small groups both Haitian and North American participations lifted up prayer concerns about family transitions, the church in Haiti and in North America, and for God to move in this conference in such a way that we have something to take back to our respective contexts. We pray that we don’t return back to business as normal, but that something shifts in this time.
A hard part about this liminal space is that in the longing and discomfort our tendency is to want to quickly figure out how to move out of it as quickly as possible. At least that has proven to be my tendency. I think though, it is this space itself that transforms and not any prescribed action we can take to move out of that space. This space cultivates opportunities for community with people we don’t typically put ourselves in proximity with – whether classmates we don’t know well or our Haitian brothers and sisters. In both cases we often speak different languages, come from different norms, have different longings… but somewhere in this space we share in between, in the relationships built in the vulnerability, in the conversations we wouldn’t have shared in our normal space, in the community we are forming we start to realize the transformation is beginning.
A major goal of the World Methodist Evangelism institute is that the world may know Jesus Christ. Knowing Jesus requires a transformational journey. As Christians we are on a journey to the Kingdom of God. Dr. Kimberley Riesman noted in her presentation about World Methodist Evangelism, the Kingdom of God is not “an escape hatch” to another world. Jesus says in Luke 17 “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.” The kingdom of God is here and now. John Wesley describes the Kingdom of God as “Heaven opened in the soul.” I believe this sacred, liminal, transformational, space between we are experiencing in our Haitian journey and in our Christian journey is a catalyst for Heaven opening in our soul to a Kingdom of God that is present even now. Thanks be to God.
Grace & Peace,
Amanda
What’s exciting about liminal space is that it is a state where transformation occurs. Before we left for Haiti we stated our intentions and our hopes for this experience. Many of us claimed that we are ready to see God create a change in us, to show us something, to guide us, to grow us. In other words we are hungry for transformation.
Our brothers and sisters from Haiti have lifted up hunger for transformation in various ways this week as well. In the lecture this morning Haitian pastor Rev. JM Admirable spoke about a need for transformation in Haiti through Christians who are able to be evangelist with a keen awareness of context. Christ is not only needed in the church, he said, but on the soccer field, in the grocery store and everywhere. A main theme of his message was to go with Christ to where the people were. There is a journey required in that.
As we gathered for Wesley small groups both Haitian and North American participations lifted up prayer concerns about family transitions, the church in Haiti and in North America, and for God to move in this conference in such a way that we have something to take back to our respective contexts. We pray that we don’t return back to business as normal, but that something shifts in this time.
A hard part about this liminal space is that in the longing and discomfort our tendency is to want to quickly figure out how to move out of it as quickly as possible. At least that has proven to be my tendency. I think though, it is this space itself that transforms and not any prescribed action we can take to move out of that space. This space cultivates opportunities for community with people we don’t typically put ourselves in proximity with – whether classmates we don’t know well or our Haitian brothers and sisters. In both cases we often speak different languages, come from different norms, have different longings… but somewhere in this space we share in between, in the relationships built in the vulnerability, in the conversations we wouldn’t have shared in our normal space, in the community we are forming we start to realize the transformation is beginning.
A major goal of the World Methodist Evangelism institute is that the world may know Jesus Christ. Knowing Jesus requires a transformational journey. As Christians we are on a journey to the Kingdom of God. Dr. Kimberley Riesman noted in her presentation about World Methodist Evangelism, the Kingdom of God is not “an escape hatch” to another world. Jesus says in Luke 17 “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.” The kingdom of God is here and now. John Wesley describes the Kingdom of God as “Heaven opened in the soul.” I believe this sacred, liminal, transformational, space between we are experiencing in our Haitian journey and in our Christian journey is a catalyst for Heaven opening in our soul to a Kingdom of God that is present even now. Thanks be to God.
Grace & Peace,
Amanda