Having been on a three-month sabbatical for December, January and February, I am just back in my office this last month, so I wish to thank Rev. Vida Jaugelis for filling this spot while I have been away.
My family and I had the great joy of being able to travel in India for a month.
The offer to visit Mission Partners through the church of North India opened many opportunities to bring greetings from Canada and the United Church of Canada.
We met and were wholeheartedly welcomed by many wonderful people through friends, church connections and schools. We listened to many life
Tsawwassen United Church stories of faith that both transformed and sustained our new friends in challenging circumstances. As we witnessed, firsthand, many differences in cultural/societal expectations, we were both charmed and challenged in light of our western first world perspective.
We were also able to speak of experiences from our life here in Canada. We were interested to share the experience of our child, with a disability, as she is fully included in the education system here.
At the same time we learned that the idea of inclusion in India still struggles to fully recognize and support women, girls and children of poverty in education systems.
This kind of cross-cultural engagement with the lives of everyday people in India certainly raises a keen awareness of both the gifts and challenges in our world.
