Farewell for now...
Maria
Dear Friends and Family,
Furaha na amani! Joy and Peace!
I know it has been a long time since you’ve heard from me, but my silence has been partly intentional. Although I have been back in the US for several months, I needed some time to reflect on my term of service in Tanzania and finalize my future plans before contacting you.
I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve been accepted to graduate school at Frontier Nursing University in Hyden, Kentucky. I’ll be pursuing a Masters of Science in Nursing with a concentration in nurse-midwifery. At the completion of two years of full-time study, I will be eligible to sit for the national certification exam and then to practice in the US as a nurse-midwife.
My two years in Tanzania served to strengthen my conviction that I feel called to lifelong and career missionary service as a healthcare provider. The health centre in Bukoba is now up and running, and my services and skills as a nurse and administrator were no longer needed. Instead, it became very clear to me that the time was right to return to the US and prepare myself for future service by obtaining advanced education and training. My goal is ultimately to return to the mission field after completing my studies. Although East Africa still holds a very special place in my heart, we will have to wait until the time draws near for my next deployment to confirm the exact location of my next service. If there is one thing I learned in my first term of service as a missionary it is that we are called to do God’s work wherever we are planted, and it is often not the exact place or job description we would choose for ourselves. I am trying to remain open to all possibilities and to follow where God leads me.
One of the hardest decisions for me this year was determining that I needed to take a leave from the mission field in order to pursue my education. Missionary work and the commission to spread Christ’s message of love and salvation have become so much a part of my identity that I can’t imagine returning to a life that doesn’t include that at some level. One of my goals as a missionary was to help recruit potential future missionaries here in our parishes in the US. There is such a need to raise up more Orthodox Christian missionaries, and I know so many people who feel a desire to serve in that capacity but don’t know where to start. Although my primary focus while I’m here in the US will be education and preparation for future service, I also want to do all I can to encourage others who are either considering or are starting the process of working with OCMC to become missionaries.
To that end, I will be working part-time with OCMC’s missionary department to help recruit and train new missionary candidates. Most of the work I can do remotely, from Pennsylvania where I will be living with my parents. Some of the training sessions will require trips to St. Augustine, FL from time to time, which will be good for me to stay connected with the administration and staff at OCMC headquarters. I’m really looking forward to continuing my work with the missionary department and to encourage newcomers to pursue missionary service.
One of my other goals this year will be to return to the parishes where I raised support and to share my stories, pictures, and videos with all of you who have been such a crucial part of the work I’ve been doing in Tanzania. I can’t wait to see all of you in person and to be able to explain more fully about the ministry in Tanzania and about how you’ve been part of it. In the next few weeks and months I will be contacting parishes and individuals to schedule visits. It may take me some time to reach everyone, since I am not returning to the Washington, D.C. area but will be in central Pennsylvania. However, if you or your parish would like to schedule a visit, please contact me and let me know!
Finally, some people have inquired about continuing to support me financially while I am back in the US. Let me first say that while I am in the US, I will not be drawing a full missionary salary or benefits from that account. Although I will not be soliciting further donations at this time, my missionary account will remain open. Any additional contributions made to my account while pursuing my studies and assisting OCMC on a part-time basis accrue in my missionary account, along with any other funds that currently remain, and will be held in trust for me for use when I return to the mission field.
Alternately, if you would prefer to support other missionaries who are active in the field, I certainly encourage that. You can find a list of current missionaries on the OCMC website or you can contact me personally and I can suggest some names to you, depending on whether you are interested in supporting a missionary with a particular ministry or field of service. (Meg Engelbach, who is planning to deploy to East Africa within the next several months, would be an excellent choice. She will be working with a program focused on translating liturgical and theological texts into local languages that OCMC is implementing this year in Kenya.)
Thank you all so much for your prayers, love, and support over the past two to three years! Glory to God for all things, but especially for the reopening of the Orthodox Resurrection Health Centre in Bukoba, Tanzania. You have all played a part in making that possible, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. On behalf of those we served and continue to serve, I thank you, too. You are remembered both in my prayers and in those of the hearts of people in Western Tanzania. God bless you all and please feel free to keep in touch with me!
Yours in Christ,
Maria Roeber