"Take care of yourself, and have fun...

…otherwise, this job can kill you”
    -Peter Ng, Partnership Officer for Asia and the Pacific for The Episcopal Church

The two weeks in Toronto went wonderfully well. The YASC team, in addition to reuniting with each other, forged new friendships with missionaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), and the United Church of Canada (UCC). We also met several international Episcopal personnel, such as Peter Ng (quoted above).

The 40 participants had various backgrounds and missionary experiences. Our conversations included how to stay mentally sane, how to maintain personal faith while opening up to new forms of worship, what to do about drivers licenses, and advice on staying connected with friends (…inexpensively).




Here are some of my notes from the conference:

• A Christian, by definition, is a person on a mission
• We are to respect the dignity of every human being -not just those we agree with
• Don’t limit yourself to the Christianity you grew up with
• You may be the only Jesus a person will ever see
• Get earplugs, get eye covers, and take a walk every 2 1/2 hours (flight advice)

Petero Sabune

“You go through the experience, and people go “Wow! Look what he did!!!” Meanwhile, people are staying behind, calculating risks, never taking the leap.” -Petero Sabune, African Partnership Officer for The Episcopal Church

“But I do know this: the central tenet of Christianity as it has come down to us is that we are to reach out when our instinct is to pull inward; to give when we want to take; to love when we are inclined to hate; to include when are tempted to exclude.” -Jon Meacham, 'God and Gays'

“Our first task in approaching another people, another culture, another religion, is to take off our shoes. The place we are approaching is holy. Or else we find ourselves treading on men’s dreams. More, we may forget that God was here before our arrival.” -Clark Pinnock, Set Forth Your Case


A personal highlight was a breakout session on physical, emotional and spiritual challenges. Our 5-person group discussed self-care topics such as learning when to say no and how to stay in shape.

Episcopalians Unite!

Another highlight was ‘denomination day’, where the ELCA, ECUSA, and UCC folk split off for program-specific logistics. In addition to tackling the nuts-and-bolts of insurance, taxes, etc, we  had a wrap-up meeting the following evening for final questions. It was at this moment where it finally ‘hit me’ -  that we were fixing to leave. Final goodbyes were said, as were closing remarks and prayers. Mixed emotions for sure, but we all know we are embarking on a worthwhile journey.


"Life is short, and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel with us, so be quick to love and make haste to be kind." -Henri Frédéric Amiel