The 22nd day of February, April, June, August, October, and December

February 22, 2017 started out like any other ordinary Wednesday.  We were at home in Minneapolis, putting on the finishing touches for our Sharing Lives course that would be taught at Bloomington Covenant Church.  And then we got this random email from a good friend:  “I just opened today's prayer email and was startled to think of you serving in Japan”.  We thought about this statement, and then laughed with delight when we made the connection: oh, today must be our "day" in the missionary prayer calendar.  On the 22^nd day of alternating months, people around the Covenant Church commit to praying for Barb and Steve Swanson, missionaries working with refugees in Europe.  Please don’t get confused, thinking we work in Japan!!!  On the bottom half of our page in the 2016-2017 prayer calendar, there is a short description of the missionary work being done by Covenant missionaries in Japan.  It just happens that Japan is also prayed for on the 22^nd day of the alternating months.

At that moment, we knew that this day, February 22, 2017, was going to be a great day.  People all around the globe, literally, would be lifting us up in prayer.  People who know us, support us, love us, keep current with what’s going on in life and ministry as we transition out of almost 12 years of ministry in Belgium to begin with our new ministry partner, Equmeniakyrkan, (the new name for the merger of the Swedish Covenant Church, Swedish Baptist Church and Swedish Methodist Church) in Malmö, Sweden.  But also people who just love to pray for Covenant missionaries, and so many were lifting our names up before our great big God.

And then another email arrived…

This time it was from the Swedish Embassy in Washington, DC announcing:  Your decisions from the Swedish Migration Agency.  It was with fear and trembling that we opened the emails, only to find documents for both of us….in Swedish!  Now, having done just 5 beginner classes here in Minneapolis as our first intro to Swedish language, culture and history, trust me….our Swedish was not at any level to be able to translate this document.  We quickly played with Google Translate (what an amazing tool, but one that you have to use cautiously….Barb once “translated” an MRI report in Belgium and had herself all lined up for knee surgery when in fact the orthopedic specialist said there was no need for knee surgery….just get more exercise!)  With a flurry of emails back to the Swedish Embassy, and passing along the email to our contacts in the Equmeniakyrkan in Malmö, we understand that we now have a visa with permission to live and work in Sweden for one year.  It can be renewed while we’re in Sweden.  We are so thankful!!

What better way to celebrate than…to have fika at IKEA!

Now that's a good looking fikapaus!

We were like kids in a candy store...pretty excited!  Check out the panda bear hanging upside down from the ceiling behind Steve....panda photo bomb!

The flags of the nations that we will now call home ~

Fika:  It’s considered a social institution in Sweden, it means having a break, most often a coffee break, with colleagues, friends or familiy.  The word itself, fika, can be used as both a verb and a noun.  It almost always includes something to eat, such as cookies cakes, a cinnamon roll or cardamom roll.  It’s important to remember to take a break from work too, so no talking about work allowed!  (though we did talk about “work” during our Fika break at IKEA, in the sense of wow, we just had to pray and thank God for His goodness.

Please rejoice with us as we see God putting one more piece of the puzzle together as we prepare to move to Sweden this coming June.  We are at 92% of our funds raised to go, with several large pledges coming to our account in the weeks ahead. 

The 22^nd day of February, April, June, August, October and December….proving that prayer does make a difference!

A limited visual field and other reflections about veils

These reflections were prompted while waiting for a bus in freezing -18 degrees Farenheit (that’s -28 for my Celsius using friends in Europe!).  It’s 8am, we’re on our way to the YWCA to work out at the gym, and I’m using my new ultra warm winter head gear purchased at the Christmas market in Brussels, Belgium years ago.  Funny thing…..it never got cold enough in Belgium to wear my ultra warm winter head gear.  But it’s getting a good workout here in Minnesota, and at the time of these reflections, the calendar still said “fall” even though we had definitely been catapulted into winter and its’ wonderland……

Check out the ultra warm winter head gear ~ purchased at another time and place in Europe, getting a workout in MInnesota this December ~

So, there I was standing on the bus stop, all wrapped up, couldn’t even hear Steve who was standing just a few feet away from me.    “At least the sun is out”, I thought to myself.  And that is really a redeeming factor about winter in Minnesota.  It can be harsh cold and loads of snow all around, but the sun will come out to brighten your day.

And it’s in that bright sunny space that I began to recognize how little I could actually see. Now, perhaps it’s because the sun was so bright and I didn’t have my sunglasses on!  But in reality, it’s because I’m all wrapped up in my ultra warm winter head gear.  And my visual field is pretty limited in that moment.  And that’s precisely when I began to remember all the beautiful women who have been a part of my world over the last many years in ministry….

The Fatimas and Aishas among the Fulani people in the Central African Republic, where the women always wore veils, mostly loosely wrapped around their heads, rewrapped throughout the day as they juggled water on their heads, straddled babies on their hips who would often tug at their veils and potentially put them in a place of cultural compromise if the veil slipped in the presence of men in the village….

Even the "mboundjou" (white person) gets in on wearing a veil in the village

Then the Marouas, the Myriams, the Jainabas, the Samiras, the Jamilas, and the list goes on….all the women who walked in and out of my life in Belgium, wearing any manner of veil….some with every hair on their heads fully concealed and covered,  some making a fashion statement in Europe even within the restrictions of their veils,some with only the hint of a veil, and others who wore no veil at all…

My prayer is for these beautiful women to be in that bright place of joy as they one day will meet the true source of Light, the Light of our world, Jesus Christ.  These beautiful women, perhaps with a limited view of their world, they all would be in that bright sunny space even if it would be the fierest cold that Minnesota could offer….if they could understand the true meaning of Light as it bursts forward into the darkness of our world.

How limited is your visual field?

Our favorite things

Familiar lyrics to the song My Favorite Things from the movie The Sound of Music…

“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things”

Okay, for me with my cat allergies, I can’t say any more in life that whiskers on kittens are some of my favorite things…..getting that close to a cat would send me right to the emergency room of the local hospital!  But this blog post isn’t really a reflection on woollen mittens, though these have become my new favorite thing when winter descended with a vengeance on us just 2 weeks ago here in Minneapolis!

These thoughts are rather random reflections of our last weeks since Thanksgiving, hanging out with family, feeling blessed by life and all its’ joys, colors, decorations, traditions, friends…..enjoy the slide show!

All excited after 4+ hours with friend and missionary colleague Pete Ekstrand working on mission finances.....and in the end, the accounts balanced!  You gotta love the smiles :-)

Erickson cousin reunion in Indiana ~ 3 Boca girls thrown in just for fun (that would be me and my 2 sisters), and we had a great lunch at Which Wich in Schererville.  Congrats, Casey, store manager and cousin Ray's son!

On the way to the Swedish consulate in Chicago, we stopped by the Kriskindlemarkt....looking for that German Christmas market fix that we get every year when we're in Europe.  Steve even got the chance to speak some German, which makes for one happy camper...

Steve is always on the lookout for the roasted almonds at a Christmas market, and this year he wasn't about to be disappointed either....but in Chicago, the nuts are a mix of almonds and cashews (mostly just almonds in Germany).

Here I can only say "only in America!"  This treasure was found at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis.....somehow I don't remember those riding horses looking like that when we were kids!!!

Setting up our Christmas "tree" at home in Minneapolis, remembering how we carefully picked out 10 ornaments last Christmas in Belgium as we packed our decorations away, knowing that we would need to travel lightly to America this year.  The 3euro wooden tree (that's about $3.11 today) was a great find last January in the winter sales in Antwerp.

Super Sam!!!

The story of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10 is one of my favorite stories that Jesus told while He was here on earth.  For the record, my ultimate favorite Jesus story is that of Jesus washing His students feet, but that’s more an action/deed that Jesus demonstrated, not a story that He told to illustrate a point.  In the big adult world, we call those stories of Jesus “parables”.  In a child’s world, however, they provide the best food for thought….and drama.

We first used the story of the Good Sam (my abbreviated form for Samaritan) in our kids’ clubs in the refugee camps in Belgium.  Steve contextualized the script so that the refugee children were acting out the story as it was set in Antwerp.  The boy (who gets beat up) is riding into Antwerp to see his grandmother (dual instruction going on here:  introducing the importance of riding your bike in Belgium, also that Belgians go and visit grandparents regularly).  In order to role play the boy on the bike, we had 3 volunteers:  the boy who gets beat up and two boys who are spinning hoola hoops to make it look like a bike.  When the boy gets beat up, all 3 boys end up falling into a heap of humanity on the floor.  Interestingly enough:  the “Good Sam” who comes to offer help picks up all 3 kids, and gives them a hug and helps them on their way.  STOP MY HEART, O GOD!!!  This was the role play of 3 children who had just traveled across Turkey, took a boat across the Mediterranean Sea, then walked across Europe to get to Belgium.  These kids had seen moments when people were beat up, when people who should help didn’t help.  These kids, though, saw beyond the “role playing” and understood that everyone lying there on the ground needed help, to be picked up, given a hug and encouraged on their journey.

That’s how refugee kids play out the role of the Good Sam.

Fast forward to a suburban church of Minneapolis, where this past week we had the AWANA kids act out the story.  With 80+ kids in the room, we had 6 volunteers of various shapes and sizes.  The boys who were the bandits kept playing with their bandit masks, asking me if they looked more scarey if they put their hoodies up in addition to their masks…..KIDS!  But the crowning moment in the drama came when, as Steve was narrating the story, he said “the Good Samaritan, after wrapping up the boy’s wounds, picked him up and took him to the doctor and paid for his medical care”.  At that moment, our Good Sam asked “do I have to pick him up?”, to which Steve replied “yes, help him up, put your arm around him to help him get up”.  Then we watched the most amazing thing happen:  she literally picked him up and carried him across the front of the stage!  As in, she carried him in her arms all the way across the front of the stage!  STOP MY HEART, O GOD!!  These kids are amazing!  Most 4^th-6^th grade kiddos don’t want anything to do with boys or girls, but these kids were demonstrating an understanding of true service in the name of Jesus. 

You’re hurt.  You need help.  I will carry you, literally, to the place where someone can help you.   Oh, may that spirit continue to take root in their hearts.

I love how God’s Holy Word still speaks to us today, and to our children as well.

I think I’ll call her the Good Samantha! 

Shout out to Women Ministries

Every fall, many of the conferences of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) fill up their Bible camps and conference retreat centers with loads of women who are looking for a weekend away with their girlfriends and with God.  Any time that I happen to be home for the last weekend in September, I always try to book myself some time to be at Covenant Point Bible Camp in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and this September was no different.  This year, I had the added delight of being able to be the missionary speaker both at Covenant Point and Mission Springs in northern California.  And now that the retreat season is over, I've decided that I need to book myself into a quiet place for actual retreat, since being the missionary speaker at a women's retreat doesn't exactly allow for much personal time or retreat!

Gift pack at the speaker's cabin at Mission Springs, CA

Mission Springs Chapel where we met for amazing worship

In honor of my veiled friends, always traveling with my refugee suitcase (bottom right)

Swapping missionary nurse experiences from Africa

God's abundant harvest in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

I've learned about living our lives on purpose, and learning to be content....both timely teachings as I journey through this time of transition and seeking God as Jehovah Provider for all of our needs.  I've prayed with women who needed a word of encouragement, or someone just to hold their hand and allow them to share their grief over the loss of a husband.  I've challenged the women of the U.P. Michigan and northern California to turn off the media and turn our hearts open to God, who can then use us for His kingdom building purposes.  I've learned that women in the ECC are passionate about caring for missionaries and refugees, especially as they poured out so much love on me (and Steve, by extension) through their offerings which will be put aside for our new ministry in Sweden.  I've heard teaching about coming to the table (the communion table) and staying at the table even when life and ministry are difficult and our human tendency is to run away from conflict and just give up.  Those were the best words yet spoken into my life in recent weeks.  Don't give up.  Stay at the table.  It can be resolved at the table, and only at the table, and only if we approach the table with a spirit of true humility and an understanding of forgiveness.  And then we went to the table, at both retreats.  What a privilege to participate in community around the table.  

This past May, 2016, before we left Antwerp Belgium, I had the joy of planning an overnight retreat for 6 new followers of Jesus, all who had come from countries where little is truly known about Jesus.  We used my Special Interest Missionary (SIM) funds, which are available to long term missionaries through Women Ministries of the ECC, to fund the event...to pay for the train tickets for my refugee friends to get up to Antwerp, to pay for their food and lodging at the Catholic retreat center, and to pay for some of the supplies we needed for the weekend (check out a previous blog post from June 2016 about it, especially the artwork that came out of the weekend).  Another great memory built around women, coming together, laughing, crying, praying, praising God through worship and study.  Another group of women walking away from a weekend encouraged in their journey with Jesus.

So thankful for Covenant Women, Women Ministries of the ECC, women of the church ~ however you want to call it!  As I look forward to being in Sweden next fall, perhaps there will be a women's retreat there, where we can organize some time together to be with girlfriends and with God.  And maybe there will be some new girlfriends at the table, new followers of Jesus who have traveled a long way to get to Sweden to meet a true follower of Jesus who knows how important it is to have time with God ~ and girlfriends!

Seals in Santa Cruz provided a whole lot of entertainment for this city slicker from Chicago ~

Doing the duck at Covenant Point ~ there is a story behind this photo, for sure!

Her name is Nasra

We had the privilege of accessing the US health care system recently (we went to the doctor for annual physicals, for the first time in the US in more than 12 years).  I should also note that we were really spoiled by our fluent English speaking doctors in Belgium, who were easily available without having to make or wait for an appointment, and our office visits never cost more than $35.00.  Being in a new home, in a new city, I admit that I was a bit nervous about this first trip to the doctor.  So imagine my surprise when I walked into the clinic and the receptionist who greeted me was wearing her name badge which read "Nasra".

We went through the formalities that you have to do before you get past the door, filling our your name and birthdate and address and phone number (always a good exercise for me right now since I'm learning new area codes and zip codes every other week, it seems!!), and I went in for my visit.  And here comes God's next surprise for me for this morning: my doctor is from Pakistan and is simply delightful...in addition to being very thorough.  We talked family history, when I've had all my last routine procedures (most of which include needles and the like), and it was all over in about 30 minutes. 

On my way out, after being treated to a poke at the lab, I stopped by at Nasra's front desk again.  And that's when I watched the most delightful interchange take place with Nasra, fully veiled in black, and the African American post woman dressed in shorts and a baseball cap.  She greeted Nasra with "asalaam aleykum" and Nasra's quick response was "aleykum salaam".  Wow, God, they even speak Arabic and peace in this clinic.  In a moment, I was transported back to the Central African Republic and the Fulani people, who every time they entered my home or back yard would also yell in eager greeting those same words. Same Arabic.  Same greeting of "peace be with you",  "and also with you".  Shalom. Peace.  Even in the doctor's office.

As it then became my turn to catch Nasra's attention, I called her by her name, Nasra.  And funny enough, I even pronounced it correctly (not always a guarantee, mind you, even for this somewhat seasoned student of languages!).  Her eyes lit up immediately with recognition and this short statement of recognition, "wow, you even knew how to pronounce my name correctly. Not everyone does".  What a great lead in for me to begin a conversation about the work that God has called us to do among refugees and bringing the truth about Jesus to our world.

On my way home, feeling so thankful for access to medical care, I thanked God for Nasra and the journey that she is on to know more about God.  I wanted to do my part, thru prayer, and lay the foundation for the next time I go back to the clinic and can greet Nasra.  Maybe it will be my turn to say "peace be with you".

Her name is Nasra.

She's on a journey.

May she find Jesus even as she seeks peace.

The Little Church That Could!

The Little Engine That Could is an illustrated children's book that was first published in the United States in 1930 by Platt & Munk.  It’s a familiar story from my childhood that taught us about hard work and the ability to think positively.  My mom would always say “You won’t know if you can do it or not until you’ve tried to do it”.  Mom also used to say “you won’t know if you like it or not until you’ve tried it” in regards to getting us four Boca kids to eat certain foods, usually vegetables, that we weren’t particularly interested in trying.  Thanks, Mom, for all that you taught us!

My mom, Dorothy Kajsa Erickson, grew up in the South Chicago Covenant Church, 10023 S. Avenue L, located on the East Side, a small immigrant community on Chicago’s far southside.  It’s the church her Swedish immigrant parents, Hannah Otilia and Johannes Erickson, attended as they brought their four children to a place of worship.  In that era (Mom was born in 1921), worship services, Sunday School, even confirmation classes, were all done in Swedish.  The language of the church changed to English in 1933, and the name changed from the Mission Evangelical Covenant Church to South Chicago Covenant Church (SCC).

Dorothy Erickson married George Boca, a recent immigrant from the former Yugoslavia, in 1955.  They raised their kids at the South Chicago Covenant Church, even as George remained active in the St. Simeon Mirotocivi Serbian Orthodox Church, located on 114^th and Avenue G.  I am one of those Boca kids who grew up in both traditions, as a cheerleader for the SCC basketball that participated in the southside Covenant churches basketball league on Saturday nights, while also actively participating in the Serbian kolo dance club for kids at St. Simeon’s.  It was a great place to grow up, in faith, in traditions of the church, and in knowing how to serve God and the people that He brings to my life.

South Chicago Covenant Church…

-welcomed babies into the church’s cradle roll

-faithfully sponsored ecumenical Vacation Bible Schools on the East Side

-tirelessly provided opportunities for kids to grow in faith in their AWANA program, the basketball league, confirmation, serving in the community

-raised up generations of believers and Christ followers

-cared for the poor and abused through the Well Spring House and Barnabas Project

-and closed in 1997.

It was a very difficult experience in life, watching your church close.  My mom just could not believe that God’s best plan for SCC was to close.  Wasn’t there just something more that we could do?  

But we serve the God of all creation, the God who has surprises always in store for those who follow Him and serve Him.

Enjoying a quiet moment with Pastor Javier in the prayer room that was dedicated to the memories of my dad and brother, George Boca Sr. and George Boca Jr.

 

Generations sharing hospitality in the same coffee cups from the South Chicago Covenant Church.  This church knows how to practice the gift of hospitality!

One of those surprises took place on Friday, 26 August 2016, as the Iglesia del Pacto Peniel, the Peniel Covenant Church, a Hispanic congregation that reopened in the church building of the old SCC, opened their doors, threw out the red carpet of welcome, and generations of old church and new church were reunited and amazed at God’s incredible goodness.  My husband Steve had never been to the SCC/Peniel church, so it was time for him to sit back and absorb some of the story.  We were right at home, together with Mrs. Elma Borozan and John Stajcic, faithful servants who had been an important part of the life of the SCC.  Worship took place in Spanish, with words projected on the front wall where previously a Warner Sallman painting had hung.  The words were just pouring out of my mouth as I shared stories of the “old church”, which were then translated into Spanish.  There was so much joy ~ is it possible to say even too much joy ~ as we realized and recognized that the vision of the old SCC, to raise up generations of missionaries and trained and equipped church leaders, is the same vision of the Iglesia Peniel, even as they plan to purchase a building next store to the church to open as a community center and training center for disciples of Jesus and missionaries.

I am sure the Swedish founding fathers of this church could not have envisioned projecting the words of "How Great Thou Art" in Spanish ~ a great tradition lives on!

Steve and I took a bold step of faith at the end of our time together and decided to sing a song.  I walked over to the baby grand piano, my friend of many many years, and sat down to sing and play.  At this point in the evening, several people said “no, don’t play the piano, it’s so out of tune”.  To which we replied “it doesn’t matter”.  I was being reunited with an old friend, to sing yet again a song of praise to God.  And my clever husband had chosen the song:  Children of the Heavenly Father.  Perhaps it was a new song to the Peniel church family,  yet it’s a familiar one for Steve and I and how powerful it was to sing in English, and then to finish in Swedish, the original language of the church and the new language and country that Steve and I will transition to in 2017 to work among refugees.

In a moment, I was transported back to my youth...

 

The pulpit where I was sent out as a short term missionary in 1987 and later as long term missionary in 1995 is still a place of welcome for missionaries and servants

Favorite memory of the evening (of course there were several):  before we left the sanctuary to go and eat together, we took a group picture with the kids.  One little girl yelled out “cheese” so we all yelled out “cheese”.  Then I asked how do you say cheese in Spanish, and they all yelled out “queso”.  Then I yelled out “Ost, ost” in honor of the Swedish heritage of this church and our future place of ministry.  

We were having way too much fun, especially with the girls in front who were doing interpretive liturgical dance during worship....priceless!

Just felt like the circle had been completed that evening. 

Truly, this little church on Chicago’s southside is the little church that could!

Though this picture is a bit dark to see, we (the "old church") are on our knees, being blessed by the "new church"....a moment that I shall never forget!

The body of Christ knows no barriers...