Ministry Colleagues and Friends

            I arrived in Myanmar on Thursday, a day later than originally scheduled.  Evidently some exhausted parent disposed of a diaper in a way that rendered some of the lavatories of our plane inoperable. So we had to turn back, try to find another plane and crew, and wait until the next day to travel.  [We tried not to glare at parents of infants and toddlers, wondering who had committed the fateful deed.]

            Thankfully, Myanmar Institute of Theology flexed the schedule for the Ecumenical Lecture and allowed me to speak on Thursday afternoon rather than the morning.  Grace and adrenaline sufficed, and we had a lively exchange after my lecture on “The Promise of Trinitarian Theology for Congregational Life.”  As usual, I was on a mission to persuade my hearers that the Doctrine of the Trinity is not some abstract and irrelevant teaching, but the very heart of our faith as Christians, with the capacity to shape communities after God’s likeness.

            Over the past seven years, Central and Myanmar Institute of Theology have engaged in an exhilarating adventure: collaborating on a Doctor of Ministry degree.  It is challenging to work across cultural lines as we seek to find ways to be sensitive to the radical differences in ministry contexts. Each year faculty colleagues and doctoral students from Shawnee come for seminars, and we have the opportunity to learn how ministry colleagues follow their calling here.

            On a steamy Saturday morning, MIT held its commencement service, and it was festive.  There were 154 graduates in the varied degree programs.  One of the joys of my office is conferring the degree upon Doctor of Ministry graduates and presenting their diplomas.  With great pomp, we celebrated the graduation of thirteen from our joint program.  We now have about 40 graduates, and 84 women and men have been a part of the program.  We revel in what our collaboration has accomplished.

            Just as we try to extend the best of Kansas hospitality when the MIT cohort visits our campus, the faculty and students in Yangon are expansive in their welcome.   After the completion of the graduation ceremony, we shared lunch with faculty and administrators of our sister school, which was a special kindness.  Central faculty and staff know how exhausting it is to pull off the many events of graduation, and this additional celebratory lunch was generous.

            On the Lord’s Day, we will be in varied churches and then visiting in homes.  It is a privilege to strengthen our bonds with treasured ministry colleagues and learn of the significant congregational leadership they provide.  These spiritual kin face similar challenges, yet the threats to religious liberty linger in Myanmar.

            All is not well in the country.  Some pastoral leaders labor where fighting persists, and care for their churches sometimes upends their studies.  We trust that some of the skills they hone pursuing their degrees strengthens them for this urgent ministry.

            Molly T. Marshall

Central prepares leaders to love the global church.