My call was not so clear or compelling. What I remember about being called to mission and religious life is fuzzy. I was a young sixth grader in Catholic school and, out of the blue, I wanted to go to Africa. That was it. I don’t remember wanting to save souls in a “foreign” country or give my life to God. Dad said, “Suzie, you just want adventure!” At the time in the late 1950’s, my options were limited because the Peace Corps and other groups were not yet started. It seemed that the only way for me to get to Africa was mission, and then, for a young Catholic girl to be a missionary, I had to become a religious sister. Again, my options were slim. Maryknoll was the only missionary community I knew, so after high school I filled out forms, passed the entrance requirements, entered in 1962, and was assigned to Africa in 1970. Dad was right, life has been an adventure ever since!
For sure, the same ‘Majesty-on-High’ whose presence was dramatically felt by today’s biblical characters was behind my young desire to go to Africa. Initially, the call was faint, but it never left me. And after all these years, I sense God’s call was, and continues to be msukumo wa ndani as Tanzanians say, “tension inside the body pushing out,” an intrinsic quality, an internal gravity keeping after me and holding me in orbit. There were times when I wanted to go in another direction, but some mundane thing pulled me back to stand firm. In one example, I decided in my early years to leave Maryknoll and went to tell our novice mistress. But she wasn’t in her office, and I never went back.
In remembering bits of my story, I am curious about what call means for today’s youth. Crossing cultures has granted me contact with young women and men in Tanzania and the United States. They come from very different societies and cultures yet share common ground as members of millennial and Gen Z generations; youth today seem very authentic, pragmatic, informed, articulate and spiritual. Some youth in the United States do not go to church, while Tanzanian youth join mainline religions or denominations like Lutheran, Catholic, Islam, Pentecostal or a mixture of these. I met a young man who fixes tire punctures in Arusha. He wears a red or white Palestinian scarf, a keffiyeh, around his head. I asked if he was Muslim. He said, “Oh no, I pray at the Thunder for Salvation of All Nations Church.”
I doubt if youth in either country see life choices as a call from God, yet in listening to them, I hear traces of msukumo wa ndani, to which they seem attentive. After college and working temporary jobs in the United States, my millennial nephew, John, wrote that he had an idea that just wouldn’t go away – like “a galloping rhinoceros that keeps after me.” Well, a rhino is not a furry little rabbit, so something big (like Majesty-on-High) wanted his attention. John said, “Don’t laugh, but I really want this!” My dear nephew is now in Japan teaching English, speaking Japanese and studying for his masters degree.
The other day, I saw the young Palestinian Christian Tanzanian lad, who asked me to bring the car over for a wash up. Mabuki said, “Sista Usicheke — don’t laugh, but I have a funny idea that won’t go away. I’ll tell you about it sometime!”
Perhaps he has a call from Majesty-on-High.
Maryknoll Sister Suzanne Rech, originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, entered the Maryknoll Sisters in 1962 and was first assigned to Tanzania in 1971. She currently serves there, helping women form small businesses.
To read other Scripture reflections published by the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, click here.
Featured image: A young woman learns to weave in a class run by the Village Angels of Tanzania project. (CNS/Courtesy of Sergio Burani)
