A letter from Ellen Sherby in Nicaragua
July 10, 2008
Dear Friends,
More than ten years have passed since I packed my cream-colored cotton eyelet wedding dress in a carry-on backpack and flew to Nicaragua to marry Elmer Zavala. Elmer and I met in 1995 through the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Reconciliation and Mission Program and sustained a long-distance courtship after we finished our one-year participation in the program in 1996. When I came to Nicaragua at the end of 1997 I intended to marry Elmer and work for two years with the U.S.- based and faith-based organization, Witness for Peace.
When my term with Witness for Peace was coming to a close in the last half of 1999, I had plans to return to the United States with Elmer. Yet on a warm Managua night at the end of July that year I momentarily suspended my own agenda and realized with a startling sense of wonder that my life didn’t have to follow the path I’d determined. This was, perhaps, one of the first times I’d ever let go of my plans, like a bunch of balloons released into a gentle, steady breeze. I opened my heart and mind to other possibilities, and four opportunities for employment arose within the following weeks. As a result, within a few months I accepted an appointment to CEPAD in Nicaragua as a PC(USA) mission co-worker, a position I still enjoy.
In this same spirit of openness to God’s Spirit, in April I applied to be a Training Specialist in the new Equipping the Church for Mission Involvement office of the World Mission area of the PC(USA) in Louisville. I followed the application process, engaged in prayerful reflection and discernment, and several weeks later the PC(USA) offered me the position. I accepted. My family and I expect to move to Louisville, Kentucky, in early December to settle in. I will begin my new job in January, 2009, while Elmer will return to Nicaragua in January for four to six weeks to conclude his elected post as president of the Evangelical Methodist Church of Nicaragua.
Elmer and I have learned and grown so much from living and working in Nicaragua; we will deeply miss our current ministries, the relationships we’ve formed over the years with Nicaraguans and foreigners, and the tropical climate. Yet we both feel this is God’s calling to our family, and we are confident that the ministries we’ve worked with here will continue under God’s grace and direction.
I am grateful to churches and individuals who have supported me with prayers and funding for my current position. I will be working with CEPAD and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to plan for those who will take on my responsibilities in communications work, including partnership communications.
To those of you who have sent Directed Mission Support or ECO funds for my mission work, contributions sent to my ECO (E200404) in 2008 that go beyond the support I need this year will be applied to the mission co-worker who replaces me. A new DMS number will be assigned to that person and sent to you with information about him or her.
Elmer and I will covet your prayers as we prepare to move to the United States while trying to leave firm footings for those who will continue the work both of us have been doing in Nicaragua.
In Faith,
Ellen
The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 263
