I-YOUniverse

A Service of Blessing

For the Reverend Dr. Jean-Emile Ngué

6 May 2008

Each of us is invited to participate in words or in silence.

Opening Prayer

With hope and joy in our hearts we celebrate being friends one with another. With trust in the grace and love of the Almighty we part, not in heart or spirit, but geographically for a time.

Scripture

The Lord loves those who hate evil,
guards the life of the faithful,
rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
Light dawns for the righteous,
and joy for the upright in heart.
Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
and give thanks to God’s holy name! Ps 97.10-12

(Book of Common Prayer, Psalm prescribed for today)

Petitions

Response: You, Lord, are the beginning and the end.

Be with Jean-Emile as he returns to his ministry in Cameroon, we pray. Response

In the challenges that may arise, calm any fears and anxieties that he may have, we pray. Response

May the grace and sharing of all the Companions in Hope surround and protect Jean-Emile, we pray. Response

Common Prayer

In silence or words of your choice

Sharing of Blessing in the Bread and Cup

Bread

We do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Deut 8.3

God commanded the skies above,
     and opened the doors of heaven;
you rained down on them manna to eat,
     and gave them the grain of heaven.
Mortals ate of the bread of angels;
     you sent us food in abundance.   Psalms 78:23-25

Cup
Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
     our God is merciful.
The LORD protects the simple;
     when I was brought low, you saved me.
Return, O my soul, to your rest,
     for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
For you have delivered my soul from death,
     my eyes from tears,
     my feet from stumbling.
I walk before the LORD
     in the land of the living.

What shall I return to you, LORD,
     for all your bounty to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation
     and call on the name of the LORD. Psalms 116:5-9,12-13

The Lord’s Prayer

Laying on of Hands

All
The Lord bless you and keep you!
The face of the Lord shine upon you, the Lord be gracious unto you!
The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace! Num 6.24-26

AMEN – Sung (from The Lilies of the Field)

Adapted from a book of family worship celebrations called The Blessing Cup. All scripture from NRSV; masculine pronouns referring to God omitted or changed to 2nd person. Not all persons present wished to partake of Christian communion; therefore Hebrew Bible selections were chosen.

Presence and mission

Saturday, April 12. 5 a.m. Last night nobody drank the cinnamon decaf, this morning I have a carafe full. The basket of grounds overflowed; as I empty it, dark wet grounds clump on the counter, in the napkin, on my fingers. I nuke a couple slices of leftover pound cake to go with my coffee; read the psalm and gospel for the morning; over pound cake, ponder the last few pages of I and Thou.

The cat waits at my shoulder on the shelf beside me, emitting sharp cries “Myow! Myow!” demanding attention; if I stop working and settle back for her to lay in my lap, she hops off.

When you are sent forth, God remains presence for you; whoever walks in his mission always has God before him: the more faithful the fulfillment, the stronger and more constant the nearness.

I and Thou, p. 164

No one’s sure what Buber means precisely. That much is clear from translator Walter Kaufmann’s notes (see footnote 8, pp. 163-164.)

The cat hops between me and the keyboard.

We want God always to be there; so if, waiting before the Countenance, we feel only absence, we fill the gap with faith. We substitute faith that sustains us during the absence or latency of You for the actuality of You. We turn God into a God-thing which we can manipulate.

But those who wait for the actualization of the eternal You and who act for the world find that they live before the Countenance.

I give both cats Whiskas treats and they race off into the dark house.

Gathering of people on mission

Friday, April 11. 4 p.m. In less than three hours twelve people were gathered to meet Dr. Jean-Emile Ngué, including the ministers of Trinity United Methodist Church Dr. John Peters and Teresa McRoberts. Dr. Ngué is Executive Director of the African Counseling Center (ACC) in Yaoundé and Secretary General of the Council of Protestant Churches in Cameroon.

Once Sandy and Jean-Emile had arrived home, the rush of preparation was on. We set out a dish of granola, lemon pound cake, strawberry-blueberry tarts; sliced kiwi fruit and plantain; brewed tea and made cranberry-ginger punch. We had a take-home sheaf of info and a prayer reminder; song sheets with favorite hymns which we often sing over long distance telephone lines.

After introductions people shared their experience with missions. Several are involved with high risk youth in Richmond. Others participate in the church’s annual medical mission to Honduras.

Divine appointment

Folks enjoyed hearing how Dr. Sam Roberts showed up at the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care (VIPCare) 11 years ago, with an African pastor and grad student interested in pastoral care. My wife Sandy, untypically, had a free hour to speak with them.

Cameroon pastors had sent Jean-Emile to the States for one year of study, but when he discovered pastoral care and counseling he recognized the critical need for this discipline in Africa. He remained, earning a DMin degree from the School of Theology at Virginia Union University and completing counselor training programs at VIPCare.

He adapted Western psychology and counseling for the African context and developed a model based on the African identity. In 2000 he began the African Counseling Center (ACC), the first pastoral counseling service and training center in Africa.

Companions in Hope

In 2002, VIPCare staff including Vic Maloy, Executive Director, Dennett Slemp, Mary Fran Hughes-McIntyre, and Sandy Hamilton, and Sharron Hawke, RN, a graduate of the VIPCare congregational care program, visited Yaoundé to present a pastoral counseling seminar to 70 pastors. The African staff chose the name “Companions in Hope” for the American and African partners.

The ACC provides training for children in protecting themselves from sexual abuse and HIV/AIDS infection. It runs support groups for HIV+ mothers and grandmothers rearing children whose parents have died of AIDS. It has an outreach program to street children.

In addition, its staff provide counseling to individuals and couples, and pastoral care and counseling training for pastors.

The American Association of Pastoral Counselors invited Dr. Ngué and ACC Program Director Samuel Lindjeck to present a seminar on multicultural issues in training international students in the United States at its annual meeting in Norfolk in April. Because of delays in being granted visas, however, VIPCare staff were presenters, using materials prepared by Dr. Ngué and Mr. Lindjeck.