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Teresa Curran: Believing and belonging: who?

Lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with a humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4:1-3).

Isn’t that nice? My new family and me (10 countries, 11 very strong personalities) had a little discussion on what belonging means to us. Somehow, we all reached the same conclusion. To belong is to know that you are loved. I belong right here, with the children that I have come to love, with the team who have become my family, in this crazy unpredictable country that I’m starting to love. Which is a shame, because by the time you read this, I’ll be in India.

Belonging is a strange thing and when you are away from all things familiar it seems like you don’t quite fit in, that things don’t quite work. Young people move around a lot, we are transient people and we are often lost and lonely. As leaders we are called to love…to rejoice in peoples happiness and to cry in their sorrow.

I often felt helpless during my time at the Mountain View Preschool, like there was nothing that I could have done to help people. But looking back, I see that the one thing I had left to give was love, and that love brought me closer into the community. Over and over we’ve found out that what everyone is searching for is a sense of community.

CWM asks “Who is your neighbour?” It’s a good question, but I ask, “is anyone not?”

Waikato youth leader Teresa Curran is currently taking part in 'Training in Mission', a program where twelve young people from Council for World Mission member churches live, study and work together in mission for ten months: five in South Africa and five in India.