The capstone to our three year SEM program is a week-long “Justice Journey” through the South. Students visit significant Civil Rights Movement sites including the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, MLK’s home and church in Montgomery, the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma and the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.
Kevin Callaghan, Woodland’s Discipleship and Formation Pastor, says, “The purpose of this trip is to celebrate the graduates and give them one last bonding time together. We also debrief their three years together and encourage them to consider ways they can live as ‘everyday missional’ disciples embodying love, justice and Jesus-looking community wherever they go from here.”
The trip also gives students the opportunity to confront the history of racism in the United States. Grappling with this issue is part of SEM’s mission for heart transformation.
For Dan, the most impactful part of the trip was the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum in Montgomery. “There’s an immersive experience there that tells about our nation’s history from slave roots to today’s mass incarceration. I was taught from a young age that racism is wrong, but also that it was in our past, which had me thinking that it was ancient history. But then you realize it wasn’t that long ago, and still, today, we have a lot of challenges.”
Practically, the trip is reshaping how Dan listens. “I was talking with an acquaintance and I’m not sure what prompted him to share his experience as an African-American, but it was right after being on this trip, so I just listened and said, ‘Thank you for sharing that.’ And he appreciated that. He said, ‘That’s all you can say, because if you were gonna give your opinion or try to make it better or anything like that, I wouldn’t have listened to you anyway!’”
“This trip gave me room just to be with other people’s stories and experiences and opinions. Without judgment, without trying to make it better, or to say, ‘Yeah, but…’ or to say, ‘Well, I’m not like that. I don’t…’ I can just be with other people at deeper levels.”
Dan wraps up his reflections by saying: “As followers of Jesus, we have a responsibility to show all people their unsurpassable worth. How can I say I follow Jesus if I’m not doing that?”
Amen, Dan!
If you are interested in learning more about SEM check it out here.
Love this! Just sitting with people in their story. In their grief.