By Jesse Zink, a former member of St. John’s, Northampton, and a youth who has long been active in the Diocese and at Camp Bement.

At the core of my Christian faith is the belief that as children of God we are called to use the gifts and talents God has given us to enrich God’s world and make it more like God’s perfect Creation. As a result, I believe we are called to devote our lives to service and put the needs of others ahead of our own.

During my high school and college years, that belief translated into service at Bement. After graduate school, it led me to Nome, Alaska, where I have been serving the Alaska Natives of the region at a Catholic radio station for the last two years.

Now, it is a belief that has led me to become a missionary of our own church, through our Young Adult Service Corps program, which helps people in their 20s serve overseas by lowering the amount of support we have to raise and providing more structure for the experience than older, longer-term missionaries typically receive. (Greg Racine of Christ Church, Rochdale, is also in YASC, making Western Massachusetts the only Diocese doubly represented in the program this year.)

I will leave this month for Mthatha, South Africa, where I will work alongside two long-term missionaries of the church. The husband is the only orthopedic surgeon within thousands of square miles. The wife is a nurse and runs a clinic, preschool and feeding program that serves a community on the site of Mthatha’s former dump. I will be working in all aspects of the ministry and look forward to having my eyes and heart opened to the reality of HIV/AIDS in South Africa and learning what we can best do to help.

Mthatha was the capital of the largest apartheid-era “homeland” and is still one of the poorest parts of the country. The people are largely Xhosa and who speak a language characterized by its “click” consonants. There are 27 letters of the alphabet and three are actually clicks made with the tongue.

A few years ago, I worked at Bement with a South African who spoke Xhosa and we tried to get him to teach us the clicks. I gave up quickly, convinced it was too hard and content in the knowledge I would never have to speak the language. Now I learn many of my patients next year will only speak Xhosa. If you needed any more indication of God’s sense of humor…

As I prepare for this transition from Alaska to South Africa, it often seems as if the logistics of the move overwhelm all other considerations. It’s so easy to get consumed with figuring out which shots you need, how to get the right visa, what kind of clothes you need to pack, that I find I forget why I am going in the first place.

As I get ready to depart, there have been so many experiences that have reminded me of the importance of this work. I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of so many people who have set me well on my way to raising the necessary $10,000 in support. It has been so affirming to hear from so many people that they support me and think I am making the right decision.

In June, I spent two weeks in New York City in training. This was a life-altering experience as the conversations about cross-cultural communications, theology of mission and Bible study with the other mission trainees from a broad spectrum of the Church opened my eyes in ways I had not expected. We met with the Presiding Bishop and had lunch with the Executive Council, and I realized the leaders of our Church are very excited by our mission work and deeply supportive of it.

The core of Episcopal mission theology is the idea that God’s mission is a mission of reconciliation in which we are invited to join. We do so by building relations with and serving our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world, knowing they have at least as much to offer us as we do them. It is in that spirit that I am preparing to leave for Mthatha to learn what wonders God is working there.

Jesse’s e-mail address is jessezink@gmail.com. He writes about his mission work at mthathamission.blogspot.com.