The End
This is it. We made it to the end of the XPLOR program. I guess we can call ourselves XPLOR graduates. So congratulations to all of us XPLOR-ers: to the NBA staff, to the spiritual companions, to the worksites, to the service sites, and to the XPLOR Residents.
The end of NBA XPLOR marks at least two milestones in our lives. First is the end of our time as XPLOR Residents. The end of XPLOR means that 10-month program is done; the services have been made; the projects have been accomplished; the sermons have been preached; the goodbyes have been said (or they are yet to be said). The end of XPLOR also means decisions have been made. Decisions about career or education; undergraduate, graduate, or professional schools; social work, seminary, health care, STEM, politics, etc. This decision marks our second achievement. Some of us are offered a job; some of us are going back to college; some of us are entering seminary school.
Whatever you have decided, this is my prayer for you.
As XPLOR ends, we embark on a different journey, or continue the journey that has been started as XPLOR, or continue the journey that got held back prior to XPLOR. Whatever each of us decide or have decided to do in life, may each one of us use the knowledge and skills we have learned; may each one of us stay connected with the mentors, the friends, and the family we have made; may the heart that developed to care for others remain passionate, serving God and serving other people; may the leaders that have emerged continue to grow, and continue to teach, to guide, and to inspire others; may each one of us continue changing the world into a better place.
Amen.
Eula Pagdilao is a 2015-16 NBA XPLOR Resident in Golden Gate, CA, a partnership with Forest Hill Christian Church in San Francisco, Lafayette Christian Church, Mills Grove Christian Church in Oakland, Christian Church Homes, Oakland Peace Center, and the Northern California-Nevada Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
NBA XPLOR is a 10-month service residency opportunity for young adults ages 21-30, with the purpose of empowering young adults to discern and develop a “heart for care” as they live together in simple community, engage in direct service and justice work, engage in leadership development, and discern their vocational calls to honor the various communities they are called to serve. Learn more and apply at nbacares.org/xplor.
