Br. Tim Lamb, OFM - Destination Africa
Br. Tim talks about his new blog, a spiritual diary called “Omnes Donum Est” (All Is Gift)
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Br. Tim with his Missioning Crucifix
More than once Br. Tim Lamb, OFM, has been asked, “Why Africa?” “Why now?”
One answer lies in the reflection Fr. Mark Soehner, OFM, gave for Tim’s missioning service Aug. 23 at St. Francis Seraph Church. “What is the meaning of life?” Mark asked, then skewed it slightly. “Jesus offers a different version,” he said. “He addresses himself to what gives life meaning.”
How do we know what feeds our soul? For Tim, the decision to become a mid-life missionary (he’s 61) was not an easy one. But ultimately, the decision was rooted in his love for God, Mark said. “This deep love has led him to trust, to take risks, to hear an inner call from this One who loved him so much. And it’s because God who started this journey, this adventure, first found Tim on the edges of that life. Now Tim wants to give back to his Beloved by going to the peripheries, to what looks to me like falling off the edge of the world to another world, to South Sudan.”
It looks that way to most people. Tim’s siblings, here from Texas and New Hampshire, were asked about his distant deployment. “It’s exciting,” said sister Bette Bell. “We have a new place to visit.” “Oh boy,” said Tim’s brother, Tom Lamb. “It’s exciting and a worry.” Tom’s wife Elaine said she’ll be offering “lots of prayers.”
Into the unknown
Adventure awaits: That was the consensus of relatives, friends and friars who gathered to share this going-away moment with Tim. There was anticipation mixed with the realization that much of what lies ahead is unknown – perfectly articulated in a song Br. Al Mascia, OFM, wrote for the occasion. “Oh my God, where am I going,” Al sang, strumming his guitar. “The road I cannot see. I don’t know for certain where the road will end….”
Tim does know what the next few months will bring. After he completes the Inter-Franciscan Missionary Program in Brussels, Belgium, he flies to Nairobi, Kenya, for acclimation to the Province of St. Francis in East Africa. “He’s assigned to the novitiate in Mbarara, Uganda,” Mark said. “He may help out in South Sudan,” counseling returning refugees, but that remains to be seen. “He’s not even sure whether he will get around by bus, or motorcycle, or camel or wildebeest. But by this inspiration of the Lord, this breathing of God in him, he wants to ‘listen reverently to others with unfeigned charity, learn willingly from the people among whom they live, especially from the poor, who are our teachers.’”
Tim’s job, Mark said, “will be to take off the shoes of his own culture and be in awe of the ways that ordinary bushes are on fire with God.” For those back home, “Br. Tim becomes for us a model, but even better, a catalyst,” inspiring others to take risks, to let go.
Using your gifts
Fr. Tim's family: Elaine and Tom Lamb, left and Bette Belle, right, with Br. Tim
Letting go is never easy for the relatives of a departing missionary. After celebrant Fr. Jeff Scheeler, OFM, called Tim forth to serve, sister Bette read an emotional blessing on behalf of her family. “Tim, as we all gathered for your Baptism, we witnessed your birth of new life which started your journey. Over the years while you made this journey you showed us your generous soul, which you gave freely and openly. Your wise soul, which always saw the best in all people, and your gentle soul, which was always sensitive to the feelings of others. All your gifts have brought you here today for your new journey.”
As for the questions, “Why Africa?” and, “Why now?”, they were answered on Tim’s new blog, a spiritual diary called “Omnes Donum Est” (All Is Gift). As he wrote in one of his first entries, “I have been on this journey all my life.”
This story originally appeared in the SJB Newsnotes September 10, 2015.
Posted in: Missions, News, Newsletter, Prayer, Saint Francis
