Diocese of Olympia
General Convention 2003
Friday, November 7
Introduction:
Good Afternoon! First of all, I would like to give praise to Jesus Christ and thank the Student Scholarship Committee for giving me this opportunity to share.
Personal and Spiritual
Background:
My name is Anne Ni. I�m from St. Luke�s in Ballard, Seattle. I am a forth generation Anglican, originally from Burma. My husband Ye and I were blessed with our two precious teenagers � Marla, a senior cheerleader and Patrick, a freshman - both in Ballard High. My family and I migrated to the United States in 1992 not knowing the decision we made back then was rather to fulfill the call Christ has for me in His church than to have a better future for our children.
I came from a priestly family. My great-grandfather was a deacon in his ethnic group during the late 1800�s. My grandfather was an archdeacon who was among the leaders rebuilding the post war Anglican Church in Burma. One of my uncles became the third Burmese archbishop after Burma received independence from the British. Although one of my cousins in the younger generation is currently studying for his call to the Holy Orders, there is a gap in my generation where no one feels called to be a priest. Raised in a culture where there is no place for women in that vocation, I thought of becoming an Anglican nun after graduating from High School. That thought did not become a reality after I met my husband in college. Instead, the Good Lord brought me to this wonderful country and made it possible to close the gab of priestly lineage in my family.
Journey to the Holy
Orders:
Although I came from this priestly family with rich tradition in the church, I wouldn�t dare taking this journey if the Lord does not call me. At the same time, I have to be obedient to this call even though, as I�m sure, there will be obstacles along this path.
After experiencing the rebirth in my spirit in 1998, I�ve had the sense of being called but didn�t exactly know what that call was. Since then, I have been listening to this small still voice I hear in my daily prayer. During my early morning prayer on one Sunday in February 2001, I specifically prayed to hear this voice in a tangible way. I went to church that morning not knowing Bishop Hamptom was visiting our church. Right after the service, he came to me and asked, �Have you ever thought of going into Holy Orders?� I felt as if the Lord Himself was asking me. The sense of call I have felt in my heart from the small still voice became tangible through this servant of God.
I started this journey with the people of color discernment conference in July 2001. Then I went through a yearlong discernment process in 2002; went through BACOM in beginning of 2003; met with another servant of God Bishop Warner, who, with the God given authority, made me the first Burmese American postulant in this Diocese (or maybe in the United States?). I have just started my first step of seminary study with CDSP in September. As I still need to keep my current fulltime job to help raise our two teenagers with my husband, I am currently doing part time online study until the Lord provides resources for me to go off to a seminary.
The Struggles, the
challenges and the helps:
As a second language speaker in English and a pioneer in the immigrant family, one of the struggles I have in doing graduate study for the Holy Orders is �the language�. I feel like an elementary child among college students in my online class. I feel like I�m not sophisticated enough to do the study. I don�t think I can articulate and comprehend like my classmates. But I thank God for the small still voice who encourages me in my daily prayers; for the faithful people of God from St. Luke�s who cover me with prayers; and for the ethnic missioner and the Diocesan Circle of Color group who help me keep focus on my call and made this call a reality.
Financial obligation is a challenge I will definitely have to face through out this journey.
I anticipated the financial obstacles before I started this journey but at the same time I have the assurance of the Lord�s provision. He has called me and brought me this far.
I am confident He will finish the work He started in me in His time.
I give glory to Jesus Christ for the struggles and challenges I face and the helps He provides through His faithful people in this journey. I also give thanks to our Lord for the Student Scholarship Committee for awarding me with $1000 scholarship. I am a living witness for the work of this committee for the glory of God.
The request:
There are people like me in this Diocese who are called by our Lord to the Holy Orders.
The Student Scholarship Committee is one of the vessels in this Diocese the Lord uses to help those who are called. As a scholarship recipient from Student Scholarship Committee, I would like to end my testimony with a request. Your support to this committee can make a tremendous impact in advancing the works Jesus Christ has for those who are called to the Holy Orders. Please prayerfully consider supporting the upcoming appeal from this committee in the New Year. Please spread the good work this committee has done for postulant like me. Also please pray that the Lord will use this committee mightily for His kingdom. The gift you give in the natural through this committee will bear spiritual fruit that will last eternally in the kingdom of God.
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