91短视频 alum Patrick Monk was on cross-cultural in South Africa in 2007 when this picture was taken with a new friend. Photos and journals from the fall 2009 cross-cultural group in South Africa…

For years, Africa quietly summoned Patrick Monk. So quietly that, for awhile, Monk himself didn’t hear the call.

“When I was younger, I don’t think I ever saw myself going to Africa, and serving or living overseas,” said Monk, a Bridgewater native and 2000 Turner Ashby High School graduate.

Two years ago, a taste for adventure drew Monk to South Africa for a cross-cultural experience, one requirement for graduation at 91短视频.

Last year, he returned to the world’s second-largest continent for a mission in Uganda.

Haunted History

A turbulent past, in which the country was led in the 1970s by the cruel rule of dictator Idi Amin, left Uganda with social and economic woes that still haunt the country. Some of Uganda’s present problems stem from broad ethnic strife, Monk said, and such struggles are a huge part of what brought him to a nation of more than 33 million people, who are as varied as Uganda’s terrain, which ranges from beaches to deserts.

Monk, 27, recently finished the first year of a three-year mission in Hoima, Uganda, for Mennonite Central Committee, a non-governmental, faith-based group present in numerous developing countries throughout the world.

In Hoima, a rural town in western Uganda, Monk works as an adviser in a program called Living With Shalom, which promotes peace among Uganda’s high-school-aged residents by bringing together young people from different tribes in a Christ-centered setting. MCC created Living with Shalom to spread inter-tribal harmony, something Uganda historically has lacked.

Lasting Impression

His trip to South Africa stirred in Monk a curiosity for how other cultures practice their faith, and an earlier stint as a youth pastor prepared him for a similar role in Uganda, he said.

“Throughout my university studies, I [was] interested in Africa long term,” Monk said.

“The interaction and relationship between religion and culture in our world is a fascinating thing.”

Monk’s mother, Margaret Jones Monk, sensed her son’s excitement for Africa when he returned from his 91短视频 trip.

“The cross cultural [with 91短视频] really clinched it,” she said. “He knew he wanted to go back.”

Brother’s Legacy

Patrick Monk credits the life of younger brother Jeremy with helping to shape his own views on missions. Jeremy Monk, a UVA-Wise grad and a behavioral-management counselor with Crossroads Counseling in Harrisonburg, died on Oct. 9, 2008, at the age of 23 after a six-month bout with bone cancer.

“Jeremy’s life had, and will continue to have, an immense influence on my life,” Patrick Monk said. “Jeremy’s arms, heart, mind and soul were always open to people.”

Though personally different in many ways, Patrick and Jeremy became close in Jeremy’s final years, said their mother, Margaret Monk, 61, a retired Rockingham County teacher.

The rest of the Monk family includes two daughters and another son. Patrick’s father, Edward, 73, is a retired telephone repairman.

“Both Patrick and Jeremy were good influences on each other,” she said. “Pat has such an openness for people.”

Others outside Patrick Monk’s family foresaw his missionary path. Nancy Heisey, a professor in 91短视频’s Bible and religion department, taught Monk. Heisey recalls Monk as a good student at 91短视频 with a “deep sense of calling” to mission work.

“Even before he did his cross cultural, Patrick had a sense of where he wanted to go,” Heisey said. (In 2007, Patrick placed second in 91短视频’s Haverim Writing Award with his scholarly essay on “Reaching Across Rubbled Walls: Emerging from the Galatian Baptism with a New Identity.” Read more…)

Monk’s present path may bring him closer to home. When he returns to the U.S., Monk hopes to work with inner-city youth and possibly write children’s books. He also intends to return to his favorite place abroad.

Said Monk: “I would like to maintain some connection with Africa.”

On Monday, June 2, Atyam told her powerful story of hate and desire for revenge changed to forgiveness toward those who devastated and traumatized her and many others.

SPI director Pat H. Martin introduces speaker Angelina Atyam from northern Uganda, citing “the testing her soul has gone through and finding the courage and grace to forgive others.” (Photo by Jim Bishop)

Atyam, 57, spoke at a “Frontiers in Peacebuilding” luncheon as part of the third session of the 2008 Summer Peacebuilding Institute at 91短视频. The 93 SPI participants from 35 countries were joined by many 91短视频 faculty and staff and community persons for the presentation.

Tens of Thousands Kidnapped

“Uganda is a beautiful country of 24 million people, but we have not enjoyed peace for many years,” she said. The east African country moved from a British colony to independence in 1962, but protracted civil war has spawned refugee camps and a special problem – young boys snatched from their homes to be trained to fill the ranks of rebel armies and young women to serve as sex slaves. Over the past 20 years, some 26,000 children have been documented as kidnapped and more than 6,000 others are unaccounted for.

In 1987, an anti-government group calling itself The Lord’s Resistance Army – “not the Lord that I serve,” Atyam noted – stormed St. Mary’s College, a boarding school for middle and high school students at night, taking close to 150 girl students hostage.

The assistant headmistress followed the rebels and pleaded repeatedly for their release. Eventually, the rebel leader agreed to let one group of 109 girls go and kept the remaining 30 girls. Atyam’s daughter, Charlotte, 14, was among the latter group.

Atyam was devastated by the situation. She recalled “seeing stoic men crying openly,” bemoaning the loss. Families who had lost a child banded together for support and prayer. During one prayer meeting, the group repeated the Lord’s prayer, and one line jumped out at Atyam – “and forgive us as we forgive those who sin against us.”

‘God was at work among us’

“I was convicted of the need to first deal with our feelings of hatred and to pray for forgiveness toward the rebels – we had put a curse on them. Praying for those who had wronged us became our sacrifice,” she said. “And we began to experience a lifting of our burdens. God was at work among us.”

The period of mourning and the commitment to fervent prayer prompted Atyam and others to form the Concerned Parents Association (CPA) to address the tragic issue of kidnapped children. The group’s motto – “Every child is my child.” The organization grew to include members – Christians, Muslims and non-believers – in seven districts across the country.

Atyam decided to visit the mother of the rebel leader who had taken her daughter as his wife. People were amazed at Angelina’s willingness to forgive the woman, her son and her tribe. “What do we gain by wishing the death of our enemies?” she asked. “God wants us to be forgiving, practical peacebuilders.”

Trauma Healing, Recovery

In the midst of the loss and great uncertainty, Mennonite Central Committee workers inquired what the organization could do to help. Atyam expressed gratitude that “MCC people came with offers of assistance but didn’t tell us what to do.”

The Concerned Parents Association invited MCC to work with them in focusing on trauma healing for parents and extended families of abducted children. Training sessions were held in the various districts with the aim of training persons who in turn would educate others in trauma recovery.

“We can’t do anything without also addressing the problem of AIDS and HIV-infection among the many displaced people,” Atyam told the audience. “We have many traumatized people who are unemployed, with nothing to do, and that creates its own problems.”

Twenty four of the 30 kidnapped children eventually were returned to their families, including Atyam’s daughter Charlotte. She came back, however, with two children she bore during her seven years and eight months in captivity.

While some criticized her for accepting back her daughter and grandchildren, Angelina could no more abandon these children than could her daughter. “These children sustained my daughter because they gave her love,” she said. “They are now my flesh and blood as well.”

What does Atyam desire most of all for her country?

‘Weapon of prayer’

“The priority is for God’s intervention in people’s lives,” she said. “We carry the weapon of prayer everywhere we go – even through checkpoints.”

Persons from Community Mennonite Church pray for Angelina Atyam and for the people of Uganda after she spoke in the Sunday worship service there June 1. (Photo by Jim Bishop)

In 1998, Atyam received a human rights award from the United Nations for her work on behalf of thousands of kidnapped children in Uganda. Following her time at 91短视频, she will travel to the UN and also meet with government officials in Washington, D.C., speaking on behalf of abducted children. Her connections are being coordinated by MCC’s New York and Washington offices.

She is one of about 20 people from 14 countries whom MCC sponsored to attend SPI 2008.

During her time at SPI, Atyam also spoke at local churches – Shalom, Community Mennonite, New Beginnings, Park View Mennonite and Charlottesville Mennonite Church.

The language and literature department will hold its first program of fall semester 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, in Martin Chapel of the seminary building at 91短视频.

Doreen Baingana, a fiction writer and poet from Uganda, will read from her novel, "Tropical Fish: Stories Out of Entebbe" (University of Massachusetts Press, Feb. 2005).

"Tropical Fish" is a collection of linked short stories that explore the coming of age of three African sisters. Introspective and personal, the stories reveal the unexpected ambiguities of the young women’s lives. The setting is the lush beauty of Uganda; the background is the aftermath of Idi Amin’s dictatorship.

Each story develops the theme of exploration and discovery as the sisters mature and their interior and exterior lives expand. Even amid trying circumstances, the stories show that people everywhere face the same basic human struggle to understand themselves, their world, and their place in it.

Baingana has a law degree from Makerere University, Kampala, and an MFA degree from the University of Maryland. She has won the Washington Independent Writers Fiction prize, was nominated for the Caine Prize in African Writing and received an artist grant from the District of Columbia Commission of the Arts and Humanities.

The program is co-sponsored by the office of at 91短视频.

Admission to the program, which includes dinner, is $12. Students with I.D. will be admitted for $5. Advance reservations should be made by noon Friday, Sept. 9, by calling the 91短视频 box office at (540) 432-4582. A season pass to all four scheduled Writers Read events is available for $40.