Service Recalls the Value of Simple Things

Dear Community,

After eight amazing years of service to Seeds of Wisdom, an organization that lives so dearly in my heart, it’s time for me to hand the baton to new leadership. This is bittersweet – if you have heard me talk about SOW, you’ll know how important this organization is to me. The relationships my family and I have made through our parish’s connection to the people of Pukuka have been such an important part of our lives. It has been a blessing to see the fruits of education grow and spread in South Sudan. In a real way, involvement in SOW has changed my life; the people of Pukuka have shown me a different set of priorities, things that our western world can sometimes take for granted. I am reminded of the value of simple things – family, friendship, a shared faith in Jesus Christ. To allow ourselves to be called, to follow Christ in service to our brothers and sisters – wherever that may take us.

I will continue to be involved. My family and I want to maintain relationships with the teachers and families SOW supports. We hope to travel again and visit the schools, teachers, and students. I will be in an advisory role, doing whatever I can to help the group continue to succeed.

Chris Schoenherr has agreed to step into the role of board president. You may know him as the bow tie-wearing lector at the Saturday 4:30pm Liturgy. I know he is both excited and a little apprehensive about his new role, just as I was when I started. Like me, he is moved by the SOW story and feels God’s hand in its success. He shared with the board, “God may not routinely be parting seas and sending manna down from Heaven now-a-days, but He sends a guy in a truck around to the various refugee camps in Uganda to find the children and restart the school. He calls a Pastor to expand this effort to secondary education and that Pastor and his flock raise the funds to make it happen. Maybe not as flashy but every bit as miraculous.” I think Chris gets it! It has been fun watching him begin to lead the group.

As we move through the Easter season, we experience the excitement of Palm Sunday, the sadness and loss of Good Friday and the incredible joy of Easter. In some ways our experience with SOW mirrors that with the excitement of bringing the original idea to reality, having to close the school due to the civil war and then seeing it rise again in the camps (along with the life and hope it brings to families living in refugee camps). 

While I am sad to see this chapter end for me, I am excited for the future! Thanks to all the present and past board members; Fr. Mahon and all the church staff; and all my generous and supportive fellow parish members. I feel so blessed with the success we collectively have experienced with SOW and having had the opportunity to serve and be a part of it.

Steve Deick

Past President, Seeds of Wisdom in South Sudan