Faith and Service

Dr. Mark Chmiel,

Hello, my name is Robyn d’Avignon and I am a recent graduate from Washington University (in St. Louis). Upon graduation, my best friend, Emily Warming, sent me a copy of The Book of Mev. Emily had the opportunity to meet you when you visited Creighton University this past year. I am sure you have received many emails about the book over the years, but I wanted to make sure that I let you know that the book meant a great deal to me. Emily and I have shared a close friendship since early high school and we have gone through many struggles with the Christian faith together. Her experience at a Jesuit university was formative for her, and consequently, challenged me in many ways (it especially challenged many prejudices that I now realize I held for the Catholic church). All that is a background to saying that we both feel deeply committed to service, although, I for one, am also deeply conflicted on how best to serve in my life and the relationship of this service to my faith.

The Book of Mev arrived at my doorstep at a very difficult time. I was deeply conflicted about whether or not to accept an offer from the Peace Corps for a country assignment that I had serious hesitations about. To be honest, I did not want to read the book because I was afraid it was only going to make me feel more inadequate about where I was not only with my faith, but with my capacity to serve. I won’t repeat in detail what I am sure many have told you. But in short, I read the book and had the complete opposite reaction I expected to have. I was deeply moved by your story and of the many people (scholars, priests, etc) that were included in it. I related considerably with your struggle as a young person with faith and your relationship to service as a scholar.

After much deliberation, I decided not to accept my first Peace Corps offer. Fortunately, I received another offer that, I believe, will best utilize my strengths. I found that many of the reasons why I accepted this offer to serve were reflected in the final pages of your book, in which you described to a close friend why you wanted to travel to Palestine. I just wanted to thank you because I feel certain that I was sent your book at a very critical time in my decision-making, and I am grateful for it.

In a month I will be leaving for Senegal to serve as an agriculture extension volunteer. When I return I plan to apply for doctoral programs in cultural anthropology. Currently, I am contemplating the possibility of spending the year in between Peace Corps and grad school working in North St. Louis, potentially for a non-profit that a friend of mine from Wash U has started there. I hope that I can be involved with the Karen House when I return to St. Louis, or in the least, learn more about the community there.

In the interim, I thought I would ask you if you had any book recommendations for a hopeful young scholar heading off to the Peace Corps. I am particularly interested in theology titles that speak to the social commitments of Christianity and service.

Thank you for your time and your book!

Sincerely,

Robyn d’Avignon