When responding to enquirers this year about just what Transit is, Salem Settlemeyer always began by stating, "Transit is not a program.  It's an experience."  As much as the rest of us Transites grew prophetic in predicting this reply from his mouth, often meeting eyes across the room either in jest or eye-rolling, we have come to the end of our journey together, and the truth is, he was (mostly) right.  We've trekked with each other through three cities, through personal dramas and personal differences, through the shedding of the old and the gaining of the new, through each other's crap and glories.  The experience we've shared cannot be given justice in this summary.  But here goes...  

There are five of us representing, and we've been called many things this year: Transformers, Transiteers, Trannies, or the name four-fifths of us prefer -Transites: 

Mahlory Reisch is our larger-than-life sister who showed up with appendages flailing, bringing the bright sunshine and pouring rain, though she prefers cloudy days best.  "I just exploded," says Mahlory of her arrival.  She is a visionary who loves condensing wisdom into corny sayings she invents, one of her most recent being:  "If my rights impose on the rights of others, how right is it?" 

Katie Capistrant is our mercy-fighter who jumps out of bed running, literally.  She has the biggest smile and biggest frown of all of us, and she's led us on many adventures to lakes and rivers, onto rooftops, and into dumpsters. 

Levi Powers is the hobbit of our fellowship and his first claim to fame among us was his unique dancing skills.  Katie describes him as super dramatic and a mama's boy.  "I prefer the word passionate to dramatic," adds Levi.  He either passionately loves or hates things, though people nearly always win his affection, eventually.

Lacy Rae Wangen is our sensitive soul and "the only introvert drowning in a sea of extroverts," says Mahlory.  She's often found eating cheese, eggs, and satchels (bagels), frantically writing, and either laughing or moping.  She has a way of being present that will draw out your insides, and it was said by a highly respected 24-7 leader in describing her that she'll make a good wife.  Yep. 

Finally there's Salem, bringing his deep, sexy prayer voice, his mad musical skills, and his heart for worship.  He has a way of looking at a person that is completely unnerving, and though he can come off as stoic, you can often find him hanging upside down in trees, doing handstands on garbage cans, and leaping over tall objects.  

This is/was our motley crew.  Our first real, bonding experience was probably when we spent hours and hours, night and day for five days, in a prayer room we set up at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Prayer has a way of doing that.  We spent a lot of time in the classroom in Madison, and got to taste the wild, cosmic imaginings of Joe Steinke, the fatherly wisdom of Elliott Polasch, and the motherly, prophetic ways of Angie Steinke.  We were ruined by the parent-love of God and fell in love (and belief) in prayer.  We stayed four months in Madison and then headed off to Kansas City.

Kansas City ruined us in an entirely different sense.  We were each personally broken, humbled.  We learned some of the weight of the words uttered by Jesus, "Not my will, but Yours be done."  We were brought to a more real place of counting the cost of following this Jesus, and found ourselves echoing in prayers, in song, in conversation, the cries of our Moravian brothers, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive the reward of His suffering."  We came together in our brokenness and learned the need for caring for and honoring one another.  We fell in love (addiction may be a better description) with ping-pong, with worship, and with the God story.

Our final stop was Minneapolis, Minnesota.  We arrived a mess and landed with our feet running.  We lived together in the Joshua House, a transitional, discipleship home, and dove into the many creative and crazy ventures that are the Source Boiler Room.  Mahlory ran around with a huge goose on her head, Levi sported a paper mache horse, Katie a spear, Lacy coconuts, and Salem always a djembe and tanktop.  We entered into daily rhythms of prayer together, learned about the Wild Goose Holy Spirit, and listened to the stories of many in the city.

If we had to sum up our learning this year into one Scripture (and this was unanimous) it'd be Romans 5:1-5: 

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.  And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."  

This has been a year of growth that has come through a process of pressing, of trials, of hardships, of suffering, of pressure...maybe we're being a little dramatic.  We've heard God's voice more clearly than we ever have in our lives; we've found God to be faithful to discipline, to walk alongside us, and to teach us.  Says Levi, "Transit has been for me falling in love with prayer, though falling in love is bad wordage."  Mahlory shares, "This year has been a total corruption of all my religious pride."  Lacy reflects, "I sat down the other night to write out all that's changed in my life, my perspective this year, and I was overwhelmed with the length of the list and the faithfulness of God to answer my prayer going into this year - "I want to know You.'  It's crazy because I realized that He's revealed His three Persons in the three cities--as Father/Mother in Madison, as the worthy Lamb in Kansas City, and as my Counselor, the Holy Spirit in Minneapolis."  Finally, Salem fumbles for the words to describe his Transit experience (not program), "This year has given me a foundation for my life and taught me to make my first love Jesus Christ."

Katie concludes:  "When I think about what I got out of this year, I kind of think, ok, here comes the sappy awards speech.  Like, I almost quit a billion times, and I couldn't have done it without you guys.  I guess it couldn't just be summed up as a list of things I've learned about God and love and community, but this involved relationships that couldn't afford to be shallow and that challenged me and kept me from drowning, moping.  I actually did a lot of moping though.  More moping than you did (said to Lacy)."

I don't think you've seen the last of us.

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.

Amen.