A Pilgrimage of Listening - Erin Zavala, Development and Communications Manager, DSF, Director of Communications and Marketing, HELM

Author’s note: I originally shared this reflection in the Higher Education and Leadership Ministries (HELM) newsletter after accompanying the Leadership Fellows on their pilgrimage to Sierra Leone. It was an experience that deeply shaped my own understanding of formation, leadership, and what it means to approach others with humility and curiosity. As we dream about the future of DSF, one of the possibilities we're exploring is offering pilgrimages for our own students. I hope this reflection offers a glimpse of why I believe these kinds of experiences have the power to transform not only those who travel, but also the communities they return to serve.

When Rev. Phyllis Byrd Ochello from Global Ministries first met with our Leadership Fellows cohort over Zoom, she gave us one instruction that would shape everything that followed: this was to be a pilgrimage. We were not traveling to Sierra Leone to fix problems, carry out a mission, or arrive with our own agenda. We were going to listen, to learn, to understand, and ultimately, to be changed.

At the end of May, our third-year cohort of the Leadership Fellows program traveled to Sierra Leone to live out a major component of our program, global immersion. The purpose of these trips is to give our students a different lens with which they see the world they live in, to carry that with them into all the work that they do both professionally and personally.

The last time I was with this cohort in person was the first time they met, three years ago in Seattle at our yearly Leadership Fellows retreat. HELM staff members take turns attending retreats, and so it has been a while since I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with them. I’ve been able to watch from afar as this group has grown more into themselves over these few years. In Sierra Leone, I was given the gift of watching them grow in real-time, right in front of me, in ways that I know will stay with them and those blessed to have been with them forever.

From the moment we arrived in Freetown, every day invited us to listen. During our orientation, leaders from the Council of Churches in Sierra Leone welcomed us with lessons in cultural competency, taught us greetings in Krio, and introduced us to the rich history and traditions of their country. We listened as Bishop Rev. Dr. Leonard Bangura traced Sierra Leone's story through the transatlantic slave trade, colonialism, resource exploitation, political and economic challenges, and the remarkable resilience of its people. Rather than offering easy answers, our hosts offered honest stories and trusted us enough to hear them.

Throughout the week, that pattern continued. We visited the Evangelical College of Theology, where we joined students in conversations about peacebuilding, social justice, environmental stewardship, and ecumenical ministry. We traveled to the Kambia region, where students courageously shared about the realities of gender-based violence and female genital mutilation and cutting in their communities, while also speaking with hope about the future they are working to create. We gathered with young adults to discuss the challenges facing our generation, from mental health and addiction to civic engagement. We worshiped alongside local congregations, where we were blessed by the children's songs, dancing, and joyful celebration. Even our visit to the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary became a lesson in caring for creation and recognizing our interconnectedness with the world around us.

“I’m convinced that men hate each other because they fear each other. They fear each other because they don’t know each other.” - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I recently read a book called The Future is Peace. Written by Aziz Abu Sarah, a Palestinian, and Maoz Inon, an Israeli, it’s a story of two men who journeyed into each other’s worlds to learn more about “the other side” and to find a way towards peace. In the book, Aziz references the above quote and then expands on it:

“It’s not only that we don’t know each other. It’s that so many of us are convinced that we know everything we need to know about each other…It takes away our curiosity, our urge to reach out, to learn.”

A pilgrimage invites the opposite posture. It asks us to set aside assumptions and approach others with openness. It reminds us that learning begins when we acknowledge how much we do not know.

Our time in Sierra Leone did not simply teach us about another country; it challenged us to examine ourselves. We left with new friendships, deeper appreciation for the ministries of our global partners, and a renewed understanding that the work of justice, peace, and reconciliation begins not with speaking, but with listening.

That may be the greatest gift of pilgrimage. We return home with stories to tell, but first we return having been changed by the stories we were privileged to hear. I invite you to read the stories of our students and how Sierra Leone changed them. I hope it inspires you to go on your own pilgrimage.