One on One
10-20-2021
By Maryclare Beche
This is a storytelling segment, where students will be sharing their personal stories - highlighting their ministerial work, future goals and how McCormick is helping in this journey. Here, we will also explore some of the things that students are doing to maintain a balance between school, family, work and self-care.
In this week's issue, meet Rajitha Del Mel, a first year MTS student.
Can you tell me a little about yourself?
I am Vidanalage Rajitha Ishara De Mel, and 34 years old. I am the eldest son in my family. I was born and bred as an Anglican for my parents being Anglicans. Today, I am serving as an Ordained & Licensed Priest in the Diocese of Colombo, Church of Ceylon. I am married and a father of two (a daughter and a son). Though I'm a Christian, I have associated with many other religions from childhood since I have lived in a multi-religious country.
The year 2009 was a remarkable year for me—the life-changing year. I never had a dream or hope of entering the Priesthood. As soon as I finished my advanced level examination at my school, I worked at a company from August 2006 to December 2010. I got married in 2009. In March 2009, I participated in a Youth camp organized by the Church of Ceylon Youth Movement. I listened to my life-changing sermon there and dedicated my life to Jesus on the same day. (A long story in a nutshell) However, this change did not happen as I thought. It took two years to realize the love of Christ in me. in 2010, God spoke to me and gave me a vision of my future ministry as a priest. I talked about this with my parish priest, and with his guidance, I sent my application to the Church Of Ceylon, Diocese of Colombo. After getting through the interview, I began my studies at the Theological College of Lanka.(Sri Lanka)
Why Seminary?
That life-changing experience led me to start a new journey with God. I began to think repeatedly about why something had happened to me like that. When I was struggling with this, one Bible verse came to my mind. "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.". Then I decided that I would dedicate myself to serving the Lord.
Without a theological degree, the church doesn't allow us into the Priesthood. Therefore, as the first step of that journey, I joined Seminary in 2011. With all those experiences, I said to myself; I want to learn more and more about God.
How do you see McCormick shaping you to achieve your goal?
McCormick has already shaped my way of reaching my goals in awarding a scholarship for my studies. It is a great privilege to study at such an institution, and It's a great honor to be in a place like this. I have a dream, and I hope McCormick will help me achieve it. In addition, the experience and knowledge I gain from here will shape me to become a good servant of God.
If there is one thing you could change about the world, what would it be and why?
If there's anything I could change about the world, I will change the political system of this world because the current political system is the main reason for many conflicts of the world. The world has been divided into parts like developed and developing countries, 1st and 3rd class countries, Masters and slaves, majority and minority, etc. There should be a structure that treats everyone equally. There should be a system of dividing assets equally so that there won't be any unnecessary division.
What do you like to do for fun?
There are many things that I like to do for fun. One of the best entertainment activities in my life is hiking. When I was in Sri Lanka, I used to go hiking with my friends and family. I miss it a lot. I hope to continue my hiking activities here in the US.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
I searched about McCormick Theological Seminary on the internet, and I understood that it has many similarities with my first Theological Seminary. The main one being that there are different cultures, denominations, traditions working together in one place as one family. The four weeks of summer program 2020 was a new experience for me (even though I participated online), and I made the decision to join McCormick for my higher education. I hope McCormick community, faculty, and staff will help me throughout my journey to complete my studies and achieve my goals.
