Shaddow Cross

 I went out to serve as a missionary in Dine' Bikeyah beginning summer of 2008, and in January 2009, a group of people from the board I was then with (in addition to Shaddow Cross) , had a "talk" with me.   That basically entailed explaining to me why I, who had served in subculture ministry for 7 years, should abandon all trappings of my Gothness, and hopefully all subculture trappings. I sadly believed that to minister out where I was called, that had to be true, due to cultural taboos.  I was broken, but I did my best to hide myself looking more desert and steampunk than Goth.   For five years I lived like this, until my mother's death, and my Gothness came out in fullness.  Only to be put away partially again by the end of 2015.   But from 2015 through 2017, I was in-depth introduced to the subcultures on the reservations.  Metalheads, emos, a few goths, punks, skaters.  They were all there, just I hadn't seen them before....

Often I get asked, why do I work in the Shadowlands?   Why do I give my time, my effort, and my heart to reaching those at the edge? Why do I pour my time into the outcasts, subcultures, and the underground? Why do I, one who has served as a missionary among the Dine' (Navajo), now work in the shadows? Because I have a duel calling? Because even when I try not to, I am? Because my Lord asked me to, Because I don't go, who will? This is my purpose, my calling, my place. This is where I serve. Yes, I serve locally, but even then it is among America's oldest subculture, the Cowboys, alongside my husband.   Yes, I sing, praises to the Lord, and am beginning to find my own Southern Gothic style... Yes, I am still a missionary, going back on trips to Dine' Bikeyah, and here in the shadowlands. This is my place in the thick of things... This is where I serve... Where are you being asked to serve? In Umbra Terras, Lady Morria