When Rebeka Moeljono moved from a small midwestern town to the big city, she experienced a deep shift in how she approached her spiritual life, as well as her spiritual direction.
Rebeka Moeljono grew up in Indonesia as the daughter of Mennonite pastors. She received her master’s degree in Christian formation and completed her spiritual director training at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in 2009. She is an active member of the Mennonite Spiritual Directors Network and Spiritual Directors International.
In addition to her work in spiritual direction, Rebeka is a certified InterPlay leader and a trained facilitator with A Window Between Worlds, through which she leads healing arts workshops. She brings a passion for movement-based prayer, story sharing and spiritual formation to urban ministry settings.
Rebeka and her spouse live in Glendora, Los Angeles County, California.
Visit Rebeka’s YouTube channel at Creative-Spirituality, or read more of her blogs on her Substack at creative-spirituality.com, where she shares reflections and resources for connecting with God in creative ways.
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When I moved from Elkhart, Indiana, to Los Angeles, California, in 2010, I thought it would be just another chapter. I never imagined how it would affect my spiritual life deeply. I had lived on the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary campus for over a decade, surrounded by seminarians, missionaries on sabbatical and a rhythm of life that naturally nurtured the spirit. I hosted an international Bible study, during which students and professors came together to read Scripture, pray and share from their ministries around the world. It was more than a gathering; it was my anchor.
Then I arrived in Los Angeles, where people rush from place to place, and we sometimes don’t even know the names of our neighbors. In the chaos of city life, I often wondered: How do I tend to my spirituality in a place that never stops moving?
Now I’m 15 years in, and I’m still learning, still adjusting. I work at a homeless shelter, and over the past nine years, I’ve seen spirituality from a new angle. I volunteered with children who came for the snacks, not the Bible stories. I worked with women whose experiences of trauma and resilience humbled me. I no longer saw myself as the one with answers but as someone learning from the stories of survival and strength around me.
My commute on public transportation became a new kind of classroom. I watched people who were exhausted, hurting, sometimes hopeless, and I asked myself: As a spiritual director, how can I reach this world?
There are no easy answers. But in this place, I gradually found myself again. I learned that when I moved my body to pray, I felt more grounded, more present. I began leading spiritual dance sessions every few months, praying with the body and weaving Scripture and movement together to help others find their own connection to God in the midst of the city’s noise.
Spiritual direction, for me, is no longer only about listening in a quiet room. It’s about showing up in the shelter, on public transportation, in the dance. It’s about offering presence and hope in places that feel forgotten.
I invite you to join me, as I continue learning how to meet God in unexpected places. Maybe you’ll find a practice, movement, silence, journaling that helps you meet God right where you are.
Even in a city that never slows down, the Spirit still speaks.
Learn more about the Mennonite Spiritual Directors Network at mennosdn.org.
You can find links to the Spiritual Directors Network website and other congregational and ministerial resources on MC USA’s Church Vitality webpage: https://www.mennoniteusa.org/
The views and opinions expressed in this blog belong to the author and are not intended to represent the views of the MC USA Executive Board or staff.