It was the final concert of the year for the Southern Methodist University’s orchestra, played at the Meyerson Symphony Center, home of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. With its tiered seating and warm toned hues, the space embraced each drop of music as it danced in the air and resonated in its bones, helping to make it one of the top performance spaces in the country. And she was on-stage in the midst of the cello section, her trained fingers releasing the voice of an instrument she had grown to love, joining together with the cacophony of sounds that formed to become Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, when she realized this was not what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.
“I decided that, if I could not be happy playing one of the greatest symphonies ever written with a great orchestra in one of the best performance halls in the country, then I would never be satisfied in the music industry,” said Jane Anabe, current student at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. She went to SMU for its music program having always enjoyed performing and assuming she would eventually either play in an orchestra or teach. After years of pursuing music she had grown tired of the atmosphere, “heavy laden with politics and fierce competitiveness.”
Around the same time Jane had stumbled into a few unique opportunities in music and missions and went on a cross-cultural trip to Bolivia. Though she had gone on mission trips before, during this time of travel she felt a strong desire to serve and discerned that call to do full-time ministry, yet also felt as though seminary wasn’t the right path yet.
“I felt called to seminary from the time I was in college. I never saw full-time ministry as a viable lifelong career option without attending seminary, but wanted to get my feet wet in ministry first before beginning theological studies.” Following that call to serve with all her heart, she returned to Bolivia from 2004-2006, and again in 2008-2009, to serve in children’s ministry, working primarily with kids to do Bible clubs, camps, retreats, and other youth work. And it was here that she met her husband, Joaquin, who was a pastor of the church where she was working.
Now that her feet were plenty wet, she decided to attend seminary to further pursue God’s call on her and her family’s life. Jane is interested in pastoral ministry, specifically with Latinos, either in incorporating them into a congregation or being a pastor in a Latino church. As graduation approaches, parts of the future remain uncertain and Jane hopes God will bring clarity in the coming months. Regardless of what that path brings, she, Joaquin, and their son, Isaac, will continue to put their trust in the Lord.
Written November 2012