ELKHART, Ind. (Mennonite Mission Network) – Just outside the courtroom, the clients gathered. It was their last chance to settle the case with a trained mediator before facing a judge.
The mediator was 2003 Service Adventure participant, Jill Swiers Baker.
Swiers Baker joined Service Adventure after she graduated from Hesston (Kan.) College. She wanted practical job experience, excitement, and a way to live out her faith. Service Adventure gave Swiers Baker just that. For the next 10 months, she joined a houseful of participants in Albany, Ore., where each person served in the community.
In her first two years of college, Swiers Baker had pursued a number of different career paths. But social work had been calling her. Working closely with Service Adventure personnel to find a good placement, Swiers Baker served at Linn Benton Mediation Services (LBMS), a small nonprofit conflict resolution center in Albany.
Swiers Baker was an administrative assistant. When she showed initiative, the three-person office gave her the responsibility that she craved. After she showed interest in counseling, LBMS pulled out all of the stops. “They went crazy investing in me,” Swiers Baker said. She attended basic mediation instruction and training for small claims court. “Any opportunity for continuing education, they made it possible for me to go.”
After her trainings, Swiers Baker was able to mediate more with clients. Once a week, Swiers Baker mediated in a small claims court. This gave clients a final opportunity to work out their issues before settling their cases with a judge.
Occasionally, Swiers Baker observed conflict management training in high schools. This allowed Swiers Baker to discern her vocation and shape her future career. After her Service Adventure experience, Swiers Baker completed her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, and returned to LBMS.
“Serving at LBMS provided Jill the space to actually get her hands dirty in the world of social work and mediation, and ended up confirming for her a direction to continue on,” said Susan Nisly, director of Service Adventure.
Currently, Swiers Baker is a school counselor for 670 students at Talmadge Middle School in Independence, Ore., near Albany.
While Swiers Baker works part-time as a school counselor, she and her husband, Ben Baker, are Service Adventure leaders for the Albany Service Adventure house. For years, they dreamed about the possibility. In 2013, their dream was realized.
In her experience, Jill Swiers Baker especially appreciated the program’s emphasis on simple living, and she wanted their two young boys to learn to enjoy the simple things in life.
“There’s no other place on earth that you can get such a rich experience where you can serve, gain valuable job skills, grow in your faith,” said Swiers Baker.
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Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA, leads, mobilizes and equips the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. Media may contact news@mennonitemission.net.
