Discovering a calling through service

Melanie Histand
From left: Abby Lopez

MENNONITE MISSION NETWORK — When Ian Gingrich-Gaylord graduated from Bethel College, North Newton, Kan., in 2003 with majors in art and music, he felt aimless––insecure in his faith and unsure of how to enter the art world. Like many of his peers, he just needed a place to land.

He decided to apply to work for Mennonite Voluntary Service, a Mennonite Mission Network service program for young adults. For many young adults, MVS not only provides a path to career discernment but also a way to gain professional skills without the pressure of jumping straight into a challenging job market.

Gingrich-Gaylord was placed as an art instructor for adults with mental and physical disabilities at United Cerebral Palsy of Central California in Fresno, Calif. After a year there, he was hired by United Cerebral Palsy of Pittsburgh and, as part of his job, was able to continue leading art groups for adults. If it weren’t for his four years with the organization, he said, he may never have discovered his life’s calling––art therapy. Now, at age 30, he works for Prairie View Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Newton, Kan.

“At the time, I was thinking I’d been fortunate to have these four years combining the social service aspect with art making,” he says, “and so art therapy, from the little I knew about it, kind of made sense. But it was all in hindsight. There was no planning on my part that this is what I was working toward. It’s definitely an experience I wouldn’t have gotten if I hadn’t done MVS.”

Gingrich-Gaylord’s experience echoes that of many MVS participants who say the skills they learn through serving influence their lives long after their terms of service end. Many continue to work in nonprofit or church organizations the rest of their lives.

Tina Histand, 24, is a migrant advocate for the Migrant Farmworkers Project in Kansas City, Mo. She has been hired to begin working as a paid staff member, starting in August, after serving with the organization as an MVS volunteer for two years. She landed the job without applying or interviewing and said that while she was interested in social work before, this placement has affirmed her plans eventually to pursue a master’s degree in social work.

Histand works primarily with youth whose parents are migrant farm workers. She leads a weekly youth group in the rural apple orchards of western Missouri and interprets for families during medical and dental appointments, parent-teacher conferences and physical therapy sessions. The challenging work has boosted her self-confidence and improved her Spanish, she says.

“I’ve learned the demeanor and etiquette that goes along with working with clients, and understanding the boundaries of working with clients in intimate situations,” she says.

She was nervous because she hadn’t worked with youth before. “The idea of relating to high school kids I found pretty intimidating because I’m kind of a shy personality,” she says. “Now, we’re just great friends and we get along really well.”

One of the benefits of serving with a small, nonprofit organization is the opportunity to be involved in a wide variety of activities, says Suzanne Gladney, the managing attorney of the Migrant Farmworkers Project and Histand’s supervisor.

“That’s one of the main purposes of the program,” Gladney says. “In our specific placement, we provide a large scope and variety of services to the population of folks that we’re assisting, so it’s a really good opportunity for the volunteers to get experience dealing with a wide variety of different professional settings.”

As a result of the diversity of services they provide, Gladney says, volunteers have gone on to be nurses, doctors, teachers, lawyers, midwives and healthcare managers. The organization also sent Histand to training programs in healthcare and youth leadership. Gladney says that the investment pays dividends in developing volunteers who are just as capable as the paid staff.

Now, with the security of a job offer, Histand says she is grateful for how MVS has influenced the trajectory of her life.

“I’m just so glad I did [MVS] because it’s just unfolded into what was a really great fit for me on multiple levels,” she says. “After a year and a half, I find myself very settled in a city I love and just doing a job that is very meaningful for me that now I’ll get paid for.”

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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 Andrew Clouse at andrewc@mmnworld.net, 574-523-3024 or 866-866-2872, ext. 23024.