SOOP volunteers “RV for good” on the RV News Network

Download full-resolution imageDelbert and Linda Schrock
Download full-resolution image
Delbert and Linda Schrock

Mennonite Mission Network—Delbert and Linda Schrock’s SOOP assignment at Camp Ithiel in Gotha, Fla., was typical in almost every way, except they had an audience.

SOOP is a Mennonite Mission Network service opportunity for adults and families.

The two Bristol, Ind., residents, who lived for six weeks out of their 28-foot Holiday Rambler fifth-wheel recreational vehicle, are featured on the new RV News Network segment “RVing for Good.” The host, Dave Dufour, interviewed the couple each week via Skype and will be posting the interviews on the web throughout the next few weeks.

The couple was approached for the segment by Andy McCaskey, a fellow member of First Presbyterian Church in Elkhart, Ind., and the managing director of the RV News Network, who knew about their previous six-week SOOP assignment at the World Hunger Relief Farm in Waco, Texas, last winter.

Linda Schrock said she is taking advantage of the online segment to spread the word about SOOP. “It’s fun to get out the information about SOOP and about the volunteer opportunities,” she said.

Linda said SOOP has provided the couple with a way to travel the country in their RV, but with an objective beyond just escaping the cold northern Indiana weather for the winter.

“When we were nearing retirement, friends of ours were going south,” she said, “but we wanted a reason to get up in the morning—something to do and a purpose. We just didn’t want to sit around and do nothing.”

Linda said their varied backgrounds—Linda has worked in health care and grew up working in her dad’s woodworking shop, Delbert was a longtime truck mechanic, and the couple spent the first 25 years of their marriage farming—have opened up many avenues for service at their various assignments.

The couple arrive at Camp Ithiel the first week of February and returned home the first week in March. Delbert worked in the camp’s mechanical shop, and they both helped assemble wooden bunk beds that will house this summer’s campers.

They also forged friendships with people from all over the world, from the young Brethren Voluntary Service orientees from Germany, the Netherlands and the United States, to the 12 other retirees who were SOOP volunteers at the camp.

Linda said they will continue seeking out SOOP assignments as long as they stay in good health.

“Yes, it’s work, and yeah, we’re tired at the end of the day,” she said, “but we’re enjoying it. We have good people to work with, and part of the message is that retirement is not checking out of life.”

The RV News Network will be airing the segments over the next few weeks on the main news loop at http://www.rvnewsnet.com/live. Individual videos will be posted at the show’s YouTube site at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2B1scCL7i0&feature=channel_video_title. 

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.