This year’s Christian Service participants may have said goodbye to formal educational assessments, but the learning hasn’t stopped. Below are the results of an optional survey, given to participants who served during the 2012-2013 school year.
1. Living in community has its rewards and challenges.
Community is central to living out the gospel. And Mennonite Mission Network’s Christian Service department incorporates community into each program.
One Mennonite Voluntary Service participant, who requested anonymity, said that one of the best parts of intentional community is befriending people that you ordinarily would not have made friends with.
Living with those who first appear as strangers can be hard, but working through the challenges can be rewarding. Different personalities, each with their own eating and sleeping habits, can make teeth grind and tensions run high. In these situations, Christian Service participants have agreed that confronting conflict, as opposed to suppressing it, can be helpful when done in a respectful way.
Matthew Alwine, a Johnstown Service Adventure leader, hopes that the church will someday be like a small service community. “People may do the wrong things, fail, or test our patience, but we need to stay committed to each other on our common ground of our faith in Jesus Christ, and work toward loving each other more.”
2. God is … well, God is God!
Christian Service opportunities exist partly to grow participants’ faith and understanding of God.
Joe Bates, a Radical Journey participant, from Red Hill, Pa., learned to make his faith his own. “For the past 19 years, I went to church because I was told to go. Now I have learned to grow in my faith, instead of my parents’ [faith].”
Whitney Longacre, a Youth Venture alumna from Quakertown, Pa., stressed the importance of spending time with God. A Service Adventure participant, Charissa Graham, mentioned how much she had learned when she sat down to read the Bible seriously for the first time.
“I realized that I am less powerful than I thought, and that God is more powerful than I realized. The ability to change comes from God. We can’t change people – we can just change ourselves … God changes other people,” the anonymous MVSer said.
3. Diversity is beautiful.
Volunteering at the International Guesthouse, Marion Beyeler, a SOOP alumnus from Orrville, Ohio, learned that “people from all over the world are wonderful!”
Coming from Germany, Ines Binfet, Service Adventure participant, learned to appreciate differences as a good thing. “Different is just different. It’s not necessarily wrong.”
Bethany Yoder, an MVSer from Bellefontaine, Ohio, noted the value that is gained when people from different backgrounds come together – “whether in a congregational setting, the larger Mennonite Church USA, at work, or in our homes.”
A DOOR Dwell participant, Audrey Timberlake, learned that judging someone for their different experiences is absurd. “We must learn to see beyond plain appearances, to regard souls and hearts, to see the good in everyone,” Timberlake wrote in a poem reflecting on her time in Dwell.
4. Vulnerability is valuable.
LeAnne Gross, a SOOP alumna was one of several people who emphasized that stretching your comfort zone can broaden your horizons.
“Be open to all experiences,” said Sarah Hochstetler, a Youth Venture alumna. “You never know when God will use you for amazing things.”
5. Small actions make a big difference.
Christina Hershey, from Service Adventure, said, “If you are looking, you can find God in the smallest places, such as a preschooler’s smile or the homeless man’s tired eyes.”
Many participants were reminded just how far a smile can go.
“I’m only one in 7 billion, but I have a voice, and many times it’s less about singing loudly and more about singing the right song in harmony with others,” said Sarah Hofkamp, a Radical Journey participant.
Reflecting over the past year, Del Hershberger, director of Christian Service, is excited that participants are “taking opportunities each day to grow in our understanding of what it means to love God and love people, and to put it into practice.” He hopes that, regardless of the life stage, participants will become life-long learners.
*This optional survey was given to all Christian Service participants who served within the past year, and provides an accurate reflection of their responses.
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For immediate release
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.
