ELKHART, Indiana (Mennonite Mission Network) – Teams of volunteers ventured out from the convention halls to serve in the community during the Mennonite Church USA Convention in Kansas City.
About 1,800 convention-goers participated in daily service projects throughout Kansas City from June 30 to July 5. Sponsored by Mennonite Mission Network, servant project participants teamed with 35 local organizations. Serving in the community provided a way to give back, and to also learn about the city.
“This was the first convention city that also had an MVS (Mennonite Voluntary Service) unit, so it was fun to place volunteers at locations that also host MVSers year-round,” said Arloa Bontrager of Mission Network and one of the project organizers.
Rainbow Mennonite Church hosts the Kansas City MVS unit. MVS is a program of Mission Network, where young participants serve one- to three-year terms living in intentional community and working in a wide range of fields.
MVS leaders directed four teams numbering from 10 to 30 volunteers per team depending on the day. The volunteers cleared brush and trash from trails and a garden in Freeway Park. They also helped to package food to be distributed to low-income seniors as part of a USDA program.
>> View more photos of volunteers in action from Kansas City
“I was really impressed by how hard they worked,” said MVS Director Nathan Penner. “It wasn’t easy work clearing brush, especially the first day. Our partners wouldn’t have been able to do that work on their own, and it could have taken up to a year to clean, they said.”
“The work we did in the city park was very rewarding and definitely impacted those we were serving,” said Jakob zumFelde of Pittsburgh and one of the volunteer team leaders. “One area near the pond had some places to sit, but there were weeds all over and the walkway wasn’t very clear. We took out all the weeds and immediately after we finished a family came and sat in that area.”
Kansas City Community Garden and the Rosedale Development Association, Cross-Lines Community Outreach, and Rainbow Mennonite Church were among the partners. Youth from Madison (Wisconsin) Mennonite Church, which also hosts an MVS unit, connected with MVSers from Rainbow Mennonite.
During the summer, Rainbow Mennonite offers Freedom School, which teaches about 100 community children about cultural heritage, social action, and servant leadership. The church’s Rainbow Garden produces hundreds of pounds of fresh vegetables, such as tomatoes, potatoes, onions, broccoli, cabbage and beets, that provide a nutritious breakfast, lunch and snack to the students daily.
MVS Assistant Director Neil Richer said he particularly enjoyed connecting face-to-face with partners.
“I think it’s a great way for participants to interact a little bit in the location where they are going for Convention, to get out in the community and see what is happening,” Richer said. “It’s also important for the partner agencies that we’re working with to connect them with the broader Mennonite Church.”
“They (the volunteers) were really getting into it and also having a really good time with it,” Richer continued. “They were setting goals and having a little friendly competition among themselves. “
“I love the opportunity that servant projects give to connect with our host cities,” Bontrager said. “It’s a time during Convention when we move outside the walls of our hotel rooms and the convention center to rub shoulders with local people, hear their stories, and engage their passion for building the assets of their city.”
