When two Mennonite young adults entered the jewelry store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, they got odd looks from the store clerks. But it was in that shop they found what they were looking for: a $2 million pair of cufflinks.
The two students were members of the Youth Venture team, and they, along with two other young adults and two leaders, were spending two weeks in Los Angeles, learning about the church and the challenges and excitement of serving in that city, as well as doing service of their own. As part of their orientation, Chaz Graber, Isabella Gomez, Kendra Scott and Nicki Bartel were being introduced to the huge wealth disparity that exists in L.A. Rodeo Drive was one stop on their itinerary. Their goal? To find the most expensive item they could. Hence, the cufflinks.
Later, at Grand Central Market for lunch, one of the team leaders, Hannah Heinzekehr, distributed money to all four participants. To symbolize the distribution of wealth in Los Angeles, three received $2 to eat with, one person $5, and another $10. All were able to eat, but the young adults with only $2 had to do some searching before they finally found a meal of Chinese rice and noodles.
Youth Venture, a program of Mennonite Mission Network, invites young people ages 14-20 to serve for two weeks during the summer, either in North America or internationally. This year’s participants served in Bolivia, Botswana, Guatemala, and Phoenix in addition to Los Angeles.
“Youth Venture is about learning how God is at work in a particular area, what it’s like to live in that setting, and doing something to contribute to the community,” said Arloa Bontrager, the director of the program.
Throughout their trip, the Youth Venturers were confronted with stories about what it’s like to live in L.A. They listened to a panel of people talk about homelessness, and how a few missed paychecks and the lack of a stable support network can result in almost anyone ending up on the street. They met with pastors and church members from African, Belizean, European-American and Indonesian Mennonite churches. They interacted with other service participants, members of the DOOR program. And they visited the Peace and Justice Academy, a new Mennonite school in Pasadena that’s opening its doors this year, to learn about their philosophy and to help the school get ready.
”We wanted to give our team a glimpse of the rich diversity that exists in Los Angeles, and broaden their pictures of who and what Mennonite Church USA is and looks like,” said Hannah Heinzekehr, who co-led the team with her husband, Justin. “It was exciting to watch Chaz, Kendra, Nicki and Isabella get excited about the churches and the people they met. It gave us new energy for the church where we live!”
During their final week, the Youth Venture team helped Maranatha Mennonite Fellowship with their vacation Bible school.
On the first day, when the group was all a little bit nervous, one of the kids offered to open worship in prayer. Alicia, a 6-year-old, asked God to bless the fun that they would have, and to help them all “learn about love.”
The focus for the week of vacation Bible school was “the fruits of the Spirit.” On the last day, a day they celebrated “joy,” “Isabella had her group make paper apples to hang on the ‘Tree of Life,’” wrote Justin Heinzekehr. “Each apple had something joyful written on it. Nicki helped the kids make instruments out of paper plates and dry beans, which seemed to bring out a lot of joy.” In addition to those activities, Kendra’s group did coloring, Justin led group games, and Chaz coordinated a water balloon toss.
“Meeting all those kids and seeing the expressions on their faces was definitely one of my favorite parts [of Youth Venture],” said Graber.
Graber explained that doing service with the DOOR program and his high school youth group had been influential in shaping his views of service, but that Youth Venture opened his eyes to even more possibilities.
“I’ve always been ready to serve—it makes me happy,” Graber said, “but in L.A., I was exposed to a lot of different organizations and the many ways you can serve.”
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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.
