This summer, Garret and Maranda Whorton detoured 4,000 miles from the post-college rat race to serve in Mennonite Mission Network’s SOOP program.
“We have all our lives to work,” said Garrett, who quit his job as a car salesman, to serve. Maranda had just graduated from Colby Community College, where she studied dental hygiene.
Both travel and service were important to Garrett and Maranda, who most recently lived in Colby, Kan. After talking with Graham Unruh, a friend from Bethel College who works at Mission Network, the Whortons knew SOOP was for them. “We liked it from the get-go,” Garrett said.
The Whortons began their service trek on May 27 with a personal call to Moore, Okla., helping to clean up from the EF-5 tornado that demolished the city on May 20. The couple, in their mid-20s, joined the effort with 15,000 people from as far away as New Jersey.
A green ’95 Toyota 4runner is both their bed and transportation. It will carry them from their current placement in New Mexico, to Lincoln City, Ore., where they will help both in the kitchen and with maintenance at Drift Creek Camp. At their last stop in Reedley, Calif., they will volunteer with a thrift shop and Ten Thousand Villages. The Whortons plan to return to Kansas in early September.
When lodging isn’t provided, the Whortons sleep in a raised bed in the back of their Forerunner, handiwork that Garrett is proud of. Even so, they are grateful for their current housing provided at the Navajo Brethren in Christ Mission near Bloomfield, N.M.—complete with a kitchen, bath and bed.
During the day, Maranda helps in a used-clothing store, cleaning and organizing the clothes. Garrett’s work on the reservation varies from work in the orchard to repairing fences.
Already, Garrett and Maranda Whorton have been overwhelmed by the welcome they have received, from all ages.
“We just wanted to volunteer and serve whenever and wherever we could,” said Garrett.
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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 news@mennonitemission.net.
