Mennonite Mission Network—A break-dancer from Denver, a communications major from Chicago, and a seminary student from Los Angeles were among the seven students who convened in Chicago from Nov. 4-6 to discern the next steps in their vocational journey.
The students gathered at a retreat planned by DOOR, a partnership program of Mennonite Mission Network and Presbyterian Church USA that invites young people to come see what God is doing in six cities across the United States.
Local young adults from those cities serve as DOOR summer staff. And DOOR’s Discern program gives young people who live in urban areas, many of whom are people of color, a way to test their calls to ministry.
This retreat was especially for them.
“Whenever groups of people from our cities get to see each other, it’s good, because there’s this sense of ‘Oh, we’re not the only ones doing this,’” said Krista Dutt, DOOR’s national program director. “Local stuff is happening, and it’s enhanced when the teenager from San Antonio meets the teenager from Chicago and they can say, ‘Wow! We have the exact same experience.’”
That was the experience for Cindi Cervantes, who served as a summer staff person with DOOR in Denver, her home city. She found support and commonality with her fellow retreat-goers.
“I learned that the DOOR staff—despite their age, background, where they live—had the same heart to humbly serve groups, week after week, with a prayer that [the groups] will truly see the face of God in a city [the staff] love and grew up in,” said Cervantes. “We also shared the desire to break barriers and stereotypes, and draw people closer to Christ as we showed them God’s love, patience and hospitality.”
The group met at a local Presbyterian seminary where they talked together about their experiences and the DOOR program; listened to words from Brenda Matthews, a Chicago-based poet and speaker; and attended a grant-writing workshop. In the workshop they began to prepare grants that they then submitted to DOOR in order to receive money to further their vocations.
“Some are writing grants for education (like college), one is writing a grant for Rosetta Stone in order to learn Spanish, and one is writing a grant for mission work as part of her fundraising,” said Dutt. “We left it open for the grant to be whatever they wanted it to be in order to further their calling.”
For Dutt, hearing the young adults share their impressions of DOOR and getting feedback was a powerful experience.
“Hearing a teenager say, ‘DOOR empowers minorities,’ is awesome,” said Dutt. “We [DOOR leaders] say that a lot—but maybe we’re actually doing it.”
