ELKHART, Ind. (Mennonite Mission Network) – When wondering how millennials spend their time, it may be a surprise to learn how much they contribute to ministry. Mennonite Mission Network Christian Service participants will serve 216,080 hours during the 2013-2014 term.
Fifty-nine Mennonite Voluntary Service participants will serve an estimated 122,720 hours. MVS participants, ages 20 and older, are encouraged to explore their vocation as a way to follow Christ in their career. Participants will serve in placements dealing with public health, church work, immigration law, education, and creation care.
Across the United States, during the last weekend in August, MVS participants gathered in their new communities. To reflect MVS’s grass-roots ministry, orientation was held in the local cities. Participants learned about their host congregation’s ministries and surrounding neighborhoods, and shared some of their own faith journeys as well.
DOOR Dwell’s 30 participants will serve an estimated 46,800 hours. Dwell invites participants to spend a year exploring urban ministry as a vocation in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Hollywood, Miami and San Antonio. Participants bring an especially diverse background to their experiences, since Dwell is a partner program with Mennonite Mission Network and Presbyterian Church USA.
Twenty Service Adventure participants will serve about 32,000 hours. Service Adventure is a 10-month opportunity for young adults, ages 17-20, to serve, learn, and grow spiritually together. Throughout August, the participants set off for their unit’s local orientation in Albany, Ore.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Anchorage, Alaska; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Johnstown, Pa.; and Raleigh, N.C.
According to Theresa Wolf, a Johnstown Service Adventure leader, orientation was filled with service, worship, a lot of laughter, paperwork, and meeting many new faces. “By Saturday night at 5:52 p.m., we’d counted just over 167 names we’d collectively learned, and our brains were exploding,” Wolf said.
Although the group was tired, there was one “name” they had promised to meet: Ms. Dot, a member of a host congregation. Justifying the need to leave early after a long week, they promised themselves an early departure.
At 10:45 p.m., the Johnstown Service Adventure unit said goodbye to Ms. Dot. Reflecting on the time spent with her, Wolf is amazed at how God transformed an evening that began with mind-numbing tiredness into a time of energizing joy, stories, and learning.
“The quiet peace on the front porch, the smell of her home reminding us of the grandmoms we love and miss so very much, her gentle nature, generosity, humility … it all came from the Father like an overwhelming flood of grace that we didn’t deserve,” said Wolf.
As the Service Adventure participants went on their way, Ms. Dot was a name they would not forget.
An estimated 14,500 hours will be served by seven Radical Journey participants. In this year-long service opportunity for ages 18-26, participants will experience, discuss, and reflect on what it means to follow Christ. Previously, participants served in churches, day cares, and HIV clinics. Each year, the placements are chosen by the host church and reflect the participants’ interests as they explore ways to join in local ministries.
Participants gathered August 26 for orientation in Chicago before leaving for South Africa and Paraguay. Discussions about white privilege and racism introduced many participants to the reality that most of our world lives in.
On one occasion, the orientees were given an assignment and a piece of paper. Each person was given a Psalm and told to find the three locations in downtown Chicago that were listed on the paper. While visiting that spot, they were to journal and reflect about what they observed, and how it related to the Scripture verse. According to Sharon Norton, director for Radical Journey, observation and reflection are not only important to Radical Journey, but are life skills, applicable to many situations.
Del Hershberger, director of Mission Network Christian Service, is also excited to send off another batch of volunteers. “For many, this is the next natural step in applying their education and faith in a particular ministry context as they join in with a local congregation to participate in God’s big project,” he said.
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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.
