KIDRON, Ohio (Mennonite Mission Network) – To French Mennonite youth, a window into North American culture can look like a flat-screen TV with booming speakers. But when 10 French Mennonite youth visited Florida in June, they experienced a whole new reality.
They weren’t surprised by the super-sized fast-food sandwiches, the cars, and the big yellow school buses. “It’s just like the movies!” But they did wonder, “Why are there so many churches? Why don’t they just get together and make one church?” wrote Brenna Steury Graber, a youth worker in Paris with Mennonite Mission Network. Steury Graber helped organize and lead the trip with her husband, Brad Graber, and Stéphanie Allemand, a volunteer for Joie et Vie (Joy and Life).
The trip was offered jointly by Mennonite Mission Network’s Youth Venture program, and Joie et Vie, a similar French Mennonite program. Both opportunities help young adults broaden their worldview and grow their faith through international visits with other Christians. This exchange between Mennonite youth from France and the United States started in 2009, but the first time the exchange happened in Florida.
For three weeks, participants stayed with Mennonite host families or churches in Miami, Fort Myers, and Sarasota. The host families’ churches are a part of the most diverse conference in Mennonite Church USA, Southeast Mennonite Conference.
Youth built bonds across cultures as they spent time with their host families and other Mennonite youth their age. This happened during barbecues and pool parties with host families, as they worshiped together on Sundays, and as they cheered on their teams during the World Cup.
“I will never forget the people we met or the friends that we made … I learned that the Christian world is much larger than one might think; we’re really one big family,” said Claire Seewald, a 16-year-old French participant.
“We could talk openly about our relationships with God,” said Andrea Wittmer, who still communicates daily with the two female French participants she hosted. “I love that even though we live such different lives, we love Jesus the same amazing way.”
Youth Venture experiences include service and learning components. The French youth visited a Mennonite retirement community in Sarasota, where they spoke in three chapel services and shared lunch with the residents. This was some of the youths’ favorite part, said Steury Graber.
The French participants were able to speak French with people in the retirement home and two Haitian Mennonite churches in Miami, Church of God Prince of Peace and Unity Pentecostal Church of God. Though most of the time, they were surrounded by English and Spanish.
Travis Ebersole, a host from near Sarasota, was impressed by how well the French youth spoke English and how patient they were when trying to understand others.
“I learned to listen!” said Cyril Reppel, a French participant. “I’m someone who loves to talk; however, with the language barrier, I had to learn to really listen in order to understand, and then I would express myself.”
“It was so fun to watch kids become fast friends with their host families and especially with the other youth they met,” said Steury Graber. “These kinds of exciting experiences, as short as they might be, really do leave a big footprint on your heart!”
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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.
