ELKHART, Indiana (Mennonite Mission Network) — Families take vacations as a way to bond with each other. But for some SOOP participants, traveling away together to serve others is a more valuable family experience.
Just ask Jason and Talitha Sannes-Venhuizen and their children, Tovin (14), Jana (13) and Tevia (11), who served in Puerto Rico. They packed up their rural home near Frazee, Minnesota (including arranging sitters for their farm animals), and traveled to help out the Puerto Rico Mennonite Conference for two weeks. They volunteered at Academia Menonita Betania, helped set up an apartment where future SOOPers are going to stay, and painted and mounted shelves at the Mennonite Voluntary Service house. And, of course, they discovered new friends and family as they joined in the different ministries and worship experience with the local congregation.
“Dad was like, ‘Pack up, kids! We’re following yonder star,’” said Tovin of the family experience.
“It was really neat,” Talitha said. “They (their Puerto Rican hosts) were so welcoming. They embraced us and treated us like family. It’s an incredible experience of God to see that you can go so far away from home, yet feel like you are at home.”
“We have found that we build good relationships with each other when we work together,” Jason said.
SOOP, which provides service opportunities for adults 25 and older, has grown in popularity among families that, for example, might want an intentional service experience.“As parents, we know it’s important for the growth and development of our children to have opportunities that push them beyond a ‘what’s in it for me’ mentality,” said Arloa Bontrager, SOOP and Youth Venture director. “An opportunity to serve can provide youth with so many things – time to experience their own family in a different context, rich encounters with people in a different culture, and a chance to learn new skills.”
The Sannes-Venhuizens said that they serve often as a family, such as volunteering at local soup kitchens or the town thrift store. They visited Belize in 2008, with another mission agency. The children are home-schooled, so the family has more flexibility to travel. Doing so builds their faith.
They learned of SOOP during a conference meeting at their congregation, Lake Region Mennonite Church in Frazee. They were able to get more information from Jason’s sister, Kim McConaghay, and her husband, Sean, who work at Camp Deerpark in Westbrookville, New York, where many SOOPers volunteer. The McConaghays have volunteered with SOOP with their children, Jack (7) and Elias (5). Their family did a two-week assignment at Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp in Colorado and seven weeks at the Navajo Brethren in Christ Mission in Bloomfield, New Mexico, this year.
“SOOP suggested the Navajo mission as a good fit for our family, so we trusted their judgement, and it was great,” Kim McConaghay said. “The experience introduced us to a new culture. It showed our children and ourselves a new style of worship. We were surprised how hard it was to leave the community.”
Initially, Jason wanted to serve somewhere close that the family could drive to. But then Bontrager suggested they try Puerto Rico.
“Talitha has a Spanish background, so she wanted to do something related to that. We have been teaching the kids Spanish, so it was a good opportunity for them to see it really at work,” Jason said. “When Arloa said Puerto Rico, we felt that was God really confirming it for us.”
The trip truly became an adventure as the Sannes-Venhuizens decided not to just drive three hours to Minneapolis for a flight, but to use the Mennonite Your Way hospitality directory. They drove nine hours to get a direct flight out of Chicago and contacted people along the way, rather than get a hotel.
“The response was just incredible that we got from people,” Talitha said. “It gave us the opportunity to see if we leave it up to God, how he would take care of it.”
The faith journey continued once they touched down in Puerto Rico. There were no specific plans at the school. The family jumped in where their gifts were needed.
“The opportunity to just be walking through it and practicing faith while we were there was good,” Jason said. “You don’t have to be a master carpenter to help out and build something. You can do a lot by just showing up. People see that you care. That means a lot to them and to you.”
The children dealt with some homesickness, but that, too, became a teaching moment.
“Homesickness just kind of reminds us that this (Earth) isn’t our permanent home either,” Talitha said. “Also, home shouldn’t be your physical location, but the people that you’re with.”
But then it was difficult to return to Minnesota after having made friends in Puerto Rico, too.
“Our youngest, Tevia, she absolutely loves meeting new people. She went into the classrooms and had really great experiences with the other kids,” Talitha said. “We have friends now in different parts of the world. The family of God is everywhere.”
