Aiming to encourage Mennonite Mission Network workers abroad, members of various Mennonite church youth groups attending a winter retreat at Camp Friedenswald in January, produced personalized video “shout-outs” to workers, and posted them to YouTube.
In the five short videos, teens used original songs, scripture and skits to encourage and thank specific Mission Network workers for their service and dedication to God, and to remind them that they have not been forgotten.
The video project was part of the overall camp activities, said Eric Martin, program coordinator at Camp Friedenswald, located on Shavehead Lake near Cassopolis, Mich. Martin and camp program director Jason Harrison invited MMN staff members Kelsey Shue, traveling recruiter for Christian Service, and Steve Wiebe-Johnson, director for Africa, as keynote speakers, and figured the video project would be an excellent way to reinforce the importance of service. The project has been repeated with other youth groups at the camp. Links to the private videos were e-mailed directly to the mission workers.
“It is our hope that through working on these videos and through having Steve and Kelsey here as representatives from MMN, that the youth start to feel a connection to the work of Mennonite missions and the importance that service plays into our faith and theology as we strive to follow the example of Jesus,” Martin said.
The youth groups that attended the Jan. 6-8 retreat were:
• Eighth Street Mennonite Church, Goshen, Ind.
• Salem Mennonite Church, Kidron, Ohio
• Sunnyside Mennonite Church, Elkhart, Ind.
• North Danvers Mennonite Church, Danvers, Ill.
• Upper Extreme Ministries, Wheaton, Ill.
The teens chose workers that their home churches support, and others were chosen randomly. Among the videos were bass and guitar playing youths from Wheaton, Ill., singing an untitled song they wrote for Anna and Joe Sawatzky in South Africa. The song expressed that through the good and the bad times, “God is on our side.”
For Lillian and Norm Nicolson in Burkina Faso, youth from Danvers, Ill., read scriptures about faith. They also created a human pyramid and announced: “Through your ministry you are creating the building blocks to Christ.” Another scene showed the youth “Tebowing” as they knelt in prayer in a pose made famous by NFL star Tim Tebow and popularized by the media this year.
Youth from Sunnyside Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Ind., saluted Bethsaba and Dale Nafziger of Top of the World Coffee in Nepal. In their video, the youth struggle together to climb a snow-covered hill until reaching the top, where a person is serving coffee along the trail.
To encourage Peter and Jenna Liechty Martin, who are serving in Belfast, Eighth Street Mennonite Church youth were videotaped sledding down a snowy hill, and then having a snowball fight that ended with everyone making peace. The Martins wrote a thank-you letter saying they connected intimately with the video because during a November bus tour, they were pelted with snow by some local kids having fun. The Martins tossed snow back “instead of giving them a big hug,” they wrote.
“… It really does mean a lot to us to feel connected to Eighth Street while we’re here,” the Martins wrote. “On the days when we feel a bit isolated or lonely, it is a gift to be reminded that we are a part of something much larger than ourselves …”
“… I realized how much a simple thing like a minute-and-a-half-long video can do to improve someone’s day,” said Derek Schrag, of Eighth Street and a junior at Goshen High School.
“All in all, I think that the service project is one that built connections and was an encouragement to everyone concerned,” Wiebe-Johnson said.
###
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 Andrew Clouse at andrewc@mmnworld.net, 574-523-3024 or 866-866-2872, ext. 23024.
