Larry and Maxine Miller represent the “bookends” of the SOOP story. The Millers operate the Mennonite Service Center (MSC) from the Mashulaville Dormitory near Macon, Mississippi. MSC is a nonprofit organization that serves the people of Noxubee County who struggle with poverty. This community was recently named by the Wall Street Journal as one of the poorest towns in the country, and Larry and Maxine can certainly testify to the great need they see there every day. Offering home repairs, food programs, education and hospitality, there are never enough hands and strong backs around Mashulaville. The highlight of Larry’s year was a group of 32 Amish young adults who worked alongside him last Christmas and completed 26 household projects around the county. The group provided a wide variety of services: woodcutting, roofing, building ramps, repairing doors and floors, painting, cleaning up yards and homes, and installing new windows at the Mashulaville Dormitory. The Millers also hosted groups in the spring from Living Stones church, Fort Payne, Alabama; Waterford and Holdeman Mennonite churches, Goshen, Indiana; and the Ruth and Jerry Beasley family from northern Indiana. Larry and Maxine can’t say enough about the contributions of these groups. They pray for a continuous stream of volunteers to help with their ever-growing, never-ending list of projects.
The other end of the Millers’ SOOP story is their participation as workers at other SOOP locations. As often as they can, the Millers also serve away from home. They have completed several assignments at Menno-Hof in Shipshewana, Indiana, where Larry especially finds great joy in sharing the history of Mennonites and Anabaptists with visitors from all over the world. They also served at the International Guest House in Washington, D.C. – another opportunity to meet and build relationships with people from around the globe. From near and far, the Millers demonstrate the best of being SOOP bookends: being a servant wherever you are.
We already have our eye on some new, up and coming bookends! The Kim and Sean McConaghay family from Otisville, New York, usually spend their days working at Camp Deerpark, a SOOP partner location in Lowville, New York. This year, the McConaghays are taking a sabbatical leave from camp, but they certainly aren’t leaving camp life behind. Inspired by their experience with SOOP workers at Camp Deerpark, this September and October, they served their first SOOP assignment as a family at Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp near Divide, Colorado. Following this, they will serve for a month at the Navajo Brethren in Christ Mission near Bloomfield, New Mexico. SOOP workers, inspired by other SOOPers, become bookends who share their love of service with their family: Could there be a more perfect SOOP story?
