wfn.org | Couple begins their retirement with VS

[Beth Hawn]

Microsoft Mail v3.0 (MAPI 1.0 Transport) IPM.Microsoft Mail.Note
To:  'Worldwide Faith News'
Date: 1998-07-08 15:26
Priority: 3
Message ID: 48D09CC83A16D211AAB0006008075ABF
Conversation ID: Couple begins their retirement with VS

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July 8, 1998
Mennonite Board of Missions
Beth Hawn
219-294-7523
<NEWS@MBM.org>

Couple begins their retirement with voluntary service

KNOB NOSTER, Mo. (GCMC/MBM)--When it came time for retirement, John
and Floy Lapp weren't quite ready to just sit back and take it easy.

"We talked about doing something different," says Floy. That "something
different" turned out to be an assignment with Mennonite Voluntary   
Service,
in Hutchinson, Kan.

MVS is a program of the Commission on Home Ministries of the General
Conference Mennonite Church and Mennonite Board of Missions of the
Mennonite Church.

The couple began their MVS assignment last August. Floy spends her time   
in the
Hutchinson Et Cetera Shop where she sorts and prices used clothing and
sometimes works behind the counter.  She is also available to fill in for   
the
short-term volunteers as needed. John's placement is with Interfaith
Housing of Hutchinson, a nonprofit organization supported by area   
churches.
Interfaith does home repair and rehabilitation for elderly, disabled and
low-income clients, and finds other ways of helping low- and moderate-
income people meet their housing needs.

In a way, the Lapps are coming full circle. They began their married life   
in
voluntary service. They met at a Bible school in Canton, Ohio--Floy came   
from
Hartville (Ohio) Mennonite Church and John from Sandy Hill Mennonite   
Church
in Chester County, Pa.  After they were married in 1955, they moved to   
Port
Allegany, in northeastern Pennsylvania, and spent two years as volunteers   

through Eastern Mennonite Missions at Northern Tier Children's Home, a
state-sponsored institution.

Their primary reason for moving to Port Allegany, however, was to help   
plant a
church.  In 1976, John became pastor of that church, Birch Grove   
Mennonite. He
was a bivocational pastor, also working as a dairy farmer, while Floy was   
busy
raising their six children. Retirement came 21 years later, in July 1997.

They plan to live long-term in the Port Allegany area, where they own a   
house.
However, Birch Grove is the only Mennonite church around, so "we decided   
we'd
give the new pastor time to settle in without us there," says John.

"We did a lot of praying about it and counseling with other people," says   
Floy
of their decision-making process. They decided on MVS both because they
wanted to go for longer than a few months and because they could not   
afford to
support themselves as do the older volunteers who participate in programs   

like MBM's Service Opportunities for Older Persons.

John was especially attracted to the assignment with Interfaith Housing   
in
Hutchinson. "After pastoring for 20 years, I wanted to do something   
besides
work closely with people," he says.

An added benefit of the Hutchinson assignment was being close to two of   
their
daughters. At about the same time as the Lapps' MVS assignment began, Joy   
Lapp
began a year teaching at Bethel College in North Newton, Kan., and Ruth   
Ann
Lapp moved with her family to Rocky Ford, Colo., about six hours away.

They also like the way their housing has worked out. There is an MVS unit   
house
in Hutchinson, but when the Lapps arrived, it was full. So they and   
another
MVSer who came after them, Ruth Krahn, share a smaller house.

 "I think it's been good for us to be separate," says Floy. "We weren't   
asked to
come to Hutchinson to be the leaders, and we decided we were not going to   
be
'Mom and Dad.'"

"I think [the young people] would have felt a little more restricted if   
we were
 there," adds John. The unit does share one meal a week together, as well   
as
regular unit activities.

The Lapps are quick to recommend MVS to other couples and individuals   
their
age. "The Lord has blessed us with good health," John says. "I'd strongly   

encourage others to do this if your health is good."

It's obvious that the Lapp's life of service has had an impact beyond   
them-
selves-four of their children have also done voluntary service. Joy spent   

three years in Egypt with Mennonite Central Committee. Ruth Ann and her
husband, John Zimmerman, were in Mississippi for 2 1/2 years with MBM's
Voluntary Service program.  David Lapp spent a summer in New York
volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. Paul and Melissa Lapp are in   
their
fourth year of voluntary service in Americus, Ga., under Eastern   
Mennonite
Missions.

Says Floy simply, "You work with what you have."

                        * * *
Melanie Zuercher is News Service editor for the General Conference
Mennonite Church.

Photo available