wfn.org | Youth Venture in Seattle

[Beth Hawn]

Microsoft Mail v3.0 (MAPI 1.0 Transport) IPM.Microsoft Mail.Note
To:  'Worldwide Faith News'
Date: 1998-07-29 14:22
Priority: 3
Message ID: 686740E9D426D211AAB0006008075ABF
Conversation ID: Youth Venture in Seattle

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July 29, 1998
Mennonite Board of Missions
Beth Hawn
(219)-294-7523
<News@MBM.org>

Youth Venture experiences "a different world" in Seattle

SEATTLE (GCMC/MBM) - Teens from different worlds came together in a   
church basement on the edge of the University of Washington campus as   
Mennonite participants in the short-term Youth Venture program served a
meal to homeless teens living on the streets.

More than 60 teens who live on the streets gathered July 16 at the   
University Congregational Church, hoping to find a meal, a safe place and   
a relief from
the hot, summer sun.  Many carried their life's possessions and displayed   
a tough exterior, including pierced body parts, tattoos and   
unconventional
haircuts.  Yet some looked no different than the four Youth Venture
participants who offered them pasta and salad, milk and chocolate cake as   

part of a July 3-20 short-term experience in this northwest city noted   
for
grunge music, coffee shops and high-tech companies.

But as the four Youth Venture participants served homeless teens,
befriended elderly people at a respite center, worked at an AIDS ministry   

near Seattle's visible gay community and performed restoration work at   
Camp Camrac in the wilderness of the Cascade Mountains, they saw their   
world in a new way.

"I almost feel like I've gone to a different world. The way of life here   
is so different," said Christine Maust, a member of Jubilee Mennonite   
Church in Meridian, Miss.  "It has been good to be here with homeless   
people. If it [homelessness] exists in Mississippi, it's hidden.  The   
homeless are not something that exists visibly in Meridian."

Youth Venture is a joint ministry of Mennonite Board of Missions of the   
Mennonite Church and the Commission on Home Ministries of the General   
Conference Mennonite Church.  For two weeks in North American or   
international settings, youth can take time during their summer vacation   
to
 really go somewhere - living and working with other teens in a group   
that prays and studies the Bible as it participates in urban mission.

Seattle has been a Youth Venture site for the past nine years, and allows   
participants a chance to interact with participants in the Mennonite
Voluntary Service unit, where they live during their assignment.

"We really see it as a ministry to young people and young adults, giving   
high-school-aged youth a chance to experience the city and its problems,   
and also
to give them a short-term volunteer experience," said Barb Adams,
administrator of Seattle Mennonite Church, which hosts the Youth Venture
team in conjunction with the Mennonite Voluntary Service unit.

In addition to participating in a variety of urban mission projects,   
Youth
Venture also includes significant time for reflection.  In Seattle, that
includes trips to the Cascade Mountains, Mount Ranier and Shaw
Island, where the young adults hike in northwest Washington's natural
beauty.

"We want them to see God's beautiful creation untouched by man and come   
back into the city and see what we've done with it, how we've messed it   
up," Adams said.

Among the variety of service assignments, most of the Youth Venture   
participants said their favorite was a stint at ElderHealth, which   
provides
respite care for people age 65 and up.  At ElderHealth, the teen-agers   
spent
time with elderly people, helping them with exercises, playing games,
dancing or just socializing.  "It seemed like we were making more of an
impact," said Nicole Gerhart, of Green Lane, Pa., where she is a member   
of St. John's Lutheran Church.  "You can see a smile, and it's more   
rewarding than a clean chair is."

Gerhart was one of three students from Christopher Dock Mennonite School   
in Lansdale, Pa., who found a familiar face in their group leader: Ryan   
Raines, a math teacher at the school.  Although a school guidance   
counselor suggested Youth Venture to them, several students decided to   
participate because of previous service experiences, including at the   
Mennonite youth convention
at Orlando 97.

"They really challenged young people to give more time to God," said   
Maust, who at the youth convention pledged to live a life of service. "I   
really wanted
to do something this summer to get out of my comfort zone. ... To be in a   

new environment, you see things differently.

"This was just a baby step," said Maust, who hoped to begin to explore   
other options for volunteer service back in her hometown of Meridian.  "I   
would like
to spend more time doing volunteer work."

Zach Swartley, of Harleysville, Pa., a member of Line Lexington Mennonite   
Church, decided he wanted to build on a school experience serving in a   
soup kitchen in Washington, D.C.  While Matt Carminito, a member of   
Souderton
(Pa.) Mennonite Church, hoped the Youth Venture experience would clarify   
a
bit of his future as he returned for his senior year in high school.  "It   
is
possible I'll take a year off and do voluntary service until I decide   
what I
want to do in college," he said.

"It is a good pre-college experience," said Raines, who saw students   
outside
the classroom for the first time.  "I would highly recommend anything   
like
this for someone who is a junior or a senior."

Unlike Group Venture, a joint program of CHM and MBM that helps church
youth groups organize service trips, Youth Venture brings together
individuals who come from a variety of backgrounds and congregations -
some too small to have an active youth group.

For Gerhart, the two-week Youth Venture experience came between two other   
mission and service assignments that took up most of her summer vacation.   
 Although Gerhart and her family couldn't afford the trip, the   
Christopher
Dock junior found several sponsors from her congregation.  "Well, what   
else
am I going to do - sit home and watch TV?" she said.  "I might as well do   
something productive."

For Maust, who will be a senior at Meridian High School, the experience   
confirmed a growing interest in social work as a possible career.   
 Several participants said they learned that faith involves more than   
words.  "It is
one thing to go to church and say, 'I'm a Christian, God is good.'  It's   
another thing to go out and tell people about it and to live it," Gerhart   
said.  "I've
learned a lot.  I got to know people better, including myself."

* * *

Tom Price       PHOTOS AVAILABLE