wfn.org | Mennonite youth learn in Portland

[Beth Hawn]

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To:  'Worldwide Faith News'
Date: 1998-07-29 14:46
Priority: 3
Message ID: 6D6740E9D426D211AAB0006008075ABF
Conversation ID: Mennonite youth learn in Portland

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

Mennonite youth learn about themselves from Portland's homeless

PORTLAND, Ore. (GCMC/MBM) - Being around a group of strangers for a week   
can be uncomfortable, being thrown into a new situation can be awkward   
and
traveling to a new city can be frightening. But a Youth Venture group in
Portland, Ore. discovered that they can learn a lot from a little   
discomfort.

Thirteen teenagers from five different states converged upon Oregon's
largest city July 12-19 as a part of Youth Venture, a joint program 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.

In Portland, they experienced Portland Learning Outreach and Worship
(PLOW), a weeklong program designed to educate participants about urban
issues - namely poverty and homelessness - through service, fellowship   
and
reflection. The youth, along with two adult sponsors, rotated work
assignments throughout the week, shifting between different
social-service agencies.

Members of the group said the service work was gratifying, but their most   

significant experiences occurred when they met some of the people who   
were
served at the agencies. Although participants say they were tuned-in to
issues of poverty entering the week, no book or lecture could teach them   
as
effectively as talking one-on-one with people who are homeless.

"There's a big difference just because I was involved and mixed in with   
these
people,'' said Chantel Gryseels from Lake Jackson, Texas, at the week's
conclusion. "In Sunday school, you read all this stuff about it, but you   
don't
actually get it until you're mingled in with peoples' lives. I was able   
to sit
here and talk to them instead of just reading about them.''

Cristin Lambert from Grottoes, Va., found that people who are homeless   
want
to tell their stories, but they often can't find an interested ear.   
Through
her encounter with a fellow teenager, Cristin discovered that poverty
knows no age limit.  Nobody is immune from potential poverty.

"She was 16 and she's been homeless for the last three years. I talked   
with her
almost for two hours and she was so open. She totally shared her life   
with me,"
Lambert said. "She had everything she could need and then it all got   
taken
away. It just showed that homelessness isn't all that far away from   
anybody
and it's really scary."

PLOW director Jae Kauffman said one of the program's goals is to place   
the
group into the middle of poverty so they have a chance to see what life   
is like
outside of one's comfort zone.

"We're never going to get beyond our fears of other people of any group
regardless of  economic status, or whether they're housed or unhoused   
until
we come face to face with people," Kauffman said. "The youth are coming   
away
with stories about individuals, of stories that they've listened to and
things that they've learned."

With new exposures to urban life and personal stories to digest, the
week at PLOW was mentally exhausting and overwhelming at times. But the
group used evening hikes, games and excursions to clear their heads and
worship and sharing time to reflect on their experiences.

"The processing and reflection time is so important. It's crucial to
understanding and sort through what is going on," said Lisa Weidner, a
sponsor from Newark, Del. "A lot of these youth are coming from smaller
Mennonite communities where they have no homeless. Since we've been
 working a lot with the homeless that's a lot to take in. I think it's   
kind of a
sensory overload for a lot of people unless you process that."

While another joint CHM-MBM program, Group Venture, 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 a an active youth group.

Unlike typical youth-group service trips, sharing time consists of a   
circle
full of new faces. But when a group is forced to eat, sleep, work and   
breathe
together, community happens quickly. And when everybody is experiencing
similar daily routines, strangers become friends. Kauffman, who normally
works with established youth groups said he could see a difference in   
Youth
Venture's group dynamics.

"I've noticed how people here start off at the same level in not knowing   
each
other. I think that quickens group bonding. It just provides a better
environment for coming together because we're there for common goals and
common reasons for wanting to come."

The group came to Portland to experience God through service, worship and   

fellowship. Members say they knew PLOW would be a learning experience but   

they couldn't imagine how. They didn't know that they would be greeted by   

smiles and thank yous at soup kitchens and shelters. And many in the   
group
didn't realize how much their work would impact  the people they served.

"I thought that being here for a week that we would be doing work but we   
wouldn't
be making that much of a difference, but I was wrong," Lambert said after   

recounting a story of how one person at a shelter requested the service   
of a
Youth Venture volunteer he had met the day before. "That just taught me   
that
even though we were only there once, talking to people really does make a   

difference in their lives." But Lambert said the group also didn't   
correctly
estimate the effect personal encounters would have on them.

"I had been told that everyone who was homeless had a different story and   
I knew
that. But talking to people really made me think. A lot of these people,   
their
only hope is God and it's really amazing to see," Lambert said. "They're
setting their faith in God totally and completely, which is what we're
supposed to do. They set an example."

* * *

Matt Kauffman Smith