wfn.org | Service Adventure unit ventures to Haiti

[Beth Hawn]

Microsoft Mail v3.0 (MAPI 1.0 Transport) IPM.Microsoft Mail.Note
To:  'Worldwide Faith News'
Date: 1998-06-17 11:45
Priority: 3
Message ID: E03EB828D205D211AAB0006008075ABF
Conversation ID: Service Adventure unit ventures to Haiti

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June 17, 1998
Mennonite Board of Missions
Beth Hawn
219-294-7523
<NEWS@MBM.org>

RALEIGH, N.C. (GCMC/MBM) - Some might question why a group of young   
adults
who have given a year of their time to serve in the inner-city here needs   
to
travel to Haiti for a service project.

Andrea and Skip Long and their Service Adventure unit in Raleigh had no   
such
questions when the opportunity to serve in another culture and   
environment
presented itself.

After months of preparation, the Raleigh unit trekked May 14-20 to Haiti   
for
a week of service that was far different than what they have experienced   
in
North America.

Several factors brought about the unit's trip.  First, Stan Wiebe, a   
member of
the unit's sponsoring congregation, Raleigh Mennonite Church, has served
in Haiti and takes groups back periodically to do service there.   Wiebe
insists on being 'non-invasive'  when taking groups by expecting them to
blend in to the culture in dress and by not doing the tourist things like   
taking
reams of pictures. The young adults in the unit connected with Wiebe and   
were
inspired by his work.

"They said, 'Wouldn't it be neat if Stan would take us along?'" Andrea   
said.
"But they really didn't expect it to work out.  When we checked out the
 possibilities and came back to the group with the reality that they   
would have
to raise $5,500, they looked at us like 'this is never going to happen.'"   
   

But the group continued to pray and began planning ways to earn the money   
to go.
 "When we told the group that we were going to send out a cover letter,   
tentative
itinerary and cost estimate with the monthly newsletter that the unit   
sends
to supporters, home churches, and families of the unit members, we first
received hesitant responses from them," Andrea said.  "They said these
people were giving so much already.  I told the group that we weren't   
asking
for money, just sharing the dream and work we were planning as a group.   
 I told
them not to take away from people the option to help in this dream if it   
was
meant to be."

On a Sunday morning in early October, Andrea and Skip shared during   
prayer
time at church that the unit was considering this service project and   
asked
for prayers for discernment.  "After the service, one member came up to   
us and
said, 'I want to give $1,000 to make this happen,'" Andrea said.

The young adults in the unit were shocked and, as the months progressed,   
more
and more people helped the group gather together the necessary funds.   
 "Every
weekend our group was out doing some project to earn money.  They raked   
yards,
washed walls, split wood, baby sat, did overtime at their regular work
placements, and whatever else church people could find for them to do,"
Andrea said.

As the group earned its way, plans for the time in Haiti began to take   
shape.
Skip and Andrea sponsor a boy in a boys home in Haiti.  It seemed like a   
good time
to make a connection with the boys home and Stan Wiebe had connections   
with
Haiti's Albert Schweitzer Hospital, which needs volunteers from time to
time.  By May, the unit had raised $6,000 and felt for certain that the   
dream
would be realized.

"We spent several days at the boys home, playing with the boys, providing   

interaction that they don't often get," Andrea said.  "We took a pi¤ata   
in one
day.  Aaron Van Heest, one of the unit members, went out and bought some   
balls
and bats at a used [sporting-goods] store for the boys to use.  Mike Mock   
was
climbing mango trees and making the boys laugh. Jackie Penner and Abbey
Rohrer had little ones on their laps constantly.  And Maria Gnagey made   
some
special friends with a couple of little girls who were daughters of the
groundskeeper of the compound."

One of the more stretching times came when seven to 10 local men came to   
the
home through a local program and did activities with the boys.  "It made   
me
aware of my American arrogance," Andrea said.  "Here are people who   
rarely
have electricity, always [have] bad water and little food, yet they still   

give to each other and share of themselves even without material wealth.   
 It
made our group aware of how easy they've had it."

At the hospital, the group painted conference rooms, and built and   
painted
cribs in preparation for the summer season of dehydration and   
malnutrition t
hat always overwhelms the hospital.

Looking back over the days in Haiti, Andrea said that the experience was
tremendous for the entire group.  "There was absolutely no complaining   
the
whole time, and there were rough conditions at times.  This group jumped
in and tried to speak Creole and reach out to the people wherever they   
could.
We joke at church here that if we had started the Service Adventure year   
by
telling this group that they would only have electricity three out of   
seven
days a week here, they would have accepted that without complaining.   
 They
are an amazing group of young adults," Andrea said.

In looking to the future, Andrea doesn't think they will take another   
group to
Haiti soon.  "The overall experience was incredible, but there were cons   
too.
We spent so much time working for this that we didn't have the down time   
to just
be a group and play football or whatever on weekends this year," she   
said.
"But these kids saw God working through this.  When people kept giving to   
make
the trip happen, the kids were awed at how God works.  We never said,   
'Give us
money.'  We shared from our hearts about what we wanted to do, and God   
did
the tugging for us."

Service Adventure provides post-high school young adults with a   
short-term
adventure in service, learning and spiritual growth. In 1998-99, Service
Adventure will operate a record 10 units, including one in Canada.

Living in a household with other young adults, Service Adventure
participants serve as volunteers for community service organizations,
working with children, senior citizens or people with disabilities, or
providing repair or secretarial services. As volunteers live in a
household, they test possible career interests, participate in the life   
of a
Mennonite congregation and engage in group study of the Bible, social   
issues
and areas of personal growth under the guidance of a unit leader.

Founded by MBM of the Mennonite Church, Service Adventure now is a joint
program with the Commission on Home Ministries of the General
Conference Mennonite Church.
      * * *
Minnette B. Hostetler