wfn.org | Three-year term in London ends

[BethAH@mbm.org]

October 4, 2000
Beth Hawn
Communications Coordinator
Mennonite Board of Missions
phone (219) 294-7523
fax (219) 294-8669
<www.MBM.org>

Three-year term in London ends for Pennsylvania couple

ELKHART, Ind. (MBM) – When Abner and Virginia Schlabach took
early retirements from their jobs, they felt they were too young
to sit around and twiddle their thumbs all day.  So, in April
1997, they signed on with Mennonite Board of Missions for a
three-year term as host couple at London Mennonite Centre in
London, England.

Having returned to their home in Perkasie, Pa., in April, the
couple reflected that the years they spent in London were three
of the greatest years of their lives.

It was “retirement with a purpose,” Virginia said.  “We felt we
wanted to be of use.”

As host couple, neither Virginia nor Abner worked in the same
field where they had spent the majority of their professional
lives.  Abner had retired from Merck Pharmaceutical Company where
he was a virologist, and Virginia had worked as a mission liaison
and editor for Franconia Mennonite Conference for the previous 15
years.

“Being ‘host couple’ meant we did a host of things,” Abner said.

Virginia and Abner were responsible for the hospitality of the
London Mennonite Centre.  This included maintaining the building
and grounds, cooking for seminar attendees, and spending time
talking with people who were passing through.

The London Mennonite Centre, begun in the 1950s by MBM as a
ministry to international students, changed its emphasis in the
1980s to become a teaching and discipleship center.  It is home
to a library – with the largest European collection of Anabaptist
writings in English; to Cross Currents, a teaching program that
offers seminars on faith issues; to Metanoia, a mail order book
service; and to Bridge Builders, a conflict transformation
program for churches.
People of varying religious backgrounds pass through the center,
providing the Schlabachs with many opportunities to develop close
and lasting friendships with a variety of people.
The ecumenical atmosphere the Schlabachs found in London shaped
their experience.  MBM’s goal in England has not been to plant
Mennonite churches, but rather to nurture people to be catalysts
in existing churches and to teach an Anabaptist lifestyle, Abner
explained.

Through their discussions with people at the center, Abner and
Virginia felt their worldview stretch.  “In the [United States],
the social concerns and church focus were primarily on North and
South America,” Virginia said.  “In London, we discovered that
the world was much bigger.”  Their friends in London seemed more
aware of what was happening in Africa and Asia.  At the same
time, Virginia and Abner helped stretch the minds of their
friends to include issues in the Americas.

The Schlabachs were heartened by the faith of their neighbors and
friends from different faith backgrounds.

“Less than 10 percent of the people in England attend church on
any given Sunday, yet we met all these people who were wonderful
Christians,” Abner said.

One of the tasks they enjoyed most at the center was preparing
meals for seminar attendees. People who attended multiple
seminars often came to the kitchen to talk with Abner and
Virginia during the noon meal.  They enjoyed these discussions as
well as the opportunity to cook together.

“Virginia is the creative one with new recipes,” Abner said,
while Virginia credited him with being the “great baker of
cakes.”  With a laugh, she remembered a time when Abner received
a marriage proposal from a seminar attendee based on his cooking
skills.

In addition to forming friendships with people who visited the
center, the couple felt a strong sense of community with other
Mennonite center staffers who made up their household.
“We each had our own living space, but we also had a real sense
of community,” Virginia said.

The household staff and guests shared a coffee time at 11 a.m.
every day and the traditional English tea at 4 p.m.  They also
gathered for prayer and liturgy before lunch.
“These times were special because they brought a group of people
together for sharing on a spiritual and social level,” Virginia
said.

When they returned to their home on a country road outside of
Perkasie, Abner and Virginia missed their larger household with
the daily contact and sharing.  They still stop what they are
doing at 4 p.m. most afternoons for a cup of tea and fellowship
together or with friends.

Another community that sustained and supported Abner and Virginia
was the congregation at Wood Green Mennonite Church in London.
The only Mennonite Church in England, Wood Green is an outgrowth
of the London Mennonite Centre.

Virginia described the church as “a very important community of
faith and a nurturing body.”
Through the church, the couple volunteered monthly at an
ecumenical neighborhood soup kitchen.  They found this experience
enriching because they “worked with people from other
denominations and learned to know many needy and elderly in the
community.”

Leaving behind the friendships they formed in England has been
difficult for Abner and Virginia. They feel as though they have
“one foot in England.”  Everything in the United States seems
large and overwhelming.  Life seems busier, they said.  But,
after five months, they are beginning to feel at home again in
Perkasie.

Abner and Virginia are not sure what form their “retirement with
a purpose” will take next.  For now, they are enjoying visits to
Vermont, where both of their married children live, and spending
time in their old home adjusting to life in the United States.
They remain open to the possibility of other short-term volunteer
work.

* * *

Minda Kauffman