wfn.org | Newlyweds find SOOP builds relationship

[BethAH@mbm.org]

March 21, 2001
Beth Hawn
Communications Coordinator
Mennonite Board of Missions
phone (219) 294-7523
fax (219) 294-8669
<www.MBM.org>

March 21, 2001

Photo Release: Newlyweds find SOOP builds relationship

Grant Rissler is serving through Mennonite Voluntary Service as a
writer and photographer.  After spending a year as intern at the
Mennonite Central Committee United Nations office in Manhattan,
he is traveling for five months by bus to 20 other MVS and
Short-Term Mission sites, gathering the stories and experiences
of other volunteers and communities.  A weekly column by Grant
can be found on the web at www.MBM.org.

SAN ANTONIO (CHM/MBM) – Most volunteers take part in  SOOP
(Service Opportunities for Older People) to help build and
maintain houses.  Anne and Harold Fast wanted to do that, too,
but their first reason for becoming SOOPers was to build and
maintain their new marriage.

“We thought it would be good to enjoy the mild weather, and do
something useful at the same time,” said Harold, a retired town
administrator in the couple’s hometown of Winkler, Manitoba.
“Also, we were married seven months ago, and we’re trying to have
some new experiences together.  Relationships like this are built
on having common experiences.”

Now, they have a number to look back on.  Their SOOP assignment
at La Casa de Maria y Marta, a hostel and short-term service
program sponsored by the San Antonio Mennonite Church, provided
opportunities ranging from painting a house from atop ladders, to
strolling on the river walk here, to making the long drive
through the western United States.

For Anne, who worked on a dairy and grain farm for 40 years with
her first husband, the experience has been at times unnerving,
but ultimately enriching.

Her first time in a Mexican restaurant, for example, overwhelmed
her with loud music.  “I thought, ‘Let’s just go home,’” she
says.  “I felt so lonely.  But now, I think [SOOP] is the best
thing I could have done.  I’m sorry to go home.”

Part of the encouragement for doing service with SOOP came from
their family.

“The family was so supportive” of the remarriage and their time
with SOOP, says Anne.  “The best thing about being here after a
hard day of work is having them call you and they say, ‘We’re
praying for you,’” she says.  “What better way to end the day?
It just gives you a shot of energy, to go out again the next
day.”

“When you get to our age, you don’t work for a wage,” says Anne,
summing up the Fasts’ primary motivation for what they do.  “You
work for the best use of your time because every day is special.
You don’t know what tomorrow will bring.”

Service Opportunities for Older People is sponsored by Mennonite
Association of Retired Persons, Mennonite Board of Missions, and
Mennonite Central Committee Canada.

* * *

Grant E. Rissler       PHOTOS AVAILABLE