wfn.org | Couple finds fulfillment in SOOP

[BethAH <BethAH@mbm.org>]

May 23, 2001
Beth Hawn
Mennonite Board of Missions
(219) 294-7523
<NEWS@MBM.org>
May 23, 2001

Couple finds fulfillment in SOOP

ELKHART, Ind. (MBM) – John and Martha Bergen of La Riviere,
Manitoba, don’t fit the stereotype of retirees who spend their
days taking packaged tours or playing shuffleboard.

“The need for honesty compels us to admit to being close to the
world’s worst tourists.  Though we’ve had the opportunity to be
part of several tour groups, we could never get excited about
it.  Lying around on beaches is not our thing, and we wouldn’t
last very long at a trailer park in one of the southern states,”
confessed John.

With more than a dozen SOOP (Service Opportunities for Older
People) assignments behind them, this confession is no surprise.
The Bergens retired to La Riviere in 1994, but their wanderlust,
combined with a desire to serve, began taking them to places
tourists rarely see.

“Our whole orientation as Mennonites is being our brothers’ and
sisters’ keepers,” said John. “It’s about the importance of the
little things, the ‘cups of cold water,’ the fixing of toilets,
closing holes in floors, painting walls, cleaning storage spaces,
cooking for young people who have come to serve.”

So, armed with “a restless spirit, a van with some tools, and
dominoes,” they looked for something more fulfilling than
tourism.

That “something” was a healthy helping of SOOP, a joint program
of Mennonite Association of Retired Persons (MARP), Mennonite
Board of Missions, and Mennonite Central Committee-Canada.
People 50 years and older are invited to share their talents and
experience at the many SOOP locations in the United States or
Canada.  SOOP expects volunteers to cover their own expenses,
including travel, health insurance and medical costs, and
occasionally food and lodging.

Beginning unofficially with a trip to Puerto Rico under MARP in
the early 1990s, the Bergens have racked up a formidable menu of
SOOP assignments.  These include service at Mary-Martha House
(San Antonio, Texas); Beaver Camp (Lowville, N.Y.); New Hope
House (Griffin, Ga.); Drift Creek Camp (Lincoln City, Ore.);
Lakewood Retreat Center (Brooksville, Fla.); Tuscarora Resource
Center (Mt. Bethel, Pa.); Mennonite Housing (Wichita, Kan.);
Jubilee Partners (Comer, Ga.); Lotts Creek Community School
(Hazard, Ky.); as well as assignments in Atlanta and in Lima,
Ohio.

The Bergens find that their SOOP experiences cook up some
interesting stories.  During the winter of 2000, they served as
extension workers for Berea Mennonite Church in Atlanta.  After
removing layers of battered linoleum and carpet from the kitchen
and dining-room floors in the home of one low-income family, they
patched holes and put down new linoleum.  When they returned the
next morning, the new flooring was already sporting a fresh hole
and was too sticky for bare feet to risk.

“Martha took a bucket, filled it with water and soap, got down on
her knees and thoroughly scrubbed the floor,” says John.
“Whenever we came after that, we were met with a big smile and a
very clean floor!”

John and Martha collect more than just stories on their SOOP
trips.  They enjoy the escape from frigid Manitoba winters.
Moreover, they find new friends at each location.  “Always, we
are amazed at the love and hospitality afforded us wherever we
go,” Martha said.

The living testimony of these friends is invaluable.  “Though we
rarely miss any Sunday worship services, our faith has been more
challenged and strengthened by observing the ‘walk’ rather than
the ‘talk’ of persons we have the opportunity to work with and
for,” John says.  “We have learned to see people of different
backgrounds, faiths, creeds or color through the eyes of Jesus;
we have learned to be more tolerant, understanding and
compassionate toward others.”

The Bergens are eager to share SOOP, and they issue a challenge
to other seniors:  “Just do it!  As important as your local
church, your children and your grandchildren should rightly be,
possibly the best example you could be to them would be to leave
your comfort zone, your family and friends, your local church,
and launch out,” John said.

Martha issued one word of caution.  “Once you start, it is pretty
hard to stop,” she said.  “There is something catchy, some call
that keeps you going back for more.  Is it the challenging words
and example of Jesus regarding servanthood?  Is it his challenge
that we need to learn to wash each other’s feet?  Perhaps.  We
have said many times that SOOP is the best thing that ever
happened to seniors.”

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Elizabeth Beachy for MBM news     PHOTOS AVAILABLE