Your Kingdom come, on Earth as it is in Heaven

We have been traveling around the Central Plains Conference now for about 2 months, and we have about 1 month to go. Shortly put, it has been a really good experience so far of learning and sharing from so many people. As you can imagine, our team has been asking a lot of questions this summer through all of our conversations. One particularly interesting conversation that came up was about faith and politics. We didn’t end the discussion with a final answer, and we were all coming from different perspectives on the issue.

Personally, over the past two years I have been considering this issue more and more, and re-evaluating what I really believe on how faith and politics go together. Through this summer especially, and the message that we are talking about, I have come to believe that true change and true peace is never going to come through any kind of political or government structure, or presidential nominee. Now I confess, I (and the whole seeds team) are following the tightly contested presidential race, and find ourselves glued to the television during the DNC going on right now. Yet, I continually need to remind myself that as Christians, we believe that change and peace in this world comes first and foremost through a God that is reconciling all of creation back to right relationship.

As I look at the life of Jesus, and how he addressed the problems of his time, it is obvious that he didn’t resort to a top-down political power structure to bring change. In John 6:15 when Jews come to make Jesus King, (because he was the King they were looking for to finally bring them freedom from the Romans) Jesus refuses, and goes off by himself. Jesus was not going to be the kind of King, or political leader they were looking for. Rather, Jesus showed an upside-down way (from what society expected of him) to bring change, healing and hope to the world. Jesus became a lamb, a suffering servant on the cross.

I certainly don’t have all my questions answered as to how Christians should relate to politics. I don’t think it’s necessarily a black and white issue. However, I am convinced that if we think Barack Obama or John McCain are going to bring the change that this world needs, then sadly, we got it wrong. True change, true peace, is never going to come through any kind of human intelligence, reason, or organization, through a Democrat, or a Republican president. No, our peace in this world comes through a God of love, justice, and mercy that shows no allegiance to a specific nation state. I hope that as Christians, during this heated and emotional presidential race, we first remember who we are: We are the Church, and we have an exciting ministry right now: “Gods Kingdom, on earth as it is Heaven”

Randy

Barriers to Peace

What are the barriers for talking about peace in our congregations? We Seeds all started this summer with interesting perspectives and thoughts on this subject. Some of these thoughts have been affirmed by our observations; others have been changed, and new ones have been added. There are five barriers on my list right now that I would like to mention.

I must say that this list comes from conversations with many people. So dear friends if you read this and think, “hey I said that,” you probably did.

We talk about peace within the limited framework of the absence of violence and warfare. Too often we talk about and pray for peace as the absence of physical violence and warfare. This is just one slice of the pie. I worry that this limited emphasis has turned many people away from talking about peacemaking and working for peace because of a perceived connection to hippies and anti-Americanism. How do we teach our children to be people of peace if we do not present as a lifestyle? Sometimes our words and actions can be violent, without doing physical harm.

The presentation of peace doesn’t resonate with people. I see this as being closely tied to the first point. If folks aren’t on board with the anti-war movement, then peace, God’s encompassing vision for Shalom, is dismissed. As I visit and network with different peace groups, I’m generally the youngest one in the room. Often it’s the Baby boomer generation and older. Where are the younger folks? Why do I feel like I’m the only person under the age 45 going to these things? Are peace groups still lost in the way things were done in the 60’s? How do we reach and excite younger generations with God’s vision for peace and reconciliation?

The Biblical foundation is left out. Peace has been disassociated with faith because we’ve stopped talking about the connection to the Bible (I do this too). We assume the connection to the Bible is obvious, assume that everyone has made it, and then we act with passion. For those within our worshipping communities who are biblically grounded, the connection is lost unless are able to explain how our actions are related to the Scriptures.

Tradition. Peace is what we’ve always believed. Well, no longer. We can no longer feed the line: well this is the way we’ve always done it. It is not common knowledge among Christians that we are people of peace because Christ is our peace, and has brought us peace through the cross. If we want our children to learn this message, Christians/Mennonites can’t assume that osmosis will do the trick. If we want new people of faith to understand the connection between Jesus and peace, we have to talk about Jesus and who Jesus is and how Jesus taught peace. We are not people of peace because traditionally Mennonites have taken up nonresistance.

Peace is hard, being a peacemaker is hard; it is much easier to ignore the call. It’s hard to be a follower of Christ. There are many things in the world that compete with our faith: money, lack of time and energy, consumer goods. Being a peacemaker means we are children of God, it requires us to have patience for results we may never see in our lifetime. It means acting outside of traditional expectations. How can we communities of faith that encourage on another in this difficult-yet-rewarding lifestyle?

I raise these points because I wonder why I heard from some churches, peers, and youth that they are tired of talking about peace. I wonder, what kind of peace they are referring to? Do they really mean this, or are they reacting to the way we’ve talked about peace in the past? In God’s vision for Shalom, peace is related to my relationship with God-and we talk about that in our churches all the time. God’s peace is related to my relationship with myself; it affects my relationships with others; it affects my relationship with creation. Peace permeates the Gospel. What do we need to do to break down the walls between our congregations and within our congregations to become people of God’s peace?

Elizabeth

How I Can Keep from Singing

I am an insecure singer. My involvement in choir ended in 7^th grade and so did my ability to find notes without strong singers around me.

Insecure or not I do love singing. In the car when I’m alone, in my room when I’m alone and even with my guitar…when I’m alone. But around others I feel squeaky and I get quite embarrassed.

Now for some of you who know me, you will say, “but wait there are exceptions to these statements.” Well, yes there are. In Service Adventure I sang with my friends and fellow housemates. I even sang in front of the church. In college I sang with friends for a variety show. But, those are the exceptions, I guess until this summer.

In the churches we have visited we generally sing for/with them. Usually it is teaching them My Soul Cries Out, a song from Sing the Story. I sing with the Seeds and usually enjoy myself, but I finish with the haunting feeling that I have squeaked and squawked rather than made something beautiful.

Jess has been away the last few weeks leaving my voice as the sole female voice when we sing in congregations. This has been a challenge, but this last weekend I learned a valuable lesson during our visit to Templo Alabanza and Casa de Oracion.

Unlike so many of the Mennonite congregations of the conference, there are no Blue Hymnals in the churches. Singing is not four-part harmony, but it’s still a time to worship with energy and joy. Singing in these churches was for glory to God, not glory to our voices in harmony.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love four-part singing. In fact, the only music Matt and I had at our wedding was the voices of our friends and family. But I need to remember when I feel like I’m squeaking and squawking; I should change my attitude and not let my dreams of four-part glorious harmony get in the way of making a joyful noise to the Lord.

Elizabeth

“A Sound Like the Rush of a Violent Wind”

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush
of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue
rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Acts 2.1-4

This past weekend we were in Davenport, IA, with Casa de Oracion, and Moline, IL, with Templo Alabanza. We visited the Moline church in the morning, and the Davenport church in the evening. Each of these churches primarily speak Spanish, and for those of you who know us well, you know our Spanish language skills are weak (at best). Yet, after talking to the pastors of the churches, we decided that we would try and give Spanish sermons at each of the churches. Randy and I each composed something brief in English, then his friend Hugo translated the sermons for us (and also a prayer and introduction to the group for Elizabeth). A big thank you to him, it was no small task.

But translating the worship service into Spanish was only half the battle, because once it’s translated, we needed lots of help with our pronunciation. The days before Sunday we flooded our Spanish-speaking friends with phone calls and text messages as we sought help in pronunciation. As we prepared, the story of Pentecost took on new meaning for us, as we dropped hints to God about how convenient it would be if the Spirit came down and helped us out.

The Spirit of God was present, even though the gifting of tongues did not take place this morning. On Sunday, the Spirit was present in the members of the churches in their gracious responses towards us. Because of our lack of the gift of tongues, the more appropriate response to our services should have been from Acts 2.12-13, “All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’” But no one did.

At each church, members came up afterwards and gave us big bear hugs (Randy almost was crushed by the surprisingly strong hug of a 70+ year old man), and they were very, very welcoming and accepting. Once again, we were overwhelmed by hospitality as each church stuffed us full of food and sincere thanks for our ministry. Once again we were humbled by the graciousness of our hosts, and at a loss for how to express our thanks.
All this, in spite of the face that we had just spent previous 75 minutes butchering their mother tongue.

We Fired Mark

After our chapel at Iowa Mennonite School (IMS) on Monday, August 18th, Seeds of the Kingdom officially fired Mark Gingerich from the team. Now, this had nothing to do with his performance or lack thereof, rather this was a pre-emptive strike. Since the beginning of the summer, we knew Mark would be leaving us to take a job at Western Mennonite School in Oregon after our chapel at IMS. So we developed the plan to fire him quick after the chapel, before he turned in his official resignation. This way, we could save face, and would not have to write reference letters for him in the near future.

Immediately after the students left after chapel, I raced over to Mark and tackled him, then shouted, “You’re fired!” in my best Donald Trump voice. He groaned in agony, in part because of my intense tackling skills (I did play 8-man football, after all), in part because we had pre-empted his plan to resign. “You can’t fire me, I quit!” Mark exclaimed.

“Too late,” I said as I hopped up and did my I-just-fired-Mark-dance. “You can’t quit, because we already fired you. And don’t even dream of asking us to write a letter of reference.”

Quickly after we fired Mark, Randy and Elizabeth offered to re-hire him for less than the $55 monthly stipend the Seeds have received this summer. “We’d love to re-hire you at a reduced rate of $30 a month,” offered Randy generously. Mark rejected Randy and Elizabeth’s benevolence, however, and chose to stick with his original plan of heading to Oregon.

Okay, so I made most of that story up. But really, Mark is leaving us to go West. This post is my twisted way of saying thank-you to Mark for all his work: on the website, helping us pull together content, and shaping the way we present our material, and a whole bunch of other things too innumerable to mention.

So thanks for all your work, Mark, and blessings as you head out to Oregon. And despite repeated claims to the contrary, yes, one of us will write you a letter of reference.
Matt, on behalf of the Seeds

Work of National Importance

This past weekend we worshipped with East Union and Lower Deer Creek Mennonite Churches, both of the rural Kalona, IA area. This was the first time the two churches had ever held a joint worship service. It was an exciting service to participate in, and kudos to Pastors Don Patterson and Jay Miiller (and all the behind the scenes people) who worked hard to pull it all together.

In the afternoon, we held another CPS story telling time. Five men participated in the service (Eldon Rhodes, Wally Fisher, Vurton Miller [sp?] Clayton White, and Mark Swartzendruber), and as I soon discovered, if everyone who had participated in CPS been present and willing to share in front of people, we probably would have been able to tell stories all day. The five that participated were full of stories, however, and provided a well-rounded description of the CPS program.

During World War I, it was not uncommon for conscientious objects to be beaten, starved, or imprisoned. In response to WWI experiences, Mennonite leaders helped develop the CPS program, and as I understand it, this sort of program was unprecedented in American history. Part of the understanding of this sort of program, is that the CO’s would also be performing work of national importance that would not be directly connected to the war effort. Sometimes this happened, as CO’s helped fight forest fires, worked in mental hospitals, or carried livestock across the ocean to war-ravaged Europe.

Other times, it was hard for the men to convince themselves that their jobs actually mattered. One of the East Union man reflected on his time at the Denison IA site, where the CPSers helped do soil conservation/terrace building. He commented that the men would move dirt and dig trenches no matter what the weather was; he remembered going out in January mornings when the temperature was –10 degrees. The only things they had to move the dirt were picks, shovels, and wheelbarrows. Often, had the CPSers possessed the right equipment, they would have been able to do the job in a couple of days. However, because there was nothing else to assign the CO’s, they did not have large implements to move dirt, so the jobs would take several months. One man from Mt. Lake referred to a certain section of land that the CO’s called “Hell’s Half Acre.” If they’d had big machinery, it would have taken then two days maximum. Since they didn’t, it took about three months. It didn’t help that every time they would make progress, it rained and washed sediment back in their trench, and they’d have to start over.

Another one of the East Union men had participated in medical experiments for the bulk of his CPS days. In North Carolina, Wally Fisher was part of a study that examined colds (like the sneezing, sniffling kind). He and the other CO’s were held in isolation (they were able to talk to each other through the windows, though), and in his words, their job was “every now and again they would spray a mist into the back of our throats, and then closely watch us and monitor our symptoms, how long it took to get sick, how long we were sick, those sorts of things.” Yes, that’s correct, for four months, his job, his work of national importance, was to get infected with colds. As he reflected on this experience, Wally noted, “And you know, they know about as much about colds now as they did back then.”

After this, he transferred to Philadelphia, and was part of a study that was trying to figure out how hepatitis was spread. I should note that this experiment did have an obvious connection to work of national importance; Philadelphia often had outbreaks of the disease, and in Italy, hepatitis caused as many casualties as battles. While in Philadelphia, Wally drank one gallon of contaminated water a day to confirm that unclean drinking water was the source of the disease, and then allow his blood to be drawn by really dull needles.

To summarize, Wally served his country by drinking one gallon of water contaminated with sewage.

Hearing these sorts of stories, where alternative service meant getting infected with colds or drinking contaminated water, makes me thankful for the wide variety of service options available to my generation: social work jobs, education jobs, nursing jobs through organizations like MCC, the Mission Network, EMM, or other non-Mennonite voluntary service organizations. How many more options my generation has than our grandparents’ generation! Yet, the majority of my generation will not even contemplate a year or two of voluntary service, perhaps because of careers, or schooling, because families and churches aren’t encouraging it…there are probably as many reasons as there are dead bugs on our van’s windshield.

Granted, there are other forms of service that do not involve institutions or moving. We can do service in our home communities. But what does it say about our faith, when we are not willing to even consider taking a few years of our lives to intentionally give to God? If some young men and women are willing to place themselves in combat situations because they believe it will serve their country, what more should Christians do to serve the kingdom of God?


Matt Troyer-Miller

Change of Framework

As I alluded to in my last entry, I have been experiencing a shift in how I talk about my faith. A change I did not expect coming into this summer, but one that I was aware in a sense needed to occur. Here’s some background.

I have framed my faith, my understanding of God and how I live out my faith in terms of discipleship. Maybe that means something different to everyone. But I have not traditionally conversed about faith in terms of my salvation because I don’t think it’s always a helpful way to start. Maybe I have been turned off by the doom and gloom of the way the salvation message has sometimes been portrayed. For me, discipleship means following the “Jesus Way,” and orienting myself to live that way out means acting for peace and justice. I guess when I speak of my faith, working for peace and justice is a central image.

Well, just as I see using the framework of salvation as unhelpful, others may find my peace and justice framework as unhelpful. I could be accused of not valuing salvation enough, or I am disregarded because I don’t use primarily salvation language. This is hard for me because I do value my relationship with Christ. And I believe that at the heart of a message of peace/Shalom is relationships; primarily my relationship with the Creator. I just think that to only emphasize salvation language gives an excuse to live only in that moment of salvation and forget that once we have accepted Jesus as Lord we are called to live in allegiance of another Kingdom. Not the one we belong to as US citizens, but the one we belong to as Christians.

So, this summer I have been challenged to connect with Christians who talk about their faith in different ways than I do. And I have been forced to think about the language I use and the framework I work from… and I’m creating a new framework.

As I mentioned, I think it’s important to look at peace/Shalom in the context of God in the Bible. At the heart of the story is God’s desire to be in right relationship with us, God’s people. We must accept God in Christ as Lord over all. This is the heart of the peace/Shalom message.

Then, as Christians, we examine how God is working in the Bible, and how God has worked through God’s people, and how Jesus teaches us to follow after him. To make this more clear, let’s look at some examples of God’s vision for shalom in the Bible. In Genesis 1 we have a picture of God’s vision, of Shalom. God’s creation lives together in relationship with each other, the land and with God. That’s the vision. Even after humans sin, we can look at the rest of the Old Testament as God not giving up on God’s people and working to call them back to that original vision. The New Testament tells us that Jesus came “preaching peace (Acts 10.36),” and Jesus points us back to the vision of shalom in Genesis.

As I learn more about who God is, it is clear to me that God wills the world to be different than it is today. Our relationship with Christ and the peace we have when we know Jesus as our peace (Eph 2.14) must transfer to other relationships. It must or we are not taking seriously the Gospel message.

I am finding that I value more and more my peace with God. From that relationship, from my time with God in prayer, I find the energy and the joy for sharing God’s vision for Shalom.

Peace with God leads to peace with ourselves, with other people, and with creation. This is not a list that you check off but the results of seeking to be in relationship with God. The Spirit transforms our lives and our relationships. Our lives embody the things that we seek in our relationship with God: healing, hope, caring, sharing, listening, learning and being open to what others have to teach us. And these qualities are not just for our friends, but for our “neighbors,” our “enemies,” and those we don’t know.

Elizabeth

An adequate thank you?

This is a little late, since it has to do with our Mountain Lake experience. I don’t have a particularly convincing excuse, other than to say it’s been a hectic couple of weeks.

In between Youth Escape ‘08 (August 2-4) and our visit to Manson, IA (Aug. 8-10), we took a little jaunt up to Mountain Lake, MN. Now before I go any farther, I heard someone from Mt. Lake say “It’s actually more of a hill and a pond, but they drained the pond back in 1910 anyways so it doesn’t really matter.” So all that to say, certain members of the Seeds group were expecting the rugged beauty of Northern Minnesota, which wasn’t the case, because the Mt. Lake economy is primarily agricultural and the geography matches.

This was the second time I’d led a Civilian Public Service (CPS) story-telling time. The first had been while in Shickley, and it was really interesting hearing and comparing the stories of the Shickley men with men from Mountain Lake. In Shickley (a former MC/Old Mennonite church, for those of you who are interested in that sort of history), alternative service was the expectation. There were one, maybe two men, who went into the military service as combatants. The rest either did CPS or noncombatant service, with the slight majority doing CPS. Some of this probably had to do with the MC model of structuring church life. The conference and the bishops tended to have more power in the churches, and because Shickley had a bishop located in the congregation, there was a very clear center of power. Shickley also had a fairly lenient draft board. The chairman of the draft board ran the grain elevator in Martland, where many Mennonite families would have taken their grain. He was very understanding and sympathetic, and for the most part the Mennonite conscientious objectors (CO’s) were treated respectfully. It also probably helped that Mennonites were a minority in the community, so the draft board did not have any problems filling its quota.

The Mountain Lake churches come from a GC (General Conference) background, and the GC’s placed more authority in the individual congregations. Because of this arrangement, this tended to allow for greater diversity of beliefs among GC churches, and the amount of CO’s varied greatly from church to church. This was the case in Mt Lake, where many Mennonite men joined the military, some were non-combatants, and others chose CPS. CPS was not the “norm” in Mt. Lake, and for the young men who chose it (Willard Friesen and Jake Dick), there was not broad-based church community support. From the way the men told their stories, it sounded like the churches took the “hands-off” approach towards young men from the congregation, with a slight push towards CPS.

I don’t intend to say that the CPS’ers received no support. That’s obviously not the case. But what I’m trying to say, and I think Jake and Willard would agree, is that the CPS’ers felt supported by pastors and family members, but not always by the “church,” as such. With so many men choosing military or non-combatant service, it was hard to speak and act unanimously as church in support of any of the three choices (CPS, noncombatant, or regular army).

Another interesting reflection would be on how the church response to World War II and alternative service sixty years ago has shaped congregational life and strengthened/weakened traditional Mennonite peace theology. That’s a conversation for another time.

Talking with CPS men has been one of the most rewarding things about this summer. Hearing their stories of sacrifice, it’s impossible not to be moved by their stories of sacrifice (Jake Dick says that when he left for CPS, this was the only time he ever saw his father cry). Unlike later service opportunities like PAX, I-W, or VS, CPS was unprecedented and unknown, and the people involved did not know what to expect. They were paid next to nothing, often unappreciated, sometimes heckled and harassed, and usually did menial manual labor. It’s been interesting, however, to hear from these men how CPS shaped them and prepared them for a lifetime of service to the church. Many of the CPS’ers I talked with have been involved with church service organizations or mission work their whole lives, and they can trace this to their CPS years.

I have two regrets about the CPS meetings. One, because the “Seeds” group is so busy this summer planning and organizing, I’ve really had to focus on the stories of the CPS men. This means that I’ve had little opportunity to hear from women of that generation, some of who did their own service, others who had to be separated from husbands for an extended amount of time. These stories are an important aspect of CPS, and one that I’ve been unable to work on.

My second regret also has to do with time and energy. The CPS men have been very open and honest and willing to share with their stories with me. I take notes, but I’m unable to record the interviews in any sort of systematic way. So I wonder if it’s even fair for me to be gathering these stories at all, because I’m not a trained historian, and at this point, I do not have the knowledge or the time this summer to synthesize and write these stories for a broader audience. I don’t feel like I’m doing justice to their stories by only leading a 75-minute session on a Sunday afternoon. Yes, it is something, and maybe better than nothing, but this generation has served the church for almost 90 years now…and is a 75-minute session really an adequate thank you? I don’t think so.

Well, anyways, if nothing else, I’ve learned to be more appreciative of my grandparents generation, the CPS generation, thankful for their years of leadership and service. And I hope our churches can express this to them, before they’re all gone.

Privilege and Peace

While at Youth Escape, in Manson Iowa, I was talking to a youth adviser about her youth group, and the dynamics that make up where the different kids are coming from. I quickly learned that not all of the youth had grown up hearing the Anabaptist teachings, and that some were coming from military families and lower socio-economic status families. It made me think a lot then, and I'm still thinking.

As we have traveled this summer, we have mostly been talking to white middle class Mennonites (but not a completely homogeneous population). Yet I sometimes wonder how our message this summer would be received by people that aren't coming from the same background as me. I especially think about this because while at Goshen College, I had a good number of friends who were not white Mennonites. I believe there is little question that it's easier for me as a white, middle class indoctrinated Mennonite to say that a Christian should not enlist in the military, compared to my minority friend who comes from a lower socio-economic status, and furthermore hasn't been hearing from a very young age that a Christian should love their enemy.

This summer, I am talking about peace, and that as Christians we should understand that this is central to Gospel, and to our lives. At the same time, its pretty easy for me to say that. I didn't grow up in a military family. I don't need to worry about a systemic cycle of poverty that is surrounding me, and that I desperately want to get out of. I don't have to deal with daily issues of racism and discrimination that will undoubtedly hinder my chances to get a good education, and in turn, a good job that will be able to support me and my family. I don't have to make it in life, so that my family can somehow make it too. And then I think of the military, and its lure for these people. It's an opportunity for the many that experience racism, and are entrenched in poverty. The military offers an education, money, a job, and a future. It offers an opportunity to make it in life.

So I am left asking how I will daily take into light my own privileged life that I hold, as I talk about this message of peace. I believe we serve a God that desires peace for everyone, and that God is working right now to restore that shalom relationship with all peoples and creation. I want to be a part of that, and I think that this summer trip may be in some small way helping to plant seeds toward that vision of shalom. However, I never want to take for granted or forget the privileged position that I am coming from. And I ask God for grace as I talk about peace while crossing ethnic, religious, and socio-economic lines this summer and beyond.

Randy

Two stops in a week.

For me the last week has been a little hard to remember. There's been quite a bit happening with little time for reflection. After rejoining the group following Youth Escape (I had been away for a week at some weddings), we jaunted North to Mt. Lake, Minnesota where we spent time at Bethel and First Mennonite churches. In Mt. Lake we led worship Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, Randy and I worked together on leading workshop sessions about Anabaptist history, and we spent time as a group with the Youth one evening and with participants in the Civilian Public Service program from the World War II days the other evening. Though it was an action packed weekday stop in, I think, for me, it might have been almost too much to rush into Mt. Lake and out two days later on to the next stop. I'm glad to have gotten to spend time meeting people during these days, but how well can we really get to know one another in 54 hours?

On a more positive note, I feel like Randy and I worked well together. We did some back and forth presenting and took time to share a little from our own stories before asking the participants to join us in a discussion about a faith without works and good works without faith. The background that Randy led us through helped us understand where a polarization concerning this might have begun for some Mennonites and why it's important to have both a strong faith and act on that strong faith.

I enjoyed listening to the CPSers tell stories about finding meaning in small tasks as Conscious Objectors that they might have found frustrating otherwise. Their stories of service were inspiring and I found hope in thinking that when the pressure gets turned on for my generation maybe we too will rise to the occasion and prove our loyalty to the Creator and Redeemer in similarly significant ways. Someone reminisced, as we conversed, that it is too bad that may people feel like they have the luxury of waiting until the pressure gets turned up to act out their faith. Good point. What is the catalyst for change or the thing that gets us off our hinds to act out our faith when there is no draft? I think for some, one isn't necessary, I think for others, there needs to be a little more prodding.

Friday we rolled back into Manson, Iowa and spent a day and a half with families from the church. We went boating, we talked over ice cream, we husked corn for a fund raiser, and we practiced our music and morning worship together. Sunday we had a great time presenting to the thoughtful members at Manson Mennonite. We enjoyed leading them during the Sunday School hour and during the youth gathering later that evening.

Soon as can be though, we were back on the road heading to South East Iowa to spend some time doing Mennonite Disaster Service in Cedar Rapids and to prepare for our gathering at Iowa Mennonite School for the joint service of Lower Deer Creek and East Union.

The highlight of my time in Mt. Lake was seeing the improvement in the presentation on Anabaptism that Randy and I led the two evenings while Matt and Elizabeth were busy perfecting their presentation on God's larger salvation story. My highlight from Manson might have been Saturday morning when we were helping shuck sweet corn and I had time to talk about farming with a few of the local farmers.

What a great way to spend a summer! I'd recommend it to you, that is if you think you are brave enough...

Take a minute or two to write a us some comments and don't forget to check out the main pictures page that we try to keep up to date.

Thanks for your prayers!

Mark

Youth Escape 2008

The Top 10 events from Youth Escape 2008:

10. Matt dominating Elizabeth, Stacey and Doran at putt-putt golf.
9. Late evening “capture the neon glow sticks” (aka capture the flag).
8. Evening prayers with the girls in Jess’s cabin.
7. Watching Randy barely pass the swim test. It was quite the sight.
6. Tubing behind the boat - hold on tight!!
5. Awesome worship music led by the music team from San-Jose-National-Convention!
4. The giant potato gun shooting hundreds of brightly colored bandannas out into the crowd. (Go Bombing Banana’s and The Snow Men)
3. Youth from all over Central Plains Mennonite Conference participating in the ritual of washing each other’s feet.
2. Meeting all of the wonderful people from all over the Conference.
1. Seeing the youth grow in their faith and commitment to a life with God.

This past weekend (Aug 1 – Aug 3) we headed out to Twin Lakes in North Eastern Iowa for a fun filled weekend at Youth Escape 2008. This was the first annual Youth Escape for Central Plains Mennonite Conference youth and I know that everyone who was there is looking forward to Youth Escape 2010.
100-120 youth, sponsors, pastors, music team members, the planning committee members and the keynote speaker met to worship, meet new people, and to play and relax. What an awesome way for youth throughout the conference to connect with one another.

The youth in this conference are amazing young people who are part of the church now and will be the church in the future. This weekend was a wonderful way to keep youth connected to the church and to one another, to find value in our commitment to the Anabaptist way and to grow in their faith and relationship with Christ.

- Jess

General Update for Your Reading Pleasure

Well hello there family and fans alike. We have not dropped off the face of the earth, we’re just so busy with other fun things that none of us have put the time into our journal here. So, a few updates.

This last week after a great weekend with the youth of Central Plains Mennonite Conference at Youth Escape ’08! (which by the way, there are a lot of fun and awesome youth in this conference!) we headed up to Mountain Lake, Minnesota. There we joined Bethel Mennonite Church and First Mennonite Church for Tuesday and Wednesday evening workshops. Matt, Jess and I stayed with Amy Nissley (Associate Pastor of Bethel Mennonite) and well, I must say she was a fantastic host. Thanks again for your hospitality.

Our time in Mountain Lake felt quick, but it was rich in good conversations and helpful feedback. Both nights we offered the same two workshops and Jess worked hard to pull together a workshop for youth. In addition to workshop time, we were able to hear stories from two men who participated in Civilian Public Service and heard from two others in the congregation who had done alternative service (I-W). I am becoming more and more convinced that we (a collective Mennonite we) have missed an opportunity with these folks who did CPS. Their stories are rich and an example of the transforming power of service. And while there are books documenting this area, there is a high percentage of churches who could have tapped their own CPSers on the shoulder and used them for Sunday School lessons or to come talk during baptism classes, or set up some other venue to share.

And I digress. From Mountain Lake we moved to Manson, Iowa. Again, we have been graciously hosted by individuals and by the congregation. As you will see in our pictures, we were taken for an afternoon of swimming and boating and we helped shuck some corn as the church prepared for a sweet corn feed.

I am learning in new ways, as I talk about my faith and as I talk with people about this exciting vision of Shalom, that none of this works unless I am centrally grounded in my faith. And as I am pushed to ground myself in my faith I am finding that I am learning a new language; a new language to talk about my faith in. A language I have formerly been very skeptical of using and even more than skeptical, I have been uncomfortable using it. A scary, startling and exciting transformation to be sure. More thoughts to come on this later, don’t expect it too soon!

Elizabeth

Tragedy strikes the Troyer homestead

On Friday night, before we headed to Will and Marge Swartzendrubers, tragedy struck the Troyer family. Before I say too much, however, I should give a little background. I have two sisters. One sister, Anne, is eighteen and just graduated from high school. The other sister, Kristin, is eleven and going into the 6th grade. Anne has always really liked beagles, and at some point talked my mom into buying her a male and a female so she could sell cute little beagle pups. (Note: I told her that there would be absolutely no beagle pups until there had been a beagle wedding. I found a copy of the Ministers Manual in the library and during one of my college breaks I married the beagles. There were attendants, wedding gifts, hymns, scriptures, a sermonette-truly it was a beautiful service). At some point, my sister inherited another beagle from a friend who had moved from her farm to an apartment in town where she was not allowed to keep pets. This third beagle, Mandy, was neutered, so she did not pose a threat to the marriage of the first two beagles. The most memorable thing about Mandy was her roundness. If the other two beagles were green beans, Mandy was a bratwurst. Seriously, she was round.

So. We had three beagles, and yes, you should note the past tense. On Friday night, _ an hour before we were to eat, we received the call that no beagle owning family wants to receive; it was a neighbor, saying she’d seen a dead beagle on the highway outside our house. My brother Brett took the call, and when he told me the news, my heart dropped. We immediately took stock of the beagles, and realized Mandy was missing. Poor round Mandy was missing.

Brett, Randy, and I quickly rushed out to the machine shed, grabbed some shovels and a cardboard box. We hopped in the truck, and raced out of the driveway to our neighbor’s property, and sure enough, there was Mandy’s poor, lifeless body. I won’t say much about the details of her death except this: it had been quick, with no suffering.

Brett and I loaded her into the cardboard box. Yes, it took two of us.
Remember, bratwurst?

We drove back to our farm in a state of mourning for Mandy. After some discussion about the best place to bury her, my brother and I decided it’d be best to bury her under the tree to the east of the machine shed. So we drove there and Randy, Brett and I started digging a big hole. At this point, some friends of ours (the children of the neighbor who called us with the bad news) stopped in, because their mom had told about Mandy. By the time the hole was dug, our funeral party had swollen to seven: David, Pip, and Marissa Hochstetler, brother Brett, Randy, Elizabeth and I.

As the de factor pastor in the group, I officiated the funeral. We had a time of singing, sharing, and prayer as we celebrated the life of beagle who had left the earth much too early (note: we didn’t actually sing, although I wanted to). It was a highly moving and emotional funeral, the only exception being when David Hochstetler absent-mindedly spit into the grave. We all roundly chastised him for his disrespect of the deceased, and then we buried her. Finally, my brother and I found some scrap wood to make into a cross, and I wrote her name on the cross, as well as Mandy’s favorite Bible verse. You can read it below.

For this is what the LORD says: "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant--to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off.” –Isaiah 56.4-5

I may never be able to eat again

We’ve spent the last nine days or so in Shickley, Nebraska, which is pretty much the coolest place on earth. Ask Randy, he’ll definitely agree with me. Don’t ask Elizabeth, because she will only tell you lies. My mother, bless her heart, agreed to host us for the whole time. She didn’t have to do all the cooking, however. We cooked our own lunches while she was at work, and in the evenings I scheduled us meals with different people from the church (Salem Mennonite). All evening meals included the Seeds group (except when Jess went home), my mom, and my eleven-year-old sister, Kristin. The food part is important, so I think I should make a list of what we had where.

Tuesday: Cecil and Sharon Kennel; porkchops, potatoes, corn, cucumbers, dinner rolls, fruit salad, and two desserts-poke cake and dark chocolate
Wednesday: Loretta Troyer and Dorothy Schlegel (my great-aunts), Dave, Gladys, and Julie Schlegel (cousins); turkey, corn, fried potatoes, broccoli-cauliflower salad, apple sauce, green jello, dinner rolls, with a cherry cream cheese dessert
Thursday: Taco feed with Tim, Becky, David, Pip Hochstetler, and Lowell Steider; This included homemade taco shells and all the trimmings for tacos. In addition, we had cherry and strawberry pie for dessert.
Friday: Will, Marge, Stephanie, Derek, and Christey Swartzendruber; porkchops, corn on the cob, cucumbers, fiesta rice, and ice cream with strawberries.
Saturday: We were joined by Neal “the Wheel” Friesen and Marcos Stoltzfus. We cooked waffles, bacon, eggs, and Neal made a special pudding for the waffles-a Nancy Friesen specialty.
Sunday: A light supper of lasagna and garlic bread. This was followed by an intense game of Rook between the Seeds and my great-aunts Dorothy and Loretta.
Monday: My great-aunts cooked for us again. We had poor man’s steak (hamburger cooked in cream of mushroom sauce) fried potatoes, corn, dinner rolls, green jello, applesauce, and cherry pie.
Tuesday: BLT’s and about 30 ears of corn between six people. Or if you’re my sister Kristin, you would eat four ears of corn, one piece of bacon, and consider that a balanced meal.
Wednesday: We ate a completely fried meal, at nearby restaurant named Bubba’s in Strang, Nebraska (population-32). It was “wing night,” which means you order wings and fries and they just dump them all on your table in a pile. It’s a mess, but a delicious, fried mess.

All this to say, we were very well taken care of in Shickley. I can hear all you doubters wonering if we did anything besides eating. Yes, of course we did. But at the moment as I sit quietly waiting for supper, this list of the meals from the past week seems the most important.