Seeds of the Kingdom

A Belated Ending and Contact

2008-10-21T13:47:00.003-05:00

Dear Friends,

We have done a poor job of wrapping up this blog from our summer adventures. It seems our abrupt ending here is a picture of how our tour came to a close. As with any short-term mission adventure, it's hard not to be sidetracked in the last few weeks with what's coming next. Well, here we are in the middle of October and none of us have written any final remarks.

Matt and I have landed in Shickley and our things are slowly settling into place. While our summer tour has ended we are looking forward to visiting two congregations in Milford, Nebraska. It won't be the same without our teammates, but their influence will be lasting.

Thank you to all of you who remembered us in prayer, who encouraged us along the way and who helped us out financially. It was a good summer.

If you have any questions about further reflections of what we've done, feel free to contact us: seedsofthekingdom@gmail.com.

Elizabeth

Time to Reflect

2008-10-03T08:55:00.002-05:00

Well our days are numbered now, we've made our rounds and have ended up in Pennsylvania. Last night we had the opportunity to do some reflecting with my home congregation, University Mennonite in State College, PA and we'll spend our weekend with Randy's home church, Gingerich's Mennonite.

The highlight this week was having two opportunities (in Goshen and State College) to reflect on our experiences this summer. It is amazing to look back on our summer. We put on a lot of miles, met lots of people and have learned so much.

Personally this summer has challenged me to put my faith to words in ways I haven't done before. I don't think that our faith should all be about words, but for me, as I have had to speak what I believe and why I choose to live the way I do, it becomes more real. God has become more real to me in the life of our small community. My team mates, Jess, Mark, Matt and Randy, have challenged me and encouraged me to live into my faith in God in new ways.

I appreciate so much what the larger church community has to offer. As Christians we can find comfort, support, accountability and trust in our communities of faith. Churches/congregations are not perfect, but I'm convinced that we need them. We need the corporate worshiping community to strengthen the personal faith, even if we don't always agree on the fine print.

Elizabeth

This Past Week

2008-09-27T10:26:00.001-05:00

This past week has been overwhelmingly full. On one hand, we have had a great time relaxing. On the other we have been stretched and pushed with new perspectives and lots of reflecting. Let me backtrack.

A week ago on Friday we had just left our temporary home in the upstairs apartment of Martha and Darvin Yoder and arrived in Des Moines, Iowa for a final retreat of sorts. We allowed ourselves a night in a Marriot in downtown Des Moines by way of Priceline bidding. It was great. We went out for supper, walked around downtown, stayed up late snacking and playing Rook, then Saturday Jess, Matt and I went to the biggest Farmer's Marked I have ever been to. Needless to say, it was a nice way to take a break before we kicked life into high gear for these last two weeks.

Saturday afternoon we went back to work, putting final touches on some workshops before we met up with Pastor Kent McDougal and his wife Julie of Christ Community Church, Des Moines. At their home we met representatives of Jess and Randy's host families and spent a good hour talking and sharing who we are and what we're up to.

Christ Community is a recent member of the Conference (the past seven years or so); they had been nondenominational and wanted to connect to the larger church. After much study and discernment: reading the works of Hauerwas, Yoder and other Mennonite authors, conversations with different Mennonite leaders, they decided to join. Even with all our flaws, the Mennonite Church was a good fit for them.

We had a good weekend with them, as we enjoyed fellowship and good conversation over and over again. This congregation has worked hard at creating a community and being involved in each others lives.

Our encounter with Christ Community stands out as one where it was very apparent how our stories/histories and experiences with the church have shaped the Seeds and the folks of Christ Community to be wrestling with different things. In many older Mennonite congregations we have visited, we have been challenging folks to think and talk about peace, and connect it to the way they have been living their lives. We have encouraged people to reflect theologically on their lives, and to name the peacemaking activities they are already doing because it's hard for them to talk about faith. On the other hand, Christ Community feels they are good at talking about peace and theology, but find it's easier to talk and harder to act. Please note here, this summary feel like quite the generalization.

The other thing that impressed me about our visit was the difference in worship style. Christ Community is liturgical, and I like it! It was a nice change. During our tour this summer we have off and on used the Anabaptist Prayer Book as a devotional, I have come to appreciate the repetition of the words, and in the same way, I found I a lot of meaning in the repetition of the liturgy, although I know first hand from friends that repetition isn't always meaningful when it's a style that you don't choose and you just grow up in.

In our conversations, we heard folks from Christ Community emphasize the importance of the Eucharist and the of the Trinity. Two things I can honestly say I haven't given much thought to. The Trinity conversations most caught my attention.

I remember in High School after track practice one day standing with a group of people. Some were self-proclaimed agnostic, another an atheist, there were a few Catholics and Lutherans and an Assembly of God and me. We were talking about the Trinity, and to my memory this was the first time I had ever had a conversation about the Three in One. I even had to go home and ask my dad what Mennonites thought about the Trinity, that's how unsure of myself I was. Anyway, this story is to demonstrate how little emphasis I really felt on the Trinity in my own church experience. At Christ Community as we were talking about Shalom/peace as being relational and shalom as being peace in our relationship with God, and in our relationship with ourselves, in our relationship with others and in our relationship with all of creation, one of the pastors noted that, "even before creation and before humans, there was peace." He commented that the relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is an example for community and for peace. Again, I really liked this perspective. It got me thinking about the Trinity. Though I have no more written thoughts to share at this time.

We left Christ Community on Sunday afternoon and headed West together for the last time, West to Jess's home congregation of Wood River Mennonite Church, Nebraska.

We've spent all week at Jess's home, working on our final report, debriefing, cleaning out our stinky van, and getting ready for our last weekend church engagement as a team of four. On Wednesday we spend part of the afternoon with the Pastor of Wood River Mennonite (Darrell) at the local care home. We ate some popcorn and sang some songs together with the Alzheimer unit. Later in the evening we gathered with the youth group to share You're Called to be a Dirk. We had a great time; look for some newly posted pictures!

I guess I've written enough for now; more reflections to come. On Monday morning Randy, Matt and I will be heading to Goshen and on Tuesday evening, at 8pm we'll be doing some sharing and reflecting on the third floor of the Wyse building at Goshen College. Please come if you're in the area! Then we'll keep heading East.

Elizabeth

Happy Nebraskans

2008-09-18T11:58:00.003-05:00

This is what you will see when you return two Nebraskans back to their homeland.

This was taken at the beginning of September on our way to Omaha.

Elizabeth

“How are you supposed to cross this durn thing?”

2008-09-17T15:09:00.002-05:00

Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over
the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go
through the sea on dry ground.
Exodus 14.16

Several weeks ago we were with Zion Mennonite Church of Donnellson, IA. Now, I have many excuses for why this post is about three weeks late, and I can assure you that all of my excuses are very good ones. I’ll save those for another day and begin with a “Seeds” group observation: the Mississippi River is about twenty miles from Donnellson, and the Mississippi is a large river. (Editors note: This is actually a picture of the Cedar River. The Mississippi is about 1,000 times bigger)

Why make this seemingly obvious statement? Throughout this summer we have heard time after time again how hard it is to recruit pastors to move west of the Mississippi. We’ve heard this from Conference Pastors, laypeople, and congregational pastors-this struggle may be the one thing that the people of the Central Plains Conference speak about with a unified voice.

I think the “Seeds” group gravitated towards psychological explanations as we tried to understand why this was so. Churches in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Montana, Minnesota…they’re just too geographically isolated. Or they’re too small and can’t afford a full-time salaried pastor. Or they’re too far away from educational and professional opportunities. Or it’s too depressing watching small towns die. Or God doesn’t call pastors to the Midwest. I don’t know. Name the reason-no matter how outrageous-and we probably discussed how it affects someone’s willingness to move west.

But after observing the Mississippi River: it’s might, it’s strength, it’s girth, I now finally understand why the Central Plains Conference has such a hard time getting pastors to move west of the Mississippi…it’s a really big river. And as the Seeds of the Kingdom stood on the banks of the mighty Mississippi and contemplated the sheer volume of water held within the banks, the scales fell from our eyes we suddenly could see.

“How are you supposed to cross this durn thing?”

It would be a bad idea to try and swim across it, let alone have your entire family swim across. Too risky. Walking on the water is out, for the obvious reason (can’t do it!)-and anyways, think of the disturbing messianic parallels. You could try lifting your staff and stretching out your hand over the river and parting it, although this hasn’t been pulled off successfully since Moses in Exodus 14. Besides, who carries a staff anymore?

Once you’ve tried all these options, you’d be left with one and only one other option. Which is, of course, covered wagon. Which is, of course, notoriously unreliable as far as fording the Mississippi goes. Your oxen won’t like the water, it’ll probably be too deep, and the water will rush so fast that you’ll capsize. I think most everyone will admit, however reluctantly, that a capsized covered wagon is not the optimal way to begin a pastorate.

Once we saw the river, we understood. We understood why it’s hard to move the family west of the Mississippi. It’s big, scary, and it’s so hard to find a good staff these days.

Matt Troyer-Miller

Beemer I-W and CPS Highlights (9/6/08)

2008-09-17T15:02:00.002-05:00

In Beemer, I interviewed four men, but only three were able to participate in our Saturday evening story-telling time. Two men did CPS, and two did I-W service.

If I get my act together, I’m going to try and type up a summary of each of the story-telling sessions I led this summer. I’m not going to make any promises, because it’s going to be a busy three weeks ahead of us as we try to finish strong and then close down the summer. But I’ll give it the “old college try.”

Jim Troyer, CPS (right)
Jim grew up on a farm in Shickley, NE (yes, in case you’re wondering, Jim is my great-uncle, and grew up on the same farm I would fifty years later). When he started CPS in Hill City, SD, this was the first time he had ever been around a lot of people. He was used to the solitary work of farming. A big shock was the communal latrine, which was like a big outhouse. It was a row of toilets that emptied in the same hole in the ground. Jim said that for the first month or so, he waited until nighttime to use the bathroom.

For the first year of CPS, CPS’ers weren’t paid. After that, they received a whopping $4.65/mo (I believe this was from the church, not the government…) Near the end of the term in Camino, CA, Jim worked for a local man. For four months. Every month, the man promised to pay Jim at the end of the month. It never happened though.

In SD, Jim stacked rocks to help build a dam. As I understood it, after the CPS’ers laid the rock, they scooped gravel around the rocks, and would unload ten train cars (by shovel and wheel barrow) of gravel in a day.

The camp in SD had been a former CCC camp (Civilian Conservation Corp-a New Deal program designed by the Roosevelt Administration to provide employment and jumpstart the economy) that was converted into a CPS camp. The barracks held several long rows of beds, with a large stove in the middle of the building. If you were too near the stove, you were hot all night. If you were too far away, you were cold all night. You had two options: hot or cold. Snow would often blow in the barracks through cracks in the walls. Jim preferred to be hot.

While in SD, Jim’s grandpa died. There were several other Shickley men in the SD camp at the time: Les Troyer (his brother) Wayne Kempf, and Vernon Kennel (his first cousins). When the news of Grandpa Troyer’s death reached the camp, the four men went to the government supervisor to request a leave of absence, but the supervisor did not believe they were cousins. “Do you really expect me to believe this? You all have different last names!” he argued. Eventually they were able to leave, and barely made it home in time for the funeral.

Earnest Kauffman, CPS
Earnest’s first camp was in Colorado Springs, CO. He started in the laundry, and then soon became a night watchman. As a night watchman, he took occasional walks to look around the camp, and then he returned back to the office to play Monopoly.

Although he was short on money during his time in CPS, he never regretted choosing alternative service.

The end of his term was in Mercer County, PA, where he worked for the government testing dairy cattle. He had a book for each dairy, with information on each cow and it’s pedigree. He tested things like production quantity and butterfat content. He visited one farm a day for a month, then started the rotation over. He would stay in the farmer’s homes during the week, and then was able to live near his wife Lois on the weekends.

One weekend, Lois visited one of the farms where Earnest tested cattle. The house was not very clean, and she asked Earnest if there were bed bugs in the bed. Earnest responded, “If there were bed bugs, I’d know it by now.” So later that evening she went to bed before him, and immediately after she crawled into bed, she felt a bite. She turned on the light and flipped up the sheets and saw a bed bug. She killed it, and then saved the carcass until Earnest came to bed, because “I knew Earnest would never believe me unless I saved the dead bug to show him.”

Merle Oswald, I-W (middle)
Merle worked in Denver, Colorado as an ER orderly for most of his I-W time. He and several other Beemer men decided to volunteer, even though there was no war going on (between Korea and Vietnam) and CO’s weren’t being drafted. They all ended up in Denver, and shared an apartment for the first while. Eventually Rollie (see below) got married and moved out, so the Beemer men moved into an old house with six or seven other I-W guys. This was kind of a junky house. One of the guys had hurt himself and was walking through the house on crutches, and one time one of the crutches broke right through the floor. Not long afterwards, the city government condemned the house, and I-W guys had to find a new place.

As an ER orderly, Merle worked about 40 hour weeks. He liked working the night shift the best. Because he worked in the ER on the night shift, he saw all sorts of crazy things. He saw drunks, people who had been wounded in fights, and drunk people who had been wounded in fights. He also learned about racial tension between blacks, Hispanics, and whites. This was the first time he’d been exposed to race issues before.

Merle’s time in I-W was a valuable learning experience for him. I-W men were paid real wages, but they were also responsible for finding their own housing, food, transportation. Merle said this experience taught him how to manage money, do laundry, dishes, general housekeeping, and cook. He learned that this sort of stuff didn’t do itself, and he appreciated his mother in new ways.

Rollie Oswald, I-W (left)

Rollie went down to Denver with the same group of Beemer men. He grew up as a son of a Pastor, and the military was never an option. When he went to Denver, however, he very quickly needed to learn how to talk about his decision to be a Conscientious Objector. His time in I-W was a time where he learned to talk about his faith. Although people in the hospital became familiar with the work of CO’s and their reasons, he still often had to explain why he refused to go to war. He remembers one doctor in particular who was very interested in CO status, and became very supportive of Rollie’s stance.

Rollie worked as a medical orderly and an X-ray technician. In fact, after his I-W time ended, the hospital wanted Rollie to stay around so they could train him into a more skilled position. He said that if he hadn’t wanted to be a farmer so badly, he probably would still live in Denver.

Medical orderlies were expected to transport dead people to the morgue, which was attached to the hospital, but the orderlies needed to use a really small service elevator to access the morgue. One time a new I-W guy was being oriented to the position. Another I-W (we’ll call him Bob) guy convinced some of the other I-W guys to play a joke on this new guy. Bob laid down on the gurney and one of the other I-W guys placed a white sheet over Bob. The other I-W guy explained to the newbie that he needed to take this cadaver to the morgue, the cadaver was a younger man who had died earlier that evening. Bob continued to lay very still, and waited until they were taking the cramped service elevator down to the morgue, and at that point sat up and yelled. Scared the poor guy half to death (Merle also remembered this story).

Rollie also observed first hand the tragedy of racial discrimination. There was a position open in the X-ray department. It was a supervisory position, one that involved a lot of training and supervising of new workers. A black man (Ralph) and a white man were the two front-runners, and the hospital leadership chose the white man. Rollie and the rest of the crew, the ones who knew these men the best, knew that this was a poor decision. Not only was Ralph more knowledgeable, competent, patient, and trustworthy, he also was a far better teacher. This incident really affected Rollie, and he thinks it was a big reason why he and his wife helped support Northside Christian Fellowship over the years, a primarily African-American Mennonite church in Omaha.

Matt Troyer-Miller

When Jesus said, "love your enemies" he didn't mean kill them.

2008-09-17T14:36:00.001-05:00

On Monday we spent the day at Freeman Academy in Freeman, South Dakota. Within 8 hours we taught four classes and lead the chapel service, so it was a very busy day.

We volunteered to teach for 30 to 40 minutes in each classroom, which challenged us to turn our hour youth session for youth groups into a shorter classroom teaching. We knew that the students at Freeman Academy would have Bible knowledge and an understanding of an Anabaptist approach to Christianity so we wanted to challenge them. They know about the Bible and they know what it means to be an Anabaptist and peacemaker but could they articulate what they believe about the Bible, peacemaking and Anabaptism when put into a situation that argued against their beliefs?

In each class we had three students volunteer, not knowing what they were getting into for our roll play exercise. As Elizabeth led the three volunteers into the hall I explained to the rest of the class that each volunteer was going to be put into a situation where they would be challenged to talk about their beliefs to a couple of co-workers (played by Matt and Randy). As each volunteer was directed into the classroom Matt and Randy welcomed them to their “first day of work”, and quickly questioned them about a bumper sticker that said, "When Jesus said, 'love your enemies' he didn't mean kill them." The student volunteer was abruptly challenged to state what they believe and why. They didn’t have time to put their thoughts together or sit down and think about it. At that moment they need to give an answer. Matt and Randy did a good job of pushing each volunteer out of their comfort zones.

It was a good exercise for the students. We found that many of the students were able to say whether they agreed or disagreed but it was hard for them to talk beyond that answer. Many were able to define pacifism but struggled to share their own opinions on the subject. Now I am sure that if they would have had longer to think about their beliefs about peace and Jesus and why it is important (or not important) they would have been able to say a lot more. We didn’t do the exercise to try and show them how much they don’t know; rather we wanted to challenge them to think about their own beliefs about the Gospel of Peace. Do they know what they believe and more importantly can they talk about their beliefs with others.

This is a challenge that we all need to be faced with more often. Many of us choose to live in comfort. Many of us choose to go to a church that closely agrees with our own theology and choose to create a community that share similar goals and beliefs. I am not saying that this is bad in moderation. But I do think that many Christians at least those who live in middle class America are not challenged to articulate their faith. We are too comfortable.

Jess Roth

The Weary Traveler

2008-09-17T14:31:00.002-05:00

I am getting tired of traveling. My suitcase can’t seem to stay in order. The weather is cooling down and I recently realized I haven’t packed enough warm clothes for these last three weeks. I’m tired of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and our van stinks. Yup, it really stinks. We bought air freshener and it still has a strange odor that just lingers.

And yet, as we meet new people and join a new congregation my spirits lift, my energy rises and I get just as excited as I was during the first weeks of our travels. Our message of peace, of Shalom is important and I am still excited about our opportunity to be able to share this message with others, and to hear how God is working other people to bring God’s Kingdom to life.

I continue to find joy in the journey. Joy in the conversations we have as a group as we wrestle with questions of content and our message and of things we read. In the journey of faith I have been on this summer. In the hospitality we experience and in the wonderful people we meet. Joy in the opportunity to get our hands dirty and do some labor with our bodies as we did another day with Mennonite Disaster Service this week.

The challenges of this summer continue. I still wrestle with how to talk about my faith with confidence. I still struggle with how to share peacemaking as an expression of my faith and to invite others in the conversation.

While I’m tired of traveling, I’m not ready to put our message on a shelf with the end of our travels. I will continue to wrestle with how do I serve God authentically in a world that does everything it can to distract me.

Elizabeth

We got new Pics up!

2008-09-12T13:36:00.006-05:00

Hello everyone. Just an update, that we are feeling healthy again, and our ready for a big weekend in Wayland, IA where we will be with three different congregations. Also, we realize that we have not been getting pics up in a timely fashion, but now for your viewing pleasure you can see in picures what the past 3 weeks have been like for us! (thanks to Matt, for taking the time to put em all up)

http://picasaweb.google.com/SeedsOfTheKingdom/

Beemer Mennonite, Freeman Academy, and a minor health crisis

2008-09-09T14:56:00.007-05:00

Hello all,

This past weekend, the Seeds team was in Beemer, NE. It was another great time of meeting wonderful people, and having good conversations. I can't express how gracious and kind our hosts have been this summer, and it was more of the same in Beemer. Pastor Lewis Miller, gave us a taste of Beemer culture by taking us out to eat at the local Beemer cafe. It's a place to experience, and the food was so good. We also got to take in a Nebraska huskers football game on Saturday afternoon (another huge part of Nebraska culture.) Saturday evening we had a CPS/I-W seminar where 3 different men shared stories from their alternative service experience. Matt does a great job of leading this seminar, with his expertise knowledge and ability to recall random facts, and also is able to push the different men to think critically about their experience and how they were changed by it. Sunday morning, we had a joint Sunday School session between youth and adults, where we further explored the word shalom as God's holistic vision for peace (much more than just the absence of war, but includes peace with God, ourselves, others, and all of creation).

The Sunday morning service went good too. We have done this service at many of the churches, so it feels like we have a come a long way from the first couple Sundays! After another amazing potluck meal, I led an afternoon workshop on Anabaptist history, and it's relevance for us today as we talk about what the early Anabaptists believed.

We couldn't stay long in Beemer, sadly. We had to pack up quickly and head to Freeman, SD, where on Monday we led chapel at the Freeman Academy, and also talked in the high school Bible classes. Despite being really tired that day, we were glad to be able to get to the school.

Now we are ALL trying to re-coup from a last couple busy days. Unfortunately, we also are trying to recover from sickness that has plagued our team since early morning Tuesday, September 9th. Yes, there is small crisis right now. Last night, Matt, Elizabeth, and myself all got really sick, and today, while we are doing much better, are all still feeling it. At about 2:00 AM last night I was so sick that all I could think about doing was to call my mom (who is a nurse and was up at the time, because she works the night shift. ) Of course, with my luck, I didn't have cell phone service- thank you South Dakota! Anyways, a big thanks to Stacy and Jeremy Waltner, who have so kindly let us crash at their house while we try to re-coup!

The one thing about being sick is that it makes you even more grateful for good health- something I usually take for granted.

Til next time,

Randy

Omaha Zoo

2008-09-05T16:22:00.003-05:00

As you can see there are no pictures attached to my post. You'll just have to check back later for those.

Anyway, the Seeds finally did something fun together that made them not talk about work for about 4 hours it was really exciting. We went to the Omaha Zoo.

Some highlights:
Matt deciding his favorite animals were the turtles and sloths. (see any trends?)
Jess screaming when Randy jumped out at her and touched her arm in the snake cave.
Elizabeth getting over-excited by the toad the size of a bowling ball. (ok, it was about half a bowling ball)

In any case, this is just a note to say we still are alive and kicking. Last weekend we joined the Yoked Fellowship of Zion Mennonite and Donnellson Presbyterian Churches. Saturday evening we hung out with the youth group and Sunday morning we led worship and Randy presented a bit on Anabaptist history after lunch. Thanks to Pastor Audrey Ratzlaff for her work organizing the weekend and for an awesome bulletin cover. We'll have to post this as a picture as well.

Mid-week we had the opportunity to stop in Omaha and visit with Northside Christian Fellowship. A really neat congregation in Omaha; small with exciting visions for their congregation and community. One member, Pat, owns Big Mama's. If you're ever in Omaha, make sure to make time and space in your belly to check her place out. http://www.bigmamaskitchen.com/

I guess I'll quit now. More next week!

Elizabeth

Goodbye, and a Trip to Oregon

2008-09-02T14:39:00.000-05:00

I took my leave to join the Mennonites of the Pacific Northwest Conference following our appearance at Iowa Mennonite School a week ago. Before the Seed’s summer schedule was solidified it looked like we might be finishing up around the end of August so I accepted a volunteer position at Western Mennonite School as a dorm leader. The school year in Salem, Oregon begins at the beginning of September and as our Seeds of the Kingdom schedule began extending into September I knew that I’d have to be skipping out on the end portion of the trip.

Now, saddened that I don’t get to continue learning about our conference with the others for the remaining 5 or 6 weeks, I’m glad that they are able to continue and glad that I’ll be able to add input for our final project that will come together following the end of the Tour (now early October – see calendar).

Thank you Matt and Elizabeth for concocting this great idea and for following though on the hard work it took during busy times last year to write grant proposals, to contact conference leadership, and to arrange transportation. Thank you for donating your own time and money to a project that helped me learn about the importance of conferences and about their role in weaving together a varied response to our Mennonite history.

Thank you Randal H. Keener, for your enthusiasm for our midwestern conference! Your outside perspective helped me realize what we do have here in the Central Plains Mennonite Conference and also to see where growth as a body can still happen.

Jess, you did such a wonderful job of coordinating the upcoming stops, and helping add pep at just the right times that your presence was invaluable. I also appreciated your calm tone and dexterous words when our group ran into conflict or had to navigate different personality/organizational/preference types that made our summer tour an experiment in community living — something we may not prefer for our entire lives, but a lifestyle we now know we can certainly survive and something we all recognize help us grow in the fruits of the spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.

Thank you Shana Boshart for walking along side us and giving us room to struggle, to overcome and to learn on our own. At this time in life, when it’s easy to think we can figure it out by ourselves, it has been a good reminder for me that there is a huge group of loving supporters who want to see the youth of their conference succeed and grow into leaders themselves.

The list of others I’d like to thank could go on and on, but just know that if you have interacted with our group in small or large ways during the hot, corn growing months of Summer 2008, I extend my gratitude whole heartedly! Each of your donations of time, energy or something else where what made this trip possible and I feel honored to have been a participant.

It’s my hope that others could experience the trip we went on whether it’s online following our blog or as part of a future trip that has a similar mission.

Mark Gingerich

Your Kingdom come, on Earth as it is in Heaven

2008-08-28T13:21:00.005-05:00

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

2008-08-27T18:34:00.001-05:00

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

2008-08-27T17:57:00.001-05:00

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”

2008-08-25T11:52:00.000-05:00

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

2008-08-21T12:28:00.000-05:00

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

2008-08-21T12:25:00.000-05:00

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

2008-08-19T12:17:00.003-05:00

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?

2008-08-14T10:39:00.000-05:00

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

2008-08-13T10:36:00.006-05:00

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.

2008-08-12T15:03:00.008-05:00

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

2008-08-12T14:29:00.006-05:00

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

2008-08-11T10:32:00.001-05:00

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

2008-08-04T11:39:00.001-05:00

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

2008-08-04T11:38:00.000-05:00

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.

Peacemaking as Lifestyle

2008-07-31T08:16:00.003-05:00

This past weekend we led and worshiped with Salem Mennonite Church in Shickley, NE; a church I will soon be attending regularly. We joined the youth on Saturday evening for time to talk and then played a game of ultimate Frisbee. Sunday morning we led Sunday School hour, the church service and then following a potluck we re-joined with a smaller crowd for a time of story telling from the three men left in the congregation who did CPS (Civilian Public Service) during WWII as alternative service to entering the army.

It was interesting to hear their stories and reflections but what struck me was how entering CPS was: (1) not so much a decision made alone, but a decision made primarily by their home congregation and their family; (2) a time in their life when they learned to know other Mennonites and built relationships with those others Mennonites who they wouldn’t necessarily associated with because of divides in the Mennonite church. The other thing that struck me that wasn’t necessarily spoken, but was clear in how each man talked, was that CPS led into a lifetime of service. These men continued to be active in the church and in volunteer activities even as they aged. These activities included prison ministries, Mennonite Disaster Services, Mennonite Central Committee and numerous boards and leadership at the congregational level.

What I continue to wonder at is: why haven’t we done a better job of “selling” voluntary service? That may seem like a comment from nowhere, here is my train of thought. It seems as if we discourage our youth and young people to take a path other than armed services, we should be putting in its place a strong encouragement for voluntary service. I realize it is called voluntary service for a reason (it’s voluntary, not mandatory) but if we take from Christ a message of peace that only tells us not to go to war and not to use violence then we’ve missed half the message.

Peace is not just about being anti-violence and following a path that walks the line around the violence; if this is so we are just as much apart of the violence as those actually doing the action. If I bring in the subject of structural violence, well then we are all guilty. So in what ways are we working for peace, and not just avoiding violence?

The more we talk with people about the Gospel of Peace and God’s vision for Shalom the more and more convinced I am that the heart of this message is about being relational. The original Shalom, God’s vision, was in the Garden of Eden and here was a place where all God’s creation, people, animals and earth lived together in relationship with each other and with God. Obviously we have a long way to go to reestablish God’s vision for peace but if we all start small, what could happen?

Let’s just imagine the transforming, rippling power when we have established a relationship with God and taken Jesus as the center of our life. This relationship as it develops leads to peace with ourselves and we naturally take that peace into other relationships. Well, right Elizabeth, sounds easy but it’s not as easy to live it as it is to type it. That, my friend, is why we’re on a journey. This journey to live into God’s vision of Shalom is uncomfortable but it’s relational. We can always count on our relationship with God to give us strength to build relationships with others whether they are friends, perceived enemies or just scary because they are different than we are. That’s where peace comes in. Living a relational life, of loving those strangers and enemies in our lives is the crux of peacemaking! Avoiding violence just doesn’t cut it. Being a Christian is a call to action and to a lifestyle.

Now, I digress. Before I rambled onto this tangent, I was talking about voluntary service. Maybe it wasn’t as tangential as I think… it seems that saying no to military service means we say yes to a lifestyle. Maybe that lifestyle doesn’t include voluntary service as Mennonite Mission Network sets up, maybe for you it is volunteering in your community. (I must insert here that I am a strong advocate for voluntary service as I did Service Adventure, MMN, out of high school; but further explanation of that will have to be at a later time.) What I believe such a lifestyle should include is a lifetime of active peacemaking at the relational level. War in places where your friends are from is harder to support than a war in an unknown place.

Elizabeth

"Puttin' Up Corn" : The New/Old Way of Doing Church

2008-07-31T07:22:00.007-05:00

Hello Again. I am writing to you from Shickley, NE. Before I tell you a few stories about our stay in Shickley I want to tell you a story about my past and “puttin’ up corn”.

I grew up just west of Shickley 1.5 hours and “puttin’ up corn” was an annual event. Each year Grandpa Roth was in charge of organizing the family (15 to 18 of us depending on the year) to go out in the early hours of the morning to pick sweet corn until it was piled high in the back of his truck. We then took it back to my Grandparents house to shuck and than boil the corn in a large kettle. After it had boiled a few minuets the corn was carried over to three large tubs full of cold water. The corn was cycled through between the tubs until it was cooled enough to be cut off of the cob. Grandma was in charge of this process. She was an expert at telling when the corn was at the right temperature and could be cut off of the cob. It was usually our job (the grandchildren) to shuck the corn, to fill the tubs with cold water and take the cooled corn from the tubs to the rest of the family to be cut off the cob and then bagged. We thought that this was the best job because we didn’t have to get all of the sticky corn juice on our hands but we could play in the water. After we were done Grandma gave us permission to splash around in the cooling tubs. That was the best! I always looked forward to that day. Grandpa and Grandma were in charge, everyone was singing (or at least trying to sing), we ate corn until our stomachs hurt and although the temperature was usually 90 degrees or hotter, “Puttin’ up corn” was one of the highlights of the summer.

We have been staying at Mary’s (Matt’s mom) house on a farm just a few miles outside of Shickley. We’ve been here for a little over a week so we have had time to help around the farm. This summer and storm came through and ripped pieces of tin from the shed so Matt and Randy helped to reinstall that. Elizabeth helped them here and there and also weeded the flower beds and I was able to help “put up corn”.

The Seeds helped Matt’s Great Aunt Loretta and her sister Dorothy “put up” corn for the both of them and also made a few bags for Matt and Elizabeth. As I reflect on the morning I have to stop and recognize my feeling of wholeness and peace while helping them out.

Now that I am older (25) “putting up corn” causes me to stop and slow down, to think about the earth and the entire process. It creates an intergenerational environment where lessons are taught and stories are told, songs are sung and delicious food is prepared. When I think about it, “putting up corn” is a way of doing church. Well a piece of Church. It is missing the whole outreach and care for the rest of the world, but it is fostering community. As I spend time in rural communities this summer there are memories that draw me back home to rural life. This summer is teaching me how to grow in my faith and connect it to Shalom and also to remember the gifts that rural communities have to give.

I wonder where I will be "puttin' up corn" next summer?

Jess Roth

Embracing an Evangelical Faith

2008-07-29T20:21:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone out there. This is Randy for the Seeds team.

In the last week or so, we received a comment that addressed some concern over our use of the word “evangelical” so this post will try to respond to that, the best we can. First, we did not intend to use the word “evangelical” as if that was a derogatory thing, and we apologize for any statements that seemed to stereotype or generalize evangelicals as if they are a monolithic entity. Evangelicals are a diverse group theologically and doctrinally, and in fact, we consider our group to be evangelical. But we often fall into the same linguistic trap that is present in much of Christianity, a tendency to talk about being “evangelical” and being “peacemakers” as if they are two different things. While we often fall short, we are convinced of this: We cannot separate the two from each other.

There is little question that today these two words have a hard time existing together. At the very least, we can’t possibly imagine how we can emphasize both an evangelical faith, and a strong peace ethic as one. The result has been a painful polarization, a division within our own Mennonite Church. But I ask, how much of this tension between these two words has simply come from our preconceived ideas about “evangelicals”, or our stereotypes about “peace activists,” stereotypes that our culture has defined for us?

Interestingly, but not by mistake. the word, “evangelicalism” originates in the Greek word evangelion, meaning “good news” or “gospel.” Indeed, the message that we are bringing this summer is that our passion for peace in our lives and in this world IS rooted in the Biblical narrative, the Gospel! This story of salvation history shows us a God who loved us while we were still enemies (sinners) yet came to earth and died for us, and made reconciliation with all peoples. (Romans 5:10) It was Jesus himself who came and evangelized peace. (Acts 10.36, Eph 2.17 both use the word evangelion) THIS is the good news (evangelion)! Jesus Christ has made peace through the cross, and conquered the power of death through the resurrection. Because of this Christians are to be people of peace. Christians are to testify to the same love that was shown to us, by also showing it to other people – even our enemies.

There is no question, that the early Anabaptists were deeply evangelical. They had a message to spread, and they did just that. They held a deep commitment to a relationship with God, and to the power of the Holy Spirit in their own lives. But it didn’t stop there; these commitments only motivated them to discipleship (following the teachings of Jesus) for this was how they witnessed to God at work in their lives. May we also, today in 2008, testify to Gods love in our lives. May we embrace an evangelical faith in realization that it cannot lie dormant!

"For true evangelical faith is of such a nature that it cannot lie dormant, but manifests itself in all righteousness and works of love; it dies unto the flesh and blood; it destroys all forbidden lusts and desires; it seeks and serves and fears God; it clothes the naked; it feeds the hungry; it comforts the sorrowful; it shelters the destitute; it aids and consoles the sad; it returns good for evil.."
-Menno Simons

Shalom,

Randy, on behalf of the entire Seeds Team

Weekend Conversations

2008-07-23T13:24:00.003-05:00

This past weekend was spent in Freeman, South Dakota. Farming and cattle are big in that area and I had a chance to talk with a few farmers.

Though there are fewer people around in rural South Dakota than in more urban areas, keeping the peace isn't easy. Neighbors who don't cut down the thistles on their property (whose seed then blows into adjacent pastures and makes the hours of chopping less worth while), or neighbors who don't pay attention to where their drainage ditches are letting out, or the gossip that can ruin a small town family in ways that city-dwellers just don't understand - these are big problems that strain rural areas.

I asked a few locals what "Shalom" means for a farmer.

The role of forgiveness came up as I talked with one farmer's wife. We usually have a chance to offer our friendship and bring peace to a relationship before it gets going and start out on good terms. All to often though I am lazy and slow at getting out and meeting my neighbors. It's only when I've offended them or they have offended me that I finally go over and ask them to stop doing what they are doing - not really the best way to make friends.

If this is the case and there aren't enough good memories of happy times together to excuse the annoying behavior or offset the confrontation, then our words of disagreement might seem judging and be taken offensively unless we've got great tact. This conflict can and often does lead to the need for forgiveness if we want to make 'peace' at that point.

This is all to say that through the conversation with the farmer's wife I'm realizing the need to introduce and befriend my neighbors before I have a chance to let them become my enemies. I can see this as being easier in rural areas than in urban settings. It takes time and energy to plan and meet with people and really get to know them - something that might be done easier with 12 neighbors within the square mile rather than 50 people in the apartment building.

A farmer I asked the same question (What does Shalom mean to a farmer?) immediately drew a line between people and the land. "It means having peace with the land." I asked him to explain a little more and he talked about the need to come to terms with not being in control and realizing that not every year will be a bumper crop. A hail storm that passes over before letting down it's payload or an inch of rain at just the right time during the hot summer can make or break the crop yield in ways many of us who have not been on the farm don't understand. He talked about the cycle of seasons that one needs to understand and respect - each necessary for the process of life to continue.

I was interested to hear about this sort of peace that wasn't so much between people as it was between one person and an object or a thing (the Earth). I wondered whether Jesus' teachings (which I almost always think of as in reference to interpersonal conflict) can be applied to something like this. As we talked together about it we came to the conclusion that Jesus' teachings often pointed out the importance of respecting each other and so when applied to a relationship with "the Land," we considered stewardship, creation care, and the year of Jubilee.

The conversations this weekend were thought provoking and I'm honored for the responses and the time taken to answer my question. As I consider the option of taking over our family farm in Iowa I will continue to ask myself what it means to respect the land and live in shalom with it.

Mark

Action or Inspiration; Part One

2008-07-23T09:35:00.002-05:00

This last weekend we found ourselves worshiping and leading in Freeman, SD. We were put to the test Sunday morning when we split ourselves in three (note: five divided by three is an awkward number, so instead of dismembering, we sent Matt on a solo mission) and led Sunday School, sermons and different aspects of worship in three different congregations.

While it had its own set of challenges, the results were good. Mark and I were able to collaborate and work together even though our working styles are nearly opposite; I led a song (though I don't want to do this again for quite awhile); Jess and Randy received a lot of encouragement for their leadership during Sunday School; Matt... well, Matt made it through a word blunder during his sermon on Sunday Morning; Randy gave his first sermon from the pulpit; Mark gave his second sermon from the pulpit; and Jess pulled together material for youth session that can be repeated; and Matt did a wonderful job of being a one man show including children's time, scripture reading, sermon and input during Sunday School. As always, there is room for improvement, but we are seeing improvement in our working together and in our material since we started this summer. We thank those gracious congregations and individuals who were first on our itinerary and who helped us with feedback! (This includes First Mennonite in Iowa City, Sermon on the Mount in Sioux Falls, and White River Cheyenne Mennonite, Lame Deer Mennonite and Ashland Christian Fellowship in Montana.)

While it feels like we're becoming more comfortable with our content and starting to ask the right questions I am beginning to wonder who this summer is really for. (one smart aleck comment that could be made here is that this summer is to glorify God and help in the realization of God's vision for Shalom...this is true too, but I'm thinking even beyond that.)

My hope any more is that we can inject some level of excitement back into the congregation about the peace message in the Gospels and in God's overall vision of Shalom. Whether this injection is caught by the pastor or lay leaders, I am hoping for at least a few inspired people. I hope that people can be open to thinking about peace as being a more complicated and exciting word than just the absence of war. While I agree that the absence of war is a part of God's vision, I also believe that just as central is the restoration of relationships; relationships with each other, with creation, with God, with our enemies. I'm sure Jess, Matt, Randy and Mark are sick of me saying this, but somewhere along the way we Mennonites and more broadly we Christians have narrowed God's vision. God in the Bible is not clear about what position we take politically, God does not see the lines between countries or between political parties. God's eyes are blind to the divisions that we sinners have created. One of our greatest sins is destroying God's vision for unity by living by the standards of division set up by the world we live in. This takes physical and psychological forms, for example: the wall between Mexico and the USA, and racism. I could go on and on with examples, but that's not the point. I digress.

What I was talking about was inspiration. I hope to inspire people to see the bigger picture of God's vision. (continued in part two... look below)

Action or Inspiration; Part Two

2008-07-23T07:08:00.005-05:00

Well, Sunday afternoon I was challenged. After church on Sunday we had a break and then at 2 pm we were set to have a joint workshop for all the congregations. It was a small crowd, but that is what you can expect during prime napping time on a Sunday afternoon. Folks have put in their God hours for the week and it's hard to make time for more. We started the workshop talking about who we are and what we're doing and all shared a bit about why we're excited and why we're traveling around for 3 months with little to no pay to talk about the God's Shalom vision and Jesus' teachings of peace.

During the session I reflected on something we've noticed in ourselves and our churches, that we Mennonites have struggled to be able to talk about and link the peace position (rather our Shalom understanding) to our faith. Because we don't know how to talk about peace, we often don't. As a result our understanding of peace is not passed on, or there is a misunderstanding of what peace is; our understanding of peace becomes limited solely to the absence of war. I question why we can't talk peace as well as we talk about our favorite foods or our favorite sports teams. Is it because we have not been taught the right words to express such an understanding? Have we as a church community fallen short in our responsibility to tell the Jesus story in such a way that show how radical his message is? Have we failed, as Willis Busenitz put it, to "put the cookies on the bottom shelf" and left the study of peace to our theologians and not embraced God's vision of Shalom for our own lives? (okay, I didn't even mention that last sentence on Sunday, but that is an interesting one to think about...)

In any case this reflection led into group discussion and then the last few minutes we attempted to focus people's thoughts on the following two questions: (1) What do you need to better talk about your faith? (2) How can we (collectively in your congregation or as a denomination or as individuals) do this [articulation] better?

The hope was that these questions might lead into a bit more of a brainstorming session. It was not as much as I had hoped, I need to rework my questions. But after we got back together and shared collectively what we talked about, I started to close and asked if there were any final comments. Well, the question came: now what?! Where is the action section? Good question. I didn't have a good answer, I guess I didn't see myself or our group as the ones providing an action, the next thing to do. Maybe we could have but my hope is that we could inspire others to act and do. But what does that mean?

I don't know. And this gets me back to my original question, who is this summer for? If its just for me and improving my own abilities in articulation and leadership, well, I'm pretty sure it will be successful. If its for me to inspire others, I can only hope that my excitement and enthusiasm and continued improvement in the area of articulation will do just that. But what do we need to do to inspire action? What is our role? What do folks need to be inspired to act and to work together at a congregational level to explore God's Shalom vision and to learn together how to talk about it and live into that vision? At this point I am without answers, I'm still pondering the questions.
~Elizabeth

Foxes have holes, but the “Seeds” have nowhere to lay their heads

2008-07-22T09:29:00.000-05:00

Now, I can hear some of you thinking, “Well, gee, Matt. You visited the Badlands, Black Hills National Forest, Battle of Little Bighorn, Bighorn National Forest…when do you talk about peace? Sounds like you’re sightseeing to me.” My friend, you should not think such blasphemous thoughts. We have to sleep somewhere, don’t we? Can we help it if we’re in some of the most beautiful parts of the country?

“And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’" Matthew 8.20
Matt

Sundance, Wyoming

2008-07-22T09:24:00.001-05:00

We had decided we would drive from Wyoming to an unknown destination in the Black Hills, with a detour to Devil’s Tower, as portrayed famously in Close Encounters of the 3^rd Kind. Our hosts in Sioux Falls, Ed and Gay, had kindly showed us this film to help us prepare for the “DT Experience,” as Ed called it (note: Ed did not actually call it that).

We arrived at Devil’s Tower, and spent a pleasant afternoon. We explored the Visitor’s Center, hiked around the Tower, and took way more pictures than we needed. Randy and I walked around without our shirts on, generally looking awesome. After spending several hours exploring, we returned to our car and commenced our drive to the Black Hills (note: at this point, Matt threw a bunch of pine cones at Elizabeth because she deserved it).

I should mention one more thing, because it’s key to the story. Mark has been talking about Sundance, Wyoming since the trip began. He wakes up in the morning and the first thing he asks, “Can we go to Sundance?” And the last thing he says before he goes to bed, “Can we go to Sundance? You know that’s where the Sundance Film Festival takes place. You know that’s one of the top independent film festivals in the country?” (note: Mark has not talked about it twice a day, every day. He’s talked about it three times, max)

After leaving Devil’s Tower, the road plopped us out on I-90, eleven miles east of Sundance. We all knew how excited Mark was to see Sundance, and so we voted to backtrack. We drove back towards Sundance, and the energy level of the van rose noticeably as we got closer. Mark was so excited that he was bouncing off the walls (note: Mark was not bouncing off the walls).

We exited off the freeway, and immediately ran into a minor detour for two miles. There were orange cones everywhere; the road surface was milled; and we needed to drive five mph to keep the trailer from bouncing like a basketball. Our poor little trailer does not like bumpy roads. Eventually we coasted to a stop. The road to Sundance was completely gone. Disappeared. The pavement had been completely ripped out of the earth, and a dirt “path” was all that was left. “It’s only for ¾ of a mile,” said the construction worker soothingly. “We’re waiting for a flag car, then you can follow ‘em through.” (note: there was no sign of a flag car for thirty miles)

I was driving at this point, and the thought of following the flag car through dirt path as I dodged large road graders…well, as you can imagine this was not terribly appealing. Trying to make small talk, I asked the construction worker if she had ever attended the Sundance Film Festival. “Oh no,” she said confidently. “This is Sundance Kid territory, not Sundance Film Festival. People often make that mistake though.”

I turned around and looked at Mark, who had turned a deep reddish purple. At first I thought he had quit breathing, then I realized he was just thoroughly embarrassed (note: Mark’s face did not change colors).

Thankfully, the construction worker let us turn around, and we narrowly averted disaster on the unpaved road. However, while Mark still did not get to see the home of the Sundance Film Festival, he did get within ¾ of a mile of seeing Sundance, Wyoming, home of the Sundance Kid. If that’s not ¾ of a success, I don’t know what is.

Matt Troyer-Miller

Breaking News

2008-07-15T17:14:00.002-05:00

This just in: Seeds of the Kingdom will be visiting Gingrichs Mennonite Church, in Lebanon, PA, on October 3-5. We plan on stopping in State College, PA, on the way.

Comments

2008-07-15T17:13:00.002-05:00

Hey, just a quick note here, thanks for all your Comments! We haven't been publishing them for everyone to see, but we appreciate your support and encouragement - keep 'em coming.

Mark

Week in a Tipi!

2008-07-15T17:01:00.006-05:00

Northern Cheyenne Reservation - Lame Deer, Montana. The local Mennonite pastor, Willis ---Busenitz and his wife, Nadine, have been bringing their congregation out to the Crazy Head Springs public land area for years. Here they set up tipis, government tents, and pull out a few port-a-potties and trailers – one set up as a kitchen, a few as staff houses. Each summer they host a week of family camp and a week of youth camp, then other groups rent out their camp for their own programs.
This year our marauding band of young adults helped out during Family Camp by leading worship in the evenings and a teaching session each of the 4 mornings. Our daily themes were as follows: The Big Picture of Shalom – peace with God, self, other, all creation; Old and New Testament Shalom – looking at texts in Micah and Isaiah for visions of what God wants for us and looking to stories of Jesus life for insights on how to act to get to where God wants us to be; Remembering our Stories – looking at what made the 16th century Anabaptists radical as they tried to follow the “Jesus Way;” Demolition and Cleaning Up the Mess – using a construction site analogy we looked at the work that can begin now that Christ has broken down the barriers that challenge the realization of a Shalom community.

This week, for me, was a run for the money. Having been busy working with Sermon on the Mount Mennonite in Sioux Falls last weekend and traveling most of the week to Montana, I felt less prepared for the busy week than I’d have liked. Four consecutive days of presentations later, I seem to have survived and have been challenged quite a bit.

I was stretched to release some of my grandiose expectations of a polished production of Mennonite peace theology. The realities of a tight timeline, my own limits of articulation, and group process which always takes longer than working alone weighed in. Though frustrated at times, I’m learning to relax and give our presentations over to the Holy Spirit - knowing that our audience will come from different walks of life, that they will be needing different thoughts and will be taking from our presentations what they need – whether it’s what we intend or not. This was made obvious when some evangelical YWAMers (Youth With A Mission) arrived to experience the “Cheyenne Way” for a couple of days during our time at Crazy Head Springs. Comments following our presentations showed that they took our thoughts in a significantly different direction than our intentions, which frustrated but also called us to a higher level of articulation.

I’m glad for my communications courses in college and am reminded how important clear, concise, accurate, communication is – especially for intercultural communication. Though I expected intercultural communication to happen between the Cheyenne and myself, the Mennonite background they had made communicating peace theology to the Cheyenne much easier than with the YWAMers whose evangelical understanding of Christianity was quite a different worldview from ours.

The challenge of trying to explain ourselves to non-Mennonites was a struggle but a good exercise, one that we will continue to work at this summer. Learning to better articulate my beliefs and my background is a goal for this summer as I explore what being Mennonite means in a non-Mennonite world.

Mark

Reflections on race, evangelism and service

2008-07-15T16:56:00.004-05:00

This past week we were the resource people for the Cheyenne Mennonite churches on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana. We were greeted warmly, hosted graciously, and fed well. This was a time of renewal for the “Seeds.” We worked in pairs and split up the days; this allowed ample time for us to swim, mingle, nap, or prepare for our sessions.

This past week also forced us to confront the issue of race in new ways. Just as a brief example, I probably won’t ever use the term “ethnic Mennonite” again, or at least never in the same way. In the past, when I used the term, I meant white, European descended Mennonites. However, as we had pointed out to us, these churches were over 100 years old, and some of the little kids were fourth and fifth generation Mennonite. One person asked insightfully, “How long do we have to be Mennonite until we’re ethnically Mennonite?”

But the issue is more than a question of what makes an “ethnic Mennonite.” It is about race, it’s about evangelism, and it’s about flawed understandings of service.

I could talk about the 77% unemployment rate on the reservation and the utter lack of jobs. I could talk about how the Cheyenne people have been systematically punished for their resistance to the settling of white Americans over 120 years ago…how they were sent to Oklahoma against their wishes, how they were killed by the military when they tried to return home, or how they were stripped of their language and culture at government run boarding schools, or how they still struggle to retain their culture as a result of their experiences in boarding schools…I could also mention that the government placed the Cheyenne reservation right next to the Crow reservation in Montana. The Crow and the Cheyenne had long been enemies, and they were intentionally placed next to each other with the hopes that they would destroy each other.

I could also mention the very mixed history of missionaries on the reservation. Most missionaries were not sensitive to the needs of the culture. Often Christianity was used as a vehicle for stripping the Cheyenne of their rich history and culture. Many times missionaries brought in denominational battles that had little to do with the reservation life; theological disagreements about the Holy Spirit, the nature of Communion, etc. Mennonites, Catholics, Pentecostals, Lutherans all worked against each other, and families were split apart over their choice of religious identity. Things have improved quite a bit, but still there are problems with Christians working against each other.

In this case, Mennonite missionaries to the Cheyenne were fairly sensitive and thoughtful. They learned the culture and language, worked to translate the Scriptures, and allowed the Cheyenne to creatively combine Cheyenne spirituality with the white American spirituality of the missionaries.

I could talk about how white missionaries still come to the reservation and try to start churches without doing any sort of planning or research into the needs or the viability of another congregation, or how these new churches only poach members from existing churches. I could also talk about how white youth groups still come and want to “serve” the Cheyenne, rather than “serve with” them. “It’s as if people don’t think we’re capable of painting our houses or organizing our own Bible schools. Sure, we appreciate the help, but you need to work with us, not for us. You need to get to know us as equals in Christ,” said one person.

Some of this was new to us, some wasn’t. But all of it became very real as we heard personal stories that made this abstract knowledge a reality. Sometimes the stories of damage done by well-intentioned missionaries made me want to cry.

At times the week was painful-but it’s important to know Cheyenne history, because many of the problems on the reservation are directly related to the policies of whites (bigoted or well-intentioned.) This history is also my history. It’s important and necessary to recognize past sins, but I suppose it’s not a great idea to live in the past. So instead, I’ll make a few closing comments on forgiveness, service, and grace.

One frustrating part of the week was the final day or two, when the Family Camp was surprised with several (white) youth groups and a YWAM group from Wyoming. For the “Seeds” group, it threw us off a little bit, for a number of reasons. It completely changed the dynamics of the group we were presenting to. It changed from an inter-generational Cheyenne Mennonite majority to a white-high-school non-denominational majority. Very different audience, with very different religious beliefs.

Confession:

The “Seeds” response to this sudden change was not always very Christian.

We had worked hard to get to know the people from the Cheyenne churches all week, and we resented how they suddenly appeared and took over. To us, it seemed like the groups took over the main tent where we were presenting and pushed the Cheyenne to the periphery; it seemed like the groups dominated the “Share and Prayer” time; overall, it seemed like the groups completely took over.

Cheyenne culture appreciates silence, handles conflict indirectly and people are often slow to speak, whereas white culture tends to be more direct and quicker to speak. After being sensitized to the damage that well-intentioned white Christians have done to the Cheyenne over the years, our group cringed at the sudden influx of people who were largely unaware of Cheyenne history, culture, and the specific spiritual struggles faced by the Cheyenne Mennonite community.

And yet, the Cheyenne welcomed them. They fed all the groups, clapped appreciatively for the skits, generally welcomed the different groups to camp.

As I reflect back on this experience, I’m not exactly sure what to say. I’m humbled by the hospitality that the members of Ashland Christian Fellowship, White River Cheyenne Mennonite Church, and Lame Deer Mennonite Church showed us. Their response to the sudden arrival of three different groups of well-intentioned service groups-in spite of the Cheyenne’s decidedly mixed history with white missionaries-was a sharp contrast to my bitter thoughts. Despite the very real and persistent struggles they face, they have truly experienced the grace and power of the resurrected Christ.

A recent MCUSA national conference’s theme was “Can’t Keep Quiet,” a noble theme as Mennonites often find it hard to talk about their faith. But perhaps there are times when white Mennonites should just “keep quiet” and listen to the experiences and wisdom of other Christians. As white Mennonites argue intensely over things like styles of worship, women in leadership, and homosexuality, I hope we can keep quiet long enough to learn from the Cheyenne.
-Matt

Turn the TV off... and Tell a Story

2008-07-15T16:17:00.007-05:00

Hello all,
I hope this post finds everyone doing well in all of your respective life adventures. Here is something I have been thinking about lately.. I am realizing more and more how much I really enjoy just relaxing in Gods creation without life's distractions...aka technology, to get in the way. For example, this past week while in Montana, I was without my cell phone, and any internet connection for longer then i have been in a long time. Now, for some this may not be a big deal, but coming out of college, I have come to realize just how dependent, and how much I take for granted..technology. However, after this week, I can say that I really didn't miss it that much .

It's true! There is something nice about simply spending time (and talking) with people in person, enjoying a late night camp fire, sleeping in a tent, not having a shower, getting my water out of a fresh spring, and yes..there is something nice about not worrying about the technology to distract us in life. In fact, while I was reflecting on this, I even began to think that when I am a parent and have kids, what if there would be no TV in the house. There is so much more productive stuff to fill our time- a very valuable resource, and how much of that time do we waste with technology? Not only that- it seems not having so much technology around leaves more room for telling stories, remembering who we are, and where we have come from.

So in closing, I would encourage everyone in the next week ahead..to think about turning the TV off.. save the movie for another week, give the cell phone a break, and let the computer rebound from its stressful weekend. Get outside, pick some strawberries (if they are still around), spend time with your friends and family, take a walk (or a run) , tell some stories to your kids, hear some stories from your parents, enjoy life... and thank God for all of it!

Thoughts along the way.

2008-07-15T15:44:00.004-05:00

A week at Family Camp in Montana, here are some highlights: Bucket showers; sleeping in a tipi; great food (we had steak and corn on the cob one night); good conversations; new friends; learning the history of Mennonites and Cheyenne Mennonites (the church in Busby has recently celebrated their 100th year anniversary); the big night sky and the warmth of shared blankets.

As I was attempting to pick something to write about as a reflection of our time I realized that there is no way to do it! There are too many things that are still churning in my head to put into coherent words. So I will reflect on the content of our presentations.

One of the great things about being speakers at Family Camp is that we had the opportunity to present a series, to build on each other in our interest areas and to build relationships along the way. This takes me back to our original idea for this summer, as Matt and I worked on the initial proposal together we hoped to spend more time with a congregation than just a Sunday morning. We wanted to learn from individuals and congregations who they are, and what they are doing in their context to bring God's vision of Shalom to reality. We hoped to provide a series of workshops that would build on each other as happened at Family Camp. This takes more than Sunday morning.

As I look at our schedule and what is to come I see that many of our church encounters are limited to a Sunday morning worship. This is great, I'm glad to be able to participate and to lead Sunday morning worship, but there is more to God's vision and thinking about peace as a way of living than can be portrayed from the pulpit. I know I don't give as much time as I could to participating in church activities that happen outside of Sunday morning, but this seems to be a general trend. Church, faith, God! is only allowed a 2-3 hour chunk of time on a Sunday morning. We let sports, schools, drama, TV, work and other humdrum activities dominate our time. Rather than communing with God and communing with others in Christ we exhaust ourselves in too many other activities.

Hmm.. Maybe that is why it is easier to take Jesus' message of Salvation as being the only message that Jesus brought, because if we started to take seriously Jesus' teachings we would have to change our life styles. We would have to give of ourselves in ways we wouldn't want to. We would have to experience the cost of discipleship.

Elizabeth

The Banquet Of Hospitality

2008-07-09T08:55:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we were able to experience the Sioux Falls community by volunteering at The Banquet a food kitchen the offers free meals throughout the week. What’s unique about this The Banquet is their approach to their service. It is important for them to serve enough food so that everyone is fed but what is more important is letting those who are being served know that their lives are important as well as the hospitality they are able to give.
The dinning hall was clean and it was evident that there had been much time and effort put into making the place inviting for all people. Each table had a fresh bouquet of flowers placed in the center. There was a table overflowing with loaves of bread and bagels donated by community businesses that were to be taken home. We were encouraged to make sure that our food serving duties were met but more importantly we needed to make time to sit down with the guests, eat with them and talk with them. All of this happened
It was the conversations with the guests that I found to be the most exciting. This is where the giving and receiving of hospitality takes place. I approached this opportunity thinking that I was going to serve. Miss Service of the year. They need my service, they need food and I am going to give it! Ok maybe that is at the extreme end of my approach and thinking but isn’t that how we approach service sometimes? What about the gifts of those being served?
The people coming to The Banquet to eat physical food were able to feed us with spiritual food. As we sat down to eat with each other to share stories and to encourage one another, God’s vision for Shalom community was being fulfilled. The boundaries between those serving and those being served were broken. We were able to see each other as God’s creation rather than a stranger. We served each other, we learned from each other, we fellowshipped together.
I walked away from that day with a new outlook on service. I want to approach each opportunity I have to share my stories and my vision for Shalom community by reminding myself that there are many stories and many gifts that I need to be willing to receive.

Hey This is Jess Here!

2008-07-09T08:54:00.001-05:00

Hello to everyone, Jess Roth here! Here’s a quick run down of my life and background before you read into the depths of my thoughts. I left my life in Denver, Colorado (along with my handsome finance, not permanently only for three months) to return to my homeland here in Central Plains Mennonite Conference. For the first 18 years of my life I had the privilege of living on a farm outside of Cairo, Nebraska. I continued my education at Hesston College and then at Goshen College. After graduating I heard the call of the mountains, moved to Colorado and have been there for the past two years. I am pumped to be back in the plains working in the community I will always call home.
I am pumped to be a part of “Seeds Of the Kingdom,” to visit the churches throughout Central Plains Mennonite Conference and to hear their stories of creating Shalom community. I hope that as I walk away from the summer I will have a better understanding of how God’s vision is a vision of peace for all of God’s creation. I want to have a better understanding of how I can create peace throughout God’s creation and the ability to better identify with rural church life.
This is going to be an exciting summer with many challenges and opportunities for learning. What a way to spend my summer.

Stories of travels and reflection by Mark

2008-07-09T01:56:00.002-05:00

This past week has been blur. After leaving the Gingerich homestead just outside of Iowa City, Randy, Matt, Elizabeth and I spent two days in a state park south of Omaha. We tested out our camping equipment and practiced some primitive fire-ring culinary skills. Our retreat in the woods was a time to refocus on the upcoming weekend and get to know each other better. Jess would join us on Thursday before we headed north to Sioux Falls, but for now Randy, Matt, Elizabeth and I enjoyed exploring the campground.
Ray, a diesel mechanic at a nearby truck stop who decided to camp instead of drive home every night to save gasoline, was a very nice middle-aged man. He wore paint stained work jeans without a belt and a grey sleeveless tee shirt. He pulled in at about 3pm, set up his tent in a feisty wind next door, and left again until later Wednesday evening. I asked him then if he knew what the weather was supposed to do and a half hour later I returned to my own campsite having heard about his interest in auto mechanics since he was 13, a troubled relationship with the woman in his life, and his desire to see New York city someday.
Ray wasn’t noisy, he wasn’t bothersome and didn’t cause us any concern. It was the two younger gentlemen we met the night before who had been drinking heavily in the same adjacent campsite that made us wary. Though earlier in the day they showed us a neat trick with a lighter full of butane and a fire bed of hot coals, we weren’t all that disappointed when a few park rangers came by at 10:30 responding to their loud voices asking them to quiet down. By the next day they had moved on but not before their self-disclosure of being “stoners and drunks and broke.” We told them we were broke to - in debt from college - and we all had a good laugh about having that in common.

Wednesday afternoon, before Ray pulled in, a strong northern wind blew dark clouds overhead. The gnats disappeared with the humidity as the sky darkened. I was out trying a new walking stick I had found and Randy and Matt had taken the van to at the local HyVee grocery store using the wifi hotspot in their deli. Elizabeth was reading back at the campsite but it hadn’t started raining or anything. The clouds were dark and the wind was still picking up so I headed back. It began sprinkling – large drops coming in at an angle with the wind, but nothing to write home about. I walked on getting a little wet but worrying more about what might happen to our campsite if the clouds began to pour like they threatened. I quickened my pace but as I crested the hill saw nothing of Elizabeth at the site. The wind was blowing something mighty and our purple and grey Coleman tent was all but collapsed, fighting to stay up against the gusts. I swung off my backpack and unzipped the door opening in one motion. Elizabeth was inside half holding up the tent and half rearranging the sleeping bags away from the door. We greeted each other quickly and I noticed my blue rain jacket near the entrance rolling toward me begging to be put on despite the still-only-spitting rain. I grabbed it and slipped it on as I pulled our trailer under the safety of the large cottonwood tree at our campsite. Before I could walk back from the trailer to the tent the weather changed. The rain came down. With my shoes already wet and my torso dry with the rain jacket on I decided to try to help hold up the still fighting tent. Elizabeth, inside, worked to keep our bedrolls on the dry side. Matt and Randy had been notified that the presence of their van with its steel roof and waterproof windows would be very beneficial at a time like this but they had still not arrived when it began to hail. I got clocked once with a small piece the size of a thimble right on the top of my head once, but must have scared others off with the questionable language I felt it necessary to use in response to the situation.
The rains subsided after 10 pounding minutes, and the dove flew out and returned with the white Windstar van. We wiped a little water out of the tent and hung up things to dry on a line in the gusting wind before parking the van close to the picnic table and starting our Coleman camp stove for a supper meal of canned chili, crackers, and fruit. Though the wind continued to blow, the storm cell had passed and we were home free, able to focus on getting to our rendezvous point to pick up Jess on Thursday.

Jess was waiting for us at exit 52 just off I-29 north with Deb, her mother, who had brought her east from their home in Cairo, Nebraska. She was bubbly and excited and her belongings fit well into the van and trailer – even a bicycle fit up on top of the trailer with Matt and Elizabeth’s road bikes. We drove north then up to Sioux Falls, South Dakota explaining our adventures and hearing of the family reunion Jess was returning from.

Conference Minister Ed Kauffman and his wife Gay welcomed us into their home for the weekend with Sermon on the Mount Mennonite. Their son, Sean, and I had attended Goshen College together a few years and they shared where and what he was up to now. Ed took us for a walk to a nearby park in the late afternoon and in the evening - after getting all our chit chat out of the way during van ride up - we met as a group for the first time, all five of us, for a serious meeting to discuss some logistics and goals all together in person.

Friday, the 4th of July, the five of us spent time at Sermon on the Mount Mennonite Church doing some yard clean up and a little tree trimming. In the afternoon we worked on our Sunday service and in the evening spent time at the home of Cheryl Lehmann, a Sermon on the Mount Mennonite member, over the supper hour. We played the Mennonite name game and talked about Sioux Falls and foreign travels and such things but later, in our musings about the evening, after the 4th fireworks, we lamented not getting into the sort of talk about the shalom vision that we had hoped to. We took time to remember one of the goals of our trip and reconfirmed our need to step out of our comfort zones to venture deeper into discussion than the surface level conversation that are easy yet so superfluous.

During a meal with Ed and Gay on Saturday, after our internal discussion about conversations, we brought up some significant questions to which Ed joked, “We brought the pizza, isn’t that enough!” Ed and Gay had some helpful thoughts about the their understanding of how a Shalom community would look in 2008 and how the seductiveness of “being comfortable” is an obstacle to living out the Kingdom. I agree, on the one hand why would we want to make ourselves uncomfortable, but on the other hand, Jesus never guaranteed a comfortable life for his followers. Living out the prophetic vision outlined in the Old Testament and reiterated by Jesus during the Sermon on the Mount, I think, is especially hard for us who are comfortable or have the means to become and stay comfortable. I have the means to become and stay comfortable…

No one has greater love than this...

2008-07-08T21:59:00.000-05:00

This past week we spent five days camped out in the basement of Ed and Gay Kauffman’s house. Ed and Gay are members of Sermon on the Mount Mennonite Church (SOTM), one of two Mennonite churches in Sioux Falls. We only visited SOTM though, and had plenty of time to explore the city.

Sioux Falls is a really nice city, if you like that sort of thing (cities). It’s about 120,000 people in the southeastern part of South Dakota, but has a small-town feel to it. It has a lot of parks, a 26 mile bike path around the city, and hosts something called the “Mayor’s Lunch” every Fourth of July. As far as I could tell, the “Mayor’s Lunch” was entirely free, and included lunch, ice cream, a cowboy festival, and an outdoor performance by an orchestra (thank you, Sioux Falls taxpayers). The “Mayor’s Lunch” is only one of the things that gave Sioux Falls it’s small town atmosphere.

I’ll mention one other thing: friendliness. After living in Goshen/Elkhart for five years, I’d gotten used to not really making eye contact with passers-by. But there I was, in Sioux Falls, four times the size of Goshen, and people greeted and smiled at me like I was a good friend of their children. It felt nice to have my humanity affirmed by strangers.

Perhaps the most amusing story came from our afternoon at the “Mayor’s Lunch.” Mark, Randy and I were standing roughly parallel to each other. I’ll mark Randy with an “R,” and Mark and I with “x” since we’re peripheral to the story.

R x

We were waiting in line for our lunch. It was an extensive line, but moving quickly, and we were optimistic that soon we would be stuffing our faces with delicious sandwiches and potato chips. The line had just moved under some shade trees when a mysterious young lady (we’ll call her Hannah) entered the scene. I’ll mark her location with an “H.”

R x

x H

She quickly glanced at our trio of handsome men, found someone she liked, and struck up a conversation. No, it wasn’t me or Mark, even though we would seem the natural choices-we were closer to her after all. Nope, she immediately started eyeing Randy. She stared right past Mark and I like we weren’t even there, and fired a series of questions at Randy, “What’s your name? Where are you from? What are doing in Sioux Falls?” She quickly and smoothly shouldered Mark and I out of the way to pursue her new true love.

x x

Randy looked like a deer caught in the headlights as he was caught off-guard by Hannah’s directness. He mumbled a frightened answer, and quickly moved forward to talk with Ed and Gay, who were a little further ahead in the line. Thankfully, Mark’s outgoing nature deflected Hannah from Randy as he engaged her in small talk.

Later on, Ed, Gay, and the “Seeds” group reflected on the “Hannah situation.” After much reflection, we worked out a plan to handle similar encounters in the future. I’ll outline our guidelines briefly.

Whereas Randy is a handsome man, and will undoubtedly find admirers at every stop;

Whereas Randy does not really want to talk to them;

Hereby; we, the Seeds of the Kingdom, resolve with a unanimous vote;

As the resident extrovert, Mark will intercept all unwanted conversation,
Jess will begin talking about wedding plans as if Randy’s opinion matters. It doesn’t, of course, since she is marring Marcos Stoltzfus next summer. But a little misdirection will surely help the situation.
Matt and Elizabeth will hold hands and move in between Jess/Randy and Mark/admirer. This will form an impenetrable physical wall and will serve as a last resort in case the other strategies fail.

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

John 15.13

Matt Troyer-Miller

First Mennonite Church, Iowa City

2008-07-01T10:48:00.002-05:00

Hello again, this time from the Kalona-Iowa City area. We’ve been spending the last week or so at Mark’s parents’ farm. They’ve been wonderful and generous as they’ve fed us, housed us, and even did our laundry for us! They’ve also provided helpful feedback for our service last Sunday at First Mennonite in Iowa City. Thank you to Noreen and Ken for your hospitality, you went above and beyond the call of duty.
We also saw and heard about the recent flooding in Iowa City. Sandbags were still present, some bridges were still closed, and on some buildings we could see the water marks above the doors. The rivers were still very high, but for the most part the flooding had abated. Apparently this flood was a 500-year flood, meaning it happens every 500 years or so. However, Iowa Citians joked that Des Moines had a 500-year flood in 1993, which was only fifteen years ago.
Because the flood was so present in the consciousness of Iowa City residents, we tied the worship service to these current events. Mark, Randy, and Elizabeth designed a visual that included a pile of sandbags and a pair of boots, and Mark mentioned the flooding in his sermon. This was Mark’s first time to preach in a congregational setting, but he did an excellent job. He had taken a Preaching class at AMBS last spring, and our group has definitely benefited from Mark’s experience in the class. He used Micah 4.1-4 as his primary text, and talked about how Jesus shows us the way to fulfill Micah’s vision.
I led the Sunday School hour, which actually ran closer to forty minutes. I started off by reviewing Mark’s sermon, and then used Acts 10 to reflect about how God is working for transformation, for peace, for reconciliation-for shalom-in our lives and in the world. After that, we heard stories from First Mennonite of when they participated or observed God’s shalom in action, and also a few stories where they felt like they had “dropped the ball.”
Metaphorically, of course. We were not playing “catch” during Sunday School.
Anyways, I think our first weekend went pretty well, although we have a lot of room for improvement. We’ll be tweaking things the rest of week as we prepare to lead worship with Sermon on the Mount Mennonite Church in Sioux Falls, SD. We’ll arrive in Sioux Falls on Thursday, after we’ve picked up Jess in Nebraska. We’re planning to camp for two nights at Lake Manawa, which I believe is just south of Council Bluffs, IA. That’s something I should figure out, since we’re leaving in three hours. Maybe I’ll go do that.

Matt Troyer-Miller

Sat Night with Lower Deer Creek

2008-06-30T22:48:00.001-05:00

Saturday night we participated in a young adult/youth gathering sponsored by Lower Deer Creek Mennonite Church, Kalona, Iowa. We were welcomed with hot dogs and lemonade and joined a group of about 25 in worship. After a nice set of music led by folks from Lower Deer Creek I led the group in a short teaching.

My words were influenced by a book I’m reading by Walter Brueggemann, Peace. In his book Brueggemann defines God’s vision for Shalom as “all of creation is one, every creature in community with every other, living in harmony and security toward the joy and wellbeing of every other creature.” I compared this description with that of the Isaiah vision of the lion and the lamb together (Isaiah 11:4-9). Essentially God has a vision for creation. This vision concerns more than our individual lives, but the lives of the community, the collective body of all of God’s creation. And too often that vision is not being acted out, as people of God we are tempted to live for ourselves and not for this collective vision. We value our orderly lives more than we value God’s vision of security and harmony. Of justice and of peace. We take for granted that homes are being foreclosed and families are left homeless. We take for granted that there are people in this country who work 40 hours a week and are not making a living wage. We take for granted that war is assumed to be the only answer for national security in the USA. These things are not normal and they are not part of God’s vision.

In spite of this, if we look and listen there is clear evidence that God is working for peace and for security and for justice and for harmony. And we can all take part of this vision when we chose to build relationships, and to call out things that are not normal and to live our lives with the realization of God’s Kingdom here and now.

We spent time sharing stories of people and communities who opened themselves to God working through them to bring Shalom. They were stories of communities working together, of newly formed relationships between those who disagree, and how working for Shalom is not always an easy thing to do.

Our evening concluded with more music and great fellowship. Thanks Lower Deer Creek!

Central Plains Mennonite Conference Highlights

2008-06-24T10:53:00.003-05:00

This past weekend was great! A couple times during the Central Plains Mennonite Conference I thought to myself how much I wished there would be a thousand or two more attendees from our conference churches to take advantage of this fun, spiritually engaging, well planned event.
We had a GREAT speaker during our worship sessions, Michelle Hershberger, I learned some new songs from the worship band, and a there was long list of applicable workshops to choose from. I attended one workshop called Fostering Peace in the Family which looked at child rearing methods that help our children develop into strong, reassured young people that can make positive decisions and work with conflict in healthy ways. Thanks to all those who worked hard to put together such a good conference!
I also got to spend time with the youth and young adult attendees this weekend. The Seeds of the Kingdom who were able to attend (Jess, Randy, and I) agreed to present one of our workshops (Called to be a Dirk) for the youth. Jess did a great job of putting together the workshop and leading us through some challenges toward personal growth.
With Shana Boshart, the conference youth pastor, we led games and activities for the youth during the conference and even checked out some live music downtown during the 4 day event. Sunday morning we worshiped with First Mennonite Church of Lincoln and headed out, soon to begin our tour. In fact, this Saturday we'll be at a youth gathering organized by Lower Deer Creek church of south east Iowa.
Sunday morning (June 29th)Randy, Matt, Elizabeth and I will be at First Mennonite Church of Iowa City (my home congregation) where I'll bring the message and we will lead worship together.

Be sure to check out the next Scattered Seeds edited by Myrna Wenger for the "official" recap of the 2008 annual conference and thanks again for your prayers and support of this trip.

Mark

Central Plains Conference

2008-06-24T10:41:00.002-05:00

This past weekend three of the five members from the Seeds of the Kingdom team attended the Central Plains Conference in Lincoln Nebraska. (Matt and Elizabeth were finishing up their Anabaptist history tour in Europe) It was a wonderful time of meeting members and leaders in the conference, getting to know some youth and young adults, and being challenged to an authentic faith that builds community through hospitality, humility and hope. The three day conference also had business meetings, workshops, and evening activities to fill out the time.

Our team was able to lead a workshop for youth called “Who Wants to be a Dirk?” As we told the story of Dirk Williams, we challenged the participants to live out a difficult but important commandment to love our enemies - something that will surely make us counter cultural to the society we live in. There were lots of other highlights as well. Whether it was Michele Hershberger’s challenging sermons in the worship services, the table talks that brought up difficult issues in the business meetings, or playing ultimate Frisbee with the youth Friday night.

Overall, a highlight was simply being able to meet so many different people from the Central Plains Conference. For me, being from Pennsylvania and a member of the Lancaster Conference, it was especially nice to be able to put a “face” on the Central Plains, and their members. I witnessed first hand just how hospitable and welcoming these people are. Im especially thinking of people like Kim and Sheila Eberspacher who welcomed us into their home for three nights, and the Burkey family who is donating their van to our team this summer so that we have a way to travel around. Finally, Im grateful to the many people I saw and conversed with at conference who I hope I can better get to know this summer as we make it to their home communities and churches. (Im already signed up for a 5 mile run with Dean, a youth from Montana!). To the Central Plains, thank you for welcoming us to your conference, and I am excited to fellowship more with you this coming summer.

Busy Lives

2008-06-09T11:20:00.003-05:00

It took me about three hours to figure out how to make a new post for this blog. I'm not sure why technology is so hard for me sometimes. Maybe I'd be better if I spent more quality time with this computer and the Internet, since practice makes perfect.

Anyways, an update on plans for this summer. Elizabeth and I have moved everything out of Elkhart, and now are officially homeless. It's a little inaccurate to say we've moved everything out of Elkhart, since many of our things are in her aunt and uncle's attic. We no longer have an apartment there, however, and are preparing ourselves mentally for the transition from life in Elkhart to life in Shickley, Nebraska. Yes, it's true, somehow I've managed to convince Elizabeth it's a good idea to move to Shickley...far from all hills and trees. Elizabeth is from Pennsylvania, which is a completely different landscape than southeast Nebraska, as many of you know.

After Seeds of the Kingdom disbands at the end of September, Elizabeth and I will move to Shickley. Yes, we have a place to live. No, we don't have jobs yet. We'll see how things go. At this point, we plan to be there for three years living and working in Shickley, getting involved with Salem Mennonite Church, hanging out with my family, and doing some follow-up work with Central Plains Conference. We're not completely sure what form that will take, but Elizabeth and I anticipate we'll visit some of the same churches we visit this summer, continue building relationships, and keep encouraging churches to live out the gospel of peace. Elizabeth is also looking at Masters programs in Social Work within driving distance of Shickley, so she may start graduate school as well. After three years, we hope to have discerned more of our calling as Christians and what steps we should take to be better followers of Jesus. This could be graduate school, seminary, service with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) or Mennonite Mission Network.

Eh, who knows. We'll make those decisions when the time comes. For now, we are busy planning for the summer (we still have a lot of things to do yet!), but we have a trip to Europe with Elizabeth's family first. Her dad received a grant for his sabbatical from University Mennonite Church (State College, PA), and part of the grant funded a trip to Europe for him and the entire family to study Mennonite History. We'll be gone June 10-24, and immediately after we return to the States we drive out to Kalona, Iowa and start our summer. Should be fun, and more than a little crazy.

As an added note, check out the June 23, 2008 edition of the Mennonite Weekly Review. Rumor is there will be an article about Seeds of the Kingdom...

Clearing the Way.

2008-05-27T09:26:00.004-05:00

This is just a quick update about Mark Gingerich. Since I've posted last I finished my semester at the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana. With 3 hefty papers and countless pages of reading and research finally off my chest I'm now really able to focus my energy on the upcoming tour of the Midwest.

As I picked classes for the spring semester back in January I kept in mind the topic of the tour and have been working at equipping myself for leading discussions. One course called Mission and Peace, taught by Alan Kreider, has helped me better understand the vision that Jesus Christ had when he spoke about and worked toward what he referred to as the "Kingdom of God." The vision is so painfully obvious when I look at Jesus life, yet so hard to accept and live out amid my desires for worldly success. I hope to be inspired this summer by hearing stories of how people of the Central Plains Mennonite Conference have chosen to take the road less traveled by and where it has taken them.

Also as part of this course, I studied the Just War Theory. I learned what the Just War Theory improved upon and how it acted as a positive thing at first. I also learned about how it's been used to justify war. I learned that the Just War Theory isn't especially Christian even though many Christians subscribe to it. It is good rational thought that limits warfare, but Jesus calls us to a higher level of commitment - a commitment to thinking creatively and untraditionally about conflict, as well as a commitment to not resort to violence on a small scale or on a large international scale. I realize too though that the details get very tricky to navigate as war has changed since the days of the Just War Theory and I realize that our whole society sometimes works together as part of what some people call a "war machine." What would Jesus do in this sort of a situation and what should I do? These are some of the things I wrestled in my studies and some of the things I will continue to wrestle with throughout the summer.

Other classes this past semester helped me grow and see just how complex the world is. Sometimes I think it'd be nice to become Amish and limit my world view to just what surrounds me, but at the same time, we are called to go out into the world. To be in the World but not of the World is truly a tough call to live out. I find hope in knowing that at least I've got a whole church congregation, and a conference, and a denomination that is in this with me.

Please pray for Seeds of the Kingdom members Randy, Jess, Matt & Elizabeth, and myself as we focus our personal stories, our academic learning, our thoughts and experiences and our excitement into workshops, presentations, and activities in preparation for this upcoming adventure.

Blessings,

Mark
Gingerich

Whose Who of Mark Gingeriches

2008-04-22T15:06:00.006-05:00

Hi, My name's Mark Gingerich. I am one of the 5 young adults traveling around the Central Plains Mennonite Conference this summer exploring our conference congregations. I grew up at Washington Mennonite Church in Washington, Iowa and later moved to Iowa City and was baptized at First Mennonite Church. I'm glad to be a part of the Central Plains conference but a little disconcerted in hearing some of the results of a survey done recently by Conrad Kanagy (see link) about the Mennonite Church. Aging population, waning identification with Anabaptist roots, etc.

I'm excited to spend a summer touring the Midwestern region, learning what our particular conference looks like and helping share inspiring stories between congregations of the ways Central Plains Mennonite Churches are living out the call to be set apart from the world - living out the Kingdom of God here on Earth.

Write me anytime at SeedsOfTheKingdom@gmail.com - just put "For Mark" in the subject line.

Why this summer?

2008-04-19T10:20:00.002-05:00

Elizabeth Troyer-Miller here with a few reflections . Recently I have been fumbling with the question of "why this summer? why this trip?". I am leaving a job I love, a place I have come to see as home, and at times I feel as though I am disrupting every pattern the culture I live in tells me is normal. So why?-I have no simple answer.
I am excited to learn from others. Excited to renew with myself and with others the joy that comes when we are in deep relationship with the God of love. Our God who seeks peace and reconciliation not just among warring parties but in our communities of faith. Our God who invites us to work along side God's mission as we together build God's Kingdom today. I look forward to learning from other congregations how they are doing this, and how we can support each other in that mission.
In my faith journey I have been inspired by the way Jesus invites us to follow him, this is not just in word but in deed. This invitation challenges me to disrupt the patterns in which our cultures leads and to live a different way, God's way. I am excited to learn where this journey has taken others, how God has transformed their relationships to their neighbors, their enemies and the strangers in their communities.

Why I Want to Travel the Central Plains Mennonite Conference

2008-04-14T13:12:00.003-05:00

Hi, my name is Matt Troyer-Miller. I'm originally from Shickley, NE, and my home church is Salem Mennonite Church. I graduated from High School in 2001, Hesston College in 2003, and Goshen College in 2005. I currently live in Elkhart, IN with my wife Elizabeth and a fake Christmas tree that I want to throw out the window (instead, I will donate it to a local thrift store). My time is spent working construction, also known as cleaning up the mess of people who work construction. I'm pretty new to the world of construction, so I'm on the bottom of the pecking order. I've learned something though, recently I held an extended conversation about general construction with several much more experienced construction workers. That made me feel good about myself.
I'm excited about this summer for several reasons. One, I look forward to meeting many of the congregations who are members of Central Plains. I look forward to getting to know them, learning about how God is moving in their community, and to listening to them as they reflect on their faith. I'm just a young guy (25), and I look forward to encountering the wisdom of Christians further along the Christian journey than I.
I'm also excited to visit and work with a Conference that is largely a rural conference. I was raised on a farm, and nurtured into faith in a small agricultural town . It was a good life, and a good way to grow up. And because of this, I feel like my home is still in Central Plains Conference. I look forward to using my gifts in the rural church, a church that faces many challenges in the coming years. Population is declining and the average age is rising, jobs and young people are fleeing to places with more opportunities...there's not always a lot of hope. But I believe God is at work in the Central Plains and that the rural church has something to offer the body of Christ. I look forward to being apart of it.
Finally, I'm excited to be putting my faith into action. I believe that Jesus brought good news; he revealed God's saving grace and he proclaimed a gospel of peace. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God made peace between Jews and Gentiles; God changed former enemies into brothers and sisters in the family of God (Eph 2.11-22). God is in the business of reconciliation, and because of this we have been reconciled to God and to each other. This truly is good news!

3 months of traveling? why so??

2008-04-08T23:59:00.004-05:00

I am finishing up my senior year at Goshen College, and I'm starting to get the typical questions that any senior is undoubtedly hearing..."So, what's next for you?" Well, I don't really know what's next, but at least I have my summer figured out. As a member of the "Seeds of the Kingdom" team, I am starting to get excited about a summer of traveling, conversing, and most certainly learning! So, you may be wondering by now..."why do I want to travel around and talk about what it means to be a part of Gods Kingdom...today?" Well, there are numerous reasons that I chose to embark on this summer adventure. For one, I have experienced the disconnect between my rural Mennonite Church back home in Pennsylvania, and my college experience at Goshen in a very real way. No doubt, they are different cultures, a different language that is used, and most certainly, different ways to understand what it means to be a Mennonite in todays world. Having experienced two different Mennonite cultures, I see the need more then ever to bring more conversation to help bridge this gap. What we need is a middle ground to talk instead of more polarization. Secondly, I am excited to hear what excites other Mennonites about Church, and about being a Kingdom people. Yes, I bring some of my own bias's and convictions to the conversations, but no doubt I want to hear other peoples stories too. Finally, I am always in for adventures, and I love to road trip, so why not spend a couple months on the road with four other really sweet people!

Welcome

2008-04-08T18:51:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the 'Seeds of the Kingdom' web log!

During the hot corn-growing months of summer, Matt and his wife Elizabeth Troyer-Miller, Randy Keener, Jessica Roth, and Mark Gingerich will be touring Mennonite congregations in the Central Plains Mennonite Conference. The agenda is to listen, learn and share about Jesus' exciting but difficult call to live out his teachings.

Be sure to visit this site often as we share our relections and learnings. Please leave feedback and we hope you too can grow by sharing this experience with us.

Mark
Gingerich