day two: Eastern Mennonite Seminary

Today’s visit began bright and early with 8:30am breakfast with the Director of Admissions here at Eastern Mennonite Seminary (EMS). We had a great breakfast at A Bowl of Good, the fantastic organic/local restaurant here. After breakfast, we had a tour of the seminary building and I met with one of the homiletics professors at EMS. Then I met with the Assistant Dean to talk about the degree programs here; it was especially interesting to hear about the different tracks available in the MDiv program. After that meeting, we headed to Subway for lunch with one of the current United Methodist MDiv students here. Finally, I met with the admissions counselor from EMU’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP), where I could pursue a MA in Conflict Transformation along with my MDiv at the seminary. Overall, it was an enjoyable visit. While I had a great deal of information before I visited, nothing replaces the experience of visiting campus and getting a “feel” for the environment of the school. Tomorrow morning we head to Lancaster, PA to spend the weekend with my family and my wonderful roommate before heading to Lancaster Theological Seminary for a visit on Monday!

seminary road trip: day one!

Hello from Harrisonburg, VA! Today we made it from Ohio to Virginia, and tomorrow I’ll be visiting Eastern Mennonite Seminary. We made good time and got to Harrisonburg in time to explore campus a bit this afternoon and have dinner tonight at a restaurant that serves organic, locally-grown food. So—day one has been a great success! I am looking forward to my visit at EMS tomorrow. I am especially curious about EMS, as they offer a dual degree MDiv/MA in Conflict Transformation four-year program. So— the seminary road trip is underway! I can hardly believe that I am really on this journey—both in terms of the road trip and my journey of faith and call that is leading me to explore seminaries all over the country! But I could not be more humbled and content and hopeful—God is good!

A few glimpses into the journey so far:

Tunnel in PA

Lost on a (beautiful) mountain in WVA—the first of two mountains we didn’t mean to climb today!

Oh hey, Virginia!

Virginia mountains!

Our view for several hours.

We got peaches!

Eastern Mennonite Seminary

Campus near EMS

Views from the top of the mountain we accidentally climbed on campus at EMU while we were searching for the prayer labyrinth…We found the labyrinth!!The most delicious organic and locally grown spaghetti in the world (well, at least in Harrisonburg)!

Day one—check! Looking forward to the next eight days as I journey with friends—new and old—and the God who weaves these many adventures together into the (surprisingly) beautiful tapestry called life!

Job 37.18

Spent the evening at a local migrant camp for a mobile health clinic. It was a beautiful night—it’s amazing the things you see in the middle of nowhere, in the fields of Ohio. To think…I get to take God in, point God out, and call it work!

Social Holiness in Action: “Many Might Know” Hispanic Ministry

“Go therefore and make disciples…” On Tuesday nights in July and early August, members of Church of the Cross United Methodist do exactly what Jesus commands here in Matthew 28—they go into the world, meeting needs and making disciples. The Many Might Know Hispanic Ministry is a partnership between Church of the Cross and the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC).

Each summer FLOC sponsors mobile health clinics in migrant camps throughout Northwest Ohio. For more than ten years, Church of the Cross has been partnering with FLOC to meet the spiritual and physical needs of the families in local migrant camps. While FLOC provides health services, Church of the Cross provides a meal for the families and Vacation Bible School activities for the children. They also distribute clothing and hygiene items, meeting some of the material needs of the families.

Most importantly, Church of the Cross adds a spiritual component to FLOC’s mobile health clinics as they teach Bible stories to the children and pass out Spanish Bibles to all in attendance. While meeting physical needs is critical, this strong spiritual component of Many Might Know is what truly makes this a ministry, not simply a social service. Church of the Cross is an example to us all of what Wesleyan social holiness looks like— a collision of love of God and neighbor, overflowing into the world as a witness to God’s grace.

Puente de Esperanza: Fiesta!

On July 17, nearly 400 people attended Fiesta, an outreach event of the Puente de Esperanza (Bridge of Hope) Hispanic ministry partnership. Puente de Esperanza is a partnership of Fremont Hayes Memorial, Gibsonburg Faith, Gibsonburg Trinity, and Fremont Trinity, Lindsey Trinity, and Woodville United Methodist churches. Based at Hayes Memorial and with a satellite site at Gibsonburg Faith, Puente de Esperanza serves the Hispanic community of greater Sandusky County.

Lay Missioner Alamar Arriaga has been organizing Fiesta for the past six years, and this year the event was greatly expanded. New additions in 2011 included a bilingual worship experience and collaboration with various agencies for Farmworkers’ Appreciation Day. Pastor Guadalupe Rios of the Torre Fuerte faith community at Unity UMC in East Toledo preached the sermon at the bilingual worship service, with his son Jose Rios providing translation.

In keeping with past years, Fiesta also featured a homemade meal, bouncy houses and games for children, a live band and DJ, many booths to visit, and prizes for attendees of all ages. In addition to providing a day of entertainment for the migrant workers of greater Sandusky County, the incorporation of a worship service this year provided a spiritual foundation for the event. Puente de Esperanza is also launching a weekly bilingual Bible study and worship experience beginning on July 30 at 6pm, which will be held at the YMCA in Fremont. With worship as the foundation of the ministry, the churches of Puente de Esperanza are eager to follow the Spirit and build bridges of hope in Sandusky County and beyond!

New Hope UMC: A New Partner in Hispanic Ministry

New Hope United Methodist Church in Toledo, OH is a small church with a big heart for missions. New to Hispanic ministry, they began a mission project called “Mission Mexico.” As part of this mission project, they collected clothes to be distributed at migrant camps as part of the Many Might Know Hispanic Ministry and mobile health clinic. The congregation collected several large boxes of clothing to be distributed. New Hope will also partner with Church of the Cross and Maumee United Methodist churches to provide VBS programs in the migrant camps after the mobile health clinics.

On June 12, New Hope celebrated their new commitment to Hispanic ministry with a fiesta event including worship, a potluck, and a Hispanic ministry workshop. Rev. Lupina Stewart, Hispanic Ministry Coordinator of West Ohio Conference, preached the sermon and invited members of the congregation to be commissioned for the mission of Hispanic ministry. All those in attendance chose to commit to this mission, and Lupina had the honor of commissioning the entire congregation for the work of Hispanic ministry.

During the service, New Hope also presented Lupina with a $300 check for Maumee Watershed District’s scholarship program in partnership with the Oriental Conference in Mexico. These funds will provide a semester of schooling for a Mexican pastor’s kid. Following worship, New Hope provided a taco bar and potluck for those in attendance as well as community members. This time of fellowship included a piñata contest featuring piñatas made by members of New Hope’s youth group. Following the potluck, Rev. Lupina Stewart led a short workshop on Hispanic ministry.

New Hope UMC is proof that small congregations can come together to make a big difference. Although the congregation is new to Hispanic ministry, they are an example of what is possible if we are willing to be in partnership—with God, with other churches, and with one another. God calls us to work together and be in ministry with all our neighbors; New Hope has answered that call—will you?

glimpses into my summer

This summer, I have been serving as the Hispanic Ministry Intern for Maumee Watershed District. As part of my internship, I have written several articles about the different Hispanic ministries that I have been working with this summer. These articles have appeared in the district E-Newsletter, but I thought I would post some of them here for those of you who are curious about what I have been up to this summer!

Today I’d like to share an article that appeared in the daily newsletter of the West Ohio School of Christian Mission. It gives some background about how I got involved in Hispanic ministry and what I am doing as I serve as Maumee Watershed’s Hispanic Ministry Intern this summer:

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Growing up in rural Northwest Ohio, Katie began building relationships with the Hispanic community early in life. Her first experience in Hispanic ministry came at age 12, when she volunteered for six weeks during the summer at a school for the children of migrant workers. As Katie spent the next four summers volunteering at the school, God planted the seeds of her calling to Hispanic ministry and the ministry of teaching. In high school, she began taking Spanish classes at her high school during the week and at a nearby college on the weekends.

With a growing love for the Spanish language and the Mexican culture, Katie traveled to Piedras Negras, Mexico on her first mission trip at age 17. She served at the Casa de Misericordia United Methodist Orphanage, a ministry of the Oriental Conference, a partner conference of West Ohio. Katie has returned to Piedras Negras twice since her initial trip, and these experiences have fueled her passion for Hispanic ministry in Mexico, the United States, and beyond.

Now a junior Biblical Studies major at Bluffton University, Katie is serving this summer as the Hispanic Ministry Intern for the Maumee Watershed District. The internship is an opportunity for her to immerse herself in the diverse and exciting Hispanic ministries of the Maumee Watershed District. Katie travels across the district, visiting and supporting the six Hispanic ministry sites in Maumee Watershed. In any given week, her travels take her to ESL (English as a Second Language) classes, mobile health clinics at migrant camps, bilingual prayer and worship services, and various churches to discuss Hispanic ministry.

Katie is grateful for the opportunity to continue her journey of discernment this summer as she serves alongside the people of Maumee Watershed and West Ohio, meeting the needs of the Hispanic community and sharing the love of Christ. And Katie hopes to serve alongside the people of West Ohio Conference far beyond this summer, as she follows God’s call and begins candidacy for ordination as a deacon.

party like a Mennonite

Tomorrow I head to the national convention of Mennonite Church USA! I will spend my 4th of July in mediation training, and will serve as an on-call mediator for the rest of the week during the convention. This opportunity is part of my mediation certification through Bluffton, and it could not be a more perfect opportunity for me! Much of my motivation for being certified in mediation has grown out of experiences of church conflict. As I have studied mediation and peacebuilding at Bluffton, I have focused on church conflict transformation in many papers and projects; this week, I will have the chance to put the theory I have learned into practice, which will in turn shape my theory as I move forward. This week continues the cycle of action and reflection that has come to shape my life as I learn to live peace, little by little, day by day.

In addition to serving as a mediator, I will get to take advantage of all that Menno Convention has to offer—worship, speakers, seminars, concerts, times of open dialogue, and all the inner workings of Mennonite Church USA. I am especially eager to get a glimpse into the “political” life of a denomination besides the UMC. I have great respect for MCUSA, so I come to Pittsburgh with much curiosity and many questions—does a peace commitment have any bearing on church politics? Does a commitment to nonviolence create space for dialogue? Or are these values forgotten or abandoned in the midst of controversy? Is this body of believers called MCUSA walking (even crawling, limping) the talk, earnestly striving to embody the radical theology they teach? I think all of my questions can be summed up like this: is the grass any greener on the other side?

Maybe. Or maybe not. Ask me in a week or so.

Till then, I’ll be in Pittsburgh—partying like a Mennonite!