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James Laverty, Souderton
jlaverty@soudertonmennonite.org

There I stood trying to find a DVD to borrow from our public library when I overhead a conversation between two library workers about God and church.

“Why do people even go to church?” asked the young man.

“I don’t know,” replied the slightly older woman. By this time I was mindlessly scanning the DVD titles while my ear was engaged with their chat.

“It all seems too fake for me,” remarked the man.

“The last time I went to church,” she said “everyone seemed so dead. I can’t understand, what would make you put yourself through that?”

Changing people’s minds about what it means to do church is at the heartbeat of God’s mission. God delights in drawing “outsiders” in and “insiders” out (Ephesians 2:11-17). Jesus wants his people to put themselves in the shoes of those who have not grown up around God’s people. I am discovering how I have to make a deliberate choice to connect with people who live their lives on the “outside” because it’s far easier for me to stick with people who view life the way I do.

Our family was drawn to Souderton Mennonite Church three years ago because we heard how the congregation was actively demonstrating compassion for people in practical ways in our community. What excited us, after meeting Pastor Gerry Clemmer and finding a small group, was the variety of ways that our family could continue to grow in our passion for Jesus and find ways to serve both inside and outside of Souderton Mennonite. We were convinced God had led us to the congregation when we saw his love in action especially during times when people gathered around the four of us to pray for our needs.

Doing church at Souderton Mennonite has been anything but boring. This has been true not only for our family but also for the family, friends and neighbors we have invited to church activities. Three young fathers from my cul-de-sac joined me last fall for Men’s Monday Night Football Fellowship. We talked around tables about becoming better husbands, fathers, and men through God’s transforming power. We watched football and enjoyed meals together. As a result, our relationships as neighbors were taken to another level. This fall we’re inviting other men from our neighborhood to join us.

My aim in life is to lift up the name of Jesus by “loving on” people God has put around me. Demonstrating God’s kindness through acts of service, modeling godly character, and being a faithful friend. What is incredible is that I get to live out my life’s mission through my vocation!

As Souderton Mennonite Church’s Pastor of Equipping and Discipleship, I am working with teams to build and direct a full-fledged equipping system that welcomes, disciples, equips, and offers ministry opportunities for each person who chooses to be a part of our congregation.

By fully relying on God, I hope to lead other people through a journey similar to the one I began when we visited Souderton Mennonite Church for the first time. I long to see individuals like the two library workers in the DVD room change their thinking about what it means to become one of God’s people. I can only imagine what our community will look like as we, the Church, embrace our mission to multiply Christ’s love through our lives.

Jim is also a board member with Franconia Conference. Before joining the pastoral team at Souderton, he was servd as a missionary in Spain and upon returning to the United States worked at the Philadelphia Access Center .

David H. Crosson
dcrosson@indcreek.org

The Indian Creek Foundation serves individuals with developmental disabilities, specifically those individuals in our community who have mental retardation or an autism spectrum disorder. The Foundation was founded by Harley and Anna Gehman, of Salford Mennonite Church, and incorporated in 1975. Today Indian Creek serves 600 individuals and employs over 250 people.

In Pennsylvania today there are 21,412 people waiting for mental retardation services. The state places individuals into one of three categories based on their urgency of need.

The first list is called the Emergency Waiting List. This list currently consists of 4,264 individuals who need mental retardation services immediately (six months or less). These services are often residential placements such as group homes, but also included are people who need a vocational or day program. Many times a family will take care of their loved one at home, but then due to age or death of the parents, the person can no longer live at home and must go to a service provider. The second list is called the Critical Waiting List. There are 9,460 people on this list, and it represents people who will need service in the next 2 years. The final list is the Planning Waiting List. This list has 7,688 people who will need services in the next five years.

Over the years, funding to support people on the waiting list has been scarce. The state has not set aside dollars to significantly reduce the number of people on the waiting list. This translates into relatives and friends caring for individuals while they wait for a possible opening. The most recent budget passed in Pennsylvania has finally targeted some money to reduce the waiting list.

However one concern that we continue to see at Indian Creek Foundation is a two to four year gap in service between graduating from high school and receiving a placement into a vocational program. This is tragic because the teachers in our schools do a great job preparing individuals with disabilities to live and work in the community, but when there is no program for them, they stay at home, watch TV, and lose a lot of those skills while waiting for services.

At Indian Creek Foundation we looked at this problem and decided to try and do something about it. We have been blessed by God in so many ways from our building (the former Penn View Elementary School) to our many generous benefactors that we feel the need to give back and pass our blessings forward. To this end we started a scholarship fund. This fund enables us to accept people who are on the waiting list and serve them at a greatly reduced rate until the state funds their placement. Generally we ask the families to pay for one day of services and we provide a week’s worth of training. To date we are serving four individuals in this way through our vocational programs. The scholarship program enables these people to be actively engaged during the day and it helps them to maintain the skills that have learned in school.

A list of people waiting for developmental disability services will be with us for the foreseeable future. Service providers like Indian Creek Foundation will need to continue to think about non-traditional, creative solutions so that all people who need services are supported despite the shortfalls of funding. I would like to thank the Franconia Mennonite Conference as well as all our local Mennonite churches and their members for all the support that you have given and continue to give to our ministry at Indian Creek Foundation. You are a blessing to us and those we serve.

John M. Drescher, Finland
jmdrescher@juno.com

What led to my sense of God’s call to accept the invitation to serve as Campus Pastor at Quakertown Christian School? At the forefront was the strong belief that in middle childhood we prepare children, in a special way, for the teen years and the rest of life. Never again, in so short a time, will parents and teachers make so great an impact on a child.

Middle childhood is the great imitation stage, when the child is guided primarily by the models the child sees. It is of great importance that the child has right models. And if these kind of models are not provided, the child will, during these years, find other models, often to the parent’s dismay. In the years from 6 to 12 the child is an absorbing surface, sensing feelings, attitudes, and teachings, filing them away for future reference. It is a constant amazement how quickly children in this stage of life can memorize the Scriptures, which will be an influence, a reference point for the rest of life.

During these years the child needs words of encouragement and love. Studies are clear, many children choose their vocation during this time. For example a recent Lutheran study learned that one half of their pastors had decided on ministry by age 11. Many a missionary call comes during middle childhood by what children see and hear.

Here the ground work is laid for the major decisions of life to be made, such as dating standards,
choices of vocations, and what contributions will be made to the church and society.

When we recognize this, we realize that every moment is a God moment and every relationship is significant.

Of course parents are the primary models. Never will parent’s example guide more powerfully than during these years. Even when they are in their teen years children still want to know what parents think and do more than what anyone else thinks and does.

In the home is where love is demonstrated and felt. I recently asked a young girl, “What do you appreciate most about your family?” Her reply was immediate, “We all love each other”.

Teachers, during the school year, spend more direct time with the child than the parents and have an influence far greater than they ever imagined. Teachers set the atmosphere and provide the models to imitate. After I spoke on Christian stewardship, a twelve year old boy shared that he is going to count his money and give a tithe to Jesus. Also how parents affirm, pray for, and speak about teachers has tremendous impact on their child’s behavior and thinking.

I think of a retreat of seventh graders from Quakertown Christian School. It was a God moment. The speaker, dressed in clothes such as the Apostle Paul might have worn, led the students through Paul’s conversion and missionary travels. These sessions were followed by a fireside worship and prayer time, during which nearly every student came forward to ask for prayer and to make a new commitment a never-to-be-forgotten spiritual experience.

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Read the articles online:

• Following Christ’s call from Bally to Bogota– Jessica Walter
• Don’t be afraid to ask– Noel Santiago
• Pull over and let’s ask some questions– Sheldon Good
• Walking boldly into our future– Joe Hackman
• Sitting at a table with the ideal church– Gwen Groff
• Leave it behind, so we can live the call– Daniel Landes
• Recognizing ministries as more than organizations– Gay Brunt Miller
• 32 years of caring, sharing and volunteering– Sara J. Kolb
• The body at work– Dottie Reed
• A call of courage and confidence, not comfort– Jenifer Eriksen Morales
• A four year process ends with an “amen”– Felicia Moore
• “It is time for creative new thinking.”– Mary Lou Cummings
• A truthful journey that’s just beginning– Erin Odgers

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