Midian Leadership Project Archives

by Demarcus Daniels & Turan Rush

Editor’s Note: This reflection has been edited for length and clarity and reprinted with permission from Conference-Related Ministry Midian Leadership Project, Inc. (Charleston, West Virginia).

As part of Mosaic’s Summer Ambassadors initiative, Demarcus Daniels and Turan Rush traveled to Cartagena, Colombia, this summer for leadership equipping and cross-cultural learning. Their experiences offered opportunities to listen, share, receive, and learn from people whose lives and communities are different from their own.

The authors with children they accompanied as part of the Summer Ambassadors retreat in Cartagena.

Demarcus Daniels: Finding New Perspectives

One of the most meaningful parts of the trip for me was seeing young people worship together. They had a deep love for Jesus and were growing together in community.

It gave me a new perspective. No one’s life is perfect, but in the Midian community, have places to worship and many resources available to us. The neighborhood we visited in Cartagena had many fewer resources, but the kids had smiles on their faces. Seeing that was powerful. There’s a lot of life there.

The trip was also a culture shock for me in many ways. I had never been in a situation where people didn’t understand me and I didn’t understand them. That was different! It was fun to experience the culture and see how people live and move through everyday life.

Spending time with leaders in their community was another highlight. Hearing how they work and share the gospel gave me new ideas for ways to reach young people back home. It also gave me new relationships. If I need ideas, encouragement, or motivation, I now know people doing similar work in other countries.

One of the activities we did was to choose an object that represented our leadership style. I chose a pen that clicks to pop out and back in.

What someone writes or shares can affect other people’s lives. But the pen also must know when to click back in. Leadership isn’t always about being the one out front. Sometimes leaders must step back, listen, let someone else lead, and learn new skills.

Turan Rush: Learning to Dwell in Intercultural Community

Joining my friends from Mosaic Mennonite Conference in Cartagena was one of the most meaningful experiences I’ve had in learning what it means to be intercultural.

During our stay, we didn’t simply coexist. We shared ideas, values, and habits. I learned how to build active connections with people from different cultures, and I had the chance to dwell in unity with people from Colombia, Mexico, and the United States.

Our host leader, Javier, showed us around Cartagena, and shared some Afro-Colombian history. One of my favorite experiences was learning about the Palenqueras, women known for their vibrant red dresses and beautiful head wraps. They skillfully balance baskets filled with tropical fruit or homemade sweets to sell in the market.

Javier also taught us about Cartagena’s history as one of the largest ports for the transatlantic slave trade in Latin America. To learn about what Afro-Colombian communities have overcome while continuing to preserve and celebrate their culture was inspiring.

Traveling with my friend Demarcus was also a meaningful part of the experience. His wisdom and ability to uplift those around him were gifts throughout the trip. We studied Luke 24 and the story of the road to Emmaus. I was reminded that Jesus meets us in our sorrow and difficult moments. During our time together, we were reminded to slow down and recognize that God is present along the journey.

The experience was also good for my soul. After taking part in a CCDA cohort in Virginia earlier this summer, I have been practicing purposeful Sabbath. Going into the Colombia trip, I wasn’t sure what my role would be. Usually, I’m one leads or finds a way to serve others.

Yet this time, I was able to be poured into by my friends who were part of the Mosaic Summer Ambassadors. I also had the opportunity to learn from Danilo Sanchez, Mosaic’s Leadership Minister for Intercultural Transformation, and Jennifer Svetlik, Director of Community Engagement.

I learned that there is a difference between being around another person’s culture and purposely entering it—learning from people, sharing life with them and learning how to love them like Jesus would.

Giving myself time to be poured into helps my leadership grow. I need to continue learning and developing so that I can return home and better lead and serve young people in Charleston, West Virginia.

I’m grateful to Mosaic for making this experience possible and to all of Midian’s friends who continue to share this journey with us.

Demarcus Daniels

Demarcus Daniels has served as a Mosaic Summer Ambassador for two years and is a football player at Fairmont State University. He grew up coming to Midian’s Safe Haven and has served in summer youth work programs with Midian.

Turan Rush

Turan De’Angelo Rush is the founding Chief Operations Officer of the Midian Leadership Project. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D in Sports Psychology from Kairos University, where his research focuses on sports and trauma-healing.

Mosaic values two-way communication and encourages our constituents to respond with feedback, questions, or encouragement. To share your thoughts or send a message to the author(s), contact us at communication@mosaicmennonites.org.

By Danilo Sanchez

From July 15 to 23, a group of 11 adults traveled to Tucson, AZ to learn about immigration justice. The group included four Mosaic young adults, two from Whitehall (PA) Mennonite Church and two from Midian Leadership Project (a CRM in Charleston, WV). The trip was organized by Mennonite Mission Network and West Coast Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). The group bonded by sharing family migration stories. Over half of our group had recent experiences of migration.

We began our experience by learning about past and current US immigration policies and advocacy groups that work with refugees and asylum seekers. An interactive game put us in the life of a migrant. It highlighted the journey and difficult process that many people endure in order to come to the US. People encounter violence, family separation, kidnapping, death, and difficult choices that create lifelong trauma. We learned that even if individuals seek asylum or other forms of legal migration, the process is so long and complicated that many are not able to complete it due to lack of finances, transportation, and/or a language barrier. For those with recent migration stories, the game was all too real.

After the first few days in Tucson, we went to Douglas, AZ, a community along the US-Mexico border. I had previously visited the wall in 2015 with a group from MCC. What was most impactful to me was how much the wall had changed. Where there was once just a barricade fence, there was now a 30-foot wall. The wall had become more enforced and now had concertina wire, which has little razor blades that rip through flesh. We learned from local partners that the number of injuries and deaths of migrants has increased greatly because of it.

The Borderlands Tour group learns from Frontero de Cristo at the border wall. Young adults who participated from Mosaic were Jabbar Thompson and Collin Pierce, from Midian Leadership Project (WV); and Ser Luther and Than Oo, from Whitehall (PA) Mennonite Church. Photo provided by Danilo Sanchez.

On our second day in Douglas, we participated in a cross-planting and prayer vigil for migrants who died trying to cross the border in order to find a better life for themselves and their families. With loud voices, we called out their names to honor their lives, realizing that even though we did not know the persons, their lives were known to God. The most painful ones to call out were “no identificado/a,” migrants who were unable to be identified. But again, we know that nothing is lost or unknown to God.

Collin Pierce (left, Midian Leadership Project, WV) and Juan Sebastian Pacheco Lozano (Peace & Justice Coordinator, MCC Great Lakes) plant a cross for Kevin, a migrant who died seven miles from the border in the desert in Douglas, AZ. Photo provided by Danilo Sanchez.

We returned to Tucson to serve at a migrant center, Casa Alitas. For many migrants, Casa Alitas is the first place with friendly faces they encounter while trying to seek asylum. We interacted with people whose lives were in turmoil and were trying to make the best of it. We played with kids, made art with the adults, and shared stories. It felt good to share God’s love and make sure people had clothing and a proper meal.

I came away from the trip knowing that the border is filled both with great pain and with great beauty and hope. I also saw how much the group grew in love and knowledge, wanting their faith in Jesus to be expressed to the vulnerable. Our lives were changed by the opportunity to see and learn along the border. I would encourage anyone who is interested in immigration justice to take a trip to the border and experience it for yourself. May you encounter the face of God there and be forever changed.

Danilo Sanchez

Danilo Sanchez is the Leadership Minister for Intercultural Transformation for Mosaic Conference. Danilo Sanchez lives in Allentown with his wife Mary and two daughters. He is a pastor at Ripple and leads in the areas of leadership development, discipleship, and teaching. Danilo also works part-time with the housing program of Ripple Community Inc as the Community Life Director.