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Anabaptist leaders visit Louisiana to support communities recovering from hurricanes

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Forest and Ann Billiot receive a book about the work of Mennonite Disaster ServiceBy Tim Shenk

NEW ORLEANS – The leaders of five Anabaptist denominations visited Louisiana from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2 to learn about the ongoing struggles of communities affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and encourage the work of churches and aid organizations in the Gulf Coast region.

The nine-member Council of Moderators and Secretaries visited devastated New Orleans neighborhoods, worshipped with an Anabaptist congregation in nearby Metairie and attended the dedication of a house built by Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) in the southern Louisiana community of Pointe-aux-Chenes.

They also met with pastors and aid workers and learned about the enormous challenges still facing Gulf Coast communities as a result of the 2005 hurricanes.

Hundreds of thousands of people who evacuated from New Orleans and other areas have not returned. In many cases, they continue to live in trailers or other temporary housing arrangements in unfamiliar communities far from their family members, churches and jobs.

Delays in restoring city services have slowed the return of evacuees, according to Tim Barr, Gulf Coast disaster response coordinator for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). Additionally, many evacuees lack the basic resources they need to make the transition home.

“The hope is that a lot of people are going to come back to New Orleans, but the reality is that many people can’t,” Barr said.

Since the hurricanes, MDS has brought more than 5,000 volunteers from the U.S. and Canada to clean up and repair homes. MDS is now working toward long-term recovery by constructing houses for families whose homes were destroyed.

According to MDS, the house dedicated in Pointe-aux-Chenes may serve as a prototype for future houses in coastal southern Louisiana, where storm surges from Hurricane Rita caused great damage last year. The house was built on top of 11½-foot wooden supports to protect it from storm surges from nearby bayous.

The house was graciously accepted by the predominantly Native American community of Pointe-aux-Chenes and given to a family of four whose trailer was inundated by Rita.

Steve Swartz, general secretary of Conservative Mennonite Conference, said the house dedication was a highlight of the Council of Moderators and Secretaries’ visit.

“This was a priceless experience for me,” he said.

Swartz said his denomination has sent many volunteers to work on the Gulf Coast through MDS and he hopes these efforts will continue because of the great need.

MCC is helping Gulf Coast communities recover by supporting nine workers who are serving in churches and organizations that provide services to evacuees and returnees.

Lydia Weikel, an MCC caseworker in Meridian, Miss., described helping to connect evacuees with organizations and government programs that provide housing, employment and other needs. Weikel said that sometimes she is able to help evacuees find assistance that allows them to return to their home communities.

However, progress often seems slow because of the scale of the disaster, Weikel said.

“We see many, many sad situations and we’re not always able to help,” she said.

One of the ways the Church of the Brethren responded to Katrina was by providing child care at shelters and service centers for evacuees. Trained volunteers cared for more than 3,000 evacuee children in eight states in the weeks following Katrina, according to Roy Winter, executive director of the Church of the Brethren’s emergency response program.

The child care freed parents to take care of family needs and gave children a place to deal with traumatic experiences.

“Children need to be able to communicate and process what they’ve seen and experienced,” Winter said. “They actually communicate through their play.”

Bob Zehr, a retired pastor in Gulf States Mennonite Conference, thanked MCC and MDS for their assistance to churches and communities in the Gulf Coast region but added that many needs remain.

Zehr said that many members of the congregations he attends, Lighthouse Fellowship in Plaquemines Parish, southern Louisiana, have not yet qualified for housing assistance for various reasons.

“MDS always does wonderful work and you can identify the buildings they have built,” Zehr said.

However, Zehr added that he fears that some people, such as those in his congregation, are “falling through the cracks.”

Members of the council said Zehr’s comments prompted a helpful discussion of the channels for mutual aid within the church community and that they would continue to follow up on these concerns.

At Amor Viviente, a Gulf Coast Mennonite congregation in Metairie, La., members expressed gratitude for assistance provided in the wake of Katrina. Everyone in the congregation was forced to flee as Katrina approached and spent weeks or months in Texas, Florida or other parts of the country.

When they returned, many members found that their homes had been flooded and their household belongings were destroyed. MCC provided financial assistance to members of the congregation and pays the salary of a worker who helps church members find other assistance.

“You have been the arms of God for us,” said Josefina Gomez, a member of Amor Viviente, thanking all those who have helped the congregation. “You made us feel that God was with us. We were never alone.”

The Council of Moderators and Secretaries is a gathering of the leaders of Mennonite Church USA, Church of the Brethren, Mennonite Brethren, Brethren in Christ and Conservative Mennonite Conference. The group meets annually to discuss common concerns among Anabaptist denominations.

The members of the Council of Moderators and Secretaries are Roy W. Williams, moderator of Mennonite Church USA; Steve Swartz, general secretary of Conservative Mennonite Conference; Ben W. Shirk, moderator of Conservative Mennonite Conference, Belita D. Mitchell, moderator of Church of the Brethren; Don McNiven, general secretary of Brethren in Christ; Warren Hoffman, moderator of Brethren in Christ, Joe E. Johns, chair of the leadership board of the U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, Stanley J. Noffsinger, general secretary of Church of the Brethren; and Jim Schrag, executive director of Mennonite Church USA.

Tim Shenk is a writer for Mennonite Central Committee.

Offering another way: Countering military recruiters

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AKRON, Pa.  Organizers and participants in a November counter-recruitment conference sponsored by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) U.S. say they hope that the event will inspire churches to work together to further develop strategies for countering the lure of military recruiters.

About 75 people attended the Nov. 3-5 conference in San Antonio, Texas.

There were military veterans, pastors, church youth and student activists who are organizing campaigns countering the promises of military recruiters.

Each year, about 180,000 young people enlist in the U.S. military.

Titus Peachey, director of peace education for MCC U.S., said the conference intended to provide a forum where churches could learn more about the realities of military recruiting, become familiar with some models for countering the lure of the military and, perhaps most importantly, begin to share with other churches some of their own grassroots strategies.

We now have a lot of information to take home to our church members, people in our community, and the other youth who did not come to the conference, reported Verel Montauban, of a Haitian Church of the Brethren congregation in Brooklyn, N.Y. The commitment I found here is to help other people how to stay away from the military and teach them that their body belongs to God, not to the military. I believe we have to live for the glory of God not live to kill each other.

Another participant from the congregation, Sandra Beauvior, reported that she walks away from the conference believing that war is not an option. She, like others in the group, said they want to talk with other teenagers to help them commit not to join the military.

On many high school campuses, military recruiters have a strong presence. Students talked of how they circle during lunches and at the career center. One Army veteran said that the military recruitment was so heavy at her school that she didnt realize until later that colleges too recruited students. At the high schools I went to … I never saw colleges ever, Mari Villaluna said.

The military is passionate about enticing young people in and spends an enormous amount of money on recruiting  including paying scores of recruiters who are dedicated only to figuring out how to best entice more young people to join, said former Marine recruiter and Mennonite pastor Ertell Whigham.

Anabaptist church leaders and members may talk passionately about helping people avoid the military, Whigham said. But rarely does that translate into a paid position.

Just as the military has people who are dedicated to recruitment, we ought to be putting into place people who are counters to that, Whigham said.

Norristown (Pa.) New Life, where Whigham serves as an associate pastor, has appointed a full-time minister of youth and community outreach who works to identify opportunities for education and training that youth in the church can tap into. He dreams that more congregations will put money into such positions or that churches would join together to hire a person who could pinpoint resources for their youth.

In the urban setting, he said, the decision to go into the military is often spontaneous  and driven by immediate needs of the family or by a strong desire for education. When youth begin to ask, How can I make things better for me? How can I make things better for my family? the military has a ready answer. The church, too, needs to have an answer ready for them, Whigham said.

That includes setting the stage for alternatives years before students start to ask.

I think we need to be working with young people long before they get to high school, Whigham said. And the focus needs to be not so much on avoiding the military as on building a strong foundation of beliefs in peace and justice. Ideally, he said, when they get to high school, the military will be the last option on their list.

Whigham said he and Norristown plan to work at creating a manual of ideas and resources that can undergird area churches efforts to counter military recruiters. In addition, he hopes to contact people interested in replicating Norristowns model of providing a staff person to research and talk with youth about alternatives to the military.

Peachey said MCC U.S. will continue to develop resources related to countering the lures of military recruiters and that he hopes local groups will begin to build networks to carry out this work at a grassroots level.

Counter-recruitment provides a great opportunity for congregations to make the way of peace practical inlocal communities, Peachey said. It was exciting to see the conference bring together both the people and resources needed to help this work growamong the Anabaptist family of churches.

To learn more about counter-recruitment, go to www.mcc.org/us/co/counter.

Mennonite Disaster Service partners for rebuilding in Binghampton area

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by Scott Sundberg, MDS

doug-and-lewlyn.jpgEditors note: Broome County, New York, particularly the Binghampton area is the home of numerous persons who attend Franconia Conference’s Lakeview congregation in Susquehanna County, PA.

Conklin, NY–The fall colors and slow flow of the Susquehanna River belied the reality that was June 27 just this last summer. Standing on the banks of the river, the cold October air was threatening snow,

but around us were images that seemed to have more in common with the Gulf Coast than with this part of New York State. A FEMA trailer occupied a driveway to the right, and to the left, a gutted house stood, mold reaching up the siding, and a large spray-painted “X” decorated the window telling whether there were any fatalities in this particular house.

As a nation still focused on the devastating affects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, towns in this area of New York suffered the worst flooding in their memory. One disaster management official was recently heard recently saying that he thought the area was all taken care of.

Working together with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) on rebuilding the area is Lorna Kinsman, who is working with Presbyterian Disaster Service (PDS). Kinsman said she appreciated the loyalty of those who realize that the area is not “taken care of.” She added, “Every time we hear the Mennonites are coming, it’s just a gift from God.”

MDS and PDS are working together. PDS is helping to secure funding and accomplish the weighty task of casework and MDS is working on how and when to start working on the many devastated homes. “Maybe those who are close by would consider coming here rather than go south, as long as they don’t mind getting their fingers a little cold,” said Llewellyn Zehr, MDS Unit Chair for New York, who is coordinating MDS’response.

This severity of flooding basically unheard of.

The rains started on a Tuesday night, and by morning, houses were flooded. People were being evacuated by helicopters to islands of high ground. Some houses saw water up to their gutters. One man tried to escape the waters by climbing into his attic with his dog, while the waters lapped at his feet.

The Conklin Fire Station became a temporary refuge for many. Some churches that were not affected offered showers for people, as well as cots. The Conklin Presbyterian Church at one point was serving 1,500 meals a day, and started assisting people impacted by the flood the day of the flooding. People whose houses were not impacted by the flood also opened their homes for volunteers. Local food distributors also donated food. The Salvation Army was in the area early, providing initial cleanup and food.

Almost all mobile and trailer homes in the area have been destroyed, and there are virtually no rentals available. Single-family homes that had seemed secure on their foundations floated downriver.

Reports have stated that as many as 1,000 homes were destroyed in the Southern Tier area of New York, and as many as 3,500 homes were damaged. Some 500 homes in Conklin alone, just north of the Pennsylvania border, were damaged. Some have been gutted, others need gutting, and still others that were condemned have been burned down.

Though the flooding only lasted a day or two, its impact is still strongly felt today. Driving through just this one town of Conklin one sees house after house empty, moldy, marked on the window with the infamous “X.” Numerous businesses have failed to return.

The work is more than any one community, group or organization can manage on their own.

“The community is strapped, and it is hard for them to help themselves. It needs outside help, moral support and a persistent presence that will show the community that others care and are concerned,” said Doug Horne, volunteer coordinator with the Presbytery of the Susquehanna Valley.

FEMA trailers that dot the town are some help, but they have not been built for winter in New York. Mud, leftover silt and debris from the river, still fill many yards. Mold can be seen colorfully decorating the sides of many homes, and the high water mark is still evidenced above some garage doors. Soon after the initial cleanup, debris and flotsam filled one store’s parking lot end to end, and was 30 feet high.

While many volunteers look for opportunities in the Gulf States this winter, MDS is mindful that local units have projects that offer many of the same challenges for fulfilling MDS’ mandate of responding, rebuilding and restoring. MDS will be one of the only volunteer groups working in the area over the winter. “We’re in a little different situation up here: we’re not in the Gulf where it doesn’t freeze,” commented Zehr. As one volunteer said, “There’s going to be a lot of work–a lot.”

mds-logo.jpgMennonite Disaster Service is a channel through which various constituencies of the Anabaptist church can respond to those affected by disasters in North America. While our main focus is on clean up, repair and rebuilding homes, this activity becomes a means of touching lives and helping people regain faith and wholeness.

Lowell Detweiler named MCC acting executive director

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AKRON, Pa. – Lowell Detweiler has been named acting executive director of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in the wake of the Oct. 23 resignation of Robb Davis, MCC executive director since June 1, 2005. Detweiler is a longtime MCC staff member and former director of Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS).

Detweiler’s appointment was approved by the MCC executive committee during the weekend of Oct. 28 and is viewed as a short-term position while the committee seeks an interim executive director.

“Lowell brings a wealth of MCC experience and knowledge to this position,” said Ron Dueck, chair of the MCC executive committee. “We are thankful he has accepted the call to lead MCC at this crucial time while the executive committee seeks an interim director.”

The MCC executive committee has asked MCC staff to continue moving forward key initiatives Davis had begun work on, such as changes in the MCC governance structure, network facilitation, international program initiatives, a salary review and human resources initiatives.

Detweiler and his wife Ruth began service with MCC in 1959 as teachers in Newfoundland, Canada. With their two children, they served with MCC in Tanzania from 1968 to 71. Detweiler served as director of the MCC personnel department from 1971 to 82 and MCC East Coast from 1982 to 86. Currently he is interim director of the MCC human resources department.

Detweiler served as director of Mennonite Disaster Service from 1986 to 1998. Since that time he has worked on special assignments for both MDS and MCC. He is the author of the MDS history book, The Hammer Rings Hope, which was released in 2000.

Mennonite Mutual Aid Names New President, CEO

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GOSHEN, Ind. — Mennonite Mutual Aid has named the head of a Mennonite credit union as its new president and chief executive officer.

Larry D. Miller will take over at the 60-year-old stewardship agency Jan. 21, it was announced at a news conference Oct. 30.

“My vision is that all Anabaptists will look to MMA as a trusted organization that will help them live out their faith,” Miller said. “MMA has a great legacy of serving the church and . . . is well-positioned to continue growing and thriving.”

Miller, a member of Landisville (Pa.) Mennonite Church, is president and CEO of Mennonite Financial Federal Credit Union in Lancaster, Pa., a post he has held for 16 years.

Miller also has served as vice president of Hawkeye Bank and Trust in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and as president and CEO of two Federal Land BankAssociations in Iowa.

Miller, who grew up on a farm near Kalona, Iowa, is a graduate of Hesston (Kan.) College and Iowa State University.

Pat Swartzendruber, chair of the search committee that recommended the new president from a field of 54 prospective candidates, said Miller “has a deep passion for MMA members and will bring a member-focused approach to his leadership.”

“We believe Larry will continue to build on MMA’s excellent leadership legacy left by presidents like Jim Kratz, Howard Brenneman and most recently, [interim president] Steve Garboden,” Swartzendruber said.

Miller will succeed Garboden, a longtime MMA staff member, who was named interim president after the departure of Terry “Skip” Nagelvoort, who resigned Sept. 21, 2005, less than two months after taking office.

Nagelvoort resigned after it came to light that he had filed for bankruptcy, citing personal and business debts of $9.1 million, less than a week before he was named to MMA’s top post in July 2005.

MMA board chair Arlan Yoder said Miller is a “seasoned leader.”

“He is a man of the highest integrity and is trusted by the church,” Yoder said Oct. 30. “He has proven visionary CEO leadership experience, deep expertise in niche financial services and commitment to the Anabaptist life and service to the church.”

Miller chairs the Lancaster Mennonite Conference finance committee and serves on the conference’s strategic planning steering committee. He serves on the Mennonite Central Committee finance committee and is board treasurer for The Mennonite magazine.

Miller also serves on several professional boards and committees in Pennsylvania.

He and his wife, Wilma — an assistant manager for a Ten Thousand Villages store in Ephrata, Pa. — have two adult children.

Conference Minister to present at Military Counter-Recruitment Conference

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Ertell Whigham, Franconia Conference Minister and associate pastor at Norristown (PA) New Life congregation, will present at a conference in San Antonio, Texas, on Military Counter-recruitment, November 3-5. The conference sponsored by Mennonite Central Committee sets to counter military recruitment efforts through gospel nonviolence.

Whigham served in the US Marines in Vietnam and became a military recruiter, before as he suggests God spoke to his heart asking “How can you share the Love of Jesus with someone and want to take their life?” At that point Ertell knew it was not only about the alternatives offered by the Mennonites he had encountered, it was about the way of the gospel.

  • Additional conference information from Mennonite Central Committee

  • NEW: Mennonite Mission Network News: Recruitment Reaction: Churches Counter Military

FMC’s Claude Good receives Distinguished Service Award

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HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Alumni Association of Eastern Mennonite University honored two of its graduates Sunday, Oct. 15, for their work in reflecting the school’s vision, mission and values.

Claude Good of 275 Dock Drive, Lansdale, a member of the graduating class of 1954, received the “distinguished service award,” during the Sunday morning worship service of homecoming and family weekend.

The annual “distinguished service” award seeks to recognize graduates who have demonstrated in notable ways the Christian service and peacemaking emphases of the university.

Good and his wife, Alice Longenecker Good, also a member of the class of 1954, lived among the Triqui Indians in Mexico for 25 years while translating the New Testament into their language.

With intestinal worms a major medical problem among the children they served, Good looked for ways to treat malnutrition caused by roundworms that can devour 25-30 percent of the food eaten by a child each day.

His investigations resulted in the “Worm Project”, a medical treatment that, for about two cents a pill, can eradicate most parasitic worms in a child for up to six months.

“We hope to have at least 12 million pills distributed by the end of 2006 in about 70 countries,” Good noted, adding a wish that his receiving the “distinguished service award” will “help publicize something that the world truly needs.”

As part of his work with the Worm Project, Good frequently addresses groups who might contribute financially; these audiences sometimes include school-age groups. His soft and easy manner, as well as his general appearances, has resulted in his being dubbed “Mr. Rodgers.”

Good continues to work with international students from the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University, connecting them with families and churches in the Philadelphia area. He also has an international scripture ministry in the Souderton (PA) Mennonite Church where he and his wife are members.

Catherine R. Mumaw, also a 1954 EMU graduate and veteran educator from Corvallis, Ore. received EMU’s 2006 “alumna of the year” award during homecoming weekend.

Dr. Mumaw, a home economics graduate of EMU, returned to teach courses in that discipline at her alma mater, 1957-74. She earned a master’s degree in 1958 and a PhD in 1967 from Penn State University.

She was professor and chair of the home economics department at Goshen (IN) College, 1974-86, and served as associate professor in the Human Development and Family Studies department at Oregon State University, 1987-95.

Through OSU, she helped Bunda College of Agriculture in Malawi update their home economics and human nutrition programs and took part in a faculty exchange program with Avinashilingam Deemed University in India.

The award is presented annually to a graduate who has been recognized for significant achievements in their profession, community or church.

You can read more about Claude in EMU’s Crossroads article, available here.

Esh participates in Goshen College Gospel choir

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GOSHEN, Ind. — A Franconia Conference native is participating in Voices-n-Harmony, Goshen College‘s Gospel choir, during the fall semester.

Amanda Esh, daughter of Melvin and Linda Esh of Philadelphia, is a senior elementary education major. She is a 2003 graduate of Central High School and attends West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship.

Under the direction of Patrice Penny-Henderson of Elkhart, Ind., the choir includes Goshen College students, faculty, staff and community members of diverse ages and cultural backgrounds who sing to proclaim the power of God’s love.

Voices-n-Harmony is an associate choir of the Goshen College Music Department, Community School of the Arts and Multicultural Affairs Office.