Mosaic Mennonites

Missional - Intercultural - Formational

Service

MCC’s Haiti response continues with medical teams, engineers and food aid

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by Marla Pierson Lester

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) medical teams and structural engineers are providing immediate assistance in Haiti now, and distributions of food and relief supplies are ongoing even as MCC plans the next steps in its multiyear response to the Jan. 12 earthquake.

A five-person MCC medical team from Canada is serving in Port-au-Prince March 7 to 20. A three-person medical team from the United States will be in Haiti from March 21 to April 3.

Short-term teams of structural engineers that began arriving in January have examined more than 250 buildings, and MCC is seeking additional engineers who are interested in serving in Haiti this spring.

MCC continues to provide rations of rice, beans, cooking oil, canned meat and spaghetti to nine communities, reaching at least 6,000 people who have been forced from home by the earthquake. It is likely that food is also being given to additional relatives and friends, echoing the strong emphasis on sharing in Haitian culture.

MCC is also providing materials for bamboo and cement-base showers for people living in camps of displaced people. Those living in the camps had identified the need for a private space to wash, especially for women, said Betty Kasdorf, MCC’s Food, Disaster and Material Resources program manager.

MCC relief kits, tarps for shelter, comforters and flat sheets are being distributed as soon as they arrive in Haiti, and additional shipments are on their way to Haiti. Because of expected Haitian government changes that might slow items coming through customs after April, MCC is striving to ship all its initial emergency material aid in the next three to four weeks.

An MCC assessment team visited dozens of people, including MCC partners and government officials, from Feb. 21 to March 6 – hearing from each the enormity of the tasks before them.

MCC’s response will not only address the needs of people within Port-au-Prince, said Ron Flaming, MCC’s director of international programs, but will also include significant efforts to improve the livelihoods and prospects of people who have moved to rural areas.

The assessment team recommends that MCC can meet significant needs in areas including shelter and housing, economic development, food security, education, peace-building and advocacy, health and trauma healing.

“What struck me most is the complexity of the situation,” stressed Kasdorf, who recently visited Haiti as part of the assessment team. “The whole country is affected by this.”

The assessment team found that while food was being distributed within Port-au-Prince, many rural areas had not yet received any assistance and were struggling to share limited food with new arrivals.

Kasdorf said the group heard from nonprofit organizations, from MCC partners and from government officials that what is needed now is for relief, government services, education and jobs to be made more widely available throughout the country.

The scope of this effort will be far greater than rebuilding in a single geographic location.

“It’s a massive, complex humanitarian disaster,” Flaming said. “Right now people are still focused on trying to clean up, on figuring out how to survive today, tomorrow and for the next few months.”

Even as MCC’s response in Haiti continues, planning for the next five years is also well underway, says Flaming. Longer-term planning includes determining which communities to focus on and top priorities. He noted that in MCC’s response to the 2004 Asian tsunami, some projects that had the most lasting impact were not planned until a full year after the tsunami hit.

Paramount in all MCC efforts will be listening to the voices of Haitian people and partners and providing tools to help Haitians recover from the quake and build up their own communities, said Kasdorf.

To learn more about MCC’s response to the Haiti earthquake, go to mcc.org/haitiearthquake.

Marla Pierson Lester is publications and website content editor for MCC.

A long distance out of the way: Decades of living life lead to a call to pastor

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Donna Merow, Ambler

Edward Albee wrote, “Sometimes it’s necessary to go a long distance out of the way in order to come back a short distance correctly.” This describes my journey to pastoral ministry.

In the seventh grade an aptitude test indicated “nun” as a suitable career choice. This is not what most adolescent girls dream of becoming, especially if they are Protestant. It took me decades to realize that there were few other options available in 1970 to young women with a decidedly religious bent and even longer to answer the call to pastor. I went to college, dropped out, got married, raised two daughters, finished my bachelor’s degree, was diagnosed with early stage cancer, began a teaching career, earned a graduate degree in education and became a grandmother.

All the while I was actively involved in churches—Methodist, Baptist, Mennonite (where I was rebaptized thirty years ago), Episcopalian, Presbyterian—and the communities they served. Many people along the way encouraged me to consider seminary (none more persistently than former Ambler pastor Mel Thomas), but I always had a ready excuse.

For twenty years I was a stay-at-home mom with an incomplete degree and lots of time to invest in the lives of young people through the scouting and Odyssey of the Mind programs. By the time I finished my undergraduate work, my firstborn was beginning her’s; her sister was four years behind. As a first generation college graduate, I wanted this to be the best possible experience for my girls.

Although I had been collecting catalogues from area seminaries, the timing did not seem right. After our youngest graduated, I was able to spend several months trying on a pastoral role when Sharon Wyse Miller was granted a sabbatical. I wanted to see what it was like to prepare and deliver a message each week before I could seriously entertain the idea of attending seminary full-time. It was a wonderfully rich summer for me as I applied many of the pedagogical techniques I had practiced in the classroom to Jesus’ teaching through parables. At its conclusion, I wrestled with God about seminary.

I learned two important lessons from my undergraduate experience that informed my decision. The first was that I could not study in isolation; I needed to have one foot in the “real” world. The other was my desire for face-to-face interaction. I am an introvert by nature, so while distance education was comfortable and rewarding, it did not afford the opportunities for growth that I needed.

I found a good fit with Biblical’s LEAD MDiv degree. An alternative program designed for working adults, this allowed me to continue teaching and to build relationships with the members of cohort 12 with whom I have all of my courses.

I am old enough to be my classmates’ parent, but we enjoy a symbiotic relationship. I have the life experience and they have the tech savvy. It has proved to be a winning combination. With only a year of seminary completed, I did not expect to be looking for a position in a church for several years, but God had other plans. Sharon announced her planned retirement at the end of August at our January congregational meeting. Her announcement prompted me to complete the necessary paperwork to be considered as a candidate.

A month later, I learned that I would not have a job come September. The economic downturn made it necessary to cut my position at school. Unemployment made it necessary for me to trust God’s providence and possible to see the search process through to completion. It also freed me to do many things grading papers never allowed time for—a week at camp with special needs adults, putting siding on a Habitat house, helping to build a playground.

On October 4, the congregation that I have called “home” for a decade called me as its next pastor. It has been a long and convoluted path to pastoral ministry, but my installation service on November 8 confirmed that this is where I belong. I am excited by the possibilities before us as we live out the Gospel and respond to Christ’s missional call here in Ambler and beyond. Thanks be to God!

Reflection from MVS in DC: Unexpected and life-giving opportunities

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Emily Derstine, Plains

Upon arriving in Washington, D.C. to begin a year of Mennonite Voluntary Service (MVS), I had little idea what to expect. Sure, I had been to D.C. in the past for school field trips, church day trips, service opportunities, and had even spent a semester in D.C. with EMU’s Washington Community Scholars’ Center program during college. I knew a bit about the city. But my anticipation of living and working in D.C. for a year would be a whole new experience—especially delving into work at an immigration organization, dealing solely with detained immigrants and entering into the legal sphere.

I had to question myself in the weeks leading up to the move. I knew nothing about the law or the organization with which I would work, much less Spanish than I was comfortable with, and little about the people with whom I would live for an entire year. Why did I think this would be a good idea? Amid my uncertainty and doubt, my mind pulled out a poignant idea that I heard quoted this past summer: “The more certain you are, the less likely it’s God working.” So I figured God must be working overdrive in this endeavor.

And I certainly found that to be true. My experience in D.C. has proven to be more than I could have ever hoped for or imagined. This year is bringing great meaning to my life, and excitement for the future. The opportunities I have working as a Legal Assistant at the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition are invaluable. Through conducting intakes with immigration detainees in the detention facilities, evaluating cases with our legal team during intake review in the office conference room, following-up with the immigrants’ family members and friends, attending immigration court, and relating in both English and Spanish, I am learning the complexities of immigration law and the plight of so many people worldwide.

The work is stimulating and challenging, exciting and intimidating, disheartening and energizing. Despite the frustrations of a harsh, flawed system, I see hope amidst the heavy stories and unfortunate circumstances. From the people with whom I work, I have learned about the preciousness and beauty of freedom. In speaking with a recently-released detainee—a thrilling reality that we witness too-infrequently—I realize that many of us fail to see the joys of certain every-day aspects of life: feeling the warmth of the sun, breathing fresh air, hugging a friend, working and living where we choose. Although countless individuals experience captivity in one form or another, taking freedom for granted is highly common.

In addition to my job, I am learning the joys of city living, using public transportation as a main means of getting around and living on a small volunteer stipend. Networking and connection-building common to the urban environment is a welcomed opportunity as well. Through my experiences, work and daily life, I am increasingly finding both that injustice enrages me and singing refreshes me and revives my spirit.

Despite my initial apprehension, my Spanish skills are improving, I am slowly learning the legal jargon, am becoming relatively proficient in what forms of relief from deportation exist for detained immigrants and am benefitting from delving into the intricacies of immigration law. The clients with whom we work are diverse and each has had different life experiences. I especially appreciate hearing their unique stories, and am intrigued by their varied histories. Often, I find myself wanting to help these immigrants more than I am able to in this context, and become fascinated by researching country conditions and case law. Desiring justice, I am particularly drawn to asylum-seekers, women and those who have undergone persecution and discrimination in the past or have a possibility of experiencing harm in the future.

Through this work, I am increasingly passionate about human rights and empowering people. I am thoroughly enjoying my work and experiences in the liveliness and excitement of D.C. and the CAIR Coalition. Learning quite a great deal in the process—about the city, my work and myself—I feel both blessed and grateful to have this opportunity.