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News archive
Contact: Laurie L. Oswald (316) 283-5100, E-mail: LaurieO@MennoniteUSA.org
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Ministry provides "new bridges" for immigrants
moving into Virginia Conference |
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| Susannah Lepley is program director
for NewBridges, an immigrant resource center in Virginia
Mennonite Conference. It's supported by about a half
dozen congregations in the Harrisonburg and Virginia
Mennonite Board of Missions. |
by Laurie L. Oswald
This is the second story in a series depicting Virginia Mennonite
Conference, one of 21 area conferences belonging to Mennonite
Church USA.
HARRISONBURG, Va. (MC USA) -- Susannah Gerber Lepley didn't
know that being a "missionary kid" would matter
to her as an adult. But it prepared her to become program
director at NewBridges, an immigrant resource center in Virginia
Mennonite Conference.
Lepley -- a 31-year-old graduate of Associated Mennonite Biblical
Seminary in Elkhart, Ind., with a master's degree in peace
studies -- moved from Brazil back to the United States with
her folks, Bob and Fran Gerber, when she was in seventh grade.
After the family served with the former Mennonite Board of
Missions for eight years overseas, she felt lost in North
America.
"I didn't know how to handle the junior
high system -- what was cool, what was okay," Lepley
said. "What worked fine in Brazil just didn't work in
the States. But as painful as that time was, it gave me lots
of compassion for immigrants who face all kinds of things
that are much more intense than what I faced."
One such immigrant is a single father from Mexico. He's raising
three children on low wages from his poultry factory job,
where he kills chickens all day long.
"He comes
home every night from work so tired but needs to make supper,"
she said. "But he can't even help his children with homework,
because he is illiterate in both Spanish and English. But
I see so much progress since he's related to NewBridges.
"He set up a savings account and is saving as much
as he can. He wants to get ahead so badly, and he pushes his
kids a lot, because he doesn't want them to have to work as
hard as he does for so little wages. He wants to give his
kids what he never had."
Confusing maze, healing and hope
NewBridges helps many clients such as this father find their
way through the maze of a new culture. Each year, NewBridges
- supported by about a half dozen Mennonite congregations
in the conference and Virginia Mennonite Board of Missions
-- helps more than 130 families to adjust to communities
in the United States.
Lepley and her assistant, Guadalupe Morales, and volunteers
assist the immigrants. Volunteers include those from participating
congregations and students fulfilling field placements for
Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) in Harrisonburg. The
congregations include Harrisonburg Mennonite, Community
Mennonite, Shalom Mennonite, Ridgeway Mennonite and Parkview
Mennonite, all located in Harrisonburg.
The staff and volunteers help the immigrants deal with language
issues, secure jobs, find childcare, utilize social services,
receive financial training and find medical and educational
resources, Lepley said. Most immigrants in the Harrisonburg
area are from Latin America. The next largest groups are
Ukrainian and Kurdish.
The Shenandoah Valley draws them because of the large agricultural-business
industry, as well as food service and janitorial positions
at several local universities including EMU, said Elroy
Miller, NewBridges board chair and professor of sociology
and social work at EMU.
"In the early 1990s, we had a huge influx of immigrants
come into this area mainly because of growth in the number
of agribusiness jobs at the poultry processing plants,"
Miller said. "A lot of these plants sought labor from
such places as Mexico, and little by little over the past
decade, the immigrant community has grown here."
Statistics show that about 8 percent of 40,000-population
Harrisonburg is Hispanic, and that 26 languages are spoken
within the public schools. About one-third of the students
are taking ESL classes, Miller said.
The congregations -- striving to live out Mennonite Church
USA's priority of becoming missional at home and around
the world -- believe that NewBridges brings missions to
their backyard, Miller said. During the first influx of
immigrants, some congregations tried church planting. But
they soon saw that providing better access to social services
and language learning would meet more acute needs.
"Immigrants tend to settle relatively easily within
church families that already exist," Miller said. "But
they find it more difficult to meet basic needs because
of words they don't understand, applications they can't
fill out, services they can't find."
Belonging, working, surviving
Lepley nor Miller soften the rough edges when they describe
issues that immigrants face -- especially struggling to
become citizens and grappling with low-paying, grueling
jobs.
"The stereotype is that immigrants who are undocumented
are lazy and just don't want to do what it takes to become
a citizen, but that simply isn't true," Lepley said.
"So many of these people are very hard-working, but
since 9/11 it's really hard to get citizenship.
"There are bills pending in Congress that may make
it easier. ... But right now, it's very hard for people
from Latin America to get asylum or refugee status. ...
And the waiting period for applying for U.S. citizenship
can take as long as up to 12 years."
Employment issues also bring hardships to the immigrants,
she said. "It's really shocking to see what they have
to do in poultry processing plants for between $7 and $9
an hour, but it is one of the main jobs available to those
who can't speak English," Lepley said.
"But that's not all they do. There are also about 30
to 40 immigrant-run businesses here -- including restaurants,
grocery stores, a Spanish version of a Dollar General, clothing
stores, beauty shops and bakery shops."
Bridging worlds, lives, hearts
To help the larger Mennonite community understand these
and other aspects of the immigrants' world, NewBridges,
developed by Mennonite Central Committee, sponsors four
learning tours to the area each year.
"The tour participants learn about immigration trends
and why people leave their countries and come here,"
Lepley said. "We also invite immigrants to share stories
about what they've come through and about their dreams for
the future. We try to bridge the two communities as much
as possible.
"What's so amazing is when immigrants -- who are generally
very shy -- open up. When they realize people care and want
to listen, a floodgate of emotions comes tumbling out."
Not only has NewBridges built a bridge between cultures,
but it's also built a bridge for Mennonites in Virginia
Conference between the denomination's priority of being
missional and what it means to apply that to individual
lives and local congregations.
"Being connected to these immigrants from around the
world fills my hunger for being involved in missions,"
Lepley said. " I'm a missionary kid and I just wouldn't
be happy not being connected in some way, and if I didn't
do this here at home, I'd go overseas.
"I have such a great respect for these immigrants.
They are so hardworking. And their devotion to their families
is really incredible, given all they've been through. Their
resilience and courage inspire me."
Miller said, "I really appreciate the way that Mennonite
congregations have connected to this ministry. It gives
them a sense that being missional is not just a buzzword
about a denominational priority but it can be purposeful
and meaningful for both those who are reaching out and for
those who are being reached." Photos available.
Laurie L. Oswald is news service director for Mennonite
Church USA.
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Presidents
say "thank you" for giving to higher education.
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (MEA) -- Mennonite Church USA congregations
are giving to Anabaptist-Mennonite higher education in new
ways.
Presidents of Anabaptist-Mennonite higher education institutions
in the United States heard reports at a Dec. 11 meeting
in Kansas City from Mennonite Education Agency (MEA) of
significant growth in church matching grants. Those are
funds donated by congregations to colleges, universities
and seminaries for the support of their member students
that are matched by the institutions themselves.
Such giving for Bethel, Bluffton, Goshen and Hesston colleges
and Eastern Mennonite University combined has increased
more than 36 percent from 1994 to the present. While congregational
giving to institutional operating funds has dropped almost
20 percent in these 10 years (a concern that will be addressed);
total congregational support (both gifts and grants) is
up almost 14 percent. The presidents and MEA staff expressed
their appreciation for this support.
Present at the meeting were Nelson Kraybill, Associated
Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Ind.; E. LaVerne
Epp, Bethel College; Lee Snyder, Bluffton College; Loren
Swartzendruber, Eastern Mennonite University and Seminary;
Shirley H. Showalter, Goshen College; Peter Wiebe, Hesston
College; and Carlos Romero (executive director), Cheryl
Zehr Walker and J. David Yoder, MEA.
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Mennonite
Women USA awards $7,000 in international scholarships
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| Albania Molina
de Romero of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, is one of 11
recipients of the 2004 International Women's Fund, sponsored
by Mennonite Women USA. She is coordinator of the national-level
Christian Education Commission of the Honduras Mennonite
Church and vice-president of the national women's association. |
by Cathleen Hockman-Wert
NEWTON, Kan. (MW USA) -- Mennonite Women USA has selected
11 women to receive International Women's Fund (IWF) scholarships
in 2004. This fund provides for church leadership training
for women around the world. The 11 women, who represent six
countries (Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, India, Kenya and
Paraguay), will receive grants totaling $7,000 U.S. to help
pay education-related expenses.
Albania Molina de Romero and her husband pastor a Mennonite
church in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. She is well known in her
community for her work as the coordinator of the national
level Christian Education Commission of the Honduras Mennonite
Church, vice-president of the national women's association
and a volunteer teacher of the Bible Institute. She'll now
return to the other side of the desk to complete a three-year
bachelor's degree in bible and theology, studying with the
Anabaptist seminary SEMILLA both in Guatemala and Nicaragua.
She hopes to eventually work in the realm of education at
the national level.
Patricia Rosero of Colombia serves, without pay, as the coordinator/pastor
in the Santa Martha Mennonite Church and is working on a theology
degree at the Mennonite seminary in Bogota.
"She is an excellent student with an unusually warm and
compassionate personality," her application sponsor writes.
"Her commitment to her studies and ministry is all the
more impressive because she has been confined to a wheelchair
since her early teens. Bogotá buildings and streets
are far from being wheelchair-friendly. Seminary classes are
on the third floor and so Patricia needs to be carried up
and down in her wheelchair by two able-bodied men."
Preeti Chauhan is one of three young Indian women selected
this year. She is an active member of Raipur Mennonite Church
and youth fellowship, now in the midst of a four-year program,
working toward a bachelor of divinity degree, at the Union
Biblical Seminary in Pune, India. Chauhan is involved in children's
ministries on campus.
"It was exciting as we had children from all over India,"
she writes. "I was also involved in youth ministry. For
me, working among the youth is most exciting as I find them
curious and thirsty to know about the Bible. The youth are
very much in need for someone to direct them and help them
grow in Christian beliefs, especially in a place surrounded
by many other faiths. ... I would like to work with the youth
of other faiths, once I complete my studies."
Other new scholarship recipients are: Myrian Palomo, Paraguay;
Darleen Ratzlaff, Paraguay; Martha Santanilla, Colombia; Reena
Tandi, India; and Veena Wankhade, India. Three previous IWF
recipients received 2004 grants as they continue their studies:
Rebecca Osiro of Kenya, who led a workshop for women theologians
at the Mennonite World Conference assembly last summer; Viola
Harder, Paraguay; and Sandra Campos Cruz, Costa Rica.
"It's exciting that our dollars go so far for these women,"
said MW USA board member Nancy R. Sauder, Lancaster, Pa.,
as the board voted on the recipients. "It's humbling."
The IWF is one way in which Mennonite Women USA supporters
work together to encourage sisters around the world to serve
Christ's body, the church. Since the founding of Mennonite
Women in 1997, this fund has channeled more than $32,000 to
women worldwide. Photo available.
Cathleen Hockman-Wert is editor of Timbrel, the publication
for Mennonite Women USA with support from Canadian Women in
Mission.
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Church
Education Sunday materials available from MEA
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The first Sunday of each February is Church Education Sunday
in Mennonite Church USA. On this special occasion, Mennonite
Education Agency (MEA) invites congregations to pray for and
support people involved in accredited education, both in Anabaptist-Mennonite
and other educational institutions.
MEA offers materials for planning a special worship service
based on the theme, "The Teacher's Wisdom." Look
for planning resources and a bulletin insert to copy in the
January Equipping packet and on the MEA web site (www.MennoniteEducation.org).
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