Photo provided by MDS.
When Aysia Adkins, a rising senior at Goshen College, found herself on a Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) site, it changed her life.
She traveled with other students from the college to Selma, Alabama, where the group not only helped rebuild and repair homes, but also forged close connections with the residents in Selma, known for its pivotal role in the American civil rights movement, particularly the Selma to Montgomery marches.
Students from Goshen serve on MDS sites as part of their Study Service Term. At a special reception during “Follow Jesus 25,” the Mennonite Church USA convention in Greensboro, North Carolina, Adkins described what the experience meant to her.
Formerly, the Study Service Term involved international travel, but in recent years, Goshen has been offering the experience within the U.S., making it more affordable for many students.
“It gives us the opportunity to let us see what’s in this country that ’s different than what we already know,” said Adkins, who is a music major.
“Performing is in my heart and soul,” she said. Besides learning how to drywall on an MDS site, she also took a deep dive into her own identity. Describing herself as “half Black, half white,” she was sometimes asked to sing traditional spiritual songs—and just didn’t feel a connection to them.
“In Selma, I met people who had come before me—people who felt like my relatives,” she said. “I’m connected to them.”
Some of the people she met in Selma were “foot soldiers,” or people who marched for civil rights.
“I would meet them and say: ‘You were young in that march, weren’t you?’ I could see the light in their soul.” In fact, Adkins and other students sang during an MDS home dedication in Selma.
Now, when she’s asked to perform a spiritual song, Adkins said, “I really sing it, with my whole soul.”
Goshen College president Dr. Rebecca J. Stoltzfus said that the college’s partnership with MDS transforms local communities—and students as well.
“One of the partnerships that we are very proud of is our partnership with Mennonite Disaster Service,” she said.
Written by Susan Kim for MDS.