No images? Click here Fall 2022 Staff insight: Slow down and connect with others this seasonAutumn Leaf. Photo/Andrea Geiser Leaman The seasons are changing again in Pennsylvania. Gold, orange, vermillion and ochre are all shining forth from the trees and glinting in the sunlight. I do enjoy fall with the colors and crisp air, but the one thing I don’t like is that it signifies the coming of winter with shorter days, colder weather and more indoor activities. The short daylight hours sadden me and needing to wear bulky layers to stay warm sets me on edge, annoyed at the need to strategically layer my clothing and dig my winter coat from the back of the closet. Winter can present an opportunity for a more peaceful, reflective time. A time to “be” instead of “do.” A time to slow down and connect with people like the biblical Mary instead of Martha. My personality tends towards a Martha type lifestyle, so being forced to slow down can be initially frustrating yet ultimately meaningful. Andrea Geiser Leaman, IVEP U.S. Coordinator Participant insight: First impressions on life in the U.S. MCC Photo/Brenda Burkholder Anthony Khair (Palestine to Washington, D.C.) Princess Tshuma (Zimbabwe to Kansas City, Missouri) AhYoung Lee (Republic of Korea to Fresno, California) Kevin Candia (Uganda to Lancaster, Pennsylvania) Anthony Khair, Princess Tshuma, Renny Limpias, Ahyoung Lee, Kevin Candia, IVEP participants 2022-2023 Host insight: Building community with ShalomFrom L to R: Ned Kuczmynda, Anna Smucker, Kezia Graceshiella, Katy Deets, Natalie Hazbun standing in front of the Shalom Project building in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Photo/Nathan Grieser The Shalom Project is not your typical IVEP host family, but after great experiences hosting two IVEPers in past years we were excited to welcome Kezia Graceshiella to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in August. The Shalom Project is a voluntary service program and intentional community of young adults, focused on experiencing and extending God’s shalom (Hebrew for peace or wholeness) and affecting social change through lives of service. Our participants (Shalomies!) live together in a house, serve the community through professional internships and participate in activities focused on spiritual formation and personal growth. This probably sounds like I am describing IVEP! The Shalom Project was founded by Mennonite churches in Lancaster, and through connections with MCC we quickly discovered many similarities between the two programs Nathan Grieser, Katy Deets, Natalie Hazbun, Jill and Nate Milton, IVEP hosts and housemates 2022-2023 Partner insight: Seeing the value of intercultural connection Naomi Kwanza (Tanzania) making cheese at Grazing Plains Farm in Whitewater, Kansas. Photo/Gwen Obermeyer When I greeted Naomi Kwanza at the airport after arriving in Wichita, Kansas, following IVEP orientation, memories of my own arrival in my SALT placement 21 years ago flooded over me. Naomi had traveled from her home in Tanzania to work on my rural Kansas farm for this year. All those years ago, I had made a long journey to a rural placement in South Africa to work on farming projects. Observing as Naomi adjusted to her IVEP placement, I remembered those first days in a placement very well. The exhaustion of trying to communicate across cultural differences. The excitement and heightened awareness of all the new details of your new surroundings. For example, Naomi couldn’t believe how many banks there were in Wichita. My arrival in rural South Africa left me in amazement at the number of people who could crowd into one taxi bus! Jason Schmidt, Grazing Plains Farm LLC, IVEP Supervisor 2022-2023 Alumnus insight: From participant to host, a life changing experience(L to R) YAMENer Denise Dushime, Shradha Emmanuel Mahendra, and Ayaan Emmanuel Mahendra being held by Emmanuel Mahendra when they met for the first time in Raipur, India. (Photo/Sushant Nand) Life will never take you back to a specific time but my experience as both an IVEP alumnus and now a YAMEN host surely takes me back to the golden time of my life when I was an IVEP participant. The experience of doing IVEP was not just a one-time experience but a year-long lesson that changed my entire life going forward. I always thought that I wanted to host someone from another country, but I wasn’t sure if it would be possible. I believe that God makes things possible and the Bible says faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. This blessing appeared in my life, by hosting Denise Dushime, a current YAMENer from Rwanda, here in our house in India. Being a host is a great opportunity for my family to learn new things that I’ve experienced before in IVEP. Emmanuel Mahendra, IVEP 2017-2018 IVEP 2022-2023 group during orientation in Akron, Pennsylvania. MCC Photo/Brenda Burkholder Desmond Tshele (Zimbabwe) having fun in pumpkin patch during regional retreat in Goshen, Indiana. (L to R) Ahyoung Lee (Republic of Korea), Lynette Madrigal (West Coast Regional Coordinator), and Miriam Nita (Spain) enjoying sight seeing in Yosemite National Park, California. Arpan Nath (India) going on hike at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia Emili Krinski (Brazil) enjoying all things fall in Kansas City, Missouri Alexandra Salmeron (Honduras) enjoying fall foliage at Lancaster Mennonite School, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Jacqueline Nashon (Tanzania) learning how to knot quilt from Phyllis Kornhaus at MCC Connections in Dalton, Ohio The Who's Who of IVEP IVEP U.S. National Coordinator andreageiserleaman@mcc.orgCentral States mahletmamo@mcc.orgEast Coast caitlinjones@mcc.orgGreat Lakes brookestrayer@mcc.orgWest Coast lynettemadrigal@mcc.orgIt is a peace program that works, not in a big sweep, but one small ripple at a time, each ripple enlarging with every expanding circle. – Doreen Harms (IVEP administrator 1949-51, 1955-58, 1968-91) |