San Antonio Mennonite Church Newsletter, June 2001

RING YOUR
IBLES to church this summer. We will be studying the Gospel of Mark, following the stories of Jesus. For example, in the first and last chapters of Mark are two interesting little stories about being a witness. In the first chapter Jesus heals a leper and sternly warns him to not tell anyone. But the leper goes out and tells everyone, to the point Jesus can no longer travel freely, because everywhere he goes he gets mobbed by people who want to be healed.

In the last chapter of Mark an angel tells the women at Jesus' empty tomb to not be afraid but go tell Jesus' disciples he is risen. But they leave terribly afraid and don't tell anyone (Matthew and Luke tell it differently).

We can think of all kinds of reasons why the leper told everyone, when he had been told not to, and the women didn't tell anyone when they had been asked to tell. Most notably the leper had personal proof he could show anyone and a personal experience he could tell anyone. Who could doubt that? The women, on the other hand, had only their own credibility of what they had heard from an angel and probably were not even sure they believed it entirely. Who would believe that?

If we simply tell someone what Jesus has done in our life-what our own experience has been-who can doubt it? It's our story. But if we can only say what someone else has told us about Jesus, and we haven't experienced it ourselves, people may doubt us. It is always easier for others to doubt the truth of our ideas, than to doubt the truth of our personal experience.

Jesus said, "Blessed are those who believe even though they haven't seen." He was referring specifically to the resurrection. True belief in Jesus, however, the kind you can't help talking about, comes through the experience in your own life of a relationship with him. I want to keep my relationship to God real and alive and growing. Have a blessed summer. --Duane Beachey

I recently attended the Mid-Texas Mennonite Convention at Austin. We received input on doing church business the "Worshipful Work" way. Brenda Glanzer Lilliston is trained as a discernmentarian to guide groups or individuals in seeking God's will. Brenda's presentation included some stark contrasts to doing business as usual where efficiency of time is a priority.

Admittedly, we at SAMC haven't used or modeled many of the key elements of "Worshipful Work" at our congregational meetings. The need to pray, study the Bible, sing appropriate songs at strategic points during deliberations, tell stories, listen to voices and explore options are but a few of the ideas essential to the "Worshipful Work" way of making decisions. Working to improve upon every option until each becomes, through mutual consultation and prayer, the very best it can be is a goal we all can embrace. However, being willing to invest the time necessary to make it happen is my problem. How about you? --Dan Miller

During the month of September Ann Helmke will be teaching the adult Sunday school class at SAMC. It will be a Bible study using the five-session course she has written, "Living Faithfully in a Violent World". She encourages dialog and discussion in this study. Consider this your invitation to attend these classes. --Mary Miller

All year the children brought pennies, nickels, dimes and dollars to Sunday school to offer for a needy cause. As a culminating activity the children went see first hand where their total offering of $120.60 will be used.

On May 27th, the end of the Sunday school year, thirteen students, five teachers, and our tour guide, Miriam Kindy, boarded three minivans bound for the Catholic Worker House located on Nolan street. Miriam, who is a volunteer worker at the CWH and attends our church, did an excellent job of showing us the facility and telling us about its operations. She began the tour with reading a passage from the book of Matthew that says when we offer food, drink, clothes, comfort and hospitality to those in need, it's like doing it for Jesus. That, in a nutshell is the purpose of the CWH. It provides shelter for the homeless and for families that may be in transition or without employment. It operates totally on donations and volunteer workers.

Miriam then led us through the kitchen where volunteers cook meals for the guests. Anywhere from 25 to 50 people may file through the soup line four days a week. We were escorted upstairs where we saw the storage room for donated clothing and the guest bedrooms. Only one guest family was in the house on this day. After completing the tour and on our way out to the vans (we thought!) the children chose not to pass up the chance to have a good time on the play equipment in the back yard. Being the servant that she is, Miriam took this time and opportunity to treat the group to a "cup of cold water". How welcome and refreshing on a hot sultry day!

What better way for our children to learn the servant attitude of sharing, giving, and relating to those in need, than to see it modeled in our community and participate! --Mary Miller

"We commit ourselves to faith in God the Creator, through the Lordship of Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit. We commit ourselves to unite with the San Antonio Mennonite Church to corporate worship, service,and discipling. We will support her with our prayers, regular attendance, loyal service, and faithful stewardship as God gives us strength. We commit ourselves to live and share with others in the bonds of Christian fellowship, giving and receiving counsel in a spirit of love and honesty. We commit ourselves to share and bear one another's pain and joy."

Do you recognize this? It is our church covenant that we affirm as we sign it each year. As I typed it, I wondered who it was that wrote it, this call to be God's visible people, God's community here in San Antonio. The covenant certainly is a tradition that has withstood the years and that echoes the hopes of SAMC's beginnings-and our continued hopes for the present and future. Instead of signing the covenant in the spring (somewhat at the end of our year) we will be signing it in the fall. We envision it to be a good way to start our year together.

As some of us leave for vacation this summer and others stay, may we remember our life together, the joys and pains we have borne for and with each other. May we all ponder these covenant words for our individual selves and our church community selves. --Stacey Merkt

You're Invited!
The Worship Committee would like to invite you to participate in our planning for the coming year of September 2001 through May 2002. We had a planning day last year and it worked so well that we will do it again this year. We will be gathering at La Casa on Saturday, August 18, to spend the day reflecting (some) and planning (lots). It was extremely helpful to look at the whole year and it was wonderful to work with the worship committee along with some church folk. Our worship needs to be pertinent to who we are, so plan to come and share thoughts. Mark your calendars and plan to share.

It was the luck of the draw. Jonathan was the brains, Toby the legs, Daniel the arms, and I was the mouth. Our goal was to make cookies, but the only one who could read the recipe was Jonathan, the brain. But he couldn't mix or walk or talk. Daniel was the hands so he had to stir and measure, but he couldn't see. Toby was the gopher. He walked instructions to the mouth who read them and instructed the blind hands what to do. They took awhile to make, but the cookies turned out amazingly well!

We hope all of you mothers enjoyed your mother's day gift. Toby initiated the idea of doing something in honor of the mothers, so we invited all of the parents to drop off their children so they could enjoy some alone time. We played outside and inside, ate chalupas and watched a couple short videos, experienced a traumatic diaper change (ask Jacob how he felt about four people changing his diaper at once) and had a good time together.

A big thank you to those of you who have already generously contributed your time and money to the youth. We raised over $100.00 parking cars in the church parking lot during King William Fair and have received other donations from some of you. We will use this to help fund the many events coming up this summer. We plan to do an afternoon bike trip on June 24th, wall climbing at the Boerne climbing wall early in July, and work on building a canoe with Dan Williams towards the end of July. If you are interested in doing one of the activities with us, feel free to call Hugo or me with questions and to find out more details. --Danielle Miller

On Friday, May 18th, a dozen women from our church packed their bags and "headed for the hills"-literally. The Hill Country near Utopia, Texas beckoned to this group in search of rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation. Friday evening wound down at a leisurely pace, as did we and the fireflies. On Saturday, we enjoyed walking, bird-watching, biking, napping, talking, eating, reading, wading in the river, listening to the Spurs game, stitching, playing games…whatever we felt like doing. (The pastor's wife [in a moment of temporary insanity, ed.] was overheard mentioning the need to [expunge] someone over a game of Fast Scrabble.)

Around a campfire in the evening we filled our mouths with s'mores, our heads with stories, and our hearts with peace and quiet. Among other things we learned that Gloria was "raised in an outhouse" and that Linda's dad nicknamed her "Rabbit". Sunday morning we had a nourishing breakfast and time of sharing and singing together before packing our bags once again and heading for home. Even though the weekend seemed shorter than most, all of us found a moment to laugh, to listen, and to relax…helping us to return to our busy weeks ahead. --Deb Williams

In an effort to encourage more involvement from all Texas Mennonite churches that support the Texas Mennonite Relief Sale, several changes are being implemented. A Steering Committee is being established that would function similar to a board of directors. This group would meet at least several times during the year (mostly by teleconference) and give overall guidance to the sale. One person or couple from each congregation is being asked to serve on the steering committee. They are suggesting a 2-year term would be most helpful. It is hoped that these changes will help to make the Relief Sale more of a Texas sale and less of a Houston Sale. Anyone from our congregation interested in serving on the steering committee, please let me know. --Deb Miller

I will remember this VS unit as the one that likes driving through the night. The trip back from Missouri was the third trip that we have made together in the wee, dark hours of the night and early morning. We left late on Saturday night and arrived in Kansas City around noon. Spending a day in Kansas City with the VS unit there and seeing a bit of the city gave us a bit of time to relax before going into Missouri for retreat. We had a great time at retreat. It rained nearly everyday. It was very cold (especially for us Texans who didn't take much warm clothing). A tornado was spotted in the county where we were staying. But the fun of community and sharing stories and laughter with each other brought warmth to us all. We had to leave at 1:00 a.m. to be back in time for a graduation here in San Antonio. So, we packed up the car, padding the back seat with pillows and blankets for sleeping, and drove the 15 hours back home, rotating drivers and sleepers.

We enjoyed a trip earlier this spring to the Rio Grande Valley to visit with the VSers there as well as to experience a bit of the culture of the border. We were able to visit the detention center with Lisa, an MVSer in Harlingen. We spent time enjoying the beach and food of Brownsville with the Plett family and other folks who live in the VS unit in Brownsville.

We look forward to more changes coming our way this fall. Sara Huston, a recent EMU grad from Maryland and Rhiannon Checchio, a recent Goshen grad from Indiana will be joining the unit. Sara's placement will be at RAP and Rhiannon's at Inner City. We are very excited about filling the house again. We are planning a house work day and will invite the committee members as well as anyone else who would like to join us to do some renovations, cleaning and organizing of the back room so that it is fit to be used as a bedroom for one of the new volunteers. Look for specific information regarding the workday in the bulletin.

Thanks for the energy, resources and time that all of you put into MVS here in San Antonio. We appreciate all invitations to supper, the monetary support from SAMC, prayers, hand-me-downs, etc. that you so faithfully send our way. --Danielle Miller

My name is David Mauer. I am from Germany. I am 21 years old and I came to San Antonio on March 16, to do volunteer work at the House of Neighborly Service. I work as Volunteer Coordinator and Sports Director. I first came to the States in August 2000. I started to do volunteer work in Fresno California with Habitat for Humanity until I came here. My new assignment with HNS is great. I so enjoy my work there. It is a blast. Things in the VS House are going very good. Margaret, Aimee and I are getting along very well. It is lots of fun. Margaret and I went on one of the last weekends together with Danielle down to Brownsville. We visited the VSers down there and checked out some of their jobs. We also went to an immigration prison, where we took part at an introduction to the prisoners about the rights and about the chances of staying they have. It was very interesting. --David Mauer

On Memorial Day weekend, Marco Guete, Mid-Texas Conference Minister and Peter Hartman, South Central Conference Minister led the congregation in licensing Duane for the ministry. Duane has been serving as pastor since 1998 when he agreed to take the position on an interim basis. In July of 1999, it was decided Duane would go from part-time interim pastor to part-time pastor at which time the licensing process began. November of that same year brought the congregation to the decision to increase Duane's time by one day a week per year, until full time was reached in 2002 (with adaptations as needed). During this process Duane has received many words of affirmation from the congregation and is committed to serve as God leads him. --Deb Miller

In May we had a visit from the Vargas family--Blanca, Victor, Melina and Eduardo. It was love at first sight. Marco Guete and the support committee met with the Vargases informally and formally and found them to be ready and able to let the Spirit work through them to start a Spanish-speaking Mennonite church here in San Antonio. The congregation approved the committee's recommendation and invited the Vargases to serve alongside us. The family is originally from Colombia and they have started churches there. They have been in Kansas City for the last year and anticipate moving to San Antonio in July. Please continue to pray for them as they make this transition. --Gloria Beachey

April offerings		May offerings
1	$710.00	6	$1,000.00
8	$1,451.00	13	$421.00
15	$1,095.10	20	$546.00
22	$1,368.00	27	$1,568.00

HEY KIDS, HAVE YOU EVER PLAYED...
Have you ever played "Rock, Scissors, Paper"? Two players make fists with their right hands, then swing them up and down three times in front of themselves while saying "rock, scissors, paper." On the word "paper" both make their fists into a rock (fist) or scissors (two fingers like scissor blades) or paper (whole hand facing down).

In Macau children play a game much like "Rock, Scissors, Paper." Their game is called "Baau Jin Dak" Two players stand one at the top of the stairs and one at the bottom. Each aims to get to the other end of the stairs. Then they do the same motions as for "Rock, Scissors, Paper," while saying "Baau, Jin, Dak." Each time a player wins, he or she moves one step in that direction. The first player to reach the goal wins.

Are you willing to pray for the Macau mission team, their children, and God’s work in Macau every day for at least one month? If you are, COM would like to hear from you. We will mail you a page of pictures and prayer requests from Macau. Just write to: COM, P0 Box 347, Newton, KS 67114. Or send me an e-mail at jeanniez@gcmc.org.

John and Martha Bergen of La Riviere, Manitoba, don't fit the stereotype of retirees who spend their days taking packaged tours or playing shuffleboard.

"The need for honesty compels us to admit to being close to the world's worst tourists. Though we've had the opportunity to be part of several tour groups, we could never get excited about it. Lying around on beaches is not our thing, and we wouldn't last very long at a trailer park in one of the southern states," confessed John.

With more than a dozen SOOP (Service Opportunities for Older People) assignments behind them, this confession is no surprise. The Bergens retired to La Riviere in 1994, but their wanderlust, combined with a desire to serve, began taking them to places tourists rarely see.

"Our whole orientation as Mennonites is being our brothers' and sisters' keepers," said John. "It's about the importance of the little things, the 'cups of cold water,' the fixing of toilets, closing holes in floors, painting walls, cleaning storage spaces, cooking for young people who have come to serve."

So, armed with "a restless spirit, a van with some tools, and dominoes," they looked for something more fulfilling than tourism.

That "something" was a healthy helping of SOOP, a joint program of Mennonite Association of Retired Persons (MARP), Mennonite Board of Missions, and Mennonite Central Committee-Canada. People 50 years and older are invited to share their talents and experience at the many SOOP locations in the United States or Canada. SOOP expects volunteers to cover their own expenses, including travel, health insurance and medical costs, and occasionally food and lodging.

Beginning unofficially with a trip to Puerto Rico under MARP in the early 1990s, the Bergens have racked up a formidable menu of SOOP assignments. These include service at Mary-Martha House (San Antonio, Texas); Beaver Camp (Lowville, N.Y.); New Hope House (Griffin, Ga.); Drift Creek Camp (Lincoln City, Ore.); Lakewood Retreat Center (Brooksville, Fla.); Tuscarora Resource Center (Mt. Bethel, Pa.); Mennonite Housing (Wichita, Kan.); Jubilee Partners (Comer, Ga.); Lotts Creek Community School (Hazard, Ky.); as well as assignments in Atlanta and in Lima, Ohio.

The Bergens find that their SOOP experiences cook up some interesting stories. During the winter of 2000, they served as extension workers for Berea Mennonite Church in Atlanta. After removing layers of battered linoleum and carpet from the kitchen and dining room floors in the home of one low-income family, they patched holes and put down new linoleum. When they returned the next morning, the new flooring was already sporting a fresh hole and was too sticky for bare feet to risk.

"Martha took a bucket, filled it with water and soap, got down on her knees and thoroughly scrubbed the floor," says John. "Whenever we came after that, we were met with a big smile and a very clean floor!"

John and Martha collect more than just stories on their SOOP trips. They enjoy the escape from frigid Manitoba winters. Moreover, they find new friends at each location. "Always, we are amazed at the love and hospitality afforded us wherever we go," Martha said.

The living testimony of these friends is invaluable. "Though we rarely miss any Sunday worship services, our faith has been more challenged and strengthened by observing the 'walk' rather than the 'talk' of persons we have the opportunity to work with and for," John says. "We have learned to see people of different backgrounds, faiths, creeds or color through the eyes of Jesus; we have learned to be more tolerant, understanding and compassionate toward others."

The Bergens are eager to share SOOP, and they issue a challenge to other seniors: "Just do it! As important as your local church, your children and your grandchildren should rightly be, possibly the best example you could be to them would be to leave your comfort zone, your family and friends, your local church, and launch out," John said.

Martha issued one word of caution. "Once you start, it is pretty hard to stop," she said. "There is something catchy, some call that keeps you going back for more. Is it the challenging words and example of Jesus regarding servanthood? Is it his challenge that we need to learn to wash each other's feet? Perhaps. We have said many times that SOOP is the best thing that ever happened to seniors." --Elizabeth Beachy for MBM news (Reprinted with permission.)

Sarah Snider forwarded this announcement from her church bulletin a while back. "The 30 member RESOUND community choir will give their annual Christmas concert on Sunday, December 14, at 3pm in Martin Chapel of Eastern Mennonite University. Tickets are $5/adult; children under 12 free and are available from choir members or at the door."

MMA is looking for people who are excellent communicators--people who are optimistic, energetic, and determined, and who want to take an active role in helping those around them find solutions for the stewardship challenges and opportunities they face. If you know someone who would make a good MMA counselor, contact MMA at (800) 348-7468, Ext. 202 or mycareer@mma-online.org. --Deb Miller

Our vision is to be a caring community, being transformed by Christ's love, so that we share God's peace with all people.

June 10-14	Mid-Texas Children's Camp
July 2-7	National Conference in Nashville
August 10-12	S. Central/Western District Conference

	SAMC NEWSLETTER JUNE 2001
San Antonio Mennonite Church 1443 S. St. Mary's San Antonio TX 78210 (210) 533-0642