myf newsletter dc 2010

8/8/2019 MYF Newsletter DC 2010

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MYF NewsletterA look at social justice in Washington, D.C. from June 30- July 5, 2010

by the Raleigh Mennonite Church Jr. and Sr. High.

Can Soccer And Fireworks

Change The World?

By Janelle Bitikofer, MYF Leader

We spent Fourth of July in theU.S. capital, dishing up lunch formore than 150 homelesswomen and men, in a soupkitchen in the basement of achurch with stained glasswindows. The tables were full,and the holiday chicken dinners

celebrating the founding of oneof the richest nations on Earthdisappeared quickly into hungry,reaching hands.

The lunch crowd arrived, somealone, some in groups. Over100 men, a few women, andone little boy, aged three, slidinto seats at long tables. Theystashed their few possessions

beneath the chairs by their feet.Some greeted each other,already aquainted from thestreets, or from eating herebefore. Five middle-aged Latinomen hurried through theirchicken dinners, then started

their weekly card game at theirnotorious table by the door.

There was a community here.But for us, it was only oursecond day. We were visitors.All we carried were trays of foodin clean, white, latexed hands.

As an outsider I appreciatedhow much the staff really caredabout the lunchers here. Theyspent their days-off from otherjobs, every week, handing outmeals, hand-shakes, andsmiles. But of course thevolunteers were mostly white,and the lunchers were mainlyAfrican-American, with tiny

groups of Latinos scattered hereand there.

I wondered how all these folkscould celebrate "IndependenceDay," with enthusiasm, in acountry where they were clearly


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living on society's bottom rung.I could see that many in ourvolunteer group felt out ofplace. We were helping, but notmuch. A chicken dinner is only

a band-aid to hunger andhomelessness. And we knewnothing about these peoples'lives. Could we ever make animpact? Were we just tokenmiddle-class folks spending afew measley days handing outfood, as if that was fixing theproblem of poverty? There wasa silent barrier between the twogroups -- the helpers and thehelpees. And what was thepoint in that? There was noway here to make a permanentchange in a life, because wewere new, and there was norelationship to build on.

But there were two things we allhad in common that day atlunch, I found. Despite the

inequalities; despite the factthat so much in our country andour world still clearly needs toimprove and to change. Still, nomatter what color our handswere, and no matter which sideof the dinner plate those handswere on, we all cared about atthe same two things on thatJuly 4th afternoon. 1.) It was

the day of the World Cupquarter-finals, and 2.) the fouthof July fireworks werecoming soon!

People tell me it's hard to talk to"the homeless." It's "scary" totry to start a conversation with

people who are different fromme and you. We don't knowwhere to start. It's even harderif we find ourselves members ofthe middle class or the wealthy

minority, trying to come along-side and build friendships withpeople who we think might beoffended by our wealth and ourquestions, or upset by our clearlack of understanding aboutwhat their lives are really like,and what their dreams arereally about.

But on this day, at this soupkitchen, with just one question -- "Where's the best place to seefireworks in DC?" --- my friendNatalie and I received a wealthof guidance, wisdom, and a fewinvitations to join ourwelcoming, lunching friends. Wegot invited to dance with agroup of Latino's beneath thefireworks down at the river's

edge at 6pm. We jotted downdirections to several great"family friendly" picnic spotsshared by a group of seeminglysingle, homeless, men --- one ofwhom said he missed his eightyear old son very much, butthat he and the son's motherhad gotten a divorce and nowhe didn't know where they lived.

We also got insider-advice towatch the fireworks from atop abridge over the water. This wasrecommended to us by alunching man who "used towork down that way when Iworked for the city, before I lostmy job awhile back."


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And beyond the discussion offireworks there were therivalries that got peoplelaughing, arguing, and punching

each other lightly on theshoulder regarding thatmorning's winners and losers inthe World Cup in South Africa.

As we cleaned up after themeal, one of our teens stoodoutside the kitchen door jokingwith a group of Latino guysabout a recent World-Cup loss.As their laughter and banter gotlouder, the kitchen crew, bothstaff and volunteers, turnedtoward the chatter, pausingtheir work. I smiled.

It seems conversations that canput us all on equal footing are

not hard to initiate after all.Most everyone loves acelebration, a good sportsgame, a certain kind of music, apet, a child, or an old friend or

relative who used to make freshbaked rolls. All we have to do isstart with a simple conversationand build the relationship fromthere. And while a plate of food,a puppet show at the shelter,and a bed to sleep on are greatbeginnings in the fight againstpoverty, I believe it isrelationships that change eachone of use. Perhaps it is alsoour relationships that can finallyhave an impact on the problemof poverty -- one person, oneconversation, one friendship ata time.

Sojourning withSojourners:

A DC MemoryBy Ari Chenlo, Age 16

After a five hour drive, the RaleighMennonite youth quickly unloaded countlessbags of empty oatmeal cans, snacks to last a lifetime, and more sleeping bags than one couldimagine. After the twenty minute unloadingadventure, the youth took a quick bathroombreak and munched briskly on a snack aseveryone prepared to embark on their first true expedition in the city.

Anxiously waiting to see the capital of the country, the MYF wenton a fifteen minute walk to the nearest Metro stop; Prince GeorgesPlaza, better known as Prince Charming to the youth and their leaders.As the group purchased their metro passes and figured out where theirnext stop would be, a security guard approached them to inform themthat the station where they were wishing to get off was closed due to a


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bomb threat. Suddenly squirming to find an alternate route, the MYFfinally boarded the metro on their way to Sojourners Magazinesheadquarters.

As the doors of the elevator opened, it was evident thatSojourners was a place for hard work and rich history, and the MYF

learned so through listening to three staff members;Sojourners magazine, which appears monthly, was first

published in 1971. Originally known as The Post-American, thepublication began when a group of Trinity Evangelical Divinity Schoolstudents began to meet regularly, discussing the relationship betweentheir faith and politics. Thus, the first publication ofThe Post-Americanemerged. Currently, the magazine chooses to focus on social justice,life and peace, and environmental awareness. Alongside theircommitment to the written word, a handful of its staff members live incommunity; sharing their faith, getting involved in their neighborhood,and organizing events, while working for the magazine at the sametime.

Sojourners work with community is amazing. Living incommunity really reminded me of our own Service Adventure exceptfor the fact that they work for the magazine rather than do service astheir work. Talking to the interns allowed me to see how they use theirown talents to do something awesome for God and the world. Manytimes I sit and wonder what in the world Im good at and how I canuse that for Gods kingdom. Im not going to lie, I have a hard time ofthinking of these sometimes, but I realized that the things Im good atdont necessarily have to be singing or dancing or be brilliant. Rather,

the mere fact that I can be a complete goof helps others open upmaking it easier to share Gods love with them.

Jamila LarsonBy Sharada Weaver, Age 11

Jamila Larson is one talentedperson. One of the great thingsabout her is she cares for youngkids and families who havetrouble but who also dont have


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homes. Jamila got interested inhelping children when hergodmother suggested being asocial worker. At first she didntreally want to. Later on, she got

interested. One of the thingsthat got her interested is blackand white pictures spoke to herand meant something to her.They told her that she shouldhelp. Or consider it. So then shemoved to DC, to help theChildrens defense center, aftercollege.

Her parents suggested doingsomething called Habitat forHumanity. While she wasinterested in helping homelesskids, she volunteered to helpwith Habitat. Later, she went toa homeless shelter and she sawrows and rows of metal beds.Most homeless kids werebarefoot. Another thing at theshelter that didnt seem quit

right was the people there keptthe toys locked up so the kidswouldnt make a mess. Now,kids today probably all havetoys to play with. And it isntfair if these kids dont have anytoys to play with. Jamila knewthat wasnt right. So shedecided she should ask peopleto help. Jamila knew that the

kids should have a room to playin. And she announce to thestaff that the kids should have aplay room. The people alsothought the kids shouldnt havemany snacks, toilet paper, soap,and other things, so that thehomeless families would not get

too comfortable, and would notfeel at home at the shelter.

Sometimes in homeless sheltersif there are families with maybe

an older boy, like age sixteen.They cant stay with theirfamily. The reason is becausethe people think that olderboy/s could scare the youngerkids. So older boys have to goto a different shelter withhomeless men and care forthemselves.

When you walk down the street,you usually see homeless men.Right? Why is that? They saythat homeless men are morevisible than families. They callthe families the hidden families.

Later on, when Jamila workedand helped the kids at the bigDC shelter, they had to switchshelters, and put the kids

somewhere else, because theshelter wasnt good for kids. Atthe new shelter, some of thehelpers there wanted to cheerup the kids, by having acarnival, and sometimes theyhad an ice cream truck come bywith free ice cream! Thevolunteers of Jamilasorganization, the Playtime

Project, go every week to playwith little kids at the D.C.shelters.

I think what Jamila has done isa great thing. It has inspired meto be more open to homelesspeople. And that they probably


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have more trouble than us. AndI think we shouldnt be as upsetabout the little things that weloose, because if you think ofpeople who dont have homes,

its different. For example, in abig storm we can loose powerand yes, we complain. But if youthink about it at least we haveshelter and a home. Some ofthese people dont have homes,which is sad to lots of people.

We know that the world haschanged a lot and still somethings havent. But the PlaytimeProject people try to make theworld a better place, especially

for these kids. And we knowthat Jamila has helped changedthe world for some of thesekids, here. And we know thatshe will never give up trying.She is amazing at her job andalways will be!

Loaves and Fishes Soup KitchenBy Anali Martin, Age 13

After taking the metro to Colombia Heights, we went to the groundfloor of St. Stephens Episcopal Church to serve at Loaves and FishesSoup Kitchen. We came into the kitchen that resembled a regularcafeteria kitchen. Waiting for us to serve were four other volunteersand three massive trays of Shepherds Pie. We put on our latex glovesand got to work putting together about 300 plates of food and servingalmost 150 people.

On our second day there, serving around 250 people and having about10 more volunteers, we served a hearty meal of chicken, green beans,rolls, and festive cookies to celebrate the Fourth of July. In the kitchenit was packed and toasty with a group of 12 people in the assemblyline making about 350 plates of food, along with people doinginventory of giant cans of baked beans and boxed instant potatoflakes. Nearing the end of our time, we were interrupted by peoplebringing communion down for the volunteers and homeless. Mostpeople stopped the lunch preparation to take the offering.

This was the normal routine of Loaves and Fishes that started in 1968.

We got the privilege of working with some of the people who had beenthere since the beginning. Loaves and Fishes was started at St.Stephens when people from the streets to the afternoon coffee socialon Sundays, going there for a free meal. Most DC soup kitchens serveonly on the weekdays, so Loaves and Fishes serves on the weekendsand federal holidays that land on Mondays. There were various jobslike serving, making plates, dish washing, inventory, and talking with


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the homeless. It was cool to chat with the people you would seesleeping near the metro or living in Moore Square here in Raleigh.

After serving the yummy smelling food until 2 oclock with no lunch,we were ready for a rest and meal. But after we left we were still

talking about it that evening at our discussions. Some people as I saidhad been able to talk with the lunchers about their day and casualconversation. We also talked with the volunteers about their time withLoaves and Fishes. We learned that treating everyone equally madeserving and conversation easier and more pleasant. It was anotherexperience with the homeless that gave us an opportunity to learn.

Bill MackayeBy Leah Weaver, Age 14

When asked his profession, BillMacKaye will tell you that hesan editor and writer, andoccasionally a guest greeter. Ifyou visit Loaves and FishesSoup Kitchen, however, youll

soon learn that Bill is muchmore than that hes adedicated volunteer.

For over forty years, Mr.MacKaye has been giving up hisweekends and the occasionalMonday to come and servefood to the homeless at Loavesand Fishes. Hes been here eversince the program began, and

he doesnt think hell be leavinganytime soon. Its not a burden[to come and serve]; its justthe way I live, explainsMacKaye. I dont see a point inlooking for a new thing.

To me, this is just amazing.How could someone stick withone thing for so long? With allthe change taking place in the

world, it takes a lot ofdedication to stay steadfast andloyal to one place and a groupof people. For MacKaye, theprograms he volunteers atbecome part of his life. So muchso, in fact, that he is on themanagement board for Loaves


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and Fishes. The board raises themoney for the program itcosts about $120,000 a year and brings in other churches tohelp support and provide the

weekend meals.

Loaves and Fishes is anespecially important foodkitchen, according to Bill,because most places are openonly Monday through Friday.There has to be a place for thepeople to eat over the weekend,and it is for this reason thatLoaves and Fishes is open solelyon Saturdays and Sundays, aswell as federal holidays that fallon Mondays.

Loves and Fishes is also uniquebecause of its dislike for

regulations. We dont askquestions, we dont check ID,says Bill. Its because of thisthat anyone even people whoarent homeless are able to

receive food at the kitchen. Thisis also why, despite thekitchens wishes, people couldbe selling the free meals onstreet corners, or fibbing abouta sick friend to get an extrameal. We provide what wecan.

The volunteers at Loaves andFishes, especially Bill MacKaye,are focused on one thing: tocarry out their mission. And itswhat theyve been doing, eversince 1968.

The Love of God and Sock Puppets

By Erin Martin, Age 16Cinderella, dressed in yella rangthroughout the first floor at the DCGeneral Shelter. The kids were busyjumping rope, making sock puppets anddrums, putting on puppet shows, chowingdown on pretzel sticks and carrots, andplaying all number of games. We thoughtbecause we had gone the night before towork with the kids, today would be asnap; little did we know that five little kids

could be such a handful. Even thoughbetween the 11 of us supervisors wewere all almost always busy, I had timeenough to learn a little about myself, mypeers, and the children we were workingwith:

1. Amy is a master with the glue gun,


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and Leah makes awesome sock puppets.

2. I am not as good at jump rope as I thought.3. These children are just like any others Ive met. You would

never guess that they live from meal to meal every day, not

knowing if theyll be able to sleep in the same place that night.Theyre full of so much happiness and love that you cant help

but want to snuggle them up and take them home.

4. Gods love shone through to me in the kids smiles, in their hugs,and in their constant eagerness for my attention and approval. I

felt loved and wanted, felt like God was telling me These kids

need you, these kids are my sign of love to you.

The Children of DC GeneralBy Hillary Lobar, MYF Leader

The new grassstands tall, frosted with dew

as if the tears of God himself have blessed itor marked it with the Curse.

Our feetnestled warmly in our shoes, tread upon it.

Its certainly not our fault, we say,

The seeds which gave rise to the grassshould have been more carefulabout where they had fallen.

The grassshould have chosen safer soil,somewhere less in our way.


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After all, its certainly not our fault.We do not sin walking upon it.

It will spring back upGrass is resilient, isnt it?

Isnt it?

Eating is Fun-damentalBy Amy Vercler, MYF Leader

The willingness to try newthings in general and thewillingness to try new foods inparticular are valuable life skills,particularly when traveling.Washington D.C. is a deliciousmelting pot of cultures and foodfrom around the globe.Thankfully, the MYF was

adventurous enough to try foodfrom four different continentsduring our visit. Our culinarytravels covered North America,Latin America, Europe and Asia.

North AmericaUnfortunately, our interactionwith North American food wasmostly the stereotypical fast

food fatty fare. Our stopsincluded Wendys, Chick-Fil-A,Subway, a mall food court, andRuby Tuesdays. The everhealth conscious youth,however, chose wisely andavoided the dread obesity. Thebest meal in this category was

by far the cook-out at the homeof Erin and Analis aunt anduncle. Thanks, Martin Claasenfamily!

Latin America

One of the highlights of ourvictual visits was the empanadarestaurant in Columbia Heights.Empanadas, baked doughpockets filled with sweet orsavory goodness, are atraditional staple in a number ofLatin American countries. Our

brief stop at the SmithsonianFolklife Festival also yieldedsome of the group a tasting ofauthentic Mexican soda andburritos.

EuropeMaybe this is a stretch, but weordered pizza one night. Pizzais generally thought to have

originated in Italy. Italy is inEurope. It was delicious.

AsiaAn evening meal at aVietnamese restaurant withJamila Larson from the PlaytimeProject expanded our horizons


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to Asia. Although the servicewas so slow that some membersof our party did not get theirfood until it was time to leave,those of us who did get to eat

really enjoyed it. Noodles,spice, vegetables, spring rollsyumtastic. On another day, theSmithsonian Folklife Festivalserved up chicken masala andmango lassis for part of thegroup. The classic Indian dish

of spicy sauced chicken with riceand cooling mango yogurt drinkhit the spot on a steamyevening.

While not everyone liked thefood at every place we ate, theyall demonstrated a remarkableaptitude for adapting to thesituation. And best of all, noone got food poisoning!

RecreationBy David Allemang, Age 12 & Sam Weaver, Age 11

The ZooOne evening we decided to go to the zoo because Natalie wanted tosee zebras, Anali wanted to see giraffes, Ari wanted to see elephants,and Leah wanted to see seals. When we went to the zoo, however,there wasnt much to do there. It was after 6 so most of the exhibitswere closed. First of all, Sean gave bad directions so we walked a mileout of the way before we got to the zoo. Then, there were only twoanimals there: an Emu, and a type of cat. To make up for the lack of

animals, everyone there was joking that there were a lot of babycheetahs before the cocoon stage. The only animals there were anabundance of small songbirds. We (for some weird reason) startedcalling them baby cheetahs that had just hatched, but hadnt reachedthe cocoon stage. Other than that, there wasnt much to do, sinceeverything was closed.

The FireworksThe fireworks on July 4th were amazing. We watched them sitting onthe mall, looking toward the Washington Monument. When we got

there it was rather crowded but we found a good spot to lay out thestuff. We had brought a soccer ball so some of us went to pass the ballaround. When it got darker everyone grouped up and sat in wait of themarvelous show that was about to unfold. It was not short in coming,and soon the sky was filled with bursts of blues and greens and othermagnificent hues. We sat awestruck until it was finally over 13


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minutes later. We then got up and had to wait in a line for the metroand took about thirty minutes getting back.

International Spy MuseumAt the International spy museum busy days are incredibly busy. Theline that covered most of the first floor also extended out onto thestreet. It probably took about forty minutes to get into the museumpart of the building. Once we were inside,we were supposed to pickan undercover identity. My name was Billy Henderson. I was 13.Afterward all the undercover agents entered another room to watcha video about spying. Honestly I didnt really get the point of it. Atthe very end of our self guided tour, we had to take a test about oursecret identity. I lost. We then stopped by the gift shop, and each ofus got a souvenir.

MetroOur main source of travel was of course the metro. We would walkfrom the house where we were staying to the metro station at PrinceGeorges Plaza. We used mostly the green and blue lines.This was how we got to many places including the homeless shelter,Fireworks and the Soup kitchen. The main thing we will probablyremember about the metro is how crowded it was after the fireworks. Iremember being able to pull myself up with the bars and let go andstill be elevated!


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Hillary Lobar and friend Angel atthe Shelter

Ariana Chenlo with a youngsterat The Playtime Project at DCGeneral Hypothermia shelter.

Teaching Puppet and Drum-making at DC General

Serving up lunch at the soupkitchen on July 4th.

Making Shepherds Pie atShepherds Table July 3rd.

Playing and making friends atthe Playtime Project


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myf newsletter dc 2010

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