Reflections

It is hard to believe that we are about to begin our fifth day in California. It's been a joy so far! Speaking as the leader (Jill) I can say that this is a wonderful group of girls to be with. On Monday evening we had our first day at Bible School. Rosy and I lead the junior high group, Megan and Laura Penner from the church lead the 3rd-5th grade class and Calla and Edith from the church have the K-2nd graders. We have a wide variety of busy bodies and quiet kids. On Monday, I counted around 40 kids! We are learning about God's instructions for our lives and times in the Bible when God met people on the Mountain. It's great to see the girls' compassion towards the kids and concern for each one of them.
Speaking of meeting God on the mountain, yesterday before Bible School we got up early and drove to Yosemite National Park. What a place to meet God on the mountain! We knew it was our only day to get there and decided it was a necessary quick trip to fit in since we're so close. With the road construction it did take up over 3 hours but was so worth it!
Another part of this experience so far that has been a lot of fun is making new friends and meeting so many new people in Reedley. One glimpse into this - last night after Bible School we made a spontaneous trip to a west coast smoothie shop, Jamba Juice. Our group went with Sarah Pohl (a ministry inquiry student from Bethel College in KS), Shoroq (an MCC volunteer in Reedley for a year but she leaves on Saturday) and Dietrich Reimer (who is from Reedley and the church, just graduated from college). We got smoothies and sat in the back of the pickup truck for a long time talking about our experiences and discussing many exciting topics about life. The girls have also been enjoying getting to know the high school youth from the church and adults who have been so kind to them.

I asked each of the girls to give me a brief reflection about where they have seen God in the last few days. This is what each one of them wrote:

I've seen God through the faces of the wonderful people who opened their doors for us. The church family is so friendly, that inside myself I had tears of how a small congregation can make a difference in the lives of the youth and the Hispanic community. - Rosy

I've seen God in nature at Yosemite National Park that our God created all this! His fingerprints are all over it: the cliffs, waterfalls, trees. Also the kids and people at First Mennonite are amazing. When I see my kindergarten-2nd grad kids smile or laugh it brings me an inner joy. I know God's at work here. - Calla

We've only been here for 4 days and I already see God in many places. The faces of the children as they dance during worship, the majestice background of the Sierra Navadas, and the passion of my teammates for Christ and service all reflect God's presence in Reedley. This congregation has welcomed us in a most amazing way, and I feel blessed to worship with them. - Megan

Check out the recent pictures below!

Picture update of what has been happening

Amazing Vernal Falls in Yosemite

We stopped for lunch on these rocks on our hike up to Vernal Falls

The three girls :) - Calla, Rosy and Megan

On our drive into Yosemite there is this rather breathtakingly beautiful lookout point.

Powerful rocks in Yosemite National Park

This is no joke, someone seriously gave us this convertible to drive for our 3 weeks here. Very generous church!

Teacher Rosy! Excited to meet God on the mountain at Bible School (and side trips to the for real mountains)

Baldamar and Brenda painting at Bible School

Rosy and Jill's junior high class learned about mountain geography and painted this mountain at Bible School. They LOVE art projects.

must include this great picture of Pastor Steve Penner fully enjoying a peach!

A few photos from Sunday

Here we are! the team in front of First Mennonite. Left to right: Jill Schmidt, Megan Leary, Calla Stinson and Rosy Coronado.There was a block party at church tonight with food and bouncy houses for the kids. It was a way to reach out to the community and advertise for Bible School. We sported our Youth Venture shirts to let people know who we are.

Cathy Ratmeyer on the left is the host for the girls. Barabara Ewy on the right works at the church and is essentially our local coordinator.

First Mennonite Church

The community gathered at the block party.

Settling in

Reedley! We are here! After one day of life in California it's time for a brief update. Friday was a day of travel for all of us. By about 1:00 am 3 of us were settled into our homes. Megan was our first arrival after having come straight from a week or DOOR with her youth group in Chicago, she spent the evening catching up on sleep while the rest of us made our way here. I finally got to Fresno late evening after a day of planes, trains and automobiles, and Rosy was our last arrival of the day. Our dedicated local coordinator, Barbara Ewy and her kids graciously made a couple of Fresno runs to pick us up and make the late night with us. Calla traveled to Fresno with her family on Friday and joined us Saturday morning.
We had a busy first day. Rosy and Megan woke up on eastern/central time and spent a long morning hanging out and getting to know their host, Cathy. I on the other hand slept the morning away and had to hurry to meet for our first time together as a group at 11. We took the afternoon to get acquainted with the schedule for the trip and each other, learn about the church and our roles at Bible school next week and do some preparation for it. In the evening, we got to meet Sarah Pohl who is in the Ministry Inquiry Program at First Mennonite. She is a Bethel College student from Kansas. Sarah joined us for a trip to Fresno where we also meet up with a couple of MVSers and watched a Shakespeare in the park play, The Merchant of Venice.
All in all, we're enjoying California. The people have been very welcoming, the sun is bright (and warm), the fruit tastes amazing, the view of the mountains in the distance is beautiful (just ask Rosy, she'll tell you how much she likes that :)) and we are excited about the next 3 weeks.
Soon we will enjoy our first service at First Mennonite Church and get to know more of the church family.

Our Reedley Youth Venture Assignment

For 3 weeks from June 26 to July 17, our Youth Venture team to Reedley, CA will be partnering with First Mennonite Church of Reedley. We will be hosted by a member of the congregation and the pastor. Reedley is a town of about 25,900 located 22 miles east-southeast of Fresno in central California. It is knows as "The World's Fruit Basket" as it's main economic source is fruit and vegetable agriculture. It is located within an hour of Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
First Mennonite Church in Reedley has services in both English and Spanish (http://www.fmcreedley.org/). FMC seeks to provide meaningful activities for children whose parents are working and to provide Bible study and training in conflict resolution and good decision-making. The YV team will be joining FMC's mission to the community by helping with the evening Vacation Bible School the first week as teachers and activity leaders. We will be using Mennonite Publishing Network's curriculum, Meet God on the Mountain. The second two weeks during the afternoons we will be working with the continued summer programing as activity leaders and "counselors/teachers" as the Kids and Conflict and Kids and Values curriculums are used for the children who remain in the program after VBS.
Other possible activities:

• We will volunteer with the MCC thrift store in Reedley on Wednesday mornings, June 30 and July 7. We may also help in the quilt center.
• The second two Wednesdays we will be part of the youth group activities at church.
• Attend worship services
• Visit local farms/packing sheds, museums, church members and more
• Trips to National Park(s) and the California coast
• Attend local Reedley and Fresno community events
• Make friends!

Our team to Reedley is made up of three participants and one leader. We are...

Calla Stinson, Salem, OR

just finished sophomore year at

Western Mennonite School

Megan Leary, Newton, KS

just graduated from Newton High School

Rosy Coronado, Pettisville, OH
just graduated from high school

Jill Schmidt, Newton, KS
Team Leader

works at Mennonite Mission Network
as a recruiter for the service programs

What is Youth Venture?

Youth Venture is a short term service program of Mennonite Mission Network that offers a glimpse into service and the world around us. Youth Venture is dedicated to helping youth and young adults explore God's presence in the world. It provides opportunities for individual youth to join together for a one to four week service/learning experience. Adult leaders participate as team members with the youth as they serve, learn and discover how they can become life-long partners of God's ministry of healing and hope in the world. www.mennonitemission.net/Serve/YV/
Participants are challenged to:

• Build relationships with God's people
• Strengthen their personal faith
• See where God is at work
• Discover gifts and talents in themselves and others
• Challenge assumptions about the way the world functions
• Explore a new culture or setting
• Catch a vision for mission and service as a lifestyle

Mennonite Mission Network (MMN) is the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA. MMN exists to lead, mobilize and equip the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. MMN's goal as the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA is that every congregation and all parts of the church will be engaged in God's mission across the street and around the world. MMN has a distinctively Anabaptist approach to mission. It holds evangelism, witness and personal transformation together with peace, justice and social transformation, believing that each of these values have an important place within the kingdom of God.

For information about who the Mennonites are visit www.thirdway.com/Menno/