Ben Baumgartner's reflections

This summer I participated in !Explore, a theological program for high school juniors and seniors, along with 12 other youth throughout the United States. This program, developed by Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, gives youth a chance to both explore theology and learn what it is like to serve in the church. The program is divided into two parts, a three-week group experience which I did in June, and a 100 hour internship at a local church.

At 3:00 A.M. on June 4 I boarded the train from Newton to Chicago along with Isaac Yoder-Schrock of Moundridge and Jen Warkentine of Wichita. We had no idea that such an awesome experience would lie ahead of us. Our group spent the first two days at Mirror Valley and Amigo Centre in southern Michigan where we got to know each other and were exposed to different spiritual disciplines. We then packed up into two vans and headed off to AMBS, where we would return once again after a trip to Chicago.

Although the days often varied, our mornings were usually spent in theological exploration groups of about six people in order to talk about the theological questions which we all had chosen beforehand. Some of the questions from my group included asking why good people suffer, exploring how the church should respond to homosexuality, inquiring about the denomination’s different baptism practices, and my own question, which was wondering if people of other religions can go to heaven. Our leader, Gayle Gerber Koontz, was very helpful in suggesting thought-provoking reading material and allowed us to discover our own beliefs. This was one of my favorite parts of !Explore, and has inspired me to continue thinking and reading about theology.

After theological exploration groups, we would enjoy the delicious homemade food at AMBS before going on to afternoon activities, which sometimes included a trip to a local place of interest. Some of the places we went were Goshen College’s Mary Lea Environmental Center, Menno-Hof (an Anabaptist history museum), and a Catholic church at Notre Dame. The evenings were often filled with a short lecture by a seminary professor on topics such as pastoral care or worship leading, followed by a rousing game of Ultimate Frisbee. We would finally retire to our houses and enjoy such things as listening to our amazing guitar players, playing Rook, drinking Yerba mate, watching Canadian comedy, or just sitting around and talking.

Sandwiched between the time at AMBS was a trip to inner city Chicago where we participated in the D.O.O.R. program (Discovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection). Each day groups of three or four would take the bus to a work site where we did various tasks. My favorite day was spent at a mainly Hispanic daycare center where I got to play soccer with the children, listen to their incredible stories, and swim in a pool with them where I was definitely in the minority. Some of the other things I did were to unload food at a homeless shelter, paint a school room, and chop vegetables for a soup kitchen with some nuns who said the “Hail Mary” for over 30 minutes, which was quite interesting. These sometimes shocking experiences opened my eyes to the rich diversity of the city, as well as the poverty that is so prevalent there.

The final two days were once again spent at Mirror Valley where we had a Sabbath meal before our day of rest in which we processed all that we had experienced. Regretfully, it eventually came time to say goodbye to all the new friends we had made and so, at 3:00 A.M. on June 28, Isaac, Jen, and I arrived back at the Newton train station. It was been an experience unlike any other I’ve ever had in which I learned and did new things, met new friends, learned more about myself and my beliefs, and discovered more of who God is.

I got two days of much needed rest before going with my MYF at Whitestone to the Mennonite Youth Convention in San Jose, where I got to see many of the friends I had just said goodbye to. Although I had done a little bit before June, it wasn’t until after convention that I really began the congregational part of !Explore. My internship was at Whitestone Mennonite Church of Hesston, Kan., with pastor Mark Miller, who was of tremendous help to me. The first thing we started doing was to begin preparing a sermon. By watching Mark go through the process, reading books on preaching he suggested to me, and doing the actual preparation with his guidance, I was able to do something I had never thought I was capable of. My favorite part of the process was studying the text, the Beatitudes, next to the actual delivery, which was the payoff for all those hours of preparation.

Another thing I got the opportunity to do while with the church was to teach the second grade Sunday school class. Again this was something totally new for me, but I found out that teaching is something that I actually enjoy. The last part of my internship was visiting two elderly persons at the retirement center in our town. I first accompanied pastor Wendy Miller on a visit and then Mark Miller before trying it on my own. Initially I was very intimidated by going in for a visit with two people I didn’t know, and I feared that I wouldn’t know what to say. But to my amazement and relief, visiting became something that I looked forward to every week and it turned out to be an extremely positive experience. It was so nice to find out that I wasn’t the one that needed to do all the talking, mainly I just listened to their interesting stories.

When I first decided to do the !Explore program I had no clue what I was getting myself into. I thought I would like the theological aspect of it, which I certainly did, but I had no idea how much we would actually do and that I would enjoy my internship at Whitestone so much. This summer was an invaluable chance to explore theology and service in the church, but it was also a great opportunity to do new things, meet new people, and grow in my faith. I hope that !Explore will be able to continue providing this kind of experience for years to come.