Sept. 28, 2009 issue
Exchange links Indiana, French youth
By Hannah Heinzekehr Mennonite Mission NetworkELKHART, Ind. — For three weeks in July, 14 French youth immersed themselves in North American Mennonite culture.
Margax Woehrle, left, and Sarah Ostertag, students from France as part of a U.S-France exchange, sort and shelve books at the Boys and Girls Club of Goshen. — Photo by Ryan Miller/Mennonite Mission Network
Next year, youth from the United States will do the same in France.
“This was an opportunity to get to know about the culture of the Mennonites that’s very developed here,” said participant Luc Calache. “They have so many foundations and organizations established.”
Group members were hosted by U.S. families, many of whom had teenagers living at home. Families and participants were able to meet each other before the exchange through Facebook and e-mail, and they plan to continue using the Internet to stay in touch.
The group visited Mennonite institutions in the area, including Goshen College, the Mennonite Church USA offices in Elkhart and Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart.
French youth tried homemade Mexican food and an Amish meal served in Shipshewana.
They also spent time on service projects at the Boys and Girls Club in Goshen, where they moved boxes, put up bulletin boards in classrooms and organized a library. They also worked at Amigo Centre in Sturgis, Mich.
Merle Hostetler, pastor at East Goshen Mennonite Church, helped coordinate the schedule.
The idea for the exchange grew out of Joie et Vie (Joy and Life), a French Mennonite association that is in contact with Mennonite Mission Network worker Janie Blough, who works with her husband, Neal, in Saint-Maurice, a suburb of Paris. The organization, led by Denis Peterschmitt, hoped to put together an exchange for youth ages 14 to 17 to enhance cultural understanding and to allow youth to build relationships with other Mennonites around the world.
“We are already making plans for welcoming our young American guests next summer,” Peterschmitt said.
Comments
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I love the exchange program because it gives church youth from either side of the Atlantic the opportunity to travel, learn and develop ideas to be contributing adults in the future. I love northern Indiana, I was raised there, however a visit to the South, to poorer congregations and in the homes of our African American and Indian students could be equally beneficial for all. Would that our minority church youth could contribute and benefit from this program as well. If you expand, I can help.
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