{"id":37417,"date":"2018-03-22T10:02:29","date_gmt":"2018-03-22T14:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=37417"},"modified":"2018-08-21T12:17:05","modified_gmt":"2018-08-21T16:17:05","slug":"sore-arms-tamales-and-selfless-hospitality-for-spring-break-y-trip-volunteers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/sore-arms-tamales-and-selfless-hospitality-for-spring-break-y-trip-volunteers\/","title":{"rendered":"Sore arms, tamales and \u2018selfless hospitality\u2019 for spring break Y-trip volunteers"},"content":{"rendered":"

They headed south, but not for a warm spring break beach. Instead, they chose what would at times be grueling work, and to learn from the people and places they would meet and visit.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Civil rights tour participants visited pivotal locations and museums of the movement. (Photo courtesy of Skyy Brinkley)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And they were well received.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Eastern Mennonite University students on four Y-trips this spring all found their way to Georgia, but each had a unique destination: Jubilee Partners, Casa Alterna and Habitat for Humanity, and various historic sites of the Civil Rights Movement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Y-trips are coordinated by the Young People\u2019s Christian Association, or Y-Serve, the longest-running student organization at EMU. It aims to \u201cserve others as the hands and feet of Jesus.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read about Y-Serve, <\/b>EMU\u2019s oldest and most influential student organization<\/b><\/a>, and <\/b>see a timeline of its history<\/b><\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n

Jubilee: real work, real people<\/h3>\n

At Jubilee Partners, an intentional Christian community in Comer, Georgia, that offers hospitality to refugees, Emma Stutzman spent hours digging swales to capture and store rainwater. The taxing work took her out of her comfort zone and led to \u201csore arms, sweaty bodies and blisters.\u201d She knew, though, that the work \u201cwould lead to better irrigation for the garden, which would in turn lead to better crops, and that this would mean Jubilee would be better able to provide for the refugees that it hosts,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

In sessions that Stutzman said were \u201cextremely meaningful,” the group also learned about refugees, the Karen from Myanmar\/Burma, and individuals on death row.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
At Jubilee Partners in Comer, Georgia, the Y-trip team dug swales for rainwater harvesting. It was taxing work that led to \u201csore arms, sweaty bodies and blisters,\u201d said participant Emma Stutzman. (Photo courtesy of Emma Stutzman)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIn addition to learning factual information,\u201d she said, \u201cwe got a glimpse into the ways they impacted real people who we were getting to know.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But what most struck Stutzman was the hospitality shown the group by their hosts, including by two refugee families who had recently moved from Jubilee into their own homes nearby. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs impactful as our days spent on Jubilee grounds were,\u201d she said, \u201cit was this night spent in the home of a refugee family who had so little, observing their generosity and hospitality towards people they had only just met, that sticks out as one of the most memorable parts of the trip.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Perry Blosser (front right) said that the students who traveled to Casa Alterna in LaGrange, Georgia, \u201clearned to care for each other as we each needed it.\u201d (Photo courtesy of Perry Blosser)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Casa Alterna: \u2018selfless hospitality\u2019 and thirsting for justice<\/h3>\n

Perry Blosser\u2019s group visited Casa Alterna, a Christian outreach to immigrant families from Latin America located in LaGrange, Georgia, where they stayed with primarily first-wave immigrants from Guatemala.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe all felt overwhelmingly blessed by the selfless hospitality shown to us,\u201d Blosser said. \u201cWe were, in this case, the strangers being welcomed\u201d \u2013 including to birthday parties and even to visit a newborn in the hospital.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to glazing windows, painting and power-washing houses, helping with after-school tutoring and recreation and learning how to make tamales, the group visited detained immigrants in a medium security detention center. There, Blosser said, \u201cwe learned to \u2018thirst\u2019 for justice for the marginalized, to rehumanize our detained friends and to see them as Jesus would.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Habitat for Humanity: \u2018an incredible display of teamwork\u2019<\/h3>\n

A third group traveled to Valdosta for Habitat for Humanity\u2019s Collegiate Challenge. They partnered with a group from De Sales University to construct a house, from building walls to placing bathtubs and roofing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really awesome to watch how quickly everything moved when we worked together,\u201d Bekah Mongold said. At the end of one day, the group realized they had overlooked a wall that needed to be built. It was almost time to leave, but a team of a dozen or so \u201cdescended on the wall and we got it completely done in less than 10 minutes,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was an incredible display of teamwork.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Aaron Zimmerman hammers together a wall while participating in Habitat for Humanity\u2019s Collegiate Challenge. (Photo courtesy of Bekah Mongold)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The work was not glamorous, Mongold said, \u201cbut all of it was necessary. I found myself a little discouraged at times when I wasn\u2019t working on the actual house. I was gently reminded however, that the pile of dirt we were taking down needed to be done. It was, in fact, part of turning those raw materials and a sandy lot into a place somebody is going to call home. I am both thankful and humbled to be a part of that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The hospitality shown this group, too, by hosting church groups meant that they met many \u201cwonderful people\u201d who received them warmly \u2013 with open arms, Mongold said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, ya\u2019ll are the Habitat group! We\u2019re so glad you\u2019re here,\u201d they heard time and again. \u201cWe look forward to this week every year!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Now back on campus, Blosser misses his supportive Y-trip community. \u201cWe were forced to be adaptive,\u201d he said. \u201cWe were all experiencing new things and being stretched in different ways, and we learned to care for each other as we each needed it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They headed south, but not for a warm spring break beach. 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