Prayer requests Pray for persons

considering taking a gap year next year with Service Adventure.

Pray for Open Door Mennonite Church as they prepare for opening a unit in August.

Spring NarrativesDon’t forget that your spring narratives are due Monday, May 9.

April birthdays13 – Elena Entz Wiebe,

MMN staff

April 2016

Meet the Johnstown

Service Adventure Unit

Each month, we use this newsletter as a way to learn more about what’s going on throughout Service Adventure, and get to know people in a specific location. This month, we are focusing on the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, unit. Enjoy getting to know a bit about who they are and what they are doing this year.

Back row: Aaron Zimmerman, Jordan Hodges, Leah Rittenhouse.Front row: Austen Saffell,

Dorothee Haase, Shannon

Young, and Krista Rittenhouse.

Aaron Zimmerman – Archbold, OH

Headstart preschool & Johnstown

Austen Saffell – Nappanee, IN

Family Kitchen & New Day

Dorothee Haase – Germany

ACRP alternative school & New Day

Jordan Hodges – St. Louis, MO

Willow Hill Farm & New Day

Shannon Young – Heubach, Germany

Johnstown Christian School & New Day

Krista and Leah RittenhouseMount Pleasant, PA

Churches: I’ve been really enjoying having experiences with our supporting churches here in Johnstown. Since there are eight of them, there are a lot of different views on different aspects (even if some of them are similar), which help me expand my understanding of, for example, worshiping. I come from a Baptist church with about 180 members, so coming to Johnstown with churches that have about 40 members on average was a big change for me. Not only the size of these churches, but also the way they do their church services was pretty new to me. What has been a big blessing to me was leading worship. In my home church, there was more pressure wanting to be “perfect.” In our supporting churches here, you are greatly appreciated when you lead worship because sometimes there are churches that don't have a lot of people who play an instrument, so even if you make mistakes, people will never judge or look down on you because you are

all they have when it comes to making music. ;) – Shannon

In Johnstown there are a few good cafés and restaurants to go to, a mall, and a movie theater. That is about the extent money will take you in this town. Since we are on a low monthly budget, we find ways to have fun without spending money. There is a YMCA a few blocks down from us, and a majority of our unit enjoys spending time there, whether it’s playing basketball, running, or lifting weights. Also, we are on the edge of the Appalachian Mountains; there are plenty of hiking trails in our area, and our unit has gone hiking together a couple times. One man from our host congregation enjoys taking us to sporting events, including hockey, baseball, basketball and football. Some of our unit has also had some out-of-state adventures! Jordan and Aaron went with Jordan’s host father to West Virginia to do some hiking and rock climbing. Krista and Aaron went to Montana to do some snowmobiling in the Rockies with a member of our home church. Our unit definitely puts the “Adventure” in Service Adventure! – Aaron

I have two placements. In the mornings, I work at an alternative school. The kids are mostly great, and it is really interesting to talk to them and hear from them. The kids challenge me sometimes with their behavior, like if they shut down and you are not sure why. I can learn how to deal with different situations. I feel really supported by my supervisor there. It is great to see the kids grow and we can have great and fun times together. My afternoons placement is the Christian after-school program, New Day. I really enjoy working there, and I enjoy doing Bible study with the kids. Sometimes it also challenges me to think through things more and how to break it down to the level of the kids. I enjoy doing fun activities like games, crafts, or cooking with the kids. We also do fun field trips with the kids. It is great to see the kids growing in their faith! I also enjoy the staff there and working with them as a team. In general, I am growing through working at my placements. It is a valuable experience, and I feel like people appreciate our help at our placements. – Dorothee

We got gifts and skillsServing and leading worshipwith the love and joy

Service AdventureJohnstown unit equals swagWe got love, peace

Learning and servingTogether in harmonyPraising God for life

A year of serviceA year of growing in faithyear of improvement

These few Haiku reveal only a snippet of what our year has been. In our unit, we have been learning a lot about ourselves and each other. Thankfully, God has put together a pretty solid unit. We get along well. We have our moments, but we live in a lot of peace. Together, we have done some fun projects and have had some awesome bonding moments, especially early on. Many thanks to God for this year. All glory to God. Amen.

– Austen

Some joys and challenges of leadership here in J-town: We have eight supporting churches. This blesses us with lots of support and

interest and invitations to connect with the community. For a house composed primarily of introverts, it can be hard to balance getting to know all of these churches with the fact that meeting new people can be exhausting.

Each of us joins our host family for dinner every Tuesday, and many really enjoy this time. It’s a joy to see the deep connections formed through this, and to know that other adults are investing and speaking into their lives.

Staying on top of the household details has never been our strong point ... some of less-fun have included addressing a rat infestation, needing the leaky roof replaced, and trying to get the old radiators working again before

everyone officially froze.

– Krista and Leah

Photos from

Johnstown