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2010-01-04 issue:

SOOPers, staff lend a hand for harvest

Blueberry patch could raise over $35,000 annually for Illinois church.

by Hannah Heinzekehr of Mennonite Mission Network

Print Article

The blueberry fields were planted, and the harvest was at hand this summer for Rehoboth Mennonite Church in Pembroke Township, Ill. Although the area is rich in natural resources, it is not economically developed. To find jobs or shop, residents must take their capital beyond Pembroke's borders. 

Tom McDowell Sr. of Community Mennonite Church moved limbs during a Markham work day at Rehoboth in March 2009. Photo by Dean Heisey.

Rehoboth hosted several work teams and SOOP participants this summer that helped the congregation prune, maintain and—finally—harvest buckets of blueberries. But more than that, the volunteers helped connect Rehoboth to communities, congregations and resources throughout the Midwest.

Although there are fewer than 10 members, a new energy is springing up in the Rehoboth congregation.

"We do lots of mission work, and the Lord keeps blessing us," says Rose Covington, a member who has served as church elder for 12 years. “"We feel like we are witnessing a miracle firsthand in some ways."

In 2007, members of the Retreat Center board wrote a letter to The Mennonite asking for support and help in revitalizing the congregation's facilities and ministries. John Powell, then Mennonite Mission Network's U.S. Ministries director, read the letter and began a conversation with church leaders.

In addition to a church building, the congregation owns 20 acres of land, including a two-acre blueberry patch and a former camp area. Over the past two years, Mission Network, the Rehoboth Retreat Center Board and Illinois Mennonite Conference staff have worked with members of the church on networking and revisioning projects.

Since then, groups of volunteers coordinated by Mission Network staff, the Rehoboth Retreat board, and community and church members have come to Rehoboth.

This year, on the eve of its 60th anniversary, Rehoboth was featured in the SOOP newsletter as a service location for participants.

"Using SOOP volunteers to respond to this congregation's real needs seemed like a perfect fit," says Arloa Bontrager, Mission Network director of the SOOP program, a joint Christian service program through Mennonite Mission Network, Mennonite Association of Retired Persons and Mennonite Central Committee Canada.

Barbara Longoria of Indianapolis saw this opportunity advertised and signed up to help with the harvest. For 10 days, Longoria picked blueberries from breakfast until dinner, then filled 53 five-pound buckets. In the evenings she prepared the berries for sale. She also attended a weekly Bible study and Sunday worship.

For Mission Network staff member Dean Heisey, who has worked with the Rehoboth congregation for two years, this SOOP position sounded like the perfect summer vacation.

"The whole partnership with Rehoboth started out as my job, but it took hold of my heart, and now it’s my passion, too," says Heisey, a member of Prairie Street Mennonite Church in Elkhart.

Heisey spent two weeks in Rehoboth, and issued invitations to other friends to join in. Over the course of the two weeks, Heisey was joined by four others, including three teenagers from the Elkhart, Ind., and Cody, Wyo., areas. The group picked blueberries and removed trees and brush that had encroached into the patch.

Chris Birky, a former pastor at Hopewell Mennonite Church in Kouts, Ind., volunteered to sell berries at his roadside stand and church, and other local volunteers took turns selling blueberries at area farmer’s markets.

Revenue from the blueberries raised more than $1,000 for the Rehoboth congregation—money that will be used to continue to redevelop their facilities and fund new ministries. If kept pruned and fully harvested, the blueberry patch could raise more than $35,000 annually for the church. For more information on SOOP, visit Service.MennoniteMission.net.

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