One of the most heated issues in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia where we live is the debate surrounding policies and attitudes towards immigrants, undocumented workers, and the crossing of national borders. We wanted to focus on our connectedness as human beings and explore the resources of Christian faith in how to welcome the stranger in our midst. Many of our local neighbors here in Harrisonburg have come from Mexico and Central America to work in our poultry plants, landscaping, construction and the service sector.  We see them in our classrooms, grocery stores, at soccer games and in our churches and we struggle to know how best to welcome them and how to engage the many faith, policy, human rights and economic implications of immigration.

Frontera de Cristo provided us with many meaningful conversations, visits, and experiences which pushed us to move beyond an “us” versus “them” construct, to a “we are all in this together” and how can WE as U.S. citizens take responsibility for OUR wall, the violence, the deaths, the flow of people, the grief, and desperate need for reconciliation and peace. What part will we play in the transformation of our borderlands?

“Learning on the ground” in a community with 20 EMU students best fits our teaching pedagogy. We encourage written reflection, struggle, and deep personal and spiritual wrestling with the questions we encounter. But this struggle isn’t just for our students. We found ourselves fully engaged in thinking, rethinking, discerning and asking God for insight about the complexity of our borders and the policies and varied interests that compete for attention. As Anabaptists with a strong peace position, we often found ourselves asking “What would it take or look like to “secure a peace accord” here at our very own border?”

Frontera de Cristo’s ministries and connections on both sides of the border as well as their relationships with those who are often in conflict with one another was a most encouraging sign for us. As a group, we moved back and forth across the border about eight different times. The land itself has no natural barrier. We were often struck by the division the wall itself artificially imposes on the landscape. And we were challenged to reflect on the Ephesians passage which affirms that Christ has broken down the dividing walls between peoples.

Moving from one side to the other hearing stories of those who have been hurt and wounded by policy and police, then hearing the policymaker and border patrol agent talk about their own fears and concern for security reminded us that we have so much more in common in our deepest hearts desires. We all long for economic security, safety for our children, educational opportunities and relationships that transcend language, ethnicity, race. Yet we live in a world where boundaries separate and create deep divides. The words to the song, O Healing River come to mind as we consider the border area…

O healing river, send down your waters
Send down your waters upon this land
O healing river, send down your waters
And wash the blood from off the sand
This land is parching, this land is burning
No seed is growing in the barren ground

O healing river, send down your waters
O healing river, send your waters down.

Our initial ten days of the semester we were hosted by Frontera de Cristo in Aqua Prieta and Douglas, and there could not have been a better way to begin our semester. We heard about the many sides of border challenges and realized that for every issue there is a human face, a family, a community, a congregation who grieves and rejoices as news travels from both sides of the U.S./Mexico border. We were especially moved by the vigil that occurs every Tuesday evening in Douglas naming those who have died in the surrounding county. Having spent four years in El Salvador after the civil war, we know the importance of closure and having some remains to bury for a family. This vigil reminded us that dignity can be shared through ritual and that grief can be carried by the gathered community, for those named and for those whose bodies were no identificado, unidentifiable. Silence filled our debriefing as tears filled our eyes…how do we work together for a border where no one is left alone to die in the desert? How do we promote a world where families do not feel forced to take great risks in order to survive?

And for the final 10 days of our semester of learning we were hosted by families (socios) in Salvador Urbina, Chiapas. We stayed in family homes, tried many new foods, hiked through coffee plots of cooperative members, learned the complex process of preparing coffee beans for roasting, and gained a much deeper knowledge of the economics of coffee growing and production. A cup of coffee will never look the same after this experience. Walking up the steep mountainsides and watching all the work it takes to care for one plant of coffee makes us value the growers within the cooperative, Café Justo, and their careful work that brings us a robust, strong, flavorful cup of coffee.

The Spirit of God’s work for love and justice flows like water,
Like never-ending streams:
Comforting the wounded;
Calling those who have wounded to repentance;
Challenging traditions which are rigid and violent;
Envisioning new relationships where every voice is heard.
O Healing River, send down your waters!

                                    –Women’s Inter-church Council of Canada

Around 300 first-year and upperclass students learned about opportunities to get involved with agencies and organizations representing aging and disabilities services, early and elementary education, ESL tutoring for children and adults, hunger and housing, wellness and environment, mission and ministry and youth and adult services.

Photo by Jim Bishop

Here, Mary Rodihan (l.), partnership development and program manager with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, talks with Brigette Funk, a first-year student from Strasburg, Va., and to Becky Chapin, a first-year student from Richmond, Va.

First-year students are expected to do at least 15 hours of community service as part of requirements in a "First Year Seminar" course, according to Deanna F. Durham, director of , at EMU. "We had a great turnout," she said of the event, "and many students will do more than the required number of hours once they get involved as volunteers with these programs."

Some 230 first-year and about 35 transfer students at ��ݮ���� spent Saturday afternoon, Aug. 27, learning about some of the 47 languages and cultures represented in the greater Harrisonburg area as part of their orientation to the campus and larger community.

Activities began with a welcome ceremony at Court Square Theater in downtown Harrisonburg that included comments from Harrisonburg mayor Larry Rogers and Vaunda Brown, coordinator of an International Festival held at Hillandale Park each September. Students then fanned out into the community in groups of 15-20 for the afternoon.

Representatives of more than 30 participating groups, agencies and churches gave information on their programs, shared personal stories of how they got involved, identified needs they see among the people they serve and talked about how students can get involved.

In extemporaneous remarks, Mayor Rogers commended the students for choosing EMU as their place to study, while noting that they will be "part of the greatest little city in the U.S." for the next while.

He invited interested students to sit in on city council meetings, which are open to the public, to see local government in action firsthand.

"I want you to be careful, to look out for your own safety while you’re here, Rogers said, "But I also expect each of you to be successful in your studies and whatever careers you choose."

Photo by Jim Bishop

Organizations that students visited ranged from the Salvation Army, Blacks Run Greenway and Harrisonburg Children’s Museum to Mercy House, Camp Still Meadows, Our Community Place and A World of Good: Gift and Thrift, Artisan’s Hope and Booksavers. Two groups joined a family reunion of one of the deacons of First Baptist Church in the Northeast neighborhood. EMU students were invited to get acquainted, eat and join the celebration.

EMU alumnus Steve Shenk, director of the being developed west of Harrisonburg, told a student group stories of the Mennonites and Church of the Brethren precarious situation as pacifists during the Civil War period, noting that "the Shenandoah Valley became one of the most devastated areas of the South." He identified possible volunteer opportunities for students to get involved with the heritage project.

First-year student Emily Sims from Perkasie, Pa., said she "enjoyed being able to learn about Harrisonburg right at the outset," adding that "it’s easier to get to know people in the small group setting."

Student Joshua Mann, Suffolk, Va., echoed Sims’ sentiments, noting that the experience "put us outside the box, exposing us to new people and ideas that we can go back and talk about."

Students learn about Shenandoah Bicycle Co. in downtown Harrisonburg.
Photo by Emily Huffman

"We wanted students to get acquainted with the complexity of living here

Some 230 first-year and about 35 transfer students will spend Saturday afternoon, Aug. 27, learning about some of the 47 languages and cultures represented locally.

"We want students to get acquainted with the complexity of living here

Look out, Harrisonburg, the college students are coming.

EMU wants to introduce its newest group of first-year students to the community by some direct involvement in local service programs.

For the first time, as part of its orientation program, some 300 new EMU students and student orientation leaders will spend Saturday, Aug. 28, working with non-profit and other social service agencies.

“We want our students to understand that they are not coming just to a college campus, but to a real community that has both needs and opportunities for learning,” said Deanna F. Durham, community learning coordinator at EMU.

“We require all first-year students to do 15 hours of community service their first semester. This ‘Day of Service’ is designed to introduce them to the many non-profits and social service agencies in our communities and to accomplish some much-needed work in our community just before school starts,” she added.

The program will begin at 10 a.m. in Lehman Auditorium with a welcome and comments from Vice-Mayor Rodney Eagle, Ron Copeland, an EMU student and former owner of The Little Grill restaurant; Adam Starks, a 2003 EMU graduate and manager of Panera Bread; and representatives from local non-profit agencies.

In addition, locally-owned restaurants and Panera Bread have agreed to host and provide lunch for the students or donate food for lunch. Local non-profits will host the students for an afternoon of community service. Transportation will be provided by Harrisonburg Transit and EMU vans.

Participating restaurants include Little Grill, Chanello’s Pizza, Lil’ Italia, Calhoun’s, Mr. J’s Bagels, Panera Bread, Bombay Indian Restaurant, Taste of Thai and the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community (VMRC) cafe.

The organizations where students will work include Black’s Run Greenway, The Children’s Museum, Gift and Thrift, Artisan’s Hope, Booksavers, A World of Goods, Salvation Army Thrift Store, Camp Kaleidescope, Camp Still Meadows, WVPT, Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, Glen Eco Farm, Our Community Place, Highland Retreat, Rockingham Memorial Hospital, Crossing Creeks, Mercy House, VMRC and Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center.

Activities will run through 5 p.m. that day.