鈥淵ou can ask me questions later,鈥� she called as she climbed into her friend Robin Lyttle鈥檚 car. 鈥淟et鈥檚 go!鈥�

Allen, who last year published a memoir 鈥淭he Way It Was, Not the Way It Is鈥� about her experiences in the Newtown area during the 1930s and ’40s, spent the evening with 28 students teaching, sharing and interpreting African American history, culture and experience.

Why a cross-cultural course in Harrisonburg, Virginia?

The 鈥淟ocal Context鈥� cross-cultural course is just one way EMU students can fulfill the university鈥檚 . While many students choose the traditional semester-long international travel, other students find that a semester living at the (WCSC) and interning in Washington D.C. fits their needs. There are also shorter trips that work better for students with less flexible schedules, including and the local cross-cultural experience.

鈥淚f it wasn鈥檛 for the program, there鈥檚 no way I could have completed the requirement,鈥� said Kristy Wertz as the group left the Lucy F. Simms Continuing Education Center. A nursing student, full-time patient care technician at Rockingham Memorial Hospital, wife and mother, Wertz noted the impracticality of leaving her family and job behind for a full semester, or even three weeks.

鈥淗ere I鈥檓 learning about the wide variety of populations that live in Harrisonburg, and the resources available to them. As a nurse, it鈥檚 crucial that I know how to best serve my patients. Like the parenting program we just saw,鈥� she said, pointing back at the Simms Center. 鈥淗ow great was that?鈥�

Outside Broad Street Mennonite Church, one of several historic Mennonite church plants in the northeast neighborhood, the group was greeted by Harold Huber. Huber, who began attending Broad Street in 1968 and at various times has served as administrator, secretary, trustee and historian to the congregation, passed around photos of the congregation鈥檚 early years. Allen hooted when she spotted her ten-year-old self in one of the pictures. A clutch of students gathered about her as she pointed out the bright-faced young girl.

, assistant professor of applied social sciences, and her husband are teaching the course this summer. The group is divided into two sections for classroom discussions and folded into one group for field trips. Durham first led a local cross-cultural in 2007; this is her fifth time teaching the course.

Like all cross-cultural trip leaders who escort students on trips, the couple are experienced inter-cultural navigators. Before coming to EMU, they spent years living and working in inner-city Washington D.C. as well as four years with Mennonite Central Committee in El Salvador. Peachey has led several cross-cultural trips to Guatemala, Cuba and Mexico, including one during the previous spring semester.

The most transformative aspect of the course, Durham says, is that students living in the Shenandoah Valley begin to think of their home differently. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 tell you how many times I鈥檝e had students say, 鈥業 had no idea this place, this community, this challenge鈥xisted right here!鈥欌�� she said, gesturing at the front of First Baptist Church, where the group had just listened to Judge Anthony Bailey give an impromptu talk on his role in the local justice system. 鈥淚n some ways, the students in the Local Context course have a more difficult time settling back into a comfort zone once finished with their cross-cultural because it鈥檚 right in their face every day.鈥�

Reflecting on the difference between groups that go abroad and those that stay close to home, Peachey pointed out that there are many benefits in the experience of global travel. 鈥淗owever,鈥� he added, 鈥渢here is great value in deeper learning about the people and places that surround you on a daily basis. Becoming familiar with various immigrant populations, learning about how Harrisonburg has grown and changed over the past half-century, these are experiences that will help these students greatly post-graduation, in their work, and how they approach interacting and engaging with the communities they are a part of.鈥�

Peachey also noted that students on the recent Guatemala trip, which started on the U.S.-Mexico border, learned about the political clashes of immigration policy and reform and explored the personal struggles of those affected by immigration. 鈥淭hose same struggles are happening right here in Harrisonburg,鈥� said Peachey. 鈥淲e just need to be willing to see them.鈥�

A rich and surprising diversity

Additional field trips bring students on explorations into the rich diversity of the Shenandoah Valley. The African-American focus continues with trips to Zenda, a community started by former slaves in Rockingham County, and to the Franklin Street African-American Art Gallery. The gallery visit is hosted by owner , founder and director of the at James Madison University. (Luminaries in the African-American poetry world flock to conferences and poetry summits hosted by Furious Flower, and the center offers a slate of workshops, readings, slams and lectures.)

Students also discuss immigration issues with Harrisonburg resident 鈥�07, a nationally-known activist for DREAM Act immigration reform who founded the youth-led National Immigrant Youth Alliance.

One Friday, the students meet with Dr. Mohamed Aboutabl at the mosque, the only place in the region for Muslims to worship. Friday prayers draw a diverse group of Muslims from around the world, with Sunni and Shia participating together.

Students also delve into the Old Order Mennonite culture, with a visit to a home for meal, accompanied by professor and Mennonite historian Nate Yoder.

At the end of the tour, the group enjoyed a meal of barbecue and deviled eggs prepared by the congregation of John Wesley Methodist Church. Allen stood in the center of the room and fielded questions from the students. They listened attentively as she described growing up in Newtown and her involvement in the civil rights movement, and how she found herself just feet away from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the 1963 March on Washington as he delivered his famous words.

鈥淗aving Doris talk to us was one of the best parts of the night,鈥� said student Kaitlin Roadcap. 鈥淭his program is teaching me to be more culturally receptive, and has really opened my eyes to the diversity in this area. I have lived here my entire life and am finally realizing just how much I didn鈥檛 know.鈥�

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying."
– John William Waterhouse

Rather sobering – I’ve written obituaries of six former workplace colleagues over the last three months – Robert D. Yoder, Norman Derstine, Vida J. Huber, Paul R. Yoder, Sr., Mary Jane Detweiler and Linden M. Wenger, in that order.

It’s served as a reminder of the tenuous nature of life – that we’re pilgrims on a journey, emerging from dust and to dust we return.

Early December, I attended the wedding of a nephew, Stephen Bishop, to Julie Snyder, a celebrative occasion as two hearts and lives joined as one.

Almost ironically, both the wedding ceremony – attended by a throng of witnesses – and the funerals, where families and friends celebrated the lives and legacies of the departed, were marked by moments of joy, even laughter, amid a flood of emotions.

I was able to attend the funeral/memorial services of two of the six former 草莓社区 persons – Norman Derstine and Vida Huber.

I was moved by the worshipful atmosphere and by tributes being given by persons who had related closely to the deceased. The spoken word, stirring, special music and singing of hymns spoke of the triumph of God’s eternal life and love over physical death – in spite of the painful separation – refreshed and renewed my spirit and faith.

All six left an indelible mark on my life, starting with:

* Norman Derstine, 85, from my same home area of Bucks County, Pa., my dad’s best buddy growing up. When I started my public information/media relations position at my alma mater the summer of 1971, Norman was director of church relations here. We worked closely together, literally, office-wise and otherwise. I was struck by Norman’s commitment to promoting the school’s significant contributions to the broader church. He also had much interest in radio broadcasting, as did I, then and now.

* Robert (Bob) Yoder, 76, long-time biology professor in the Suter Science Center next to my office, was rather low-key, a quiet but astute observer of human nature, a friend of the Earth, an avid angler (I once sent him a cartoon depicting a guy sitting in a rowboat fishing. A sign on the side of the small craft read, "I’d rather be working").

Among Bob’s gifts was an amazing flair for writing poems, songs and other creative tributes that he gave others to mark special occasions. He made others feel special, and in turn, so was Bob.

* Mary Jane Detweiler, 79, was the wife of EMU’s sixth president, the late Richard C. Detweiler. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis early in their tenure here. Even while in obvious pain much of the time, she never complained, but rather regularly bore a radiant countenance and a positive spirit. Richard was a mentor; Mary Jane was an encourager.

* Vida Huber, 68, and her husband, Harold, were our good neighbors in the Belmont Estates subdivision ever since we moved to the ‘Burg the summer of 1971.

Vida put the squeeze on me in those early days here, as the EMU nursing department that she headed kept growing, spurring the need for more office and classroom space in the dingy basement of the old administration building. As the program expanded, our office space kept shrinking to the point that four people occupied the area that I had to myself when I started working at EMU.

But Vida never deliberately elbowed anyone. She was a compassionate educator, a good listener, both a thinker and a doer, involved in many agencies and programs beyond her immediate work related to the healing arts. She was anticipating the next exciting stage of life, retirement, when those plans suddenly changed.

The diversity of people who spoke at Vida’s memorial service spotlighted her wide range of influence, community involvement and cutting edge work in the health care arena.

* Paul R. Yoder, Sr. would have turned 90 on Christmas Day this year, was amazing, the perfect example – to me, anyway – of how to successfully grow old with grace and enthusiasm. Paul was an ardent supporter of EMU, usually cheering on the Royals at numerous athletic events and remained a member of the executive committee of the Loyal Royals athletic booster club at the time of his death.

Paul frequently spoke words of encouragement to me on my work here as well as on my column jottings, which energized me in turn.

* Linden M. Wenger, 92, taught undergraduate and seminary-level Bible and philosophy courses for 23 years until his retirement in 1978. He was a pastor/overseer in Virginia Mennonite Conference, held numerous other conference and churchwide offices over the years and worked with older adult issues.

Linden knew his stuff, but he didn’t exactly exhibit the most scintillating pedagogy style when I had him for a philosophy course my freshman year (1963-64) at EMU. So I was in a guarded mood when, many years later, I had him as a guest on my live weekly interview program, "Focal Point," on the university radio station, WEMC-FM.

The topic was his just-released book, "Climbing Down the Ladder," an autobiographical treatise on retirement. The gentle man amazed me – he was both animated and candid in talking about the need to accept one’s limitations as an older adult and the need to graciously turn over certain responsibilities to younger people. It ranks among my most memorable programs in more than 20 years of doing the show.

As I sat there at the funerals, I wondered how many accolades the deceased had heard while alive, well and hearty.

Except for Mary Jane and Linden, the others leave spouses behind to carry on without their mates. It will certainly be a difficult Christmas for each one, as it was for me that first holiday season after my dad died in 1998.

The departure of these six remind me how often I sit and wring my hands over life’s difficulties, on well-made plans that have gone awry.

What a difference it might make if a larger proportion of this energy went into reflecting upon the people whose lives have intersected mine at critical developmental stages, serving as positive role models to me, and to letting them know that.

As a new year dawns, maybe one of the best resolutions each of us can make is to give a bit of yourself – a handwritten card with a message of affirmation, a phone call to someone at a distance who has influenced your life at a critical point, starting with those closest to you and branching out from there.

Isn’t that preserving the spirit of Christmas all year long?

————-
Jim Bishop is public information officer at 草莓社区. He can be contacted at bishopj@emu.edu.