It’s been a whirlwind of holy adventures and surprising engagements. While these aren’t everyday classroom contexts, I found Mennonite education at its best in some of its most missional practices.

At the , students live together for a semester or two while engaging the city. They gather on Wednesday nights to discuss vocation, the city and service led by associate program director (and former MWR assistant editor) . I prepared a conversation as a guest lecturer about career and calling.

I wasn’t prepared for what emerged around the ping-pong table. Students talked about the messy situations that offered a glimpse of their own vocational call.

I wasn’t prepared for the diversity of experiences. They grew up in places like Pennsylvania’s Big Valley, big American cities and Asian countries. They were documented and undocumented; black, white, Latino, Asian; many the first college students in their families. They wept when talking about glimpsing their calls. They lamented. They dreamed.

They wondered how their own identities would shape their future. They celebrate their parents’ gifts and struggle with family dysfunction. They were at EMU for different reasons, in D.C. for different purposes, but the institution had created space for them, hopefully to flourish as they stumble toward vocation, career, calling and conversation.

My next assignment was helping to lead a continuing education event with (SMC), a collaborative arrangement between SMC, , EMU and . There were 70 students set to engage on issues of leadership in Christian communities.

I was team teaching with Franconia colleagues Angela Moyer and Ertell Whigham. All three of us are from urban Mennonite congregations where Spanish is part of the regular worship experience. In our initial conversations, Floridian leaders wanted to make sure we understood our differences in context. We had more in common than we expected, despite the distance between Sarasota and Pennsylvania. What it means to be Mennonite leaders in both places has changed and is changing.

This group of SMC leaders incarnated the future and present church. There were only four Euro-American leaders. The conversation switched quickly between Spanish and English. We sang a cappella from Mennonite hymnbooks and fluently in Spanish with words projected on the wall. We were from far-flung places — Chicago, Michigan, El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, Mexico, Haiti — all now worshiping in congregations that make up .

This week a group of students is here in Philadelphia for spring break. As part of helping orient them to the city, I agreed to go along with a dozen students for dinner at one of the four sushi restaurants owned by members of my own Mennonite church, .

The group’s leaders are an Indonesian nursing student from my congregation and a young woman who grew up somewhere between India, Virginia and Thailand. These students weren’t who I had expected.

Everyone was bicultural. While the majority were Latino, the other three grew up outside the U.S. Conversations moved around the table in English, Spanish, Thai and Indonesian while we ate sushi together. I felt both challenged and hopeful.

While these are EMU-rooted stories, changes are happening at every Mennonite higher education institution. There’s an invitation in these changes to come closer to the contexts of Mennonite congregations and learn about new realities.

On our campuses, we have new opportunities to be hospitable Anabaptists teaching bright and challenging students who reflect our demographic changes. While the time is difficult to navigate, our opportunities — if we are open to being transformed too — may draw closer to God’s dream for all of us.

[Editor’s Note: This article appeared in MennoWorld Review, March 18, 2013 issue. Stephen Kriss ’94, is associate director of pastoral studies at EMU Lancaster and director of communication and leadership cultivation at Franconia Mennonite Conference. He is a teacher, writer, pastor, student and follower of Jesus living in Philadelphia.]

EMU students reflect on the sunset at Lakewood Retreat, Brooksville, Fla., a program of Southeast Mennonite Conference

Four groups of EMU students spent their mid-semester break the first week of March doing service projects under the auspices of the Young People’s Christian Association (YPCA).

The students shared highlights of their experience in university chapel Wednesday, Mar. 12.

‘Volunteering is Rewarding’

Eleven EMU students worked at Lakewood Retreat, Brooksville, Fla., a program of Southeast Mennonite Conference, cleaning facilities and doing general cleanup work around the camping facility.

EMU student Alec Burkey prepares to do some heavy metal work in Florida on truck parts in disrepair. By the end of the group’s stay, Burkey had the truck up and running, saving the camp money in repair fees.

“Volunteering is rewarding – seeing hard work pay off, how much was accomplished in a short time and giving yourself to a worthy cause,” said Michael Charles, a junior from Lancaster, Pa.

Seven other students did manual labor for Jubilee Partners, an intentional Christian community in Comer, Ga., and related to local immigrants that the group ministers to.

“For me, this week was a time of seeing God in a different way through the people we met, through singing and other activities,” said Heidi Hershberger, a sophomore from Boyertown, Pa.

Repairing Katrina Homes With MDS

Mobile, Ala., was the destination for nine students, led by Nick Meyer and supported by Eldon R. Kurtz, physical plant director at EMU, and his wife Sharri. The group divided into three smaller work teams to repair homes for victims of Hurricane Katrina under the auspices of Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS).

EMU student Kim Gross tackles some greenery during her stay in Florida.

“It was a great change of pace from studies,” said Nick Meyer, a senior from Harrisonburg, Va. “We did more than just home repair work, but grew spiritually through the experience.”

“Hearing stories from people who had experienced major loss made us thankful for all that we have,” he added. “We also had a lot of fun.”

‘God Taught Us a Lot’

Eight students traveled to Wilmington, Del., to assist in an after-school program run by Urban Promise. They cleaned classrooms and interacted with children from pre-K to junior high age in the inner-city program.

“God taught us a lot,” said Jessica (Jess) Sarriot, a first-year student from Jerusalem. “I learned to respect and appreciate what teachers do in relating to kids in a new way.”

In addition to the service teams’ ministry, the EMU Chamber Singers spent the mid-semester break giving programs of worship in music in nine locations in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.