By Julia Schmidt, CIIE intern
Over the past eight months, I have had the privilege of working as an intern at the Center for Intercultural and International Education (CIIE) as part of a degree requirement for my Masters of Divinity at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS). The class for the internship is called Ministry in Church and World, and while traditionally students have done their internships in church environments, AMBS realizes that today they are preparing students for more diverse contexts than the traditional church setting. I chose to intern at the CIIE because I wanted to experience community work in a context different from the white, Mennonite world in which I had grown up. I had taken several classes, both at AMBS and during my undergraduate years at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), on race, culture, and peacebuilding, and wanted an internship where I could see the academic conversations applied in real life situations. My time here has done that and so much more.
One part of the internship has been helping begin and plan a Latina women’s support group. Twenty women came to the first meeting in September and I was amazed as these women became vulnerable and shared their lives with each other and with me. Going into the group I was worried because I am a white woman who speaks very little Spanish and I did not know how they would receive me. However, everyone was so kind; I felt very welcomed and a valued part of the group. These women were so happy to have a safe environment in which they could tell their stories and feel valued. I experienced hope through this encounter as these women who have been through so much came together to find ways to support each other and make their lives better. The first meeting, as well as the subsequent ones, was filled with tears and laughter as the women listened attentively and held each other’s stories in reverence.
I learned from this group that sometimes the best way to be a ministering person is to be able to sit with people and truly listen to their stories and hold the stories for them and with them. I think this is one of the most valuable ways anyone can be involved. One can just be a presence, not there to help or solve problems, but simply be and listen and try to understand. This is how to build relationships, which are the building blocks to intercultural understanding and to peacebuilding. The women’s group was not the only time I practiced listening and being a presence, but tried to do this as I interacted with Goshen college students. I hosted a “Tea Time with Julia,” and met with some first year Latino students. As we chatted and ate cookies, I heard stories of frustration but also of hope as these students encountered the world coming from a minority group on campus. Through these conversations I learned about my own privilege as a white Mennonite and was encouraged to find new ways to go out of my comfort zone to learn from those who come from the margins of society.
There have been so many more experiences during my time at CIIE, but it has been the times of building relationships and learning from those different from me that have been the most valuable. Goshen, the city, as well as the college, has become a diverse community and if we are going to live peaceably, we need to learn how to build intercultural relationships and learn to have difficult discussions across difference. This is also the work of the church. As I continue to explore my own ministry and calling, I want to continue to go into spaces where I hear from people different from me and find ways to be vulnerable in order to create spaces where everyone is valued. Through vulnerability and willingness to recognize one’s own privilege, I believe we can find ways to live into God’s kingdom.