God’s Story Surprises a Small, Rural Church
By Karen Sensenig

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Three years ago, Habecker Mennonite Church was a gathering of demoralized, aging people, unsure of the security of their future existence. A large group of vibrant people had left the congregation as quickly as they had come, along with the pastor. Those who remained wondered if the church would ever find a way to love and be loved again. Now, the church is once again a thriving congregation, doubled in size and experiencing worship in two languages. What happened? We, as a congregation and individuals, simply said “yes” to God’s story.

That story? People from half-way around the world arrived on our doorstep, bewildered, unable to communicate and in need of someone to love them. The Karen people were burned and shot out of their homes in Burma, pushed out of refugee camps in Thailand, and welcomed into the U.S. and other countries. Church World Services engages in the difficult effort of finding churches to sponsor these new-comers.

A family of six needed a sponsoring church. The people of Habecker said, “No, we are too small, with too many problems of our own.” A few weeks later, a family of four arrived on our doorstep and it became evident that they were not going away. This time, we said “Yes.” During the summer of 2010, forty Karen people from Burma joined the gathering on Sunday mornings, brought to the country church from the city, by an increasing fleet of drivers willing to go places they had never gone before.

Habecker, out of its own desperation and through teaching of seeing church as more than what happens within the aging structure, was at a point of readiness to exercise radical, relational hospitality. The Partnership for Missional Church (PMC) process gave us new vocabulary as well as the flexibility to follow God’s story in our own unique setting. After sponsoring several refugee families, this rural setting has become the default option for new Karen arrivals to find community and guidance in a strange land.

Together, Karen and English speakers experiment with ways of moving into the future as a group of followers of Jesus. Every worship service includes a Karen choir of impromptu songs, an illustrated children’s story for the large number of Karen children, translation of the sermon or PowerPoint illustrations, ESL classes, a constantly changing configuration of children’s classes, leadership opportunities for emerging Karen leaders and good fellowship based more on body language than words.

A catch-your-breath moment happened when the first, timid arrival stood up and in a strong, confident voice invited everyone to the Karen Christmas party to be held the next Sunday after church. What a surprise! The Karen families brought all the food (some with eyes) planned a gift exchange and games, and served us with such reverence; it was more a communion service than a party. We ate what was served and received the gifts without reserve, after first establishing eye contact and a handshake (a relational exchange the Karen had to teach us possession-minded Americans). This pearl of a moment comes out of they daily grind of slogging through bureaucratic minutia and unclear procedures on the way to helping the Karen to become more self-sufficient. God has now invited us to a new level of mutual accountability in becoming more of what God has already made us to be.

Even more recently a young man sang a passionate song during the Sunday morning time for Karen choirs and solos. He told me later it was about the suffering of the Karen people in Burma. Now, this song did not contain words about God, but it did show the readiness of this young man to tell the story of untold suffering and courage. We will prepare ourselves to hear the stories and to enter into the suffering with compassion. We will bring their story alongside our Anabaptist story, and together bring our stories to the gospel story. We will continue to walk together in new ways as we each trade in the field of familiarity for the pearl of new relationships.