Become Active in Your Community #5

Church: a community that anyone should be able to join (depending on the church and the people in it). I have grown up in the Mennonite church, and attended the one that my parents chose to attend my whole life. However, this year is the first time I have had to make the choice to go out and find a church not familiar to me. (At Hesston, I had family in town that I went with, and also went home on occasion since it was only an hour away) Therefore, I was forced to give up my faith life, or find a church out here to go to. Living with my brother helped me, however, I wanted to make the decision on my own.
After seeing and visiting a number of churches, it just so happened that North Main in Napannee seemed to fit me just right, as well as my brother. (He is in the process of changing his membership to NM) This church is so welcoming to outsiders and the people just "wrap you up" and take you in as one of their own. They are so happy to have guests.
I have also become an active member in their sunday school class, taking my turn of teaching when it happens to come to me. The people in this class are great. Even though I am by far the youngest, I can relate to the 30 and 40 year olds that too are in the same classroom.
As part of the church, they asked me to become a member of their church-league basketball team. Therefore, every saturday morning (my only sleeping in day) I wake up to play basketball with the guys at 8, 9, or 10 in the morning. Even though it takes from my sleep, I really enjoy getting to know the guys and their families better.

Away from church and school, I only have a little other time to do much. I spend most evening at Chilis in Goshen. I am a server there and love what I do for them. It is fun for me to get to see some of the people around town, and am even starting to get my regulars that come in and ask to sit at "the tall guys" tables. It is fun to have people I never knew before this year ask for me to serve them. This really has helped me get into the comomunity and meet people that come in, people I work with, and the managers and thier families. This has made my experience in Indiana rewarding.