Markham and Community Mennonite Church

I left the cornfields of Iowa to spend a few days on interterm, a time when teachers take small groups of students for a week of nontraditional classes in nontraditional settings. Because I can drive the bus, four years ago I was given the assignment of taking a group to Chicago. One group went to north Chicago to a place called Jesus People, while I took a group to Markham, a southern suburb of Chicago.

We stayed and worked at the Community Mennonite Church located on Kedzie Ave. This year the new co-pastor, Cyneatha Millsaps spent quite a bit of time talking with the students trying to help them understand poverty and something of the Markham neighborhood. She did an excellent job of answering their questions and providing some valuable insights about what it means to be an African-American living in a poor neighborhood. The students spent one day working at a nearby daycare which was a highlight for most, and one day cleaning, painting, and staining. The kids worked hard and seemed to have a good time.

It was interesting to read some of their comments when I had them fill out an evaluation form. Some wrote about "no longer being as afraid of Black people," a couple said they enjoyed being in a larger, more diverse area, one wrote about her initial fear of interacting with some of the youth from the church, but then realizing they weren't that much different. It was helpful for me to read these since I sometimes wonder about the value of taking kids into places like Markham. Some of that stems from my days in Philadelphia when I was on the receiving end of "service groups" which wanted to help. It often seemed as if such groups created more work for me, without making much of an impact on the kids.

Visiting Markham generally makes me a bit nostalgic for the years we lived in Philadelphia. The last part of our time there we were the only white folks living on East Pastorius St. in a neighborhood which definately struggled with poverty. It was easy to see many problems and not difficult to find ways to try to address some of the needs which were evident.

Returning to the cornfields does not mean a return to an idylic setting. There is poverty, certainly less than a place like Markham, but still it is poverty, along with a variety of social problems in the area. It is much less visible and people are reluctant to admit they need help, but there is need. Maybe if I have time this weekend I will try and find some stats to back up this assertion- or maybe I will need to change the assertion.

In any case the trip to Markham and Community Mennonite Church seemed to be time well spent, at least for the group of ten kids who went with me this year.