In the News

Hesston College students compete in peace speech contest

Ron Moyo, North Newton, Kan., a freshman in the Hesston College Pastoral Ministries program won first place in the college’s annual C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest on April 12. Moyo was one of three Hesston College students who spoke on a variety of peace and justice issues during the competition.

In his speech, “Peace,” Moyo talked about the misconceptions and stereotypes that we have of various countries.

“All these misconceptions have been influenced by violence,” said Moyo. “We need to be intentional about creating peace. Peace is not about jumping into a plane and signing a peace treaty that is only enforced on paper.”

Moyo said he believes peace begins with the individual, and he sees the qualities of a peace maker in Hesston faculty member Dave Osborne.

“Dave is an educator by calling, but is also a peacemaker. He has devoted his life to bringing about peace,” commented Moyo.

Moyo received $125 and the opportunity to compete in an intercollegiate competition with contest winners from other Mennonite-affiliated colleges and universities. The runner up was Robert Howell, a freshman from Newton, Kan., who received $100 for his speech. Elyse Terry from Bluffton, Ohio, took third place.

The speeches were judged on their adherence to a social justice theme, use of supporting evidence and organization. Elements of presentation such as vocal variety, eye contact and spiritedness were also considered in the judging criteria.

The trust of C. Henry Smith, a Mennonite historian and professor at Goshen (Ind.) College and Bluffton (Ohio) University, funds the contest, which gives students an opportunity to become involved with the peace cause while cultivating rhetorical skills.

“Not many of us have taken time to care, but if a few of us could be like Dave, the world would be filled with bridges of love and understanding,” said Moyo.

Hesston College sophomores to perform recital

Hesston College music students Amy Brubaker and Sheralynn Neff will join together for their sophomore recital at 7 p.m. April 15 in the Hesston Mennonite Church sanctuary. The public is invited to attend.

Brubaker, a clarinetist of Goessel, has been a member of the Concert Band and Bel Canto Singers, both under the direction of Bradley Kauffman, for two years, as well as a clarinet student of Jim Pisano. She is the daughter of Karl and Marcia Brubaker of Goessel.

Neff is a flautist and vocalist of North Newton. She has been a member of the Concert Band for two years, a member of Chorale, under the direction of Ken Rodgers, as a freshman and of Bel Canto Singers as a sophomore. She studies flute with Kristin Shaffer and is a voice student of Holly Swartzendruber. She is the daughter of Dana and Kathleen Neff of North Newton.

Brubaker’s performance will include works for clarinet by Telemann, Stravinsky and Finzi. Neff will perform pieces for flute by K.P.E. Bach, Faure and Griffes, as well as vocal pieces by Scarlatti, Schubert and Granados. The students will combine for a composition for flute and clarinet by Richard Hervig.

Following the recital, the music department will host a recption in the Hesston Mennonite Church Community Center.

Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts to present Three Part Invention

Three Part Invention, an instrumental ensemble of violin, piano and cello will present the fifth and final concert in the 2010-11 Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts Series at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 17, at Hesston Mennonite Church on the Hesston College campus.

The trio, described as “three of the most talented instrumentalists ever to mutate from the classical gene pool,” will perform reinterpretations of classical repertoire as well as original works and pieces from their new, self-titled, all-Bach CD.

Tracy Silverman on both traditional and electric violin, pianist Philip Aaberg and cellist Eric Friesen break the pretenses of classical performance conventions by infusing classical sounds with jazz, pop and world influences.

“We are excited to have these three pioneering giants of classical crossover come together in Hesston to explore the fusion of classical masterpieces with jazz, blues, New Orleans roots music and free improvisation,” said HBPA director Matthew Schloneger.

All three musicians have roots in the classical style and bring contemporary sounds of rock, world influences and jazz to their solo careers as well.

“Area arts patrons may be familiar with all three members of Three Part Invention,” said Schloneger. “Tracy Silverman performed spectacularly as an electric violin soloist with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra last year, and Philip Aaberg and Eugene Friesen have appeared in various venues across Kansas over the last several years, including the Stiefel Theatre in Salina, the McPherson Opera House and the Lawrence Arts Center.”

Aaberg, a Grammy nominated pianist, was the recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Music Scholarship at Harvard where he honed his piano and chamber music skills and was invited to participate in the Marlboro (Vermont) Music Festival, which is known worldwide for developing musical leaders. Aaberg has performed his American West-inspired music around the world in solo concerts and with major orchestras such as the Boston Pops Orchestra. He has also worked with a diverse group of artists including Peter Gabriel, Elvin Bishop, John Hiatt, Maria Muldaur, the Doobie Brothers and The Paul Dresher Ensemble. In 1995 he received the State of Montana Governor’s Award for the Arts.

Silverman is a graduate of Juilliard (New York, N.Y.), and has been recognized as the leading figure in the field of electric violin. Pulitzer-prize winning composer John Adams wrote the electric violin concerto “Dharma at Big Sur” expressly for Silverman, who was praised by the BBC as “the greatest living exponent of the electric violin.” He was first violinist with the San Francisco-based Turtle Island String Quartet, which was the first string quartet to achieve success with rhythms and improvisations. Silverman teaches jazz violin in Nashville at both Belmont University and Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music.

Cellist Eugene Friesen’s long tenure with the Paul Winter Consort, one of the earliest representatives of world music, has established him as one of the first and greatest contemporary improvising cellists. Friesen’s gift for improvisatory music has been featured worldwide with Trio Globo and poets Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Robert Bly and Coleman Banks. He won Grammy awards in 1994 and 2006 for his contributions to two Paul Winter Consort recordings. Friesen’s original compositions have been performed by the Kansas City Symphony, the Colorado Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, New Jersey Symphony and others. Friesen teaches at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and is artist-in-residence at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York City.

In addition to the HBPA concert appearance, the trio will do a number of educational activities with grant support from Mid-America Arts Alliance.

Silverman will perform on electric violin at 9 a.m. April 15 at Chisholm Middle School (Newton), at 11 a.m. as part of Bethel College’s (North Newton) convocation and at 2 p.m. at Wichita East High School.

The trio will also host an improvisation workshop at 10 a.m. April 16 at Hesston Mennonite Church. Intermediate and advanced instrumentalists of any instrument are invited to participate. The event is free and open to the public.

Single ticket prices for Three Part Invention range from $14 to $17, depending on seating section, with discounts available to students and senior citizens.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call 620-327-8158 (Hesston College) or 316-284-5205 (Bethel College), email hbpa@hesston.edu or visit the HBPA website at www.hesston.edu/hbpa.

This program is presented in part by the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, which believes a great nation deserves great art, and is supported by Mid-America Arts Alliance, with generous underwriting by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kansas Arts Commission and foundations, corporations and individuals throughout Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.

The Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts Series, now in its 29th year, started in 1982 as the Hesston Performing Arts Series (HPA) with funding and planning provided by Hesston College and the Hesston community. In 1998, HPA planners launched a partnership with Bethel College (North Newton) and the name changed to Hesston-Bethel Performing Arts. Hesston College and Bethel College host five performances by world-renowned or regionally acclaimed artists each year.

Impacting the world one student at a time

Bible and Religion professor Marion Bontrager taught the first Biblical Literature class at Hesston College in 1986. As Bontrager’s brainchild, the class was meant to ensure that students would receive biblical teaching from an Anabaptist perspective as part of their core curriculum.

The impact the class would have on the students who spread its reach to their churches, communities and careers was not part of the immediate vision.

In the 25 years Bib Lit – as it is affectionately called – has existed at Hesston College, more than 5,000 students have been through the class. As those students fulfill the “go everywhere” the college proclaims, they take with them an expanded worldview, a new way of reading the Bible and a broader understanding of their own faith.

“Bib Lit is impacting the church one student at a time,” said Bontrager. “Students go home and share what they learned with their churches.”

Josh Miller, a 1999 graduate, enrolled in Bib Lit his first semester. Miller grew up attending Mennonite and Presbyterian churches and took his faith seriously. The semester of Bib Lit would prove to be instrumental in his call to ministry.

“In Bib Lit the Bible came to life in a new way,” said Miller. “For the first time, I saw how the entire biblical story fit together as a whole and how it continues in the mission of the church.”

Now an Anglican priest in Pittsburgh, Pa., Miller recognizes the impact Bib Lit has on his day-to-day life and ministry.

“When congregants say that a sermon helped them, I know one of the reasons it did so is because of the foundation laid in Bib Lit,” said Miller. “It was there that I learned not to take anything for granted in a passage, and that the church was called to be a group of people who reach out to the world in love, spreading God’s Kingdom in tangible and spiritual ways.”

Bib Lit begins with inductive Bible study, which looks at the Bible in its historical context instead of reading passages from a modern understanding. The course then weaves together everything from Genesis to Revelation, moving into church history and the present, and reveals the Bible as a narrative of God and the people of God, more than a compilation of stories.

The class refers to the narrative as “Heilsgeschichte,” a German word meaning salvation history. As the students move through Heilsgeschichte, they learn to understand different approaches to interpretation and how that affects the way they read the Bible. A major portion of each student’s grade is retelling Heilsgeschichte either through oral presentation or written format.

“The class builds a foundation for critical thinking and analysis when studying the Bible or in any area of life or academics,” said Bontrager.

For sophomore Samantha Brouwer, Moundridge, Kan., Bib Lit was an opportunity for discovery.

“I didn’t grow up going to church,” said Brouwer. “Everything about Bib Lit and the Bible was new to me.”

As she spoke Heilsgeschichte to Bontrager at the end of the semester, Brouwer said she found herself in tears.

“I finally realized that God wants a relationship with people, and I didn’t have that relationship,” she said. “Marion talked with me and helped me realize that it’s not too late to begin to know God. Bib Lit helped me become more in touch with myself and the ways God is calling me.”

Bontrager has team-taught the class with other instructors since its inception, and he says the partnerships have improved the course.

Michele Hershberger, chair of the Bible and Religion department, began teaching the class with Bontrager in 2000. During the 2009-10 year, Hershberger spent her sabbatical teaching Bible courses at LCC International University in Klaipeda, Lithuania, where she introduced Bib Lit to her students.

“About 90 percent were atheist or agnostic, and many were hostile to taking the class” said Hershberger. “I tried to be non-defensive and caring and just let the Bible speak for itself. It worked.”

Bontrager and Hershberger travel to Mennonite churches and conferences across the country presenting condensed versions of the course for church leaders and congregations.

The class is also taught at the Ellsworth (Kan.) Correctional Facility and was recently introduced in churches in Vietnam through former Pastoral Ministries Director Palmer Becker.

Even as Bib Lit stretches beyond the Hesston College campus, its foundation is strengthened with each student who emerges from the class ready to share their exciting new discoveries.

“I love seeing that light-bulb moment when students make a connection they have never made before,” said Hershberger. “Bib Lit brings a sense of common experience and story, both the biblical story that students come to understand in a deeper way and the story of their journey through the class itself. In that way, Bib Lit builds community.”

Hesston College freshmen (from left) Shuvo Das from Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh; Delmar Reyes from Hugoton, Kan.; Elyse Terry from Bluffton, Ohio; and Andrew Penner from Fresno, Calif., engage in an explanation during Bib Lit class.

(left) Michele Hershberger uses a timeline to explain where Biblical events fall in Heilsgeschichte; (right) Freshman Andrea De Avila Balboa from Matamoros, Mexico takes notes on Heilsgeschichte during a Bib Lit class.

Hesston College celebrates Grandparent Days

“I remember when Grandma lived in Pennsylvania, she would let us go to the creek and catch crawdads,” says Hesston College freshman Courtney Mast of Weatherford, Okla. “After we caught a bunch, we would go back to the house and sit outside while we cleaned them, then Grandma would let us cook them inside. Mom never let us do that.”

Mast had many fond memories to share about her grandmother Mari An Nyce, also of Weatherford, during Hesston College’s annual Grandparent Days March 24 and 25. The annual event drew 69 grandparents of 41 students from six states. Grandparents were invited to attend sessions on “Yesteryear’s Farm Life” lead by Dwight Roth and various Hesston faculty and staff. Students in Kevin Wilder’s Developmental Psychology class also interviewed guests on the topic “Adolescence of Yesterday and Today.”

Nyce did not attend Hesston College, but all three of her children, a son-in-law, a granddaughter (Kaitlyn Mast ’10) and now Courtney spent the first two years of their college life at Hesston.

“The relationships my children made at Hesston College are lasting,” said Nyce. “My kids still get together with the friends they made during those two years.”

“I saw the motto, ‘Start Here, Go Everywhere,’ used by my kids. Both Steve and Anita worked in the preschool at Hesston and they used that to do daycare in Mennonite Voluntary Service after they graduated,” said Nyce.

Students and their grandparents attended a banquet, and students shared stories or memories about their grandparents.

Freshman Wendy Whitcher of Hesston, Kan., said that she remembers playing Monopoly with her grandma, Mary Erb.

“I always thought she was really good at the game until I got older,” Whitcher said. “Then I found out that she was cheating.”

“Grandparent Days are one way to continue the grandparent-child relationship at the young adult level,” said Dallas Stutzman, director of Alumni and Church Relations. “Also, this is a way to provide grandparents an opportunity for continuing education. They have a lot to contribute.”

The continuing relationship is one thing Mast appreciates. “Having my grandma here was fun. It was fun just being able to see her and catch up,” she said.

by Jennifer Kaberline

Hesston College students to donate labor at silent auction to benefit Erb Hall

Members of the Student Committee for Hesston College’s Erb Hall Renovation Project have organized a labor auction that will raise funds for the renovation of the 42-year-old dormitory.

The silent auction will be from 7 to 8 p.m. Monday, April 11, in Bontrager Student Center on the Hesston College campus. The event is free, and members of the local community are encouraged to attend. Those interested in bidding but unable to attend the auction may email a maximum bid, along with type of labor desired and contact information, to Vi Dick at vidi@hesston.edu by noon April 11.

Students have volunteered to donate labor for tasks such as washing windows, cleaning out flower beds, and other miscellaneous household work. Ice cream sundaes will be served as potential bidders meet students and make selections on which groups to bid. Each student group will have a pre-determined chore or task they are able and willing to do for a total of three hours.

“Our student committee is hoping to get great community support from local people,” said Omar Reyes, a sophomore planning committee member from Hugoton, Kan. “We want the whole community to come out and support this project, and we’re willing to do some hard work to help raise money for the Erb Hall Renovation Project.”

In addition to the free ice cream sundaes and the silent auction, participants will be able to take student-led tours of Erb Hall.

“The student experience is at the core of why we’re renovating Erb central and west, which is why it’s so encouraging to see our students take an active role in donating their time to raise funds for the project,” said Yvonne Sieber, Vice President of Advancement. “I know they’re looking forward to making a positive impact on this campaign, and I already know some people who have their chore list ready.”

Most students will be available to complete the work the weekend of April 16, but if that is inconvenient for the winning bidder, the student group will work with the winning bidder to determine a date and time for the work to be completed prior to May 1.

Erb Hall

Bluffton (Ohio) University faculty to perform Hesston College recital

The Hesston College Music Department will host sister school Bluffton (Ohio) University music faculty members Dr. Crystal Sellers and Dr. Lucia Unrau for a voice and piano recital at 7 p.m. April 11 in the Hesston Mennonite Church. The recital is free and open to the public.

Dr. Sellers earned a Bachelor of music in voice performance from Bowling Green (Ohio) State University and a Master of Music degree from Chicago (Ill.) College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. She studied vocal and operatic studies at Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England, and completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in voice performance at The Ohio State University (Columbus). She was also the first doctoral student to complete the Singing Health Specialist Interdisciplinary graduate specialization.

Dr. Sellers is assistant music professor at Bluffton where she teaches voice, music history and conducts the newly established university gospel choir.

Dr. Unrau earned piano performance degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, Indiana University (Bloomington) and Oberlin (Ohio) Conservatory. She performs solo and chamber music concerts across the country, and recently released a CD, “Glint,” with world-reknown saxophonist, Timothy McAllister.

Dr. Unrau is professor of music and Music Department chair at Bluffton. She was recently named the Ohio Music Teachers Association Collegiate Teacher of the Year. Dr. Unrau is also on the faculty of the Interlochen (Mich.) Arts Camp where she serves as coordinator of the keyboard area. She is also president of the Ohio Music Teachers Association and serves as a review panelist for the Michigan Council of Arts and Cultural Affairs.

Works by Franz Liszt, Frederic Chopin, Robert Schumann and John Carter will be included in the recital repertoire.

Photo release: Campus pastors gather at Hesston College

Campus pastors Todd Lehman (Hesston College), Joanne Gallardo (Eastern Mennonite University), Ed Janzen (Conrad Grebel University College) and Stephen “Tig” Intagliata (Bluffton University) enjoy conversation over lunch on the Hesston College campus March 29. The campus pastors from the Mennonite colleges and universities meet annually to network and fellowship with one another. Other campus pastors present include Janeen Bertsche Johnson (Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary), Dale Schrag (Bethel College), Jeff Boehr (Bluffton), Kevin Clark (Eastern Mennonite Seminary), Brian Martin Burkholder (EMU) and Tamara Schantz (Goshen College).

Aviation alumni encourage students to pursue service and relationships

Two Hesston College Aviation alumni were the featured speakers for the department’s annual Aviation as Mission event March 25. The evening was an opportunity for Hesston College aviation students, alumni, prospective students and faculty and staff to connect.

Mark Miller and Tyson Teeter, both of Hesston, shared their stories and insights on what it takes to be a successful pilot and how their Christian faith impacts their career.

Miller graduated from Hesston College in 1986. After completing his flight training, he worked at the college as a flight instructor for seven years before attending seminary at Eastern Mennonite Seminary (Harrisonburg, Va.). Miller served as pastor of Lockport Mennonite Church in Stryker, Ohio, for seven years and at Whitestone Mennonite Church in Hesston for five years. In 2009 he returned to work as a flight instructor at Wells Aircraft in Hutchinson, Kan.

Miller spoke about the importance of service to the people he works with and teaches on a daily basis. He views his job as a way to serve the person wanting to learn to fly in whatever way possible, not just a way to build flight hours and satisfy personal and professional goals.

“One of the views in aviation that distorts our view as Christians is a sense of entitlement,” said Miller. “When you begin thinking you are entitled to the best of everything and that your success is all that matters, serving becomes second or third or fourth.”

Instead, Miller encouraged those gathered to consider their careers in aviation as an entitlement to serve.

“When you serve people, you realize they want to treat you well,” said Miller. “When people see you treat them well, there is reciprocation.”

Teeter’s message complemented Miller’s statement that reciprocation comes from service as he spoke about the power of relationships in the aviation field.

Teeter shared his personal story of the struggles that came with being laid off from Cessna Aircraft Company (Wichita, Kan.) during the company’s downsizing in 2009. Teeter said the relationships he had built and maintained throughout the industry over the years helped him find contract work during his 15 months of unemployment and eventually a new job with JACAM Chemical Company in Sterling, Kan., which produces oil field treatment chemicals and does business worldwide.

“Relationships intertwine,” said Teeter. “Look very closely at the relationships you have in life, and realize that they are the tools God uses to build his kingdom.”

After graduating from Hesston, Teeter worked for Eaglemed Air Ambulance in Wichita and Executive AirShare. From 2006 to 2009 he worked as a flight operations and demonstrations pilot with Cessna. He has been a flight operations pilot at JACAM since June 2010.