Two Young Adult Volunteers Will Serve in Chinook for a Year

Through a Presbyterian Church program called Young Adult Volunteers, Emma Kate Lander and Brendan Stump will be spending a year in Chinook, Montana. After a week of orientation delivered virtually, they arrived in late August and are staying with Wade and Carla Anderson, who are performing as their host family.

The area's Young Adult Volunteers (YAV) site coordinator, Jack Mattingly-who also serves as the Pastor of the United Methodist Church-described the YAV program as an ecumenical, faith-based year of service for young people ages 19–30 in sites across the United States and around the world. The YAV year occurs from August to August, and while the pair is in Chinook, they will accompany local agencies working to address various social issues. Alongside this work, YAVs explore the meaning of their Christian faith and accountability to their neighbors in the community with peers and mentors.

"Locally, our YAVs serve at the Chinook Schools, Funshine Preschool, Grande Villa, Chinook Food Pantry, Sonshine Church School, and Sweet Memorial Nursing Home," Mattingly explained.

He went on to say, "One of the biggest foci for our YAVs has always been relationship building. They get to be involved with all the age groups, from three-year-olds through centenarians at the Sweet Home. They get to explore their own vocational calls during the year, as well. YAVs most often come into their year of service looking at some sort of 'people career' and want to explore what their calling will be. A number of our YAVs in past years have gone to seminaries, and the rest have found their calling with non-profits that help people."

Lander grew up in Severn, Maryland, and graduated from Susquehanna University of Pennsylvania in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Religious Studies and minors in psychology and music performance. As Lander works towards answering her call to ministry, she claims that she is excited to serve a YAV year in Chinook. "I am looking forward to the way that this experience will teach me and inform me in my own personal theology, as well as in the theology of our denomination and of the community I will be serving. I am grateful for this opportunity, and I can't wait to begin this adventure."

During her time so far in her placements, Lander has found great satisfaction working at the Nursing Home. "While this might be a hard place for some people to spend time, I thoroughly enjoy my time interacting with the elderly who crave someone to talk and listen to them," she stated.

She has also spent some time in the study hall room at Chinook High School serving as a tutor, assisting students who have questions. Because Lander plans to pursue a seminary path and is gravitating towards youth ministry, she ranks this experience as positive.

"I've worked in urban and suburban settings, but to work in a rural setting and perform ministry is giving me valuable insight," Lander reports.

The second YAV candidate, Stump-who is called Stumpy by his friends-grew up in Hurricane, West Virginia, an area he describes as having "low levels of diversity," and he is looking forward to a year where he can grow beyond his comfort zone. "I love being helpful and leaving positive impacts on others," he said.

Stump graduated from West Virginia State University in November 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English. As his hobbies, he names reading, writing, and playing music on guitar and piano. That he has a passion for the guitar was exposed when he divulged a complication he encountered on his way to Montana: "My first flight from Charleston to Chicago was supposed to last around fifty minutes. Unfortunately, sudden fog made us sit on the runway for an hour before we finally left. This wouldn't have bothered me if I didn't have a tight schedule to keep and/or a guitar between my legs for the duration of the flight. I arrived in Chicago just after my connection left. Two hours in and emotions were already running high."

Although Stump has several years of experience working as a camp counselor, he became part of the YAV program to see more of the world. During the last five years, he was employed at Camp Hanover as a camp counsellor where he interacted with diverse cultures, backgrounds, and beliefs. "At Camp, I'm in 'charge' of a child's life for a week at a time, and I'm looking forward to making a lasting difference. Though one week can change a child's life, by working with a group for an entire year, I have the potential to make a more lasting impact," Stump said.

Because vocational discernment is one component of YAV, Stump hopes to discover his future path and profession at some point during this year. "I know this year will change me, and I look forward to becoming the person God wants me to be," Stump exclaimed.

Both Stump and Lander will be keeping a blog of their experiences in Chinook. This blog will follow their adventures in the community as they "get to know the locals and spread God's love in this area of the world." According to Stump, the blog is meant to keep their churches, families, and friends back home informed of their activities.

Lander has chosen to call her blog "Moving Mountains" and invites her readers to "keep up with [her as she] adventures through a year of service in Chinook, Montana."

Functioning as a host family, the Andersons are looking forward to their new lodgers. For the past eight years, they have been providing a home for YAV volunteers who come to Chinook, although in the first three years of that service, they were scheduled to house youth who didn't arrive.

"We're happy to be able to share our home with them; they have fit in so well here," Carla Anderson remarked.