Teens Get A Jump On Spiritual Growth

By Tom Mitchell, Daily News-Record

HARRISONBURG ? When she first learned about LEAP, Hannah Beachy saw a chance to take two trips at the same time.

"I heard a lot of good things ? that it could help me get closer to God and experience different cultures," said Beachy, 17, a rising senior at Eastern Mennonite High School.

Beachy is among 27 teenagers, most from the United States, who are spending three weeks in a program at Eastern Mennonite Seminary that introduces young people to others their age from different backgrounds.

LEAP, an acronym for "Learning, Exploring and Participating," is a summer program that gives high school juniors and seniors a chance to learn how to use their individual skills to better serve their churches and communities. The program?s agenda stresses three areas of personal growth: theological reflection, a sense of vocational calling and what each student gains from cross-cultural experience.

Youth spend the first part of the three-week program learning from seminary professors and pastors.

Each year students, picked by their community churches for leadership skills, split time at EMS and abroad.

This year, LEAP students will spend one week in worship and classes at EMS, leave for their cross-cultural trip to Mexico, Guatemala and Trinidad and Tobago and return on Aug. 8 for three more days of study at the seminary before going home.

Many Reasons To Go

Faith and fellowship in LEAP go a long way in attracting interest from young people, say the students who attend the program.

Julianne McDonald, 18, a college freshman from Chester, Pa., hopes "to hear God speaking to me," but also relishes the chance to make new friends at EMS and abroad. Amani Morrison, 17, a rising high school senior from Suffolk, became interested in LEAP?s cultural activities after hearing accounts from an older sister who joined a similar program that took her to Africa.

"LEAP brings a lot of people together who are interested in approaching God," Morrison said.

This year, LEAP will change its format by becoming a year-round program, said Marvin Lorenzana, an EMS student who heads the LEAP program nationally and at EMS.

Key changes will include the placement next summer of 15 teens with adults who will mentor one teen each about ways they can serve churches and communities. Mentors and teens who attend the summer LEAP event will meet twice a month for the next year to discuss goals.

The partnership includes a three-day retreat in the spring, said Lorenzana.

"Up until now LEAP has always been a summer program," said Lorenzana, 42, a native of Honduras. "It will go far beyond what we are now."

Strong Ties

The seminary?s connections with high schools and churches along the mid-Atlantic region keep news about the EMS program circulating, Lorenzana said. Such a link to a church in Miami, Fla., drew interest in LEAP from Byron Pellecer Jr., 17, a high school senior from Miami.

"Marvin approached me and explained about the opportunity we get here to get close to God," said Pellecer. "So far, this has been a wonderful learning experience for me."

LEAP became part of the seminary?s summertime outreach to teens seven years ago, said Sara Wenger Shenk, associate dean at EMS. The program got its start through a five-year $2 million grant by Lilly Endowment Inc., a philanthropic organization in Indiana that financially aids seminaries.

A grant known as Theological Programs for High School Youth funds LEAP, which is geared exclusively to teens, Shenk said.

According to Shenk, students who take part in the LEAP program must raise a third of the $4,500 that their trip costs and LEAP covers the balance.

"High School is a wonderful age to ignite imagination in a way that opens up possibilities for teens that they may never [previously] have been exposed to," Shenk said.

Contact Tom Mitchell at 574-6275 or mitchell@dnronline.com