Levi and I discovered during our stay with YWAM Nashville that YWAM and Lancaster County have a lot in common: there is a surprising amount of Mennonites within YWAM, there is a lot of YWAMers that come out of Lancaster County, in YWAM you play "The Mennonite Game" by trying to connect and find mutual friends from different bases, and you randomly run into people you know.
All these discoveries happened within the first thirty minutes upon our arrival at the Nashville base. Levi and I got to the base a few minutes after diner began. We walked in and were greeted by friendly and welcoming faces. There was only a few people eating and on the base because the base had just sent out a DTS on outreach, so we quickly met everyone there. We grabbed our plates and got some food. The meal was mac and cheese, broccoli, and salad, but after eating only peanut butter and saltines for breakfast and lunch it tasted like a five star meal. Levi and I sat down at the table were the base staff was finishing up their meals. We began talking with the staffers about our road trip, where we were going, where we were from, where we did our DTSes, and similar topics.
One of the staffers commented and asked something along the lines of, "there are so many missionaries and YWAMers that come out of Lancaster, are you Mennonite by chance?"
I explained how I am Mennonite and Levi explained how he has kind of been grafted into the Mennonite Community. The base staff began listing off people they knew from Lancaster and asked if we knew any. With common last names such as Zimmerman, Weaver, and Hurst, we thought we recognized some of the names but didn't know any of them.
"There are so many Mennonites in YWAM," said a staffer. "I think there is a like secret club within YWAM of Mennonites. Like half of the staff here is Mennonite."
While our conversations floated around Mennonites and YWAM, the door behind our table was opened. Taking a bite of mac and cheese I turned my head to see who opened the door. With a double take and a wave of shock, I recognized the person who came through the door. It was our high school friend Jordan Keener who Levi and I went to school and played basketball with and who turned out to be a staff member at the YWAM Nashville base. Keener was just as shocked as we were to unexpectedly see someone we knew in the countryside of Tennessee. He stumbled backwards and laughed with his distinct tone in amazement. It was a familiar laugh, and Levi and I felt like we were back in Lancaster. It was pretty funny, randomly running into a friend from back home. Lancaster... and YWAM... small worlds.
Today we are just outside Birmingham Alabama visiting my good friend Nick Johnson. Monday we'll head to Atlanta to visit my boy Kimyung Kim.
In Honor of Alabama:
Much Love Yall,
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