maxon
Why We Are Doing Mission Year
Margareta:
I want to be a Mission Year team member because I love what their mission is: to advance the Kingdom of God by loving God through loving our neighbors. I believe that loving God and loving his people is our highest calling. Our actions should be the result of loving as best we can.
I’m excited to live in a community of believers and take on the challenges of a communal living situation. I grew up as the middle child in a family of five under a very small roof, and I’ve known no different living situation since! Every community living experience brings on its own difficulties, but I’ve been so positively affected by the blessings of living with other people—sharing everything, from our joys and concerns to our meals and entertainment. Because I am planning to be involved in Married Mission Year, I am really looking forward to the growth my husband and I will experience as a couple—living in community and reaching out, selflessly, toward the larger community. I think that the disciplines we learn in the Mission Year community would be a great start to our marriage. So, not only do I hope to come away from the experience as a renewed individual, but also as a stronger couple with a bond that can transform the lives of those around us and radiate the love of God.
Zach:
I want to be a Mission Year Team Member because I believe that the organization and the people involved in it are living a life that seeks to follow in the footsteps of Christ more than any other group or organization I’ve seen or had the opportunity to be a part of. I’ve heard Dr. Campollo speak and enjoy listening to his podcasts. Once he said that the call of Christ is one that demands our entire life, so I should at least try to give one year. I can’t argue with that. I know that Shane Claiborne, whom I admire, was and is also involved in Mission Year. I’ve read his books and long to start living a life as sacrificial and redemptive as his, so I figured Mission Year would be a good place to start.
I am sensitive to the needs and emotions of others and have a love of learning. I hope to become more conscious and knowledgeable about the issues involved in the lives of urban people and to develop personal relationships with them. I don’t want to be the white missionary trying to convert the inner city to Christianity. I want to live the love of Christ in whatever form I can alongside broken and impoverished people, not because they need my help, but because hopefully we can heal our pains together through Jesus.
I will be married to a wonderful woman and be doing Mission Year alongside her. We are both from rural farming towns and are not particularly experienced in what it means to understand and live in a huge city. My hope is that after a year of being immersed in the cities systems, habits, unique places and distinct people groups we will better understand what the spirit of the city is and have compassion and understanding for the poor who live there and are so frequently judged or ignored instead of loved and invested in. I understand that the first year of marriage is supposed to be the most difficult, which is why I think that Mission Year will hopefully be good for us. It will help us to start our marriage, what should be a symbol of Christ’s sacrificial love, with good habits in a supportive community with those who seek to live redemptive and sacrificial lives, learning and loving together with other married couples.
About Mission Year
Mission Year is a year long urban ministry program focused on Christian service and discipleship. We take teams of young people, place them in an area of need, and help them to serve people and create community. We are committed to the command of Jesus to “love God and love people,” by placing the needs of our neighbors first and developing committed disciples of Christ with a heart for the poor. Learn more about our first year program…
maxon's Blog
The Maxons’ Mission Year - May/June 2010 / Jun 30, 05:56 AM
THANKSGIVING
Thank you for your steady, generous donations and unfailing thoughts and prayers throughout the last ten months. Our presence in this city has changed everyone involved and laid foundations for unending impact. Let us remind ourselves of some of the ways we have seen God work through us and in our neighborhood this year:
- We have had the best post-marriage counseling ever by living into an intentional community with two other couples.
- Undocumented immigrants breathe a little easier and live a little more freely when we accompany them to get groceries or see their favorite singer in concert!
- The 2nd grade class of a local elementary school now has its very own garden, and the principal has said, “Every class should have one of these!”
- Arturo Martinez (and Zach and Margareta!) continues to learn about how plants are grown in the Georgia climate and works hard to produce healthy crops to share with the community.
- The Iraqi refugee family next door now has their own vegetable garden, and it all started with a flower Mavi and Margareta planted in their front yard.
- Neighbor kids have a safe place to hang out and role models to lead them safely through adolescence.
- Young, single mothers are learning how to care for themselves and their children through life-skills classes like sewing and cooking.
- A couple immigrant families in town will soon receive their first chicken coop, chickens and all the supplies to get them started (thanks to donations from McMurray Hatchery and the Heifer organization).
- The Jenny Jack Sun Farm has been connected with many people and organizations to which they so humbly and generously donate their time, knowledge and produce.
- The Habitat for Humanity Restore and house build has never seen such organization, strength and volunteer coordination before Zach Maxon walked in! (…in Margareta’s words…)
- Through community meals, Bible studies, and open hearts and doors, the Mission Year team has become a gathering place and safe haven for many neighbors (at any time of day or night!)
- People come to our house everyday for companionship, food, tutoring, the use of our bathroom, pliers, a lawnmower….the list goes on and on…
- Our neighborhood comes together every Sunday night for a little friendly competition on the softball field.
- We’ve been changed. This year has taught us so much about the importance of living simply, what community means for us, and has shed new light on how we want to live in the future.
FAMILY
We were so fortunate to see some of our family over the last month. In one quick visit, two of our younger siblings, Atalie and Klaus, came to see all we do here. They helped us so much, and reminded us that we’re still doing good work. Sometimes, in our exhaustion, we forget.
Then, we made a quick flight up to Wisconsin to see our sister, Sophia, join our new brother-in-law, Andrew Cleveland, in holy matrimony. Soon, Zach will travel home for a few days to see his family and serve his duties as the best man in his friend’s wedding, and our oldest sister and her husband are visiting in July! It’s so wonderful to be with our family from time to time, and we continue to pray many blessings on the newlyweds!
NEARLY HOME
This year has been a wild ride of experiences, leading us through trials that have strengthened us and laughter and blessings that have sustained us. How can we even begin to describe the great challenges that have unearthed our deepest fears and passions? We do try, as our newsletters turn more into journal entries and prayers than anything else. Updates on our work here are now weaved into friendships we’ve formed, births and deaths, the ever rising, delirious heat of Georgia, tensions and connections within our house, and the lessons that have changed our hearts forever. Thank you for following the events of our lives this year. Your participation in our ministry and anticipation of every monthly update helps us to remain focused on opening our hearts and minds to what there is to share and learn from here. Although we can hardly believe it, there are about six short weeks left of our Mission Year. We’d like to remain fully devoted to our neighbors, our housemates and our service sites during this time, yet the forethought of home is ever present in our minds. Please pray for our patience as we finish this year with strength and faithfulness!
To see our latest pictures, visit:
http://picasaweb.google.com/margaretamaxon
With a donation of $50 or more, you’ll receive a Mission Year t-shirt! Just follow this link:
https://www.missionyear.org/kickitin/maxon
For any other on-line donations, go here:
https://www.missionyear.org/launch/maxon
Thank you so much for your support!
The Maxons’ Mission Year - April / May 2010 / Jun 30, 05:55 AM
Veggie Tales
written by Margareta (with Zach’s help)
I think we are one of the lucky teams. Since Zach and I spend part of our volunteer time at the farm, we’re able to bring home fresh produce and eggs almost every week! It’s an exchange we’ve developed – work for food. I don’t know what I’d do without this resource—other Mission Year teams go without fresh fruits and vegetables every week. The majority of people in our neighborhood also go without this necessity. Sadly, because of the expense, it is now perceived as a luxury.
Well, one morning in February, I decided I wanted to be a nutritionist (an aspiration that has since turned into many other possible purposes). I was eating breakfast – a relatively healthy one, but I was frustrated that I didn’t have much of a choice. I felt so stuck in this budget, this city, this house where many times other people choose my food for me. It was the first time that I really felt equal to the people around me. I understood something about their lives, their poverty. Most of them don’t have the resources or the knowledge to keep themselves healthy and well. Here, it is hard to stay well, and I feel helpless sometimes. Good, healthy food is so expensive, but we all have to eat. Therefore, most people have no other option but to buy the cheapest, most highly processed food. Often, their only access to food is the local convenience store. Some urban community developers call this situation a “food desert.”
A couple of weeks ago, the farm started up their spring CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Community members invest in a season of shares from the farm and receive a portion of produce every week at various pick-up locations. This year, the farm and some of their shareholders decided to donate a few shares to people in the community who would not otherwise be able to participate. Because I also serve at Twin Cedars Youth and Family Services, the farmers decided to give the shares to the group homes, where teen moms with their babies and other single young adults live. Every week, one of these group homes will go to the CSA pick-up location in town and gather their produce just like all of the other shareholders.
In the Circle of Care program, we provide a cooking class every month. Now, with a supply of produce to their group home, the young mothers and their children are introduced to many new vegetables. With more donations from the farm, we can show them how to prepare their food at the cooking class (and provide extra produce for the community moms to take home). I am so excited for all of these connections! Now, my passion for food and responsible eating and my desire to teach others about healthy choices are intertwining. The farmers have also been giving us surplus produce to pass out to our neighbors. Kids come over to our house to hangout, and I send them home with vegetables!
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John
written by Zach (with Margareta’s help)
I had just turned into our driveway on my bike, sweating from the hot sun and tired from a long day of work, when a neighbor of ours, Jr. (don’t let his name fool you, he’s at least 75), called me over to tell me in his broken, southern English that a neighbor and friend of ours had died. His name was John Cameron. He was only 49 years old. He was a regular visitor at the house and would have helped us with anything if we had asked.
Ever since he lost his job, John went through periods of anxiety and depression. Drinking became an easy way to numb the pain, both emotionally and physically. Alcoholism claimed John. After a week of constant drinking John was found dead on the couch at a friend’s house, just two houses down from us, from “natural causes”.
I never knew who to be for John. He always wanted to do little jobs for us so he could have a little money that would inevitably be used on his addiction. But we don’t have the money this year to be paying somebody to mow our lawn or do something we can already do ourselves, so I rarely was able to allow it, partially because I couldn’t bring myself to chance enabling his problem. When John wasn’t drinking he was a kindhearted man, fun to be around. I liked talking to him.
Everybody in our house decided that it would be important for us to go to his funeral, even though none of us knew his family that well. We arrived at a small church just outside LaGrange, an old chapel style building. Out of the 300 people that must have been crammed into that little church we were the only white people there besides a couple neighbors of ours, a married couple that was very close to John. I’ve probably been to a dozen funerals in my life, but this was a different sort of funeral. For starters, African American funerals have much better music, a combination of old gospel and rhythm and blues (think Ray Charles singing Amazing Grace), and everybody was singing. Passion poured uncontrollably out of people and nobody held anything in. People were crying and wailing, but celebrating life at the same time. It was like nothing I’d ever seen. In all the funerals I’d ever been to, you stay quiet and try as hard as you can not to cry, or at least not let anybody see it. Although John’s death was tragic, I value that fact that I had the opportunity to celebrate his life and experience a funeral (now the word has a different meaning for me) in a way that I never would have in rural Iowa.
At this point in the year, many Mission Year participants experience something we call “compassion fatigue.” Our energy is low and it’s becoming more difficult to enthusiastically serve the community. The romantic image of servant hood and community living has worn off and we’re just tired. It’s also easy to start preparing for life after Mission Year, becoming less involved and less concerned with people and events here. But, John’s death is a reminder that we need to be here now, fully, because we may not have long to share our God given life. So, even though we don’t know how, or even though we’re tired, we need to show people the love that they might not receive anywhere else. John’s death reminded us that life’s too short to put off loving each other.
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We’re still trying to meet our fundraising goal for the year and would love to have your support. The whole organization has been struggling lately, and as a result, our already limited stipends have been cut back. If you like what you’re reading and want to help provide our living needs, please send a tax-deductible donation in the enclosed envelope. (Remember to write our ID# 09-0075 in the memo line of your check.) Or, make a secure on-line donation at: www.missionyear.org/launch/maxon.
Thank you to those who have helped us come this far!
Also, two of our housemates are coming up short on their fundraising. They have done tremendous work in this neighborhood and at their service sites. Yet, with a small support system, they need a little extra help to meet their goal. If you’d like to support them, write their ID# 09-0012 on the memo line of your check, or donate to them on-line. For more information on a special fundraiser our team is doing for them, please visit their blog: http://zwyte.blogspot.com/2010/05/gifts-for-our-donors.html
THE MAXONS’ MISSION YEAR NEWSLETTER - FEBRUARY / MARCH 2010 / Apr 2, 12:36 PM
MARRIAGE RETREAT
At the end of February, our team went on a marriage retreat with the president of Mission Year and his wife. We spent a couple days in a cabin in the southern Appalachian Mountains, hiked together and discussed marriage in many different ways. We were reminded to make our marriage a priority during this busy year!
OPEN DOOR
We visited the Open Door community in Atlanta to hear a conference on the death penalty. The Open Door community believes that everyone deserves a second chance. We heard stories from a freed death-row inmate and a man whose mentally ill brother committed suicide while on death row. The discussion was very educational, heartbreaking and challenging.
SEWING LESSONS
Our sewing classes at Twin Cedars are zipping right along. The girls are quickly becoming more comfortable with the machines. They feel a sense of accomplishment with the completion of every project, and the finished products reward them for persevering through the sometimes frustrating sewing process.
Sadly, the pregnant teen that so eagerly and diligently made a diaper bag complete with her daughter’s name, gave birth to a stillborn baby last Saturday. We all grieve her loss, yet she seems to be recovering well.
JOHN DEAR RETREAT
I (Zach) had the opportunity to partake in a two-day conference on non-violent action. It was at a Catholic church in Atlanta with a Pax Christi group. I really enjoyed the stimulating and challenging conversation about peacemaking with the wonderful people I met there.
GOSHEN COLLEGE VISIT
As an alternative Spring Break, a group of students from Goshen College came down to visit our community and help us with projects around the neighborhood. They were so interested in and inspired by Alterna’s mission of advocacy and hospitality for immigrants. Their excitement was an inspiration to us as well.
SPRING GARDENING
That’s right! It’s time to plant Georgia’s spring produce, and there is new life everywhere! We sowed seeds in the greenhouse weeks ago, and we’ve started to transplant the little green things into the fields, the school garden and the community garden.
BLESSINGS AND BUSYNESS
The neighborhood knows we’re here now. Earlier this year, we felt like we had to make ourselves known to the community, reach out, search for people to meet and invite into our home, wait for opportunities to help those around us. Now, we don’t get a break! Kids are over everyday. We play with them, bake with them, help them with homework, feed them, teach them. There are also adults and whole families who come to our home, wanting our help and our time, needing more than we could ever give. But, we try to do our best.
The beginning of the third trimester of Mission Year is traditionally one of the most difficult. For some reason, this is when people’s discontentments surface and homesickness really sets in. This has been true for us both individually and as a couple. With all of the beauty and life lessons that we’ve seen and gained this year there has also been inevitable frustration and days where we wish we could be home, wherever that is. As much as we appreciate our experiences here, we also miss the familiarity and beauty of where we came from.
Community living is also wearing on us. Working hard all day, then living fully into our community and our neighborhood all night and all weekend is becoming incredibly tiring. We seldom find good rest anymore. Please keep praying for and thinking about us and our community.
STINKY ZACH
For Lent, I have replaced the luxury of showering, which the overwhelming majority of the world does not have access to, with bucket and sponge bathing. Also, we Americans use and contaminate more water than anyone else in the world.
It’s been a practice in monitoring my water usage but also in giving up the leisurely comfort of how we bathe as privileged people. Washing with a bucket eliminates any of the joy that was found in a nice warm shower. My housemates have noticed that I stink a little worse than I used to, but I’m not ashamed.
NOT SO STINKY MARGARETA
Maybe it’s no excuse, but I’ve given up a lot this year, and I just couldn’t sacrifice one more thing! I decided, instead, to add something to my life…with my husband’s help.
Zach and I have been trying to read a chapter of the Bible and pray together every night. Although it’s only a small step, it really has had a beneficial impact on our marriage and my spiritual life. We’ve been able to ask each other stimulating questions, have great conversations and help each other become more aware of God’s presence and voice in our lives (as long as I don’t fall asleep while Zach is reading to me!).
THANK YOU!
Thank you all again for your donations this year. So far, we’ve raised about two-thirds of our support, and we’ve heard rumor that there will be another matching grant offered in the spring to double donations! We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for your help. Thank you for your faithfulness and generosity!
For more stories and reflections, please visit
http://www.missionyear.org/blog/maxon
To see more pictures, please visit
http://picasaweb.google.com/margaretamaxon
Check out an article about our team in the news:
http://lagrangenews.com/bookmark/6701944
And, as always, remember to stay in touch!
zachmaxon@gmail.com
margaretamaxon@gmail.com
Caprice / Mar 23, 09:45 PM
Our boat of a car is coming in quite handy here with a household of six! We’ve saved gas money on various trips that we have to take as a team because all 6 of us can fit easily into one car. Monica uses the giant car to pick up the neighborhood kids for the after-school program she and Jamie have started in our neighborhood. Whenever a little more room is needed, but we don’t want to use more than one car, the Caprice is the answer. And, Zach loves that it still smells a little bit like his grandpa.
Hello world. / Mar 23, 09:45 PM
This whole year, I’ve been feeling like I need to blog more. Then, I go to my service sites, try to build community inside and outside of my house, spend time with my new husband, cook for and eat with dozens of people, and help almost everyone in almost every way I can (I wish I could help everybody in every way I know how, but then, there’s my point); there is not time, nor energy, nor eyes, nor hands, nor words to do and be and see and say all of the things that should be seen and done and said. There is enough truth, but the means to tapping into that truth is lacking. I am just a woman. A woman who has a new husband and is in a new place with new people, doing very new things. And I cannot do it all. I still journal to stay sane. It’s one thing I do for myself. And I still pluck my eyebrows. That’s about as far as I go. So now, I’m taking one step further and trying to write a little more for the world to see. If it’s not too time-consuming, I may go back into my journal and type out some past thoughts and feelings. I never did share more with you about Guatemala. Hopefully, I’ll get there soon.
