Mennonite blessings

Most of us probably envision those of the Mennonite and Amish faiths as private, hardworking, family-oriented, selfless and fully devoted to their congregational communities. What I've never associated with these kindly folks in ultra-conservative dress is a fully equipped and well-trained disaster search and rescue team.

Mennonite Disaster Service's Arkansas Search and Rescue Team was formed in 2010 by 24 Mennonite and Amish volunteers to assist on all forms of searches. Based in Berryville and manned by those ranging in age from mid-teens to 40, the group has become an outreach of the Bethel Amish Mennonite Church. It is their unique way of serving and "witnessing to local and surrounding communities."

For them, the ability to help others is described only as a blessing.

Forming the Mennonite team only made sense, seeing as how local authorities were constantly asking their community for help because the group had willing manpower. Plus, just the concept of reaching out to help others in need meshed well with the Mennonite-Amish Christian beliefs.

"There were times over the years that we called up at least 80 Mennonites from other communities to come help on large searches," said Ted Hostetler of Berryville, who heads the team.

Their first major experience with searches actually came a few years earlier, during the mid-1990s, when the Mennonite community was asked to help in the search for an elderly Arkansas man missing in dense forestland. After that experience, Hostetler said, "We decided we'd be better off being more organized and getting better at what we do."

During that initial year as a search-and-rescue team, the Mennonites participated in five efforts, mostly searching for young people missing for various reasons. Those five efforts brought forth scores of Mennonite volunteers collectively devoting nearly 1,200 search hours.

After six years, the team today responds to anywhere from 12 and 18 calls a year and is better equipped, though always in need of upgrading with the latest technology.

"Our specialty has become underwater searches," Hostetler said. "We have sonar and work closely with the Benton County Dive Team and others."

They also have become proficient at organizing and conducting searches as members of the secular Tri-County Search and Rescue team.

Glenn Wheeler, an investigator with the Newton County sheriff's office who for five years has served as coordinator for the Newton County search-and-rescue team, frequently coordinates searches in the mountainous and wooded Ozarks in and around Jasper.

For him, having just 10 members of the Mennonite team on a search scene is "like having 20 other volunteers."

"Their organization, work ethic and servants' hearts are beyond most we work with," said Wheeler.

Every search is emotional for Hostetler and his team. They invariably feel the anxieties of grief-stricken families.

The 2013 underwater search for the body of 28-year-old Michael Burton in a deep and treacherous cove off Beaver Lake's Starkey Island was among the most difficult and intense, he told me. In that effort, Hostetler's team joined with about 20 other divers to search for weeks for Burton, who disappeared while free-diving with a friend as they spearfished without breathing tanks.

"Not finding someone is one of the hardest things there is," he said. "We spent many a night during those three weeks searching with sonar. When his body was was found it was such a big relief. Less than a year later the family came from Nebraska to cater a big thank-you party and meal. Close to 100 people attended the event. It was such a blessing to meet the family, and it was healing to the family to be able to meet some of the search folks."

A majority of the team's searches are focused in and around the Buffalo National River. Consequently, the Mennonite team works closely with the National Park Service. "But almost yearly we also respond to calls in Carroll, Madison, Newton, Washington and Benton counties."

I asked how he and his team members feel about the time and effort they invest. The noun he turned to again was unchanged. "It's been a real blessing that the various communities have allowed us to help them in this way. It's also a blessing to be able to help find a loved one or to bring closure by recovering a loved one."

As with every volunteer group that provides public service rather than a product, the team must rely on the generosity of others who believe in what they do from the goodness of their hearts. "One struggle we have in being a donation-run organization is having enough money to upgrade equipment needed to be most effective," said Hostetler. "For instance, right now, we desperately need to update our sonar equipment for the underwater searches."

Well, Ted, I hope some reading today just might be moved enough by what your team is doing to possibly help with that very thing. I'll make sure they learn of all the good you and your group are doing to bless others according to your group's noble motto: "That others may live."

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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at [email protected].

Editorial on 04/30/2016

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