Bearing Fruit a Collection of Memories

“Sara Jane knew the importance of hospitality . . . . She has a warm heart and spirit. She is willing to share her real life stories. There is wisdom in her testimony and through sharing her struggles and victories we are all encouraged. She has a strong desire to live for Jesus and make him known.” —Mary Ellen Dula at Sara Jane’s 90th birthday celebration, October 2012

John 15:5 niv

BearingFruit A Collection of Memories

Bearing Fruit: A Collection of Memories

Top: Chet, Betty, Mark, Chester, Tom, Sara Jane, Phil, Margaret, Sara, and Jewel at Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 1961. Above: Chester cutting grapes with grandson, Yuji Wenger, 2006. PHOTO CREDIT: TOM WENGER. Above right: Sara Jane and Chester bunching snap dragons and larkspur from Chester’s garden in their backyard, 2000. PHOTO CREDIT: MATTHEW SHOWALTER

“Chester was way ahead of his time in empowering the national Christians to take over the responsibilities of church leadership. . . .

The faith and trust which was placed on the Ethiopian leadership early on bore much fruit. . . . Here at Blossom Hill Chester promoted the involvement of everyone in the congregation.”

—Mamo Dula at Chester’s 90th birthday celebration, April 2008

WENGER

T

his is the story of two twentiethcentury Mennonites. Their life experiences have shaped their faith.

Their faith has shaped their life experiences. Even as their theology evolved over the years of their life, their belief in God and God’s all-encompassing love has been an internal gyroscope that has not wavered. Their influence on Mennonite institutions in both Ethiopia and the United States will outlive them.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.”

Chester Lehman Wenger and Sara Jane (Weaver) Wenger as told to and shaped by Deborah Anna Good and Betty Wenger Good-White

Bearing Fruit

A Collection of Memories Chester Lehman Wenger and Sara Jane (Weaver) Wenger

as told to and shaped by Deborah Anna Good and Betty Wenger Good-White

Dedicated to Betty, Margaret, Jewel, Chet, Sara, Mark, Phil, and Tom

“. . . the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

There is no law against such things.”

Galatians 5:22–23 nrsv

Copyright © 2017 by Chester Lehman Wenger and Sara Jane (Weaver) Wenger All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

The translation source for Scripture quotations is identified in footnotes. If a passage of Scripture is referenced without a specific quote, no translation is noted.

RSV quotations are from Revised Standard Version of the Bible, © 1946, 1952, 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

NRSV quotations are from New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

KJV quotations are from The Authorized (King James) Version of The Holy Bible. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown.

Reproduced by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.

The Message quotations are from THE MESSAGE, © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved.

Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

NIV quotations are from Holy Bible, New International Version, © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Copies of Bearing Fruit available from Betty Good-White at bettygood@gmail.com

Cover and interior design by Beth Oberholtzer Design

COVER PHOTO: Sara Jane and Chester Wenger, 70th Wedding Anniversary, July 2, 2014. PHOTO CREDIT: GRETA SHENK BUCHER OVERLEAF PHOTO: Sara Jane (Weaver) and Chester Wenger, circa 1944.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A record of this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN-13: 978-1-63587-498-3 (pbk.)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017935895 Printed by Mennonite Press Inc, Newton, Kansas, www.mennonitepress.com

Contents Preface

vi

PART I: GROUNDED IN FAITH AND LOVE Chapter 1: Those Who Came Before

Sara Jane: Oberholtzers and Weavers

2

Chester: Wengers and Lehmans

7

Chapter 2: The Growing Up Years (1918–1940)

Sara Jane: A Lancaster Childhood

14

Sara Jane: Church, Change, and God’s Mercy

20

Sara Jane: High School and Next Steps

24

Chester: Life on Mount Pleasant Road

26

Chester: Harrisonburg, Virginia

33

Chester: Better Than Television

39

Chester: High School Years and Beyond

46

Chapter 3: Courtship, Marriage, and the Years in CPS (1940–1945)

Sara Jane: Tall and Handsome

56

Chester: Dating Sara Jane

59

Sara Jane: Loving Each Other from a Distance

66

Chester: Our First Year

71

Chapter 4: Mississippi and Virginia (1945–1948)

Sara Jane: Motherhood in Mississippi

73

Chester: Gulfport, Mississippi

75

Sara Jane: Back in Virginia

78

PART II: ETHIOPIA YEARS Chapter 5: Stepping Out in Faith (1948–1949)

Chester: Preparations

84

Sara Jane: Departure

89

Chester: Atlantic Voyage and Arrival

93

iii

Contents Chapter 6: First Term (1949–1954)

Sara Jane: New Experiences

97

Chester: Getting Acquainted

101

Sara Jane: Making a Home at Nazareth

106

Chester: Nazareth Hospital and Dresser Bible School

112

Sara Jane: Joy, Loss, and Learning

121

Chester: A Growing Church

125

Sara Jane: Back to the United States

130

Chapter 7: Furlough (1954–1956)

Sara Jane: Two Years in Mount Pleasant

133

Chester: Seminary

136

Chapter 8: Second Term (1956–1962)

Sara Jane: Return to Ethiopia

141

Chester: Nazareth to Addis Ababa

145

Sara Jane: More Transitions and Adjustments

151

Chester: The Meserete Kristos Church and the Bible Academy

156

Sara Jane: Friendships and Life at the Bible Academy

165

Chester: Family and Work

168

Chapter 9: Furlough (1962–1963)

Chester and Sara Jane: Homeward Travels

179

Sara Jane and Chester: Lancaster Furlough

183

Chapter 10: Third Term (1963–1966)

Sara Jane: My Heart in Many Places

188

Chester: Emerging Church Leadership

194

PART III: NEW COMMITMENTS AND RELATIONSHIPS Chapter 11: A New Chapter of Life and a New Home (1966 and after)

Sara Jane and Chester: Adjusting to Life in the States

202

Chester and Sara Jane: A New Daily Rhythm

212

Sara Jane: Teaching Again

217

Sara Jane: A Gathering Place

220

Chapter 12: The Salunga Years (1967–1980)

Chester: Supporting Mission Churches

226

Chester: Evangelism Close to Home

231

iv

Contents

Chester: Other Projects and Ministries

236

Chester: Back to Africa 1976

241

Chester: Transitioning from Salunga 1980

246

Chapter 13: Blossom Hill Mennonite Church (1981–present)

Sara Jane: The Call to North End Mennonite Church

254

Chester: Our Blossom Hill Church Community

257

Chester: Telling Our Story

261

PART IV: IT’S WHAT MAKES A FAMILY Chapter 14: Widening the Circle and Letting Go

Sara Jane: Expanding the Family

270

Sara Jane: Losing Chet

275

Chester: Missing Chet

278

Chapter 15: Family Business (1974–2005)

Chester: Getting Started in Flowers

282

Sara Jane: Flowers and More Flowers

286

Chester: Another Family Business Venture

290

Chapter 16: “A Wenger Family Circle of Love” at Home and Away

Sara Jane: Fun Times and Celebrations

294

Sara Jane: Europe Twice in Ten Years 1983 and 1988

300

Chester: Asia 1992

306

Sara Jane and Chester: Three Family Trips to Ethiopia 1993, 1998, 2002

309

317

Sara Jane: Our Last Big Trips 2007 and 2008

Chapter 17: Our Later Years

Chester: Medical Challenges

319

Chester: Growing Old Together

322

Final Thoughts and Reflections

Chester and Sara Jane

325

Appendix

Time Line for the Lives of Chester Lehman Wenger and Sara Jane (Weaver) Wenger

331

334

Family of Chester Lehman Wenger and Sara Jane (Weaver) Wenger

v

Preface “Papa, tell us a story,” we often clamored when we were children whenever boredom descended, like on a car trip, or at the end of a meal. Daddy was one to regale us with stories of all kinds, sometimes accompanied by theatrics. A favorite was of the time he got sick on too many wild Himalaya berries. He gagged vociferously with his mouth wide open, and once picked up his plastic tumbler from the table, laying it alongside his cheek and splashing a little water on the hard tile with each contortion, as we all shrieked in dismay and delight.

I have memories of hoeing string beans and corn in our garden in Nazareth, Ethiopia, while he told us stories about the Mennonites, some of them his relatives, in the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War. Garden work, including the planting and picking, was a pleasure, even when a large green chameleon with its wideopen pink mouth showed up in one of the bean plants and I flew into his arms.

Because we loved stories so, we’d often say to Mother, too, “Mama, tell us a story.” Mother would demure, “I can’t remember stories the way your father does.” She was pretty good, though, at coming up with memories of her own, like riding the trolley all by herself in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania, as a young girl, and of the time a ventriloquist came into Central Market and mystified everyone with the source of his strange calls.

The idea of writing down the stories we heard growing up became a discussion among us, their children, about ten years ago when our parents were in their eighties. Around the time his oldest son was being born, my youngest brother, Tom, put the idea forward in a detailed way. With his leadership, we all decided that, yes, we wanted

family stories written down for ourselves and for sharing with future generations. We wanted to document our parents’ perspective on the founding and early years of the Meserete Kristos Church and the Bible Academy in Ethiopia, and we wanted to describe the legacy our parents will leave behind.

And so a plan formed. My daughter, Deborah Good, would interview her grandparents in a series of visits. Deborah brought experience as a writer and interviewer1 and found an unexpected opening in her life after the small magazine where she worked closed its doors in 2004. In addition, she lived in Philadelphia and her grandparents lived an hour and a half away in Lancaster County. Out of her conversations with them, she would mold their stories into something our family could enjoy for years to come. She began the interviews that fall.2 —Betty • • • Little did any of us know it would take more than a decade to bring the memoir-writing to completion. In the first months of the project, I caught the train from the rowhouses of West Philadelphia to the green farmland of Lancaster County, where I enjoyed hours of interviews with my grandparents, usually including 1. Deborah was an interviewer and writer for her Aunt Sara Wenger Shenk’s Thank You for Asking: Conversing with Young Adults About the Future Church (Herald Press, 2005).

2. The following year, Deborah also spent hours in conversation with her father, Nelson W. Good, before he died on July 13, 2005, which culminated in Long After I’m Gone: A Father-Daughter Memoir (Cascadia Publishing House, Dreamseeker Books, 2009).

vi

Preface

a shared lunch in their kitchen afterwards. We had eaten together at this table countless times when I was a teenager.

The initial opening in my life that allowed for these weekly trips to Lancaster came crashing closed in January 2005 when my father was diagnosed with cancer. I moved home to Washington, DC, to be with him, and the memoir project all but died in its tracks. After losing my dad, I returned to Philadelphia and to the memoir project, but progress slowed significantly as I juggled other writing, jobs, and then graduate school. My grandparents and I continued to spend many mornings together completing interviews and then wrestling through my drafts until we got them right.

The process was sometimes trying, but I cannot imagine a more intimate way to experience my grandparents’ narratives and their meaning. The impact on my own life has been profound.

Over time, I involved other family members in the process. My cousin, Greta Shenk Bucher, transcribed most of the interviews. Another cousin, Tim Shenk, and my aunt, Jewel Wenger Showalter, provided significant help in writing Chapters 3, 4, and 5. My brother, Ryan Good, helped by cropping, cleaning up, and converting old color slides to black and white.

When I moved from Philadelphia to Albuquerque in early 2012, my grandparents and I had already drafted much of parts I and II, and parts of III and IV. The distance made it difficult for me to continue the project, and with each passing year, my grandparents continued to live rich and meaningful lives, adding to the treasury of stories we hoped to chronicle in their memoirs.

When my mother retired from her work as a clinical social worker in 2013, clearing space in her life for new endeavors, I asked whether she would carry the project to its finish line, and she accepted.

As my grandparents’ oldest daughter, many of her memories dovetailed with their own. Frequent trips from her home outside Washington, DC, to Lancaster County allowed for deep collaboration with them in the final stages of this story.

Beginning in my grandparents’ childhoods, themes emerge that form a trajectory over decades. They grew up with an abiding faith in Jesus Christ, in the Mennonite Church as an expression of that faith, and in a deep desire to share the good news of God’s love with others.

This quickly moved beyond their home community when Grandpa served in Civilian Public Service during the last years of World War II. They married in the midst of this term of service.

Their relationship circle expanded still further with their years of mission work in Ethiopia and many involvements since then—experiences that cultivated a global and ecumenical perspective.

My grandparents’ lives are characterized by daily prayer and a firm belief that “the Lord will provide.” My mom remembers often hearing her parents praying aloud in their bedroom before they settled for the night. With their assurance in God’s guidance and protection, they have lived with a deep sense of calling every step along the way, including their total of seventeen years under appointment to church planting work in Ethiopia and their life in two communities in this country. As educators, they have always found opportunities for sharing knowledge and skills, starting with their own children.

They bear witness to living simply, avoiding the accumulation of possessions, and giving away as much of their income as they are able.

Throughout, they have cultivated relationships and valued open and affirming communication, including in their own marriage of more than seventy-two years. My two brothers and I had the privilege of observing their lives first hand when Ryan, then I, and later Jason, lived with them for our last two of years of high school while we attended Lancaster Mennonite High close by. We came to admire their resourcefulness, their open-minded faith, and, more than anything, their deep love for others, even across significant differences in religious or theological perspectives.

—Deborah

vii

Preface

• • •

• • •

The pages that follow tell the story of two twentieth-century Mennonites. Their life experiences have shaped their faith. Their faith has shaped their life experiences. Even as their theology evolved over the years of their life, and sometimes has not been in step with parts of their church culture, their belief in God and God’s allencompassing love has been an internal gyroscope that has not wavered. Their influence on Mennonite institutions in both Ethiopia and the United States will outlive them.

Bringing this narrative to other family members, a few close friends, and anyone else who might be interested has been an extraordinary privilege. Sitting with these two wonderful people hour after hour as they reflected back on their nearly century-long lives has been a gift of incalculable worth. May this story also be a gift to you.

Betty Wenger Good-White Deborah Anna Good

Note: The majority of this book was developed with the interview-transcribe-draft-and-review process described above. Later chapters, however, were developed less by an interview process, and more with information from other sources. For example, much of the information about the programs Chester developed while working as director of Home Ministries and Evangelism at Eastern Mennonite Mission Board comes from a self-study he and his staff compiled in March 1980 near the end of his tenure there.

Information about trips taken with family members has been supplemented by details from those family members’ travelogues.

We would also like to acknowledge referencing Beyond Our Prayers by Nathan B. Hege (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1998), and A. D. & Annie by Lois M. Lehman and Rhoda E. Cressman (Harrisonburg, VA: Campbell Print Center, copyright by the authors, 2014) for filling in certain facts.

FACING PAGE, LEFT: Sara Jane’s parents, Sara Stoner Oberholtzer (1900–1988) and Martin Lloyd Weaver (1902–1992), married March 26, 1922.

FACING PAGE, RIGHT: Chester’s parents, Anna May Lehman (1878–1955) and Amos Daniel Wenger (1867–1935), married September 27, 1900.

viii

“Sara Jane knew the importance of hospitality . . . . She has a warm heart and spirit. She is willing to share her real life stories. There is wisdom in her testimony and through sharing her struggles and victories we are all encouraged. She has a strong desire to live for Jesus and make him known.” —Mary Ellen Dula at Sara Jane’s 90th birthday celebration, October 2012

John 15:5 niv

BearingFruit A Collection of Memories

Bearing Fruit: A Collection of Memories

Top: Chet, Betty, Mark, Chester, Tom, Sara Jane, Phil, Margaret, Sara, and Jewel at Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 1961. Above: Chester cutting grapes with grandson, Yuji Wenger, 2006. PHOTO CREDIT: TOM WENGER. Above right: Sara Jane and Chester bunching snap dragons and larkspur from Chester’s garden in their backyard, 2000. PHOTO CREDIT: MATTHEW SHOWALTER

“Chester was way ahead of his time in empowering the national Christians to take over the responsibilities of church leadership. . . .

The faith and trust which was placed on the Ethiopian leadership early on bore much fruit. . . . Here at Blossom Hill Chester promoted the involvement of everyone in the congregation.”

—Mamo Dula at Chester’s 90th birthday celebration, April 2008

WENGER

T

his is the story of two twentiethcentury Mennonites. Their life experiences have shaped their faith.

Their faith has shaped their life experiences. Even as their theology evolved over the years of their life, their belief in God and God’s all-encompassing love has been an internal gyroscope that has not wavered. Their influence on Mennonite institutions in both Ethiopia and the United States will outlive them.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.”

Chester Lehman Wenger and Sara Jane (Weaver) Wenger as told to and shaped by Deborah Anna Good and Betty Wenger Good-White