Mennonite Church USA

Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.—Psalm 85:10 TNIV

I have a deep appreciation for the many counseling centers that are affiliated with Mennonite Church USA because I recognize how much they contribute to our church’s vision to bring healing and hope to individuals in our communities, both inside and outside the church.

Not long ago, in the course of my travels for Mennonite Church USA, I had the opportunity to visit SpringHaven, a counseling center with two locations in rural Ohio—Mount Eaton and Crown Hill.

Their motto is “Compassionately Leading People Toward Wholeness.”

I first heard about SpringHaven from Terry Shue, a charter member of the governing board. He spoke about the joy he experienced when the ministry was launched, and the pleasure it brought him to serve on the board.

As he described the unusual events that led to the establishment of the center, he gave credit to God for what had happened.

Terry said the alignment of Lavina Miller Weaver’s leadership as the CEO with that of Steve Steiner as the board chair was a clear movement of God at work.

They both have great credibility in their communities and worked tirelessly to catch up to what God was doing to provide a local mental health facility. The way things came together was a clear signal to Terry that God was at the center of the whole initiative. The board was confident that God was leading the way.

As with other counseling centers, clients come to SpringHaven with concerns such as depression, anxiety, grief and loss, phobias, disorders, sexual abuse recovery, marriage and relationship issues, behavior and eating disorders, adoption and attachment disorders and more.

The staff provides counseling for individuals, marriages and families, as well as groups that can help in the healing journey.

Yet SpringHaven stands out from most other counseling centers in that it ministers to the “Plain community” in a significant way, which constitutes about one-third of its clientele.

The leaders of the nearby Amish churches gave their blessing and their financial support to the launch of the building project at the main location. Now the Amish contribute a significant amount of volunteer time, supplies and meals to Amish clients who are under care.

The Amish churches in the area share responsibility for maintaining Amish living quarters at the center and make regular visits to their church members there. Executive director Lavina Weaver and other counselors are able to communicate with their Amish clients in Pennsylvania Dutch, a practice that bridges communication barriers and builds trust across cultural divides.

SpringHaven is unusual in yet another way: It was started via a merger of several different ministries that developed a common vision for improving the mental health in their community. That made it possible for the ministry to get started without a debt.

The surrounding community rallied around the vision and helped them upgrade an existing facility into a spacious and welcoming place under open skies with a vista of rolling hills. The horses in the equine-psycho-therapy program seem right at home among the fields and pastures of the neighboring Amish community.

It seems appropriate to provide equine-assisted therapy to Amish clients who work with livestock every day.

Horses are sensitive animals that readily detect a person’s emotional state, helping individuals understand the effects of their emotional state on others.

Under the guidance of skilled therapists, interaction with horses can help clients develop skills of patience, self-confidence, trust and compassion.

The God of peace invites us all to make healthy choices among the stresses and strains of life, which leads us to true shalom. True peace is a kissing cousin to righteousness, expressing “right-relatedness” with God and each other.

So when I see people walking the path toward greater mental health, I look for God’s footprints nearby. They were easy to spot at SpringHaven.

Ervin Stutzman is executive director of Mennonite Church USA.