New Voices: By and about young adults

In my continuing desire—mentioned in my November 2010 column—to lose my ego, I share here not of my own thoughts but about another young adult active in the adventurous journey of following Christ.

Holding hands in a circle, seven grown men, a couple and a family share with each other what they are thankful for. Several of them are hard-core alcoholics reaching towards sobriety for the first time in a long time. Others are hard-core drug addicts, some struggle with mental illness and some are Christians—all reaching together toward recovery. They close their time of thankfulness with the Serenity Prayer and join together in lunch as a big family before Ken explains the afternoon plans.

Ken Wettig has been running a 15-acre farm since January 2010 without any prior farming experience. He admits, laughing, that he thought the difference between male and female cows had to do with horns and had no idea that “grass-fed beef” was considered a sought-after product. He and Emily, his wife, are some of the Christians at the helm in this big family.

At 6 a.m. each day, Ken wakes anyone up who had broken house rules to join him in a meditation of Psalm 23. Afterward, he leads the house in worship and breakfast, then sets everyone to the day’s tasks at 8 a.m. The seven men (ranging in age from mid-20s to 60) and Ken work either at the farm or in Harrisonburg, Va., for Our Community Works, a program offering manual labor ser­vices in support of Our Community Place, the umbrella organization for the farm, also called Our Community Farm.

Each day also includes specific work toward recovery from alcohol or drug addictions. During lunch, Ken leads the group in a reflection from Alcoholics Anonymous, and in the evening the guys head out to local AA or NA (Narcotics Anonymous) meetings, unless Ken has called a community meeting to debrief the challenges, joys and trials of living together in this Christian work recovery family/community.

“What we’re seeking to do at the farm,” Ken says, “is to love God, love those [God] created and love creation.”

Ken didn’t grow up going to church and dreaming of being a Christian farmer someday. He grew up dealing with the gritty realities of life that enslaved those around him—from broken relationships to alcoholism to incarceration. Ken drew strength from his stalwart and inspirational mother but did not know a lot about Christianity or the church until he visited a youth group at age 13. Drawn to the faith, Ken quickly became a Christian and listened as his soul stirred with a calling to ministry by the age of 16.

Ken met some radical Christians as he and Emily returned to her hometown after having served together with Youth With A Mission and later in the Middle East. These Christian friends took seriously the words of Jesus, and some lived without cars, some let drunks sleep in their houses, some went on walking pilgrimages to Jerusalem and some sold their successful restaurant to turn it into a cooperative. Ken found himself wondering, Are these just hippies who like Jesus, or are they real Christians? but quickly discovered they were people who took seriously the gospel imperatives. The farm idea emerged from Ken’s own vision of starting a business employing people off the streets in the trades alongside dreams of their friends for similar recovery work.

In his spare time, Ken serves on the leadership team of Early Church, a Mennonite congregation in Harrisonburg.

Sharon Kniss attends Early Church, a Menno­nite congregation in Harrisonburg, Va.