I began with the BVS office six and a half years ago. The person I was then is not the person I am today. This newsletter is about stories, and my story is about transformation.

At the time I began as the Secretary to Recruitment I had recently quit a high stress job. After spending two hours in an interview with Debbie Eisenbise (former Recruitment/Orientation Coordinator) and a hour with Jan Schrock (former Director of BVS), I was hired. Working at the headquarters of the Church of the Brethren was going to be a new experience for me. I had been baptized Lutheran and confirmed United Church of Christ but had not attended a church in years.

I will be the first to admit I was not very aware of social issues or the pain being felt by many people around the world. I was a person who saw everything in black and white, leaving no grey area. Learning the responsibilities of my job was the easy part. I had worked in the secretarial field since leaving high school and can learn quickly. The problem I had in adjusting to this new work setting was getting used to these Brethren. The people I worked with were very relationship-oriented, talked about feelings, hugged and touched, and cared about what was going on around them.

I learned my duties quickly, including the BVS database system (the person who knew the system had been gone three months, so it meant learning the database on my own). This was not a problem for me. The problem I was having was learning to deal with a marriage that was falling apart and keeping my life private from those that I worked with. In the corporate world it is not a good idea to share personal problems with your co-workers, especially your supervisor or boss. During this difficult time I was moody, concentrating on my work. That often meant being rigid with deadlines and procedures.

Then came the BVS staff retreat. During this time we talked about the future of BVS, the volunteers working on project and their struggles, and about the lives of the current staff. Jan, Debbie, Evie and the rest of the staff shared very personal aspects of their lives. This was strange for me and definitely not something I was comfortable about. I did not want people to know that my marriage was in shambles and that I struggled with poor health. I did not want the staff to think my troubles would keep me from doing a good job.

The weeks following the retreat I watched as the staff seemed to work closer and be forgiving of each other's bad days because they knew the inner struggle the person was facing. I watched as my co-workers cared about the world and people around them. Slowly I let these people into my life. They were there for me during a hospitalization and recuperation at home. Debbie Eisenbise, my supervisor, even came to my home to help me get my prescriptions when my husband would not. This took her away from work time, but she told me this was important work, too. This totally flabbergasted me. Never in my working life had a supervisor taken time out of a work day to assist others. I began to feel closer to the people working in the Church of the Brethren. I let them know my husband gambled our money to the point where we could barely pay our bills. Finding out about the two girlfriends he had had during our entire married life was more than I could handle. I made the decision to divorce.

That's when I learned how caring my co-workers, these Brethren people, really were. These people did not judge. They gave me a listening, compassionate ear, helped me move into a new apartment, and gave me the time and space to heal. They showed me how to forgive, how to trust, and how to love again. These Brethren people showed me by their actions that everyone is special. That sometimes people are in difficult situations, not by fault of their own but because life happens. I began to look differently at the homeless, how a family with a serious illness can lose their home, how a family may have a roof over their head but not enough money to feed their children, how people dying of cancer or AIDS–young or old–still need dignity and compassion. These Brethren people were showing me by their actions how to forgive, heal strained family relationships, become more flexible in my thinking, and be more accepting of people.

I am now remarried, to a kind, thoughtful man, and we have a three year old daughter. I am happy and I like myself. A year ago I became one of these Brethren people. I can't say that I know everything about the Brethren, but I'm learning. I'm learning more about compassion, forgiveness, healing, and the teachings of Jesus. I would not have reached this point without the love, support, and mentoring of Jan Schrock, Debbie Eisenbise, and Barb Ober (former Administrative Assistant to the World Ministries Commission). For this I say, "Thank You. I have grown in my faith and as a person because you were there to help me."