Verena Hoffman of Rose Bay, Nova Scotia keeps a lot of "stuff" in her car, because she doesn't always know where the Holy Spirit will lead. And for the past fifteen years, the Spirit had kept her pretty busy.
Since her immigration to Canada from Switzerland in 1985 and retirement from teaching in 1992, Hoffman has been the caretaker of a ranch in northern British Columbia, a caregiver to the mother-in-law of a pastor in California, and the manager of a restaurant in Ireland.
This past winter, she spent two months working at New Hope House in the state of Georgia under the auspices of Service Opportunities for Older People (SOOP), a joint program of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada, Mennonite Mission Network, and the Mennonite Association of Retired Persons.
"To people who don't know, it sounds strange to talk about how the Holy Spirit moves people to action," Hoffman says. But it’s become a fairly normal occurrence for her.
Hoffman heard about SOOP in 1999 through friends and wrote MCC for more information. The envelope she received sat in her car for nearly three years before she felt compelled to reply.
"I didn't feel the slightest doubt when I dropped the application form into the mailbox," she says. "I was filled with a deep joy, and that's when you know it's the right thing."
Within a few weeks, the application process was complete and Hoffman, in her 1995 Ford Escort, was on her way to Georgia for a two-month SOOP assignment at New Hope House. Located near the city of Griffin, approximately 90 kilometres south of Atlanta, New Hope House is a not-for-profit organization that provides lodging, along with social and spiritual support, for families of inmates on death row. Volunteers, many of whom come to New Hope House through the SOOP program, spend their time maintaining the organization's facilities or attending trials with the families.
Hoffman chose to spend her time in the courtroom, where she witnessed the trials of two young men. The first man was convicted and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. The second was convicted and sentenced to death. "I think it is terrible thing to cage and confine any of God's creatures, especially people," says Hoffman. "How is it possible that we can kill each other?"
This experience led Hoffman to question the ways in which people in North America define freedom. "Freedom is not about doing whatever we please. Real freedom has all the ingredients of caring, respect and responsibility—for others as well as ourselves. Real freedom liberates us into a joyful sense of belonging and unity."
Hoffman says she felt the dark nature of what was taking place when she first entered the courtroom. She compares her emotion to a ton of bricks suffocating her spirit. That’s why, initially, she fled the courtroom. "I had to go out. There in the sun, in the fresh air, I asked God what he wanted me to do. The answer was clear. LIGHT. So I went back and settled myself behind the defendant for the rest of the trial, calling on Christ and His Word. I was willing to be his channel."
When the verdicts were read, Hoffman says her world stood still. But in the following days, she says it slowly dawned on her that God's ways are not our ways. "God's values, and God's working cannot be comprehended and measured by any human mind," she says.
When Hoffman's SOOP assignment ended, she was back in her car and on the way back to her winter home in Rose Bay. She knows her presence in the courtroom didn't change the verdict of the jury, but that doesn't mean her efforts were in vain. On the contrary, she believes her contribution may have done something greater. "I don't think we should always expect direct results. I think there's a bigger impact and that there is more taking place than we see or realize. I don't know what goes on in the hearts of other people, but there's not the slightest doubt in my mind that God's presence was in that courtroom."
If you would like to know more about how you might become involved with SOOP, please visit http://www.mcc.org/getinv/soop/index.html.
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