for God so loVed the world

that He gAve His

onLy Son that

whoever bElieves

iN Him

should noT

perIsh but have

eterNal

lifE

E M M A U S M E N N O N I T E C H U R C H

FEBRUARY 2020 VOLUME 73 ISSUE 2

EMMAUS ECHOES

John 3:16

So now faith, hope, and

love abide, these three;

but the greatest of these

is love.

~ 1 Corinthians 13:13

God is love.

~ 1 John 4:8

Greater love has no one than

this, that someone lay down his

life for his friends. ~ John 15:13

A new commandment I give to you,

that you love one another: just as I

have loved you, you also are to love

one another. By this all people will

know that you are my disciples, if

you have love for one an-

other. ~ John 13:34-35

Above all, keep loving one another

earnestly, since love covers a multi-

tude of sins. ~ 1 Peter 4:8

Let all that you do be

done in love.

~ 1 Corinthians 16:14

We love because

he first loved us.

~ 1 John 4:19

And above all these put

on love, which binds eve-

rything together in per-

fect harmony.

~ Colossians 3:14

Let us love one another, for

love is from God, and who-

ever loves has been born of

God and knows God.

~ 1 John 4:7

February 2020 Page 2

A NEW ADVENTURE When it became apparent we didn't have

enough time to get all the way to Michigan to visit Wil-

liam and his family for Christmas, we decided to meet

in St. Louis. After several searches on the internet, we

found a home on airbnb which would meet our needs.

So on Dec. 28th, Thomas and his family, plus Pat and I,

loaded up and headed to a home on the outskirts of St.

Louis where William's family met us for 3 days of fun.

We celebrated Christmas, had a picnic on the way to

the zoo, played on the playground in the yard at the

house, and visited Magic House where we all found

areas of interest. In addition to time together, we got to

enjoy preparing meals together enjoying our farm fresh

eggs. We are thankful for wonderful weather, safe

travel and most of all family time celebrating Jesus'

birth. - Debbie Regier

TRIP TO TUCSON Tucson, in winter, swells with folks from colder

parts, looking for warmer weather. Although the

weather wasn’t why we chose

to go there in January, we felt

fortunate to miss two White-

water ice storms.

We toured a Museum of

Miniatures and Ketchner’s

Caverns with my sister Frieda

& her husband Pitts. The museum contained count-

less rooms of miniature

houses, yards, rooms, build-

ings, dolls, trains, etc., each

with a story to tell. Most fas-

cinating was a display of pen-

nies with a detailed scene

painted on each. Ketchner’s

Caverns is a unique and beau-

tiful cave, discovered by two college students on a

farmer’s property in l993. Pitts loves to cook and I

wondered how hungry Donovan would have to get

once we returned home before he’d be satisfied

with my cooking again!

We also enjoyed visiting our longtime CRU friends,

Gary & Pat Olander in Phoenix. Rounding out our

trip was the good time we had with James &

Brenda in Meade, KS, both coming and go-

ing. Even Ferdinand and Isabella, their reserved

family cats, welcomed us.

- Donovan & Velma Claassen

Abbie Entz was selected for Homecoming Queen at Remington High School. Congratulations!

While attending a marriage seminar on com-

munication, Donald and his wife listened to

the instructor declare, "It is essential that hus-

bands and wives know the things that are im-

portant to each other." He addressed the

man: "Can you describe your wife's favorite

flower?" Donald leaned over, touched his

wife's arm gently and whispered, "Pillsbury All

-Purpose, isn't it?"

2019

YOUTH NEWS

2020

At the end of every year, most people reflect on the

year that has just passed and think about their goals

for the new year. This year was no different. While

all of this is going on however, the youth group was

gearing up for their annual New Year’s Eve party. On

December 31st, we met at church around seven

o’clock. There was an abundance of good food since

everyone brought a snack to share (including New

Year’s cookies, of course). We started by playing a

variety of games which included nine square and hide

-and-go-seek. We also watched the movie Elf. After

we were sufficiently stuffed and had enjoyed each

other’s company, we brought in the New Year with a

devotional from Andrew Harder. He encouraged us to

focus on New Year’s goals of furthering God’s king-

dom as well as personal goals. We then wrapped up

the party in a totally different year than we started the

party. - Mackenzie Unruh

February 2020 Page 3

From December 28, 2019 to January 1, 2020, several hundred college students met in Den-ver, Colorado for the Cru Winter Conference. Several from our church were able to go, in-cluding Eric Busenitz, Karlin Wiebe, Lance Boyenger, Chad Unruh, and Shannon Busenitz (Levi and Katie Boyenger were also there as a part of the group from K-State). On the morn-ing of December 28, a group of students from Butler Community College, Wichita State, and K-State met in El Dorado to caravan to Denver together. It was a windy, snowy day, leaving the conditions less than ideal for travel. A pickup that was part of the caravan slid on the icy conditions and rolled into the median, but we are so thankful that the two K-State students who were inside were not seriously hurt. The caravan stopped for a time to look over the pickup, move all of the luggage into the other vehicles, and squeeze the extra people into the other vehicles. Soon we were on our way again. We arrived at the Hyatt Regency in Denver that evening, where all of the conference activities were being held. The days at Winter Con-ference started with the main morning session every day, followed by a break for lunch, some sort of breakout session in the afternoon, and a main session in the evening following a supper break. The nights ended with games or fun activities late into the night. The main sessions consisted of singing playing games, singing worship songs, and hearing from a few

different speakers throughout the conference. One of the most impactful speakers was Blair Linne, who used the Parable of the Hidden Treasure in Matthew 13 to emphasize that any sacrifice we make for Christ is worth it. For the breakout sessions, the stu-dents had 4 options of “paths” that they could follow through the week, each one having a focus on a different aspect of the Christian life. One of the afternoons, each of the path groups went out into the streets of Denver to ask people about their spiritual lives and share the gospel. The students had a variety of results: some weren’t able to meet anyone that had a true interest in spiritual things while others were able to share the

full gospel and lead someone to a relationship with Christ. It was encouraging to meet together with our groups at the end of the afternoon to hear how God had used different students to bless the people of Denver and point people to Christ. One of the afternoons, Cru put on a “missions marketplace,” where stu-dents could hear about the many ministries Cru has and talk with Cru staff about being involved in a ministry or mission trip. A couple of the evenings, all the students and leaders from Butler Community College, Wichita State, and K-State met to discuss the sessions and get to know each other. In be-tween the planned activities, we played games, explored Denver, and relaxed

in the hotel. On the last day of the conference, a group of guys from Emmaus drove to the Denver area to haul the wrecked pickup back home. It was a really fun and encouraging few days. Before the conference was over, several students had already decided that they wanted to come back next year! - Shannon Busenitz

Cru

Win

ter

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ru W

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February 2020 Page 4

JANUARY WILLING WORKERS

Busy hands were working on assembling CEF Bracelets, bead necklaces and tee shirt, braided jump ropes for

Samaritans Purse while President Brenda Harder opened our meeting with prayer. Debora Claassen gave us

the Treasurer’s Report and read Thank You notes. Prayer Leader, Ramona Busenitz led in the singing of our

theme song and reciting our theme verses. We had prayer time and then Ramona introduced Ann Busenitz by

giving some not so well known facts such as: Merle and Ann being married 37 years (Dec. 18, 1982), Ann

meeting Merle for the 1st time in Papua New Guinea where her parents were missionaries and Merle and Ann

served for 31 years before coming back almost 4 years ago and settling in Waxhaw, North Carolina where

Merle inspects airplanes at JAARS Wycliffe Center and Ann works in the Aviation Administration Office as

office manager, receptionist, computer data base clerk, taking minutes, newsletter proof reader and assistant

for special projects. Ann’s hobbies include Entomology (study of bugs) and cooking…just not every day and

definitely not together! Ann began her report in a very interesting way! She had two oranges of which she cut

one in half. She squeezed the first half by hand and the juice came out with quite a bit of the flesh left in. Then

the 2nd half she squeezed with the orange juicer where more of the juice came out along with most of the flesh

around it. Her talk was about how God squeezes us and the juice which comes out needs to be given back to

God in worship to Him and service to others. In the 2nd half of the orange, she showed how God often times

squeezes us much more than we would like but as a result, much more juice comes out illustrating that we then

have more to offer to God and others. She illustrated this by giving us the example in her life when she had

first been back from New Guinea and was shopping for bread at North Dillons. When she saw the vast array of

bread and the choices she would need to make, she stamped her feet and declared that it was too hard; she just

couldn’t decide and left the store in frustration without buying any. 30 years later, after learning from her step

mother that a sink sprayer was used to rinse out a sink after washing the dishes, she still found out she was

learning and being “squeezed” by God. Now, Ann is being “squeezed” as a missionary back in the U.S. in her

new ministry. In Papua New Guinea, she was a teacher and helped in the school office. Here she was learning

something different again in her new ministry. An important lesson and quote that Ann gave is this: “Do what

God says or you could end up as whale puke (vomit)”. In other words, your life won’t count as anything. Ann

gave us two examples from some of the Wycliffe missionary letters she got from a woman and a man giving

examples of how they were squeezed and how God used the “juice” that came out of their lives. In the 1st let-

ter, a woman told of how the Audi Bible was of such a help to her and her family and the the 2nd letter, a Wy-

cliffe missionary shared how a cloud that God had put in a completely clear sky, prevented him from landing

on a runway airstrip with a fallen tree in the way. Ann challenged us with the question: “How is God squeez-

ing you today and how are you reacting?” Ann told us about their 3 daughters. Rachel is married to Todd and

lives in Washington DC where she is the International Aide Program Manager for Save the Children where she

dispenses money from charitable organizations and makes trips overseas to solve problems. Sarah is a Physical

Therapist who lives and works in Boston, Maryland. She was married to Jeremy, a math teacher, just this past

June. Hannah also lives in Boston and is a Graphic Designer and works in Social Media such as Twitter and

Facebook for a car dealership where she is much appreciated for her creativity. Our project was for the Preg-

nancy and Family Resource Center in El Dorado and our hostesses were Arlene and Gladys Wiebe who served

delicious strawberry topped dessert cake. - Ramona Busenitz

Our item of the month for January was hats and gloves. My sister Julie, my son Thomas, and myself challenged ourselves to make all 120 hats that we need for our family packing party. It was a challenge but we did get all 120 done!! It’s so nice to have those ready to pack! This month we will focus on accessories. For the girls, these are things like hair accessories, jewelry, sunglasses, or watches. For boys, sun-glasses and watches are great things to include! - Lori Goebel

February 2020 Page 5

Walking into the hearth room on Sunday,

January 12, one entered a construction site

where everyone was celebrating the coming of

Lincoln Wine’s birth. Because Autumn (and her

husband Thomas) are newer to Emmaus, eve-

ryone who attended played a game of guessing

Autumn, Thomas, and their boys’ likes. For ex-

ample: whether Thomas is a night owl or early

bird (morning); whether Autumn liked Mexican

or Italian (Mexican); and what Braden and

Jacob want to be when they grow up (both

want to be police officers). The guests also

enjoyed constructions snacks: spare tires

(chocolate donuts), wrecking balls (oranges),

nuts and bolts (chex mix), and fuel (punch,

coffee, and water). Gail Toevs and her daugh-

ter in law Jessica came with encouragement

and praise for Autumn in being a mom to 3

boys. Autumn was showered with gifts and the

group gift went towards buying a swing for

little Lincoln. Thank you to all who came and

celebrated Autumn and Lincoln!

- Carrie Busenitz

A baby shower was held at Emmaus on Janu-

ary 5 in honor of Michael and Lily Penner. Mi-

chael is the son of Ken and Jeanne Penner,

and Lily is the daughter of Paul and Tina Par-

tridge. The shower was hosted by Lily’s

friend, Bethany Entz; sister-in-law, Shelby

Partridge; and sisters, Deanna Williams &

Priscilla Drinkwater. Michael and Lily are ex-

pecting twin boys due in March. Many Emmaus

members were in attendance, as well as mem-

bers of Lily’s home community of Peabody-

with attendance totaling more than 60 people.

It was a wonderful time of celebration, fel-

lowship, and blessings. Please continue to re-

member Michael, Lily, and their boys in prayer

in the coming months.

- Deanna Williams (sister of Lily)

Keaton Zane Ranfeld

January 7

Parents: Wes & Marcy Ranfeld

Grandparents: Kelly & Phyllis Ranfeld

Bennett Arthur Penner

Boone Walter Penner

January 26

Parents: Michael & Lily Penner

Grandparents: Ken & Jeanne Penner

Grandparents: Paul & Tina Partridge

Great-grandma: Evelyn Penner

Jate Daniel Wiebe

January 2

Parents: Troy & Aubrie Wiebe

Grandparents: Gordon & Terry Wiebe

Levi Paul Partridge

January 15

Parents: Joe & Shelby Partridge

Grandparents: Paul & Tina Partridge

February 2020 Page 6

CHARLES “CHUCK” CARL BREWER was born on February 28, 1949 in Wichita, Ks. He was the only child of

George Brewer and Elva (Frankenberg) Brewer. He was their first and only child born to them late in life

when they were in their middle age. He grew up in rural Augusta, Ks and later they moved to Wichita,

Ks. Chuck’s Dad had a lot of health problems and died at the age of 64 when Chuck was 12 years old. By

then, Chuck had paper routes and did all he could to help earn money for the family. Chuck continued to

work after school and during the summers to help support him and his mother. Elva took in boarders and

Chuck grew up around a lot of different people.

Chuck attended East High School and graduated in 1967. He played on the Football, Basketball, and Baseball

teams. He went on to get his Teaching Degree at WSU in Physical Education and English. When he first

went off to college it took him a few semesters to get in the grove of studying – but he learned to play Bridge

like a pro! He quickly straightened up and was on the Deans Honor Roll the rest of the years until he gradu-

ated. While attending College, Chuck was an assistant coach at Southeast High School when they took state

in Football. Also while attending college, he worked a number of jobs and spent a couple of years on the Rail

Road laying ties and shoveling rock. He also had been working part time for the Post Office and was able to

get hired on full time as a Mail Carrier in El Dorado, Ks where he worked until he went on Disability in

1994.

While attending WSU he met Susan Wise, the love of his life. Susan was from Andover, Ks and when she

graduated from High School they married on February 14, 1970. Chuck and Susan was very blessed to have

their only son, Clint. Chuck loved to spend time with his family and enjoyed teaching Clint to hunt and

fish. They also played as many sports together as possible. Their truck was always jammed full of hunting,

fishing and sports equipment so they could be ready for anything. The whole family had many adventures in

the outdoors which always resulted in lots of laughs and story telling. Chuck was also a very good writer and

wrote the most beautiful love poems for Susan for her birthdays and their Anniversaries. Chuck and Susan

always: Lived, Laughed and Loved a Lifetime each and every day.

Chuck was raised a Catholic and came to know the Lord at an early age. After moving to the Potwin area, he

attended the Emmaus Mennonite Church and became a member. He became closer to the Lord, and was bap-

tized again. You couldn’t be around Chuck without hearing about the Lord and the way of salvation. He had a

very active prayer life and wanted to make sure his friends and relatives were saved. Chuck read the Bible a

number of times as well as many Theological books. His favorite verse was Psalms 23 He was always so

grateful for the Emmaus Mennonite Church, the people, friendships, and support he received. When he be-

came Disabled and no longer able to do physical activities, he spent a lot of time watching sports and the news

on TV. He loved to talk Religion, World Events, Politics and Sports. When you came to our house you had

better be up on everything so you could debate and discuss it all.

Even though Chuck became disabled with serious health issues, which he battled for 40 years, he was always

upbeat, had a laugh and enjoyed life. He was a Christian and knew when he died he was going Home to the

Lord. He didn’t want us to be sad, but to rejoice. We will see him again. Chuck passed away on January 6,

2020.

Life is for the Living,

And so we must go on –

Trusting God to see us through

When those we love have gone.

Those who have departed

Now claim their sweet reward –

Exchanging life here on earth

For life Forever

With our Lord.

February 2020 Page 7

When a lady turns 60, there is no reason in the world that her daughters should not take her out for a celebration! So the daughters of Laurence and Marilyn decided to do just that. Sadly, due to sickness, bad weather and distance, our two lovely sisters-in-law (who feel more like sisters than in-laws) could not come along and we missed Chelle and Hailey greatly. The cloudy, wet day did not deter our moods as we piled into Lisa’s sweet ride (a slick red mini-van that perfectly fit 6 women and a baby), ready for a week-end of fun! We left Newton around 5:00 and traveled to Kansas City through a winter storm, but Lisa drove cautiously and the Lord protected us. After accidently trying the wrong house, we finally arrived to our Air B&B, a nice town house that fit all of us very well. We decided to start our weekend off right in the eyes of Mom and make some popcorn, her most beloved food! Being the Mennonites we are, we had planned most of our meals out beforehand to make at our house so that we would not have to spend the money at restaurants, but after scouring the kitchen, we realized it was not stocked with the tools we needed. Carrie and Tiffany bravely headed into the cold night in search of a pan and some other cooking utensils. We did not realize how difficult this task would be. After trying a rather sketchy Dollar General, we were very strongly told to leave because they “closed early to prevent robbery”. Perhaps that was a clue to the neighborhood we were spending the weekend in? Thankfully we never saw any other clues to signify that, but found another store that was not afraid of robbery and we retrieved our items. After a late night of talking, laughing and sleeping well, we woke up to the smell of cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs. If you know us Wiebe girls, you know we can eat, and we did just that! It was a relaxing morning, watching the snowflakes fall and excitedly anticipating our next venture, IKEA! It is an unspoken rule in our family that we must go to IKEA whenever the opportunity arises, no excuses. We had all agreed to set a time limit because one’s day can be quickly taken at that place if not careful. After enjoying our time shopping, we surprisingly stuck very close to our goal and found a little salad place downtown to eat a light lunch. The afternoon back at our house was a great time of relaxing together. We had encouraging conversations that drew us closer as friends, we laughed and of course enjoyed hearing Emily’s attempts at joke-telling. We played a “Would You Rather” game and then compared our answers to determine who was most like Mom. We attempted a craft, but that did not go well and is hardly worth mentioning, ex-cept for the fact that we at least attempted it! Lisa and Amy made a delicious supper of pork chops, mashed potatoes and chocolate cake that we all enjoyed greatly. After another night’s sleep, we headed home Sunday morning, silently wishing the weekend did not have to end so soon. We would all readily agree that we had a great weekend celebrating our mom, knowing how much she deserves it. We are so thankful for the life God has given to Mom, the impact she’s had in so many incredible ways in each of our lives, and the friend she’s become. - Tiffany Thiessen

4-H NEWS The North Butler 4-H Club met on January 13, 2020 at the Emmaus Mennonite Church, Whitewater. The

meeting was called to order by Acting President, Jeremiah Goebel. Ella Amend led the Flag Salute and Cora

Brackenridge led the 4-H Pledge. Roll call was answered by “My favorite sports player” by 12 members. Aus-

tin Miller was recognized for having a January birthday and the members listed some of their 4-H Goals to

earn a piece of chocolate. The program began with Rustin McLaughlin leading the song “Baby Bumble Bee”.

Donovan Brewer did a Show and Tell about Music and performed the “Square Dance” on the piano. Hudson

Harder did a Show and Tell over his model USS Nemesis aircraft carrier. Lastly, Cora Brackenridge presented

a Demonstration on “Growing Food” which included spinach seeds. After the program, Harley McLaughlin

led recreation with a Sack Race Relay. Refreshments were served by the Brackenridge family.

February 2020 Page 8

REFLECTIONS OF MY CHILDHOOD By Walter Busenitz

It was decided that the Frank Busenitz, Sr. family Christ-mas gathering would be discontinued after 2019. I was asked to give a review of life in my parental home and my life in general at this last gathering. Then I was asked to write it up for the “Echoes.” My parents were Frank Busenitz, Sr. and Margaretha Wiebe Busenitz (from the south Wiebe family). They both migrated to America in 1893 at ages 16 and 13. The Busenitz’s settled five miles southeast of Newton and the Wiebes lived 1 ½ miles south of Brainard. My father learned English in school in Germany, but my mother knew no Eng-lish so she went to Brainard school for two years. With younger sisters to help at home, my mother, being the oldest, went to Newton to work for an American family; but she was so homesick that she came home again. Later she went back and boarded with her grandparents Epp (Theodore Epp’s grand parents) and that went better. Her wages went to pay the interest on the farm. They walked to the First Mennonite Church in Newton for church where the Busenitz’s attended and my father began meeting them at the church door. One time he had a rose for my mother and the rest is history. They were married in 1901 when my fa-ther was 23 and my mother was 21. They made their home ¾ mile west of the old church. I was blessed to be raised in a Christian home where daily devotions were conducted and our family was faithful in church attendance. My parents had priorities for their dis-cretionary spending. Top priority was for things that last and are permanent. Secondary priority was clothing to mix in with the culture when possible. Least priority was fancy foods, but rather to eat what you have. In 1910, my parents were living in an old house. I never saw it, but knowing my folks, if it was reparable, they would have fixed it up. How-ever they decided to build a new house. They made a full basement with a cement floor. The kitchen was planned for efficiency with cabinets, drawers and bins for flour, and a closet for shoes and coats. I was told that other ladies often commented how wonderfully my mother’s kitchen was de-signed. My father had several stands of bees for honey and we had milk cows. We sold cream and made our own butter and my mother made four varieties of cheese. The left-over milk was fed to the chickens for protein.

On wash days, my dad usually helped my mother. The

water had to be carried in and heated on the cook stove and

then carried to the wash machine. The agitator was

operated by hand as was the wringer. Overalls needed to be rubbed on a scrub board. The laundry was dried on a wash line and the bedding smelled so good coming in from the sunshine. Ironing was done in the kitchen with flat irons heated on the cook stove—a warm job in the sum-mer. Butchering was a big job. We carried the water from the windmill to the rendering kettle in the basement where it was heated to boiling then carried out to the shed and put in a steel barrel. The hog was then lowered in the hot wa-ter until the hair let loose. Then the other end of the hog was scalded. After the job of scraping all the hair off, the hog was pulled up and laid out on the clean butcher table on saw horses. (Some people skinned their hogs, but my dad liked to keep the hide on the hams, bacon and shoul-ders.) We made two kinds of sausage, a liver sausage which was cooked, and a meat sausage which was smoked. The lard was rendered and we ate the cracklings. The spare ribs were cooked in the lard as it was ren-dered—those spare ribs were so good! It makes me long for some even now! The tallow from the beef was rendered and we made lye soap and the cracklings were fed to the chickens. We had a smoke house about 4’ by 6’ and 8’ high. There was a trench in the dirt and my dad would bring glowing corn cobs and put them in the trench and covered them with more cobs and put a covering on them so they smoldered and smoked. After three or four days of good smoking, the flavor was just right for hams, sausage, and beef. We butchered pork in the fall to eat during the winter and beef later in the spring to eat in the summer. We preserved the meat by rubbing salt on all the pieces and then packing them in a crock and pouring salt brine around them for about a week. The salt brine was tested—salt was added until an egg would float. The meat kept well, but the bacon was a bit too salty for me. My mother also canned meat. Our meat supply also consisted of rabbits (both domestic and wild), geese (using the feathers for bed ticks), squabs, chickens, and fish out of the creek. The only time I can remember buying meat was one summer when we bought a quarter of beef from the butcher shop for a wedding.

In the summer everything was warm. If we wanted

something cool, we could take it down to the basement

cement floor or we could get cold water from the well. If

the wind was blowing, it would pump water for us; if not, we

pumped by hand. We would put the cool well water in a

dish pan and then put a kettle of milk in to cool. If you had

a dug well, you could hang stuff in the well, but we didn’t

have one. (continued on p. 9)

February 2020 Page 9

(continued from p. 8) In the 30’s, we put in a cistern next to the house and a hand pump by the kitchen sink, so that was a great convenience for my mother after 30 years of marriage. In 1947, the electric line came by and that changed a lot: electric lights, refrigeration, a fan, electric range, and electric iron. My parents had fruit trees: apples, peaches, cherries, grapes, and pears. Besides canning fruit, we dried apples on the tin roof of the shed. One day of 100* temperature would dry a batch. We canned many tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, and green beans. Carrots and parsnips were buried underground out of reach of the frost and a big plot of potatoes were dug and stored on the basement floor as that was the coolest place. We had to break off the sprouts as they grew. We made a lot of sour kraut in a big crock. In the winter we would make a fire in the kitchen stove and prepared food and we ate breakfast and dinner in the kitchen. In the afternoon we made a fire in the pot-bellied stove in the living room and ate supper there. After supper we lit the gasoline lamp and sat around the table and read. Some times my mother patched socks. Since I was 11 years younger than my next older sister, my father played many games of checkers and chess with me before I went to bed. I took a hot brick wrapped in cloth up to my cold bedroom to warm my feet under the feather bed. My grandparents believed in Christian education. In northern Germany and Czechoslovakia, there was a group of prot-estant believers called the Moravian Brethern that were known for their missionary endeavors. They had a boys’ school 400 miles away. My grandfather sent his boys there in their teen years, four hours by train. I value the emphasis that my parents placed on Christian education. Each of us attended two years of Christian education. After WWII, I attended 1½ years of Bible college where I met my wife, Susie. Eleven of our children attended Berean Academy and Grace College of the Bible where six of them met their spouses and four graduated. I am glad we could practice private enterprise with a stable government. These are all blessings from the Lord, and I thank God for our country.

I REMEMBER WHEN… By Wilbert Wiebe

100 years ago, American women were given the right to vote. 75 years ago, Emmaus women voted

for the first time at our church’s annual business meeting.

The annual business meeting of 1945 started at 12:30. As we came into the church we saw two la-

dies sitting in the back row with knitting baskets. They were very busy with their work and did not

look up. I was 19 years old and remember it like it was yesterday. I wondered why these two la-

dies would come to our business meeting with their knitting.

When it was time for the opening prayer, everyone got up including the two ladies. That told me

that the ladies were here for the business meeting. [An aside note: In those days, Emmaus people

did not pray in church while sitting down. We stood up for short prayers and knelt down for long

prayers.]

When we had our first ballot vote, the teller’s committee came to the two ladies in back and both

ladies put their ballots into the basket as we men watched. I felt like this was an historic event. Af-

ter the meeting some men said this was a sign of the times.

One year later, seven ladies sat in the back row; none of them brought their knitting baskets. The

following year even more women came. These brave ancestors of ours had the courage to do

something new and so had a part in making Emmaus what it is today: a church that tries to honor

God and love and respect people.

February 2020 Page 10

JUANITA JOY BUSENITZ was the 9th child born to Walter and Susie Busenitz on August 4, 1965. When she was only 6

weeks old, Juanita developed meningitis. This was a scary time for her parents as she spent several days in pediatric in-tensive care. As she recovered, they knew that God had a plan for her young life. Several months later, when Juanita was 8 or 9 months old, she mysteriously broke her arm. She made quite the sight crawling around using her cast as a little bull-dozer for anything in her path. But nothing was able to slow her down. As she grew, she became more active in family life. In Juanita’s own words,

“Our childhood days were spent running around the home place letting our imaginations run wild when we could, and doing our chores and responsibilities when we should. Dad taught the boys to work outside with the livestock, to work in the field, and bring in the crops. Mom taught us girls how to tend a big garden, freeze and can the pro-duce and how to bake bread and cinnamon rolls for our future husbands, and how to have three meals on the ta-ble every day. Dad called it “KU” (Kitchen University).”

Juanita grew up attending Emmaus Mennonite Church and always appreciated the spiritual foundation she received there. When she was 10 years old, she attended Camp Good News in Arkansas City, Kansas. While having the time of her life, she was also soaking in the Gospel message being taught during the evening services. In her written testimony she shared these words:

“I could not remember a time when I had confessed my sin and asked God to forgive me of my sin and make me a child of God. So the last night after the evening session, I asked my counselor to pray with me and I became a child of God. I struggled with doubts for many years following, but through the help of our Pastor preaching on John 10, I was able to put my doubts behind me, and today I know that I am a child of God and will spend eternity with God. I was baptized when I was about 15 years old. I knew that it was time to make a public confession of my faith and wanted my church family and friends to know I was committed to following Him the rest of my days.”

Juanita graduated from Berean Academy in 1983. After taking a gap year to attend the previously mentioned “Kitchen University,” she followed in her older siblings footsteps and attended Grace College of the Bible in Omaha, Nebraska in the fall of 1984. These were enjoyable years of spiritual growth. It was there that she met David Funk, a fellow student from Inman, KS. They both helped at a church plant about 20 minutes from the school campus. This gave them lots of time while driving back and forth to visit and get to know each other better. What began as a friendship soon developed into spending additional time together on evenings and weekends. When Dave proposed in the fall of 1986, Juanita was happy to say yes. They were married on April 18, 1987. They were blessed with four children in the years to come. She enjoyed her role as a mother and keeping the home running smoothly. Juanita was known for her organizational skills and a sparkling clean home. Her family often joked with her about her over the top zeal for cleaning. She did not like clutter of any kind and often got herself in trouble for throwing things away too early. On more than one occasion, she had to sneak to goodwill and repurchase an item of Dave’s or the kids that she had donated without their consent when they noticed it was missing. Cooking was a bit of a chore to Juanita, but she always enjoyed baking. Her children and all their friends liked to refer to Juanita as the “cookie queen.” She was famous for her delicious and perfectly round cookies. As her boys grew into their teenage years, their friends always loved to come hang out at the Funk house. “Mama Funk” always had a pile of cookies and a gallon of sweet tea ready for them. Juanita loved being an Aunt. She would often joke with her brood of nephews about which one was her favorite for that day. As her nieces and nephews grew up and were married, they had children of their own. Juanita loved these great-nieces and nephews as her own grandchildren. Several years ago, she took on the task of sending a birthday card to each one of her great-nieces and nephews. That is currently 70 birthday cards a year, and the number keeps growing! She was always thrilled when one of the kids would write her back, and she maintained a pen-pal relationship with several of them. Family was important to Juanita and she greatly looked forward to quality time spent with her loving family and many friends. One tradition that Juanita especially cherished was the annual sisters weekend retreats shared with Fern, Eliza-beth, Lillian, and Pearl. This was a special time for the sisters to reminisce about their childhood days and also create new memories together. One year they gathered for the weekend in Chicago and decided to visit the local Chinatown district. While they were visiting, waiters kept passing by with what Juanita believed to be free samples! She gladly kept accepting dish after dish for their table…only to find out that of course these were not free! The sisters managed to pool enough money between them to cover the meal and then laughed about the experience for years to come. (continued on p. 11)

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(continued from p. 10) Juanita was a joy to be around and knew how to infuse laughter into any situation. She had a witty sense of humor and was always quick on her feet with a funny comeback. Juanita always enjoyed music, a special trait she shared with her own mother. She learned to play piano at a young age, and it was a discipline she continued for the rest of her life. When she had a few minutes of spare time in her day, she would often sit down at the piano to play a song or two. She enjoyed listening to music while she worked and especially had a love for hymns. The meaningful lyrics of the old hymns were so inspirational and ministered to her through many difficult times. While Dave has always had a passion for international missions, Juanita was more hesitant to leave the security and stability of home behind. Dave went on short term mission trips from time to time, but with young children still at home, Juanita often stayed behind. In June of 2017, Juanita joined Dave on a mission trip to Honduras along with Jason and Ti-tus. They worked primarily at Project Talitha Cumi, a home for abandoned girls. That was a life changing trip for her! She loved to tell others how God had been working in her life and given her such a heart for these girls. She and Dave had a shared passion for this ministry and spent many days dreaming about how God might use them in Honduras. After lots of prayers and conversations, they were accepted as missionaries with World Indigenous Missions in the summer of 2018 and began plans to return to Honduras for a more in-depth vision trip. However, the Lord had other plans. In November of 2018, Juanita was diagnosed with colon cancer just a week prior to their planned departure date. The past 15 months have been such a journey of faith and trusting that God is sovereign and good. Even in the midst of heartbreak and disap-pointment, Juanita never wavered in her faith. One of Juanita’s favorite scripture verses, which she displayed in her home, was Romans 15:13, which reads, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” The theme of hope was so important to Juanita, especially through her cancer journey.

On January 18, 2020, Juanita was called to her final home where she joined her mother, Susie; brother, Jonathan; and

nephew Doug, in worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ. She will be greatly missed by her husband, David; father, Walter

Busenitz; her children, Andrew and Tina Price, Aaron and Holly Funk, Jason and Nelsy Funk, and Titus Funk; her brothers

and sisters, Robert and Marilyn Busenitz, Stephen Busenitz, Rick and Fern Rudolph, Mark and Joan Busenitz, Jim and

Elizabeth Pearce, Reuben and Diana Busenitz, Ethan and Denise Busenitz, Rachel and Gordon Busenitz, Dan and Lillian

Jerred, Earl and Cori Busenitz, Kip and Pearl Nanninga; and a host of nieces, nephews and friends.

Good News Clubs are back in session. Please Pray!

Monday: Benton Public School

Monday: El Dorado Oil Hill Elementary

El Dorado Blackmore Elementary: Tuesday

Tuesday: Hesston Elementary

Rosalia Intermediate: Wednesday

Tuesday: Remington Elementary

Tuesday: Remington Middle School

Peabody-Burns Elementary: Thursday

El Dorado Grandview Elementary: Thursday

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E M M A U S M E N N O N I T E C H U R C H

Editor………………...……..….…Debora Claassen

Youth Reporter…..........................Mackenzie Unruh

Staff Writers........................................................You

Layout/Circulation Editor………...Wanita Busenitz

Please send articles to: emmausechoes@gmail.com

“Bravely Surrendered” will be the theme for the 2002 Emmaus Ladies’ Retreat on February 28-29. Ladies, if you are college age or older, you are welcome to join us! Sarah Lango of Creighton, Mis-souri, will share with us her story of God’s faithfulness in her life, leading her to face fear and trust Him. The retreat this year will be held at the Cross Wind Conference Center in Hesston, Kansas. The pro-gram will begin with supper on Friday, and we will head for home about 3:00 Saturday afternoon. Many “extras” are being planned with fun options for all – games, possibly a craft, etc. – as well as the usual fun of simply gathering and chatting into the night. And of course there will be great meals for which you will NOT have to cook, cut up someone else’s food, or do the dishes! Come for the whole time with comfortable overnight accommodations, or come just for meals and program and head home for the night if you wish (there will be two price-points for these options – specifics yet to be determined). Registration will begin soon so plan now to sign up early. Any questions, you can contact Marilyn Wiebe (call or text 316-708-2998, or email lmwie-be9@gmail.com). Also, there is a Facebook event page titled “2020 Emmaus Ladies' Retreat” that you can search for and join, which may include further information as we have it down the road. About Sarah: Sarah Lango is a momma of 3, wife, writer, speaker, Jesus follower, and coffee lover from small town Missouri. She is the founder of Gracefilled Growth, where she writes about her faith, marriage, and motherhood journey. Her passion is to inspire others to live authentic lives, seeking God in the hard stuff, learning together, and embracing the grace that God so lovingly offers. You can read more of Sarah’s writing at www.gracefilledgrowth.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/gracefilledgrowth

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