Volunteers truly are the backbone of all that we do at the Mennonite Heritage Village! The time and talent of our volunteers play a large role in helping us achieve our mission. They assist in a variety of roles, from helping with admissions and interpreting in heritage buildings to cooking burgers in our Short Order Booth and giving barrel train rides for children. Other volunteers spend their time giving guided tours! Tour guides have the opportunity to take a group of guests around the Village, walking them through our heritage buildings telling them the story of the Mennonite people.
Betty Koop is one of our wonderful volunteers who has led guided tours for 13 years! She says that one thing that sticks out from her time volunteering at MHV was meeting people from all over the world. “One group was a Russian male chorus which came to do a concert in Steinbach. They sang for us in the Auditorium at MHV and it almost carried us right through those windows in the ceiling! With all the negative news we hear from that part of the world, it was inspiring to hear and see the true joy with which they sang those wonderful songs of the faith we shared. They had hoped for a tour guide that could speak Russian but were willing to settle for High German. My German was very limited, but I agreed to try to do it in Low German even though that was rather difficult. But we agreed to try it and one of their group translated my spiel into Russian; they were most attentive. It was an interesting experience to speak through an interpreter but even more interesting to connect with fellow believers who had suffered and remained steadfast in the faith.”
Another memory that Betty shared was a tour she did with a mother and son. She writes that “he wanted to know what his ancestors had gone through to bring us to this wonderful country. It was inspiring to tell their story, and the young man’s rapt attention again made me very thankful that my forefathers and mothers had persevered through great hardships and established our home here.”
In a volunteer position where you work directly with the general public, you’re bound to encounter some more challenging moments mixed in with all the enjoyable ones. Betty recounted an instance leading a tour for a school group that tested her patience. However, once the situation was dealt with and understanding was gained on all sides, the rest of the tour turned out to be quite agreeable.
Betty writes that for her, “guiding tours at MHV was an inspiring, most enjoyable experience.” We are certainly thankful for the many years that Betty led tours here and for the many hearts she touched through her service. Volunteers don’t simply help out, they touch lives, they meet people from all over the world, and they keep alive the story of the Mennonite people.
