|
Ripon might seem an unusual place for a gap year after high school, but for 18-year-old Berlin native Sophie Moldenhauer, it has become a second home.
A June graduate of a Christian high school in Germany, Sophie arrived in September for a year of service and learning and the chance to experience American culture. In Ripon, she lives with Pastor Kevin Mundell of Our Saviour’s UCC and his wife, Kelly.
Sophie’s presence in the Dairy State is one result of the longstanding ties between the Wisconsin Conference and the Evangelical Church in Germany. The church’s mission arm, Berliner Missionwerks, sends young people ages 18 to 28 all over the world to places where it has ecumenical partnerships. Sophie is the first to be placed in the United States.
One of eight siblings, Sophie grew up in the church. Her father is principal of a Protestant church school, and mom works in a kindergarten that serves children ages 2 to 6. “Our parents didn’t force us to go,” she says of her life in the church. “I always like to go to the church with my mom and my dad.” Most recently, she worked with confirmands at her home church.
At Our Saviour’s, Sophie assists in the church office, works with the teams that provide funeral luncheons, and serves as an adult mentor for the confirmation program at Our Saviour’s, among other duties, Kevin said in an email. She also spends a few hours each week providing clerical support in the Conference office. Next summer, she’ll work with campers at Daycholah Center.
The Mundells have made sure she is plugged into the wider Ripon community, too. She attends weekly meetings of their Rotary Club, helped with a Rotary highway cleanup project, and is working with Kevin on a Rotary program that works with students struggling to complete high school. They also connected Sophie with the German teacher at Ripon High School, where she’ll be helping with three German classes.
“Before I came here, I was a little afraid of the people I would get to know,” she says. “But I was really happy to get to know so many open-hearted people.”
Sophie isn’t sure what she’ll do when she returns to Germany. Her options include college or university or, perhaps, an apprenticeship program. A career as a physical therapist or paramedic is possible.
It’s clear that Wisconsin already has left its imprint on her.
“There’s a lot of cheese,” she says. “And the town of Ripon compared with my city is really small. It’s strange walking around and seeing people waving at you.”
| 
