We have identified seven aspects of our work with military personnel and their families:

1. Learn to understand military life and culture

The military is a world of its own with unique language, rituals, symbols, values and ways of functioning. Certain taboos that hold in civilian life are purposely violated in the military. Many personal rights generally taken for granted do not exist in the military. A rigid hierarchy of rank permeates all spheres of daily life. The military is a closed society that hardly tolerates questions or dissent.

This is indeed a strange and foreign world, especially for Mennonites who have never been in the military nor had family members or friends in the armed forces. Simply following sentences peppered with TDYs, PCSs, AAFESs, GLCMs, MOSs and more can be quite a chore, not to mention understanding how things function on base or empathizing with the people caught in this system.

2. Build relationships with GIs and their families

Despite the sequestered nature of military bases, we have found numerous ways to meet military personnel and their families: attending on- and off-base churches, singing in choirs, giving German lessons, participating in athletic and recreational activities. For better or for worse, most of our contacts have been with members of the religious community on base.

Some Americans have shunned contact with us. Others have been discussion partners and still others have become friends. We have tried to fight the deeply-instilled missionary impulse to see other people as objects of our work, whom we are trying to change or win over. We have sought to live our convictions and faith unabashedly, yet we try to find a language that can be heard by people in the foreign culture of the military.

3. Be attentive to the problems GIs themselves identify

In addition to the normal problems of life in the military (e.g. hierarchical and authoritarian environment, lack of civil liberties, monotony), GIs overseas are faced with problems of living in a foreign culture, isolation from family and friends, and almost complete reliance on the military for all support systems.

We have tried to be a listening ear in this situation. We have been humbled by the way people have opened their lives to us. Being civilians "outside the system" has been an advantage. People trust us because we are not part of the rumor mill and because we are not linked into the chain of command that controls their lives.

In our conversations, we try to help our friends see the structural roots of their problems. When they are angry about having to obey senseless orders, for example, we discuss why the military trains people to obey without asking questions. When they are upset that a Mormon is integrated into the Protestant chaplaincy, we talk about the military's primary interest in organized religion on base as a stabilizing and legitimizing force.

At times we have hosted individuals facing difficulties at home or in their unit. At other times we have referred people for professional assistance.

4. Generate discussion on questions of Christian discipleship and nonviolence

Several times we have invited outside speakers to discuss questions of nonviolence and Christian discipleship with soldiers and their families. Vincent and Rosemarie Harding, friends and co-workers of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., spent 10 days visiting military bases in West Germany talking about King's vision for the United States and his commitment to nonviolence. John Stoner, MCC Peace Office, taught a Sunday school class at Hahn Air Base titled "Does God save us from our enemies?" In fall 1990 Christians from Wittenberg, East Germany, will tell about their struggle for peace and human rights during the last 10 years and the events of 1989 that led to the first nonviolent revolution in German history.

In personal discussions we often point out discrepancies and contradictions to which military personnel seem to have grown accustomed. We ask, for example, "What does it mean to sing 'In Christ there is no east or west' on a base with weapons aimed towards the east?" Here our role is a bit like the child pointing out that the emperor is not wearing any clothes.

5. Offer military counseling

We are part of the Military Counseling Network, a group of four trained counselors in Germany affiliated with the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors. Over the past three years the network has counseled half a dozen soldiers who have sought a discharge as conscientious objectors, and others who have been sexually harassed, discriminated against or who have needed help because they went AWOL (absent without leave).

6. Build bridges between U.S. Christians in the military and German Christians in the peace movement

This has happened through informal meetings, volleyball matches, a German-American choir, cooperation between American and German congregations and helping Germans prepare and handing out leaflets to GIs. In cooperation with the base chapel, we are planning a series of events of mutual interest to both groups in the coming year (see Appendix).

These encounters have been important in keeping us from becoming neutral mediators on a shuttle mission and in allowing our German friends to speak for themselves. They also give us credibility when we talk on base. These contacts have helped Germans in the local peace initiative give attention not only to the weapons systems in their back yards but also to the people who operate them.

7. Witness to the way of Jesus

In all these activities, in word, deed and lifestyle, we seek to witness to the way of Jesus and his good news of peace. It has been especially important to be part of a small Christian community where we can live out what we believe. Despite all the difficulties involved, developing an alternative lifestyle together is perhaps a more powerful witness than all the words we have spoken during the years we have been here.