Ervin and Emma Stutzman's Story

Below is the introduction I wrote for my composition class's community writing project for the semester. Today we finally got the booklets printed and assembled. They will be available at church on Christmas Day and any time following. We're selling them for $5.00.

Student authors are Jenni Miller, Sharon Eash, Marvin Miller, and Louise Nisly.

Introduction

The idea for the composition class to feature Ervin and Emma’s life story in our community writing project hatched several years ago when someone who had visited with the Stutzmans over Sunday dinner told me “Your class should write their story. It’s really interesting.” This year it worked out–just barely.

After some preliminary arrangements were made earlier in the semester, we began working on the writing project two weeks before Christmas vacation started. In the middle of the first week we learned that the subjects of the story were about to jet off to Haiti, and would not return till the class was over for the year. This called for some serious scrambling. They came to school on Thursday and talked to us for several hours, answering our questions and telling whatever stories the conversation shook out of their memories. Several students visited in their home to get more information, or called them.

A flurry of student writing commenced over the weekend. I did some proofreading on Monday, and Ervin and Emma departed on Tuesday, Priority Mail envelope containing the precious manuscript in hand. While on the plane, they read over it for accuracy and marked corrections, handing it off to a very helpful man at the information counter in the Miami airport. He promised to drop it off at a mailbox on his way home from work and gave them personal contact information in case they wanted to inquire about it later. It arrived at school on Thursday. Friday was the last day of school before Christmas break.

Several years ago Ervin had written a well-summarized chronological narrative of his life in preparation for sharing it at Cedar Crest. This proved invaluable. In this booklet, we preserved the general order of the story as Ervin originally wrote it.

Ervin is 89, and Emma is 87. In our exchanges with them we marveled at their vitality and the clarity of their thinking. Hearing about their youthful dreams reminded us that if they had made different choices along the way, we might not have needed to worry about their leaving for Haiti while our project was underway. Instead they might have long ago forsaken a simple lifestyle, ignored the needy in the world, and indulged in a luxurious retirement. But the story would have been greatly diminished, and the purpose of their lives would have been far less significant.

In a phone conversation with James Martin, who works now in the ministry in Haiti where Ervin and Emma took initiative 27 years ago, James told me that the day before (December 19, 2010), during the church service where Ervin and Emma were present, a Haitian pastor told all those gathered that Ervin was “Grandpa” to everyone there. James also told me that when Ervin and Emma first arrived in the village of Labaleine, almost no one could read or write. Now even young children can read, thanks to the school that was built in the community—a school that this year has over 500 students enrolled from kindergarten through high school.

Later James’s wife, Janie, gave other examples of how life is different now in Labaleine because of Ervin and Emma’s work, along with many others who have continued the ministry. Five-gallon plastic buckets have replaced the Calabas gourds that used to be used for carrying water. Six wells have been added to supply water—much more accessible and adequate than the single spring in the community earlier. Even simple hand tools were in very short supply, and no sewing machines were as advanced as the treadle machines Ervin and Emma provided. Wheels? None.

Making the most basic repairs to simple tools was difficult with no shop tools in the area. No one knew how to make quilts, and many women didn’t know how to use a scissors. A repair shop and a sewing center have addressed these needs. One old church building and a small toilet with a broken door have been replaced by a compound containing large and sturdy buildings. Many private homes in the community have been improved.

Janie also told me that people in Labaleine “refer to Ervin and Emmas as the founder[s] of Labaleine. . . the roots of Labaleine . . . as their Papa and Mama.”

Ervin and Emma’s journey is not over, and evidence that their lives have been spared for a purpose may continue to accumulate. But after you’ve read this story, you will see some of what Ervin and Emma saw unfolding as they lived life. At certain critical junctures, frightful and painful experiences redirected their focus away from the goal of financial success and the esteem of others, toward a life of gratitude for simple gifts and a desire to share those gifts with the poor. Genuine love motivated the giving.

I worked for Ervin and Emma years ago in their greenhouse business, and absorbed some of their love for growing things. Many others found employment there as well, and no doubt also soaked up some of Ervin and Emma’s passion The business prospered, in response to lots of hard work. Now, every year national wholesalers list Stutzman Greenhouse among their plant suppliers, and Kansas State University specialists sometimes publicly cite Stutzmans as an excellent growing facility.

Ervin and Emma Stutzman’s last name has become well-known in the plant world. But when they speak of having been spared for a purpose, it’s undoubtedly names like “Grandpa” and “Papa” and “Mama” they associate most strongly with that purpose. Hundreds of Haitians whose lives have been remarkably changed through Ervin and Emma’s intervention and God’s blessing feel love and gratitude whenever they think of Grandpa, Papa, and Mama.

Let’s get on with the story of how it all happened.