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Spring 2017 · Vol. 46 No. 1 · pp. 57–68 

Planet Caravan: California Mennonite Brethren Youth on the Road in Western Canada

Brian Froese

One day in the summer of 1964, after a long day of driving in their van, a group of about ten California Mennonite Brethren youth calling themselves the “Youth Caravan” found themselves at the United States-Canada border. Crossing the border proved to be more difficult than planned. Because of a 35 percent import duty on the literature they planned to sell on their journey, Caravan members had a choice to make: what to leave behind, what to take? The literature they were carrying likely included material describing Mennonite Brethren initiatives such as leadership training workshops, the “Double in a Decade” church growth program, Sunday school materials, as well as a slim book called Discipline and Discovery by Albert Edward Day. As they sped north toward Winnipeg, only the copies of Day’s popular book made the trip. 1

. . . these young people challenged the status quo even while they affirmed authority, respected denominational structures, and espoused an apolitical discipline. {58}

Youth Caravan was born in California, and in the mid-1960s the team traversed the Canadian West to encourage Mennonite youth in their religious faith while advocating an evangelical version of the disciplined life within a Mennonite Brethren context. It promoted a conservative religiosity that connected a transcendent divinity with practical lifestyle principles. A case study of 1960s evangelical youth, the young people involved in Youth Caravan came from a Mennonite community that had a decades-long tradition of cutting a path between liberal pacifists and otherworldly fundamentalists. Though the program was certainly steeped in the waters of modern American evangelicalism, it was an attempt not only to reach young people for God, but also to shape what it meant to be a spiritual young person in this volatile decade. In an era of violent student protests, rampant sexual promiscuity, and rejection of common standards of dress and cleanliness, this traveling band would promote a life of restraint, piety, personal hygiene, and grooming.

BEGINNINGS

In the late spring of 1963, M. A. Kroeker and Arthur Flaming, two Mennonite Brethren pastors from Kansas and Oregon respectively, began corresponding about how to rekindle a passion for evangelism among their seemingly apathetic youth. Their desire was to see young people spend time in an “intensive evangelistic program” away from home, in an atmosphere of “team evangelism.” The hope was that when returned to their churches, “they would set the young people of their own church on fire.” 2 By the fall, the team evangelism project had evolved into a traveling venture and was being referred to as “a mobile Christian youth caravan.”

Dwight Wiebe, the Christian Service Secretary of the Mennonite Brethren Church, identified two initial issues raised by the proposed program: where to locate such a concept within the existing denominational mission bureaucracy without alienating any service boards, and how to establish a clear and “carefully spelled out program of goals . . . which would include a curriculum as well as an orientation program.” 3 When he asked Moody Bible Institute instructor Dr. Harold E. Garner about the program, Wiebe was especially encouraged that he “gave it his full support.” Wiebe also learned that the Swedish Baptists and Mennonite Church in the eastern states had been sponsoring such programs for a few years with great success. 4

The careful and deliberate reflection on how to introduce such a program to a small denomination indicated the general trend toward professionalization washing over American churches in the post-war decades. The Mennonite Brethren Church was already part of an intricate and sprawling relief organization, Mennonite Central Committee, and had {59} recently constructed its second liberal arts college and first seminary, both in Fresno, California. In the promotional materials for these schools, the denomination stressed the importance of an educated pastorate and solidly trained Christian professionals in all manners of occupation. Youth ministry would be no different, even in what was dawning as the rebellious 1960s.

As the time neared for the first caravan to depart, Wiebe asked for “comments and suggestions on the objectives and program of the Christian Youth Caravan.” Elmo Warkentin, Executive Secretary of the U.S. Conference Board of Church Schools, responded that, “the program as a whole indicates that there has been careful planning throughout.” He emphasized that Youth Caravan fit well with the denomination’s larger goal of “doubling in a decade,” and that his office could provide the travelers with literature on Mennonite Brethren leadership training workshops, the Double in a Decade program, and Sunday school materials. 5 Wiebe himself expressed hope that Youth Caravan’s priority would be “spiritual rather than spectacular,” that the “seed of truth” would be planted as they rode the highways, and that it would “help young people in their search for Christ and his answers to their personal problems.” 6

In developing the Youth Caravan program Wiebe was careful to learn from, but not simply copy, ministries developed by other evangelicals, ministries like Youth for Christ, God’s Invasion Army, and Young Life. He thought the Baptist-run God’s Invasion Army would have the most to teach, since Mennonite Brethren and Baptists were kindred spirits on matters of evangelism. Moreover, he was acquainted with Abe Funk, a Baptist deeply involved with the Invasion Army ministry, and a former Mennonite Brethren. Youth for Christ provided a different ministry model than the one envisioned for Youth Caravan, but it was considered worth looking at because Sam Wohlgemuth, who worked for Youth for Christ, had profound respect for traveling caravan ministries. His opinion carried additional weight because the denomination he belonged to (Brethren in Christ) also supported the Mennonite Central Committee.

The first letters to churches unveiling the Youth Caravan program were sent out in June 1964. They announced that the summer would see these caravans traveling throughout the Western and Midwestern states, with a stop in Winnipeg. 7 The theme of the inaugural Caravan was “Faith in Action.” Its objective was to “present the Christian life as one of joy and victory” and to promote service as part of a deeper Christian experience. Each visit would last six days with an opening banquet, daily seminars and workshops on various topics, a devotional program, and “carefully structured sharing.” 8 These sessions would incorporate “songs, testimonies, buzz sessions, etc.” 9 Promotional materials stressed that this would not simply be a group of young people seeking thrills and adventure, nor {60} a traveling troupe of entertainers, or even “experts” on youth program development. They were simply young people motivated by a love of God, their church, and other young people. They were alert to the spiritual needs of their peers and desired to share of their own lives.

Their first curriculum was produced and distributed that summer. It consisted of ten pages, covering five sessions of basic evangelical teachings. Though its aim was “to move beyond the beginning stage of the Christian life,” the curriculum focused on such basic evangelical themes as the relationship of humanity to God and Jesus Christ, the reality of human sinfulness, and alienation from the divine that resulted in greed, war, “wicked flesh,” and a “wicked heart.” While acknowledging such tremendous human achievements as “conquer[ing] space,” “miraculous life-saving acts,” creating great works of art, and striving for peace, the Caravan curriculum noted that the root of these endeavors was the wicked heart of human self-glorification. It explained how to move from sinfulness to salvation by the grace of God to relying on Christ in dealing with life’s problems. 10

ON THE ROAD

The inaugural Youth Caravan filed its first report on August 6, 1964. It was written by Keith Harder on behalf of the entire group and sent “from the frigid northland of Canada.” With all the piety common in such reports, Harder cryptically opened by noting that “we can speak with James when he told the early Christians to count it all joy when you (we) fall into divers temptations.” Harder recounted numerous conversations on their travels from California to Minnesota to Manitoba that centered on the mystery of Christ living inside the individual, on living one’s life well. He marveled at “how practical this is.” 11

The trip itself went well, except for a “tangle with a bull in a cattle crossing” in North Dakota. 12 The group crossed into Manitoba at the International Peace Gardens, where they saw “the manifestation of God in nature.” After a devotional time, they continued to Winnipeg, “surprised to find how cold it was!” 13 (In fact, temperatures that day hit a low of 50 degrees Fahrenheit and a respectable high of 75.) 14 It was at this border crossing that they left their denominational literature behind, keeping only the twenty copies of Discipline and Discover. By the end of their time in Winnipeg those copies had all been sold, and many requests for more had come in. 15

Winnipeg also surprised the Caravaners for the eagerness of young people to read Discipline and Discover and the questions it raised for them. The Californians had been warned by their leader, Rev. Rueben Dirks, that young people in Winnipeg would be unlike any youth they had {61} met before. Many attending Caravan events were university students, and they asked such questions as, “Why should I serve God? I never asked Him to make me, neither did I ask Him to die for me.” In his report about these difficult conversations, Caravan member Phil Hofer noted that the questions arose out of “a sincere desire to find the truth.” It was clear to Hofer that these youth “had done some deep thinking.” 16 But the result of the discussions was discouragement. Caravaners did not anticipate such impious questions, and they felt frustrated that they could not simply talk about what Christ had done in their lives. But their nerves were soothed when they realized that the questioning young people were genuinely trying to deepen their spiritual lives and never expected the traveling Americans to come with a show, answers, or anything more than a chance to discuss and debate. After a week in Winnipeg, the Caravan left for Harvey, North Dakota, back in more familiar territory. 17

The 1964 experiment was deemed a success and discussions continued about expansion into other parts of western Canada. One impediment was the question of expenses. Why should American Mennonite Brethren pay for a mission trip to Canada when Canadian Mennonite Brethren had their own boards and could start a Youth Caravan of their own? 18 But the desire to continue the program was strong, so planning began for a possible visit to British Columbia. 19

The August 1965 Caravan eventually visited three British Columbia locations: Abbotsford, Vancouver, and Greendale. Sponsors of Youth Caravan 1965 were Alan Peters, Director of Youth Services in the United States, and Peter Rempel, pastor of the Edmonton Mennonite Brethren Church and later the moderator of the Canadian Conference. Peters and Rempel met with pastors upon the Caravan’s arrival to review the upcoming program and to field any questions, complaints, or suggestions. The lessons and materials were mostly the same as those used in 1964, though there was nervousness concerning the Canadian reaction. Subsequent reports were vague as to the responses, but they did mention a young man in Abbotsford who was encouraged by the Caravan’s message and program. 20 Writing about the ministry of Youth Caravan, Peter Rempel emphasized the group’s evangelical piety: they lamented that opportunities to talk to strangers about God were few; they felt challenged to find good answers to the hard questions of the youth; and they rejoiced in meeting the young man so encouraged in Abbotsford. 21

Youth Caravan continued to build momentum, and in its third year the program was expanded. This time it made more explicit its assumption that Christian comportment is an integral part of spirituality. Their theme in 1966 was, “How to Hit Your Target.” The Caravan curriculum taught its young charges the “prerequisites for witness” to prepare them {62} for talking to others about Jesus. The first step was to select a “target teen,” an individual who would be singled out for outreach. This step would forestall the frustration of attempting to witness to anyone and everyone they happened to meet. The manual included an important caution: “Make sure your motive [in selecting a target] is love — love for the Lord Jesus. . . . Selfishness and pride won’t due [sic]. Your purpose isn’t to put notches on your Bible.” 22

Yet before they could even consider making a notch on their Bibles, Caravan members needed to make “an honest appraisal” of themselves. This appraisal focused on four elements: physical appearance, mental alertness, social acceptance, and “spiritual acumen.” Caravan members were to take care in grooming, for neatness and modest dress were “the launching pad to witness.” Regarding the other three elements, Caravan members were simply taught to be aware of their surroundings, confident in their beliefs, and ready to talk about their faith. 23 One of the ways to “score points” with their targets was to be “normal” and realistic, but not negative, obnoxious, or tactless. 24

Discussions of presentation, however, focused primarily on the body. On the basis of 1 Corinthians 6:19, which declared “your body is a temple,” Caravaners were expected to attend to their appearance. Their clothing should be well-cared-for, and they should practice good personal grooming: neatly-combed hair for women and short haircuts for men. The importance of toothpaste, soap, and deodorant, furthermore, could not be overstated.

Also of vital importance was sexual self-control. The manual intoned, “Dating and attraction to the opposite sex is normal, but you can never be an effective witness if you abuse your body and indulge in relations that violate Christian convictions. God can’t use you if you’re out in a parked car necking or petting up a storm or having a field day at someone else’s expense.” 25 Ironically, in his 1966 Youth Caravan evaluation of their time in Lethbridge, Alberta, Herb Klassen wrote that Caravaners should exercise more self-control in their activities. There were complaints that some were “shooting pool in what parents here consider a bad environment for their kids . . . staying up & out till 3 A.M. and then sleeping till noon . . . [and] wearing of heavy makeup when parents of teenage daughters are still trying to stop their kids from wearing any.” 26

The 1966 Caravan visited eleven locations in Alberta and Saskatchewan. 27 The young Americans reportedly enjoyed their summer in Western Canada and noted that they felt effective in evangelizing young Canadians. Despite observing close similarities between American and Canadian youth, team leader Larry Wiens noted two important differences: “First, they do not have the same educational opportunities as our teens. The {63} Canadian teen’s future too often does not include college or even a high school diploma. The second difference is similar. The teens do not realize their highest potential. This is true in their spiritual lives where they often have not matured to the point of understanding their faith and their responsibility as a Christian.” 28

DISCIPLINE AND DISCOVERY

Other than the Bible, the key Youth Caravan text was Albert Edward Day’s Discipline and Discovery. 29 It was used primarily in the six-week follow-up program after the Caravan visit, where young people were invited to correspond with Youth Caravan, using Day’s book as a starting point for their exchanges.

Born in Ohio in 1884, Day was a renowned Methodist minister who came to be known as one of America’s finest preachers. He served in various pastorates from 1919 to 1945, including the Methodist Episcopal Church of Canton, Ohio, which grew by 1,500 members during the six years he served there. He commanded deep intellectual respect, as evidenced by an invitation to deliver the Lyman Beecher lectures at Yale University. Over his lifetime, he would be awarded five honorary doctorates. 30

When he retired from the ministry in Pasadena, California, Day moved to Nashville and established what he called the “New Life Movement.” He wrote Discipline and Discovery in 1947 (revised in 1961) as a manual for the Disciplined Order of Christ, an association he founded a few years earlier. The program of spiritual disciplines it presented was intended to “make religion real” for those whose faith was tenuous. 31 The book found a wide audience.

Day identified eight key disciplines that he believed were essential to developing a more authentic Christian faith: obedience, simplicity, humility, frugality, generosity, truthfulness, purity, and charity. In each instance, Day explains the discipline in terms of the Christian soul, often connecting it to psychological theories regarding consciousness and ego. He cited writers as diverse as William James, Simone Weil, and Aldous Huxley to lend weight to his account of Christian faith as a consciousness of God that can be greatly deepened by the practice of these disciplines. Day explicitly positioned his program against the materialism and soullessness of modern life. Thus, his disciplines had a sharp countercultural edge: live a life without exaggeration, never speak an untruth, never embellish, live a life that is frugal in relation to ego but generous toward others, and control your tongue. The ego—“the self that is unduly concerned with self” 32—is a tyrant, and these disciplines were to bring it under control by developing a consciousness in tune with the divine and grounded in the earthly. To these ends he gave brief lessons {64} on the nature and spiritual significance of each discipline and provided practical assignments for each.

Not surprisingly, Discipline and Discovery was not a value-neutral text. Day’s discussion of the discipline of purity, for example, unashamedly affirmed traditional gender roles, especially regarding sexual activity, and he lamented that women had become as promiscuous as men. 33 Nevertheless he refused to reduce purity to abstinence from sex outside of marriage. He implored his readers to practice purity from all ego-centeredness so they could achieve a more intimate God-consciousness. Certainly, entertaining sexual thoughts was rooted in ego, in a self-centered consciousness. 34 And it was therefore important to curb one’s curiosity by steering clear of inappropriate reading materials and keeping one’s eyes from wandering. But the core of his message was that only with self-restraint— grounded in awareness of the spiritual impact of the thoughts, actions, and words we allow ourselves—could God more completely fill one’s consciousness and impart the joy of communion with him.

Youth Caravan used the book in their follow-up program and developed a six-week Bible study course based on it, entitled, “Discover Christ as the Life Through Faith in Action.” Each reading included questions which the young person was to answer and share with their pastor. A report would be sent to Youth Caravan at the conclusion of the course. 35

A PARTING OF CARAVANS

By the fourth year, optimism regarding the Youth Caravan was high. Canadian and American Mennonite Brethren youth committees and service boards discussed the potential of creating a Canadian version of Youth Caravan that would cover Western Canada, Ontario, and North Dakota. 36 The success of the first three years of Youth Caravan even led them to consider developing an International Youth Caravan for Japan, India, and Europe in 1967. 37

As optimism was flush and feedback from British Columbia favorable, Canadian Mennonite Brethren churches began talking about creating a Canadian Youth Caravan to visit churches in Manitoba and Ontario in 1967. H. H. Dueck, Chairman of the Canadian Mennonite Brethren Youth Committee, explained to Henry Brucks of the Board of General Welfare in Hillsboro, Kansas, that team members and sponsors would be Canadian and their orientation would be held in Canada. The program itself would be funded like the American initiative. The Canadian Youth Caravan, it was thought, might even reach into North Dakota. Brucks responded favorably. He understood the desire of Canadian Mennonite Brethren to establish their own Youth Caravan and suggested they all meet to discuss how to move forward with the idea. 38 {65}

The future of Christian Youth Caravan was explained in the 1967 Christian Service Report for the Board of Missions and Services Meeting in Hillsboro. Sketching its brief three-year history, Youth Caravan’s report simply stated that, “Negotiations have been completed to transfer the Caravan operations to the United States Board of Youth Services and similar negotiations are being made with the Canadian counterpart.” 39 Furthermore, it was recommended that an International Youth Caravan be formed in the United States, with students from Tabor and Pacific Colleges and a traveling evangelist, for tours of Europe, Japan, Vietnam, and India. After three years, the traveling ministry born among Mennonite Brethren youth in California was going overseas as their Canadian cousins sought to chart their own course. 40

CONCLUSION

Youth Caravan participants defined themselves without reference to other available categories: they were not anti-establishment hippies, nor were they part of the evangelical left represented by the Jesus People. While the latter propagated similar countercultural points—notably, frugality, pacifism, and simplicity—Caravaners called for sexual restraint and a spirit of obedience, as taught by Albert Edward Day. Many histories of the 1960s emphasize youth social protest or rebellion, but here was a segment of American youth who found themselves between strands of mainstream counterculture as they traveled the roads through the western United States and Canada.

Youth Caravan was in part a response to the emergent 1960s culture, a response that echoed the sentiments of many conservative American evangelicals. These young people, however, refused to be mere observers of cultural changes or reactionary resisters. They confronted their broader culture with an alternative, more or less coherent, set of values. They would engage with society in a manner that upheld moral decency, religious conservatism, and tradition. Yet even though Caravaners were accountable to a denominational bureaucracy, they decided for themselves how far they could push the limits of Christian propriety. And they judged playing pool, staying up late, and wearing heavy makeup to be within those limits. It upset the parents; it did not upset the faithful youth. 41

By 1966, the simple gospel message of Youth Caravan, supplemented by Day’s spirituality as encapsulated in Discipline and Discovery, had expanded to include care of the body, personal hygiene, and sexual purity. As other young people across Canada and the United States challenged the status quo in a subculture of conservatism (exemplified by Young Americans for Freedom), or leftist activism on university campuses, or by extracting themselves from society by escaping into hippie culture and {66} communes, these young people challenged the status quo even while they affirmed authority, respected denominational structures, and espoused an apolitical discipline.

Some Mennonites would have noticed that Youth Caravan was quiet on the subjects of pacifism and social justice. And such topics in fact took a back seat to cultivating a deeper spiritual life through a self-discipline that would put them at odds with their cohort of liberal Protestants, conservative reactionaries, social activists, and otherworldly fundamentalists. If youth culture after the 1950s had Jack Kerouac’s On the Road as inspiration for the finding-your-real-self road trip, these California Mennonite Brethren youth took their own road trip and fashioned a forceful counternarrative to 1960s countercultural tropes.

NOTES

  1. Lois Dirks to Dwight [Wiebe], Christian Service Department, Lincoln, Nebraska, 9 August 1964, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 143, Youth Caravan 1964; and, Elmo Warkentin, Executive Secretary, Board of Church Schools, Fresno, CA, “Christian Youth Caravan for the Mennonite Brethren Churches,” 16 May 1964 [office stamp], A250-1, Box 2, Folder 141, Youth Caravan: Prelim Study 5/7/63–5/16/64. Note that all cited archival material is housed in the Mennonite Library & Archives at Fresno Pacific University, Fresno, California.
  2. M. A. Kroeker to Arthur Flaming, 13 May 1963, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 141, Youth Caravan: Prelim Study 5/7/63–5/16/64.
  3. Dwight Wiebe to Waldo Hiebert, 25 October 1963, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 141, Youth Caravan: Prelim Study 5/7/63–5/16/64.
  4. Ibid.
  5. Elmo Warkentin, “Christian Youth Caravan for the Mennonite Brethren Churches,” [date stamped received] 16 May 1964, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 141, Youth Caravan: Prelim Study 5/7/63–5/16/64.
  6. Dwight Wiebe to Peter Enns, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 142, Youth Caravan 1964 Jan–Jul 1964.
  7. Dwight Wiebe to “Brethren,” 25 June 1964, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 142, Youth Caravan 1964 Jan–Jul 1964.
  8. “Christian Youth Caravan Program,” pp. 1–2, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 142, Youth Caravan 1964 Jan–Jul 1964.
  9. “What is the Christian Youth Crusade?” back cover, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 142, Youth Caravan 1964 Jan–Jul 1964.
  10. “Christian Youth Caravan,” pp. 1–10, passim, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 142, Youth Caravan 1964 Jan–Jul 1964.
  11. Keith Harder, “Christian Youth Caravan Report #1,” p. 1, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 143, Youth Caravan 1964.
  12. Ibid., 2. {67}
  13. Ibid., 4.
  14. http://archives.winnipegfreepress.com/winnipeg-free-press/1964-08-06, p. 1. Accessed May 27, 2014.
  15. Lois Dirks to Dwight Wiebe, 9 August 1964, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 143, Youth Caravan 1964.
  16. Phil Hofer, “Christian Youth Caravan Report #2,” p. 1, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 143, Youth Caravan 1964; and, Dwight Wiebe to [Pastors of ten churches to be visited by Youth Caravan], 25 June 1964, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 143, Youth Caravan 1964.
  17. Ibid., 2–3.
  18. Dwight Wiebe to Clarence Hiebert, 16 March 1965; and The Board of Youth Services U.S. Conference to The Executive Committee of the Board of General Welfare and Public Relations, 17 March 1965, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 145, Youth Caravan 1965.
  19. Dwight Wiebe to Rev. C. Braun, 26 May 1965, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 145, Youth Caravan 1965.
  20. Peter Rempel, “The Caravan in Action: An Inside Look,” pp. 1–4, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 145, Youth Caravan 1965; and, “Christian Youth Caravan Information,” To Host Church Pastors, July 1965, p.1, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 145, Youth Caravan 1965.
  21. Ibid.
  22. Youth Caravan, “How to Hit Your Target,” p. 1, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 147, Youth Caravan 1966.
  23. Ibid.
  24. Ibid., 2–3.
  25. Ibid., 4.
  26. Herb Klassen, “Christian Youth Caravan Evaluation,” 7 September 1966, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 147, Youth Caravan 1966.
  27. “Christian Youth Caravan Presents Today’s Challenge to 1966 Youth,” [back cover], A250-1, Box 2, Folder 147, Youth Caravan 1966.
  28. Larry Wiens, “Youth Caravan in Canada,” p. 2, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 147, Youth Caravan 1966.
  29. Albert Edward Day, Discipline and Discovery, rev. ed. (Nashville, TN: Parthenon, 1961).
  30. “Our Founder,” The Disciplined Order of Christ, website, http://dochr.org/about-us/our-founder/, accessed May 27, 2014.
  31. Ibid.
  32. Day, Discipline, 19.
  33. Ibid., 104.
  34. Ibid., 104–14.
  35. “Discover Christ as the Life Through Faith in Action,” A250-1, Box 2, Folder 142, Youth Caravan 1964 Jan–Jul 1964.
  36. Henry Brucks to H. H. [Henry] Dueck, 25 July 1966; H. H. [Henry] Dueck to Henry Brucks, 19 July 1966; Henry H. Dueck to Henry Brucks, 8 August 1966, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 149, Youth Caravan 1967 7/66–2/67.
  37. Dwight Wiebe to The United States Board of Youth Services and The Canadian Youth Committee, 10 January 1967, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 149, Youth {68} Caravan 1967 7/66–2/67.
  38. Henry Brucks to H. H. [Henry] Dueck, 25 July 1966; H. H. [Henry] Dueck to Henry Brucks, 19 July 1966; Henry H. Dueck to Henry Brucks, 8 August 1966, A250-1, Box 2, Folder 149, Youth Caravan 1967 7/66–2/67.
  39. “Christian Youth Caravan,” in Christian Service Report Prepared for the Board of Missions and Services Meeting at Hillsboro, Kansas, prepared by Dwight Wiebe, Christian Service Secretary, 20–24 February 1967, p. 16, A250-1, Box 1, Folder 5, Report to Conference and Committee 1964–1967.
  40. “Recommendations,” in Christian Service Report Prepared for the Board of Missions and Services Meeting at Hillsboro, Kansas, prepared by Dwight Wiebe, Christian Service Secretary, 20–24 February 1967, p. 22, A250-1, Box 1, Folder 5, Report to Conference and Committee 1964–1967.
  41. Eileen Luhr, Witnessing Suburbia: Conservatives and Christian Youth Culture (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009), 5–6.
Brian Froese is Associate Professor of History at Canadian Mennonite University. He is the author of California Mennonites (2015) and is presently writing a book on the intersection of American-Canadian transnational evangelical networks engaged in missions and politics in Western Canada in the 1900s. Research for his new project and for this article was made possible by a grant from the Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

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