Welcome Ministry Inquiry student Ryne Preheim!

The Ministry Inquiry Program (MIP) of Mennonite Church USA is a summer service-learning experience designed for college-age young adults to explore pastoral ministry and test their own gifts and sense of call. For 11 weeks, participants work under the supervision of a pastor and are involved in many aspects of congregational life. You can read more about this program here: MinistryInquiryProgram

We are delighted that Ryne Preheim chose Rainbow for his MIP placement. Ryne will be living at the Mennonite Voluntary Service house. He will also be traveling to Montana with the Rainbow youth trip June 4-12. If you would like to welcome him to Rainbow or better  yet, if you want to show him your favorite places around KC, you can do so by emailing him at rynelpreheim@bethelks.edu

What follows is an introduction from Ryne:

Hey everyone, I’m Ryne and I am quite excited to be spending the summer here at Rainbow! The first thing I always have to tell people is how to pronounce my name, it’s like Rhino without the “o”, don’t worry about getting it wrong the first couple of times, everyone gets it eventually. I’m currently a sophomore at Bethel College where I am majoring in Communication Arts with an emphasis in theatre and broadcasting. At Bethel, I participate in many different activities, I’m a member of the concert choir, I am a theatre scholarship holder, I’m a member of the new diversity council as well as the president of the campus Gay Straight Alliance and I play golf!

While much of my life centers around the great state of Kansas, I’m actually from out of state. I grew up in Reedley, California, a small farming community about thirty miles outside of Fresno. I have two loving parents Paul and Candi as well as three younger sisters Mallory, Courtney and Hayley. I like to think that I’ve gotten accustomed to the great state of Kansas, but that being said, you will see me do the following things more than once. I will wear flip flops with jeans. I will struggle to open an umbrella. I will say dinner instead of supper and soda instead of pop. I will occasionally utter the phrase “bro” and last, but certainly not least, I will complain about the humidity. Thanks everyone for opening up your congregation to me and I am looking forward to meeting all of you!