Jerusalem Farms & Cotter continue to pursue missions

Coy A. Pederson, staff writer|September 26, 2018

This past summer a group of Cotter students and staff took a mission trip to Jerusalem Farms in Kansas City, MO.

Jerusalem Farms is a Christian community that embodies the message of Christ and Catholic Social Teaching; this is evident in their four cornerstone prayers:

As a community in right relationship with God, prayer becomes our transforming action.
As a community in right relationship with self, service becomes our loving action.
As a community in right relationship with others, community becomes our forgiving action.
As a community in right relationship with earth, simplicity becomes our sustaining action.

Those who attended include Ellie McRaith, Hunter Ramsden, Fiona Flanagan, Katie Speltz, Maddie Kohner, Mrs. Corcoran, and Mrs. Koopman.

Cotter crew preparing to depart for Jerusalem Farm

“Everyone worked from dusk until dawn doing various chores. No one is exempt from getting their hands dirty, we’re all equals here.”-said Mrs. Koopman

Jerusalem Farms used to be a convent, but now its an urban “farm” that is grounded in the Catholic faith. The farm has plants and chickens, that everyone is responsible for. Technology of any kind is prohibited.

Jerusalem Farms is a welcoming and vibrant community that promotes social interaction through service. Students and chaperones were able to take part in a peace walk that brought to their attention the economic and racial disparities in the U.S. by witnessing it first hand.

Hunter Ramsden engages in conversation with the tour guide while on the peace walk.

“It was a lot different than what I initially expected. There were a lot of misconceptions, fortunately I was pleasantly surprised,” Ramsden said.

“They truly live authentically, and how do we bring that authenticity back to Cotter?,” Mrs. Koopman said.

Cotter’s mission statement, in part, reads”We strive to model the values of faith, service, and community as we encourage and support our students to become more than they can imagine.”

Cotter fosters an environment that reflects the ideals espoused at Jerusalem Farms, which is why Cotter consistently sends students and staff to be ambassadors of Christ.

“The simplicity of Jerusalem Farms was what impacted me the most,” Manya Kamara said.

More Jerusalem Farms fun!

Sunny (Jordan) was a fan-favorite among the Cotter students (pictured above). Sunny is teaching students the importance of responsible environmental practices and land stewardship and how they can address these issues.