MS 2 trip to Koinonia Partners

On December 4 and 5, the Yellowstone River class will be taking an overnight field trip to Koinonia Partners near Americus, Georgia.  Koinonia is both a community and a working farm, and we’ll be put to work with various chores in the fields, in the bakery, in the shipping warehouse, and with the livestock.  We will also have a tour of the farm and learn about the community’s history.  We will stay in dormitory-type rooms in the guest house, using the kitchen facilities there to prepare our own dinner and breakfast.  We’ll share lunches both days with the community members.

Koinonia was started in 1942 by two couples who had a vision of white and African-American farmers working, living, farming and worshipping together – an incredibly progressive vision for rural Georgia in that time period.  Quoting from Koinonia’s website (http://www.koinoniapartners.org/), “Koinonia’s very presence confronted racism, militarism and materialism with its commitment to treat all human beings with dignity and justice; choose love over violence; share all possessions and live simply; and be stewards of the land and its natural resources.”  During the harshest years of the Civil Rights Movement, Koinonia members withstood firebombs, death threats and KKK rallies and held firm to their vision.  As a way of surviving financially in a hostile environment, the community began selling its pecans, peanuts and baked good through the mail, and this business continues to provide a large part of its income.  Toward the end of the 1960s, Koinonia launched a new project to provide decent housing for the community’s neighbors in Sumner Country.  This effort grew into the international organization, Habitat for Humanity.  Several other organizations have also grown from Koinonia, including Jubilee Partners in Comer, GA, and New Hope House in Griffin, GA. 

Although Koinonia is a Christian-based organization, they regularly welcome and host secular groups, and certainly respect the diversity of beliefs represented by Kingfisher families.  Our visit to Koinonia will present our students with models for living responsibly with others and with the earth, give them the chance to work with plants and animals in a farm setting, allow them to provide worthwhile assistance and develop new work skills, introduce them to folks who had a direct connection and took personal risks during a volatile part of our country’s history, and create an opportunity for them to bond with each other as a class.