DNA Ancestry Maps

I recently had a DNA test taken to discern my ancestral heritage. The results were interesting; some expected, some surprising. Recently, they added mapping, pinpointing the areas from which my DNA probably originated. This contained a few surprises from the research I had done about my ancestry. Of course, a lot of what I state from my observations is pure speculation on my part.

This first image is no surprise. The Klemmer (Clemmer/Clymer) name had several generations living in the Zurich area of Switzerland. Many of my relatives from the Franconia area of Pennsylvania since 1720 married into other names that came from this region.

The Bern area was where my mother’s family came from. However, not only did Horsts come from this area, but I have many other relatives that married people from this area: Wenger, Hershey, Gehman, Martin, High, to name a few.

This second image is a little more surprising. The bluish area near Luxembourg is not surprising, 

since the Sensenig (my maternal grandmother) line came from this region. However, there is no indication of any DNA of mine being found in the Palatinate (between the two highlighted blue areas). This is where I assumed the Klemmer line moved to from Switzerland. In my research, I found a Klemmer relative from the area, but not my specific ancestor Valentine.

On the other hand, Bavaria is a strong area my DNA. I have found nothing about Bavaria in my ancestral research. I did discover that there are a lot of Horsch Mennonites living in Bavaria even today, but haven’t made any personal connection to them as yet.

The third image is very interesting. This area of France was settled by many Anabaptists fleeing persecution in Switzerland, in what is called the Alsace. This area of France passed back and forth between Germany and France, and many of the area still speak German. There is some indication that the earliest Klemmer (Klymer) came from this region of France and then moved to Zurich. Did my Valentine Klemmer return to this region? Of course, with inter-marriage between Mennonites of all central European regions, I could have had other ancestors from this region of

France.

Finally, the fun discovery. Nearly 10% of my DNA comes from the County Donegal province of Ireland. Who of my relatives ventured outside the Central European German-speaking ambit to marry and Irishman (woman)? Did it happen on this side of the Atlantic, or in Europe? Is it simply part of the Celtic DNA that left traces all over Central Europe until they were isolated in Ireland?

I am waiting for one more mapping result. I have 2.3% DNA

from the Iberian Peninsula. They don’t have enough information yet to pinpoint from where my DNA comes. I highly suspect it will be Galicia, the northwestern part of Spain because it is a Celtic enclave. Legend has it that Celts from Galicia made their way on

ships up the Bay of Biscay to the Celtic Sea, and on to Ireland to settle.

The God of Surprises

Several years ago, while leading a group of EMU students on a Cross-cultural program to Guatemala, I was walking along the street when I met a young woman carrying a baby in her arms. She looked worried. By her dress, I judged her to be quite poor. Since my pace was a bit faster than hers, I soon passed her. I had gone no more than 10 steps past her when I discovered a wad of bills lying on the sidewalk. I bent over and picked up the bills without counting them. There was no one around, either on the sidewalk or in the nearby houses. Without thinking about it much, I turned around and handed the bills to the poor young woman behind me. “Who knows where they came from,” I said flippantly. Her face brightened up with joy, and she responded to me with a beautiful smile that completely covered her face. Without hesitating for an instant and without the slightest doubt in her mind she responded, “from God.” The poor young mother had received a surprise from God. Not only had she received a surprise from God, but she had to be astute enough to recognize that the surprise she had received was from God.

Well, this God that became flesh and moved into our neighborhood, is a God of surprises. A God who does the unexpected, the unforeseen. Unfortunately, because he is a God of surprises, many people do not recognize what he has done! They might call it a coincidence, or a chance happening. But for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, the presence of God in these surprises will be recognized and affirmed.

Jesus’ birth narrative in Luke chapter 2 contains quite a few surprises. First the shepherds encounter with the baby, and then two more obscure stories of when Jesus is presented in the temple by his parents and how Simeon and Anna responded to their encounter with the Word made flesh. All of these characters have extraordinary powers of vision and hearing. In spite of being marginal people in their society, the shepherds had eyes to see the surprises that God had in store for the people of Israel. Simeon and Anna, in spite of being old, also had eyes to see God’s surprises.

The birth narrative in in Luke is what we mostly think of when we think of Christmas. This story of the shepherds in Luke and the story about the wise men in Matthew are so well known and sentimentalized that we miss the surprises that are contained in them. We also ignore other portions of the birth narrative that surround the story that we know. We are blind to the “upside down” way God works among us. We have closed our eyes and covered our ears to the radical and surprising message that these scriptures contain.

Let’s start with the shepherds. They are not exactly princes. One would suppose that the Master of the Universe, the God Almighty, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, would be accompanied by an escort of kings and princes and other high officials of the royal courts of the earth awaiting the announcement of the arrival of a new king, the son of the almighty God. One would also suppose that there would be thousands of soldiers mounted on the finest of horses waiting for the announcement of the arrival of the son of the King of Kings.

But it was nothing like that at all. The shepherds, probably the most despicable of all human beings of that time, were the ones who received the announcement of the birth of the King of the Heavens. The shepherds were rough and crude men of the country side. They were compared to slaves. They didn’t have any civil rights. They worked hard leading the sheep and goats hither and yon to find places to eat and drink. At night they had to be alert to protect their flocks not only from wild animals but also from thieves.

When these humble and uneducated men received the message from an angel, they responded immediately. We are all familiar with the story of how they went and found Mary and Joseph and the baby in the manger. After finding the God-child, they imitated the heavenly host of angels glorifying and praising God because all had taken place as they had told them.

But, what are the surprises that we find in the story of the shepherds? As already mentioned, the announcement of the birth of the son of God was given to despised and course men. It was not given to the customary officials in the majority of societies; neither to princes, kings or soldiers. Where were the roman officials? Nor was the message given to the people with the best religious education. Where were the rabbis, the Pharisees, the men who knew the law and those with the best possible education? Nor was the message given to the wealthy. Where were the Chief Priests, the Sadducees, the large land owners and other wealthy people of the time? They were completely absent.

I am convinced that the announcement was available to anyone who had eyes to see and ears to hear it. But only the shepherds had their hearts ready to receive it. That’s the way it is. The humble and the meek will inherit the Kingdom of God because they are neither blind or deaf. What a surprise! God reveals the most important message of all time to a group of vagabond shepherds because they were ready to receive it.

After Jesus was several days old his parents took him to the temple in Jerusalem to fulfill some ritual laws of the Jews. At the temple we find an old man named Simeon who was waiting to die. He was probably suffering from some debilitating disease, or perhaps he was so advanced in age that he was fed up with life and he wanted to die. But he had received a promise long ago from the Holy Spirit that he wouldn’t die until he met the Messiah. From what we read of him in the scripture, there is little doubt that this old man was very devout.

Immediately upon seeing the young Jesus, he recognized him to be the Messiah, the promised one of God for the salvation of the people of Israel and all the nations of the world. Right there he took the baby Jesus in his arms and blessed him and said, “my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” After blessing both Mary and Joseph as well, he said some surprising things. “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” What he was saying, is that the message Jesus would bring would be so surprising that it would cause divisions, arguments and fights. Doesn’t sound like the kind of glory or revelation we normally think of.

Aside from that statement of division, what are the surprises we find in the story of Simeon? Who were the officials in the temple when Mary, Joseph and Jesus arrived to consecrate their first-born? Weren’t there priests to perform the rites and the ceremonies? Weren’t there any Sadducees to supervise the comings and goings of the people of the temple? Weren’t there any Pharisees to be sure that all the peculiarities of the law were obeyed? Weren’t there any Rabbis there to teach the about the wisdom of the Jews? Weren’t there any scribes to conserve this historic moment n the life of the people of Israel? Weren’t they the religious people of the time? I wonder, why didn’t THEY recognize the Messiah?

I am convinced that the ability to recognize the Messiah was available to anyone who had eyes to see and ears to hear. But only a pious old man had a heart ready to understand the message. The humble and the meek will inherit the Kingdom of God because they are neither blind nor deaf. What a surprise! God reveals the most important message of all times to an old man ready to finish his walk on earth.

At the same time in the temple there was an old woman named Anna. She had served God for many years with fasting and prayer. She was an 84-year old widow who was also a prophetess. Somehow or other, when I think of her, I think that she must have been like the many beggars I have seen over the years surrounding the huge churches in the cities of Latin America. Dressed in old rags, very poor, but with a certain dignity because of her pious activities. But I also imagine that the people who passed her by ignored her, or avoided looking at her directly, either because she was very poor, or because they thought she was crazy uttering her prophesies. How often have we passed by a homeless person, or someone ranting, denying their personhood by ignoring them or avoiding them?

But this old widow, like the shepherds and Simeon, recognized the Son of God, the Messiah. She announced to everyone within earshot that she had seen the Messiah. Do you think the sellers there in the Temple Square paid any attention to her? You know, the ones who were selling animals for the ritual sacrifices of the Jews? Do you think that the many visitors who came and went through the temple courts from scattered Jewish villages paid any attention to her? Do you think the pious gentile god-fearers who were always present in the courts of Jewish temples and synagogues paid any attention to her?

I am sure that the ability to recognize the Messiah was available to anyone who had eyes to see and ears to hear. But only an old widow had a heart ready to understand the message. The humble and the meek will inherit the Kingdom of God because they are neither blind nor deaf. What a surprise! God reveals the most important message of all times to a poor old widow whom many considered crazy because of her prophesizing.

So, what do some crusty shepherds, a dying old man and a crazy old prophetess have to do with us today? Perhaps like many of the characters who passed through the three stories from Luke 2 that I shared, your own eyes have become blind and your own ears have become deaf to the recognizing the Messiah as a person or receive his message. What are you doing to prepare your hearts so that you will have eyes to see and ears to hear when Christ comes? Are you ready to see the unexpected, the surprising message that the Master of the Universe has for you? Are you ready to acknowledge the presence of God every minute of the day, every day of the week? When something unexpected happens, even something so simple as finding a wad of bills on the sidewalk, are you ready to proclaim God’s providence to the world? To the people who missed the Messiah in these stories, Jesus later said “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them. But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.”

Unexpected Christian hospitality

Origionally published in The Mennonite, July 2013. 

“We don’t have any money to give you,” the pastor said to the strange man who approached him in a busy bus station in the northern part of Mexico City. “But we can provide you with lodging at our church and invite you to present your case to the members to see how they respond.”

Pastor Victor who welcomed
 Abram to his congregation

My wife and I were meeting Victor, the pastor of a small Mennonite congregation dwarfed among some 22 million people inhabiting Mexico City. We were with a group of 18 students from Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), Harrisonburg, Va. Victor’s church was hosting us for a week of working, worshiping and playing together.

The stranger spotted a Christian fish symbol on Victor’s T-shirt and figured he would be more approachable than others in the crowded bus station. Slowly his story unfolded. His name was Abram, and he was on the way back to his family in Guatemala from the United States. He was completely broke when he arrived in Mexico City and was asking for money to buy a ticket home and for a meal to eat on the way.

Abram had been working in Charlottesville, Va., as a painter. He had entered the United States without papers and had numerous jobs in various cities until he finally settled in Charlottesville. He was doing well at his job but got into a bad crowd and spent most of his money partying and in general misbehavior. In desperation, he returned to the faith of his childhood, began attending a Latino church and recommitted his life to Jesus.

Just as he was beginning to turn his life around and make some economic strides, he received a call from his family in Guatemala. He was urgently needed back home to help resolve some family issues. He was really torn between family obligations and his newfound hope with steady employment and a changed lifestyle.

Going back to Guatemala would probably mean never being able to return to the United States again; the risks of crossing the border without papers were too high. To ignore the pleas of his family went completely against his cultural sensibilities, so he decided to return to Guatemala, throwing away all his dreams of a better life.

He returned over land, mostly by bus. Somewhere along the way, all his money was stolen, and he ended up in a church-run refugee shelter in a U.S.-Mexico border town. By helping out around the shelter and with some donations from good people along the way, he was able to scrape together enough to buy a bus ticket to Mexico City. This is where his story coincided with ours.

To a person, our group had a great deal of trouble believing Abram’s story. We figured he was pulling a major con job and was using the benevolence of a Christian brother with a fish symbol on his T-shirt to beg for money. Victor, on the other hand, did not bat an eyelash. He extended his invitation and promised to take up an offering for him with no guarantees on how much it would be. So Abram climbed on board the back of a pickup with a half-dozen students from our group to ride with us to the church of our destination.

It was remarkable enough that Victor offered this stranger hospitality at all. But his church was in the process of hosting 18 students and their two leaders for a week and was struggling financially to make their church budget reach. Didn’t they have enough to do? Wouldn’t the money raised to give to Abram be better used for the needs of the church? Weren’t there other churches that could see to Abram’s needs? These seem to be questions that were going through our American minds. I doubt any of them occurred to Victor, who lovingly invited Abram to accompany us on our adventure.

“Share with the Lord’s people who are in need,” says Romans 12:13, then continues, “Practice hospitality.” In 1 Peter 4:9 we are admonished to “offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” Victor embodied the essence of both these verses. Our troop of American sojourners was the ones doing the grumbling. What is it about our culture that makes us so suspicious? Why is it so difficult for most of us to extend the biblically mandated hospitality to strangers?

“Scripture is replete with references to … the stranger,” writes W. David Buschart in his book Exploring Protestant Traditions: An Invitation to Theological Hospitality (IVP Academic, 2006). These references include a clear call to offer hospitality to the stranger. “Hospitality extends the embrace of welcome,” he writes. “Christian hospitality extends the embrace of Christ’s welcome.” We are called to offer hospitality to the stranger because of what God has done for us. In turn, the hospitality we offer is from God.

“When faced by a stranger, those who extend the embrace of hospitality have a keen awareness of God’s hospitality toward them,” writes Buschart. “Furthermore, this hospitality includes not only a sense of who they are (namely strangers) and what God has done (embraced them) but also an awareness that what they have to offer in hospitality is ultimately from God.” Hospitality reaffirms our relationship to others and to God.

In spite of our initial skepticism, Abram soon endeared himself to our group. He ate meals with us at the church, worshiped with the congregation during several services and helped with the church’s painting project. The coincidences were many. We had just been in Guatemala, the country to which he wanted to return. He had lived in Charlottesville, just over the mountains from where our students studied at EMU. He was a painter whose skills were needed at that particular time in the church. The better we got to know him, the more our skeptical attitudes faded away. When the special offering for Abram was received during the Wednesday evening service, most of our group walked forward to add their pesos to the love gift.

Although there was much less distrust among the Mexican Mennonites at the church than in our group as a whole, they, too, raised some questions when the special offering for Abram was announced. Victor, whose only motivation was Christian love, had a ready answer for the skeptics: “What he does with the money is on his conscience,” he said. “We were asked to extend Christian hospitality to a stranger, so we did what Jesus would have done.” Human motives are seldom completely pure. Extending hospitality in Jesus’ name is.

A small offering basket for Abram was placed at the front of the church along with the normal offering basket during the Wednesday evening ser­vice. The money received for him was placed in an envelope and given to him after the service, no questions asked, no conditions imposed. According to the pastor who saw that he got to the bus station the next morning, the money Abram received was just enough to cover his bus trip and a meal along the way—exactly what he had asked for, no more, no less. He disappeared on to the bus in the early hours of the day, never to be heard from again.

Our group learned a valuable lesson in Christian hospitality during our time with pastor Victor’s church in Prensa Nacional, a working-class neighborhood in northwestern Mexico City. The church almost unquestioningly took Abram in and offered him what they had in spite of few resources of their own. Through the church’s acceptance of Abram, and through exposing us to Christian hospitality at its best, our group learned to love a suspicious stranger and learned to respond to that love without expecting anything in return. We also experienced God’s love in action. Abram responded to our hospitality, and new friendships were forged through this encounter that will be forever etched in the minds of those of us who were there to experience it.

“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers,” states Hebrews 13:2, “for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” For all we know, Abram was an angel.

Don Clymer teaches Spanish and humanities at Eastern Mennonite University, 
Harrisonburg, Va., and leads cross-cultural seminars to Guatemala and Mexico. He also serves on the Pastoral Care Team at Lindale Mennonite Church where he is a member.