Monthly Archives: September 2026

Better angels of our nature

Mennonite Minister takes on the Army Corps of Engineers

Ernest Gehman probably never voted and stayed out of politics, but in the 1960s, he threw himself into opposing a proposed Brocks Gap Dam. His many speeches, letters in the newspaper, his 18-page publication, and his trip to Washington to speak against the dam in front of the Army’s Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors all seemed political.

Gehman (1901-1988) led the charge to stop a dam that would have flooded about 4000 acres and reconfigured the geography of northwestern Rockingham County, Va. Seven church buildings would have been submerged, along with a well-liked Turner Ham store, the Fulks Run Elementary School, dozens of farms, and an entire community of around 300 families. Gehman, an English and German professor at nearby Eastern Mennonite University, launched into a full-scale attempt to block the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, sort of like David against Goliath.

Brocks Gap, Rockingham County, Virginia, Aug. 24, 2026. This farm would have been submerged by the waters of the dam. (Photo by Elwood Yoder)

Gehman knew the best way to block the “flooding” plan was to suggest an alternative; his counterproposal involved building smaller dams along the entire length of the Shenandoah River. Gehman proposed “channel dams” every five to 10 miles along the Shenandoah River, keeping the water no higher than flood stage and essentially turning the Shenandoah into a series of long, narrow lakes. Gehman had learned this river technology while studying in Germany.

Ernest Gehman, 1901-1988 (EMU photo)

The college professor and Mennonite minister communicated with legislators in his area but also in Washington, D.C. Lady Bird Johnson, President Lyndon Johnson’s wife, read his publication and wrote Gehman a letter expressing her support. By the mid-1960s, because of strong resistance in the Fulks Run community and Gehman’s relentless opposition, the Army Corps of Engineers dropped the project. Gehman returned to teaching, preaching, and working again in the Fulks Run community. Gehman had slain Goliath.

Sources:

Jenner, Andrew. “”Gehman vs. Goliath: ‘No’ to Flooding Part of the Valley for a Dam – Crossroads Magazine – Eastern Mennonite University.” https://emu.edu/now/crossroads/2014/05/02/gehman-vs-goliath-no-to-flooding-part-of-the-valley-for-a-dam/.

Jenner, Andrew. “Gehman vs. Goliath: ‘No’ to Flooding Part of the Valley for a Dam.” Shenandoah Mennonite Historian 34, no. 4 (September 21, 2026): 2–6.

Better angels of our nature

Solidarity across our differences

It’s concerning to learn about the 50,000 ICE deportations from the United States in July 2026, an all-time high.[1] In Virginia, over 15,000 people have been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since January 2025.[2] That means about 1-2 have been arrested and deported per day in the Shenandoah Valley where I live.

Since the high visibility of the Minnesota clashes with ICE earlier this year, the Federal agency has gone quiet, working with local law enforcement agencies, but increasing deportations. Most of these detentions are immoral, un-American, and unsustainable.

Massanutten Mountain in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, August 28, 2026. Photo by Elwood Yoder

The weight of religious opposition is that deportees are “the least of these,” which Jesus instructed followers to invite in and support (Matthew 25:35 & 40).

America has seen waves of immigrants from other countries, a pattern in which those who had already arrived resisted the latest arrivals but then incorporated them into the nation as valuable participants. My Swiss-German immigrants came to America when English-speaking settlers resisted German families who were coming from across the Atlantic.

Those whom ICE deports usually support their families, raise children, some of whom are born as U.S. citizens, and they pay taxes. The shrinkage in the U.S. workforce disrupts our cities and rural areas and is unsustainable.

We need to work together in circles of solidarity to stem the tide of deportations. We can assist the least of these, speak up when appropriate, and seek political changes. Let us commit to joining God’s reconciling mission,[3] seek solidarity across our differences, and live and act as sisters and brothers in Christ regardless of legal status.

[1] Allison McCann and Albert Sun, “Ice arrests soar as people with no criminal record are increasingly targeted” – The New York Times, accessed August 31, 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/08/27/us/ice-immigrant-arrests-trump-deportation-dhs.html.

[2] ABC 8news, accessed August 31, 2026, https://www.wric.com/news/taking-action/ice-arrests-over-15000-people-across-virginia/.

[3] (Isa. 58:6-9, 2 Cor. 5:16-19) MCUSA Churchwide Statement on Immigration, Feb. 15, 2014.

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