By Elizabeth Gordon-Hancock
Ever heard of MOPS? MOPS stands for Mothers of Pre-Schoolers; it's a group of mothers, who have at least one child not yet in school, that meet regularly for fellowship and support.

Ebenezer Mennonite Church has offered a MOPS group since 1999. It's a year-long program that meets two Mondays a month from October to May. Moms come from at least six different school districts. And it's not limited to moms who attend Ebenezer church; in fact, 99 percent of moms who attend the current group are from other churches in the area.

MOPS itself is a grassroots movement, which started with just eight women in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, back in 1973, who believed that "mothering matters." 

It is now an international organization with groups in over 40 countries. The whole purpose of MOPS centers around the idea that if we just get a group of mothers together, without their children constantly underfoot, then they could change the world.

The time together enables conversation, connection, support, inspiration and motivation. Whether  it's a useful parenting tip, or about helping a local family in need, or much-needed counselling for post-partum depression, MOPS provides a space to share as mothers and women.

Every MOPS group is different, but they all contain fellowship and connection time for moms, whether married or single, working or stay-at-home, natural or foster, with one child or seven children.

A typical MOPS day at the Ebenezer group involves arriving between 8:30-9 a.m. to drop off your child(ren) in their respective rooms (based upon their age), then eat a hot breakfast (provided by some of the moms) child-free, while chatting with other moms, followed by the program of the day, finishing by 11 a.m.

Programs could be anything from a speaker, craft project, short video and discussion, testimony, demonstration or devotional time. The main focus of the Ebenezer MOPS group is building each mother's relationship with Jesus.

"The concept with MOPS has always been care for the mother physically, but also care for them spiritually." said Barb Steiner, who helped bring MOPS to Ebenezer and was original Lead Mentor Mom within the group.

So how did a MOPS group get started at Ebenezer? Barb Steiner had heard about MOPS from Dr. Dobson on the radio and thought, "I wish there was something like that when I was a young mom."

She mentioned MOPS to Pastor Ford, who was new to Ebenezer at the time. A year went by, when another mother from Ebenezer, Cindy Moser, called Barb and mentioned she was thinking about a MOPS program at Ebenezer.

After much prayer, many discussions, founding a steering group, visiting other MOPS groups in the area, and finding volunteers, they held the first MOPS group in January of 1999.

The Ebenezer MOPS group has been ministering to mothers for almost 20  years now. When asked "What do you love about MOPS?", most moms from the local group said fellowship with other moms who are in the same season of life.

Lydia Steiner, mom of three, loved "Eating a hot breakfast with two hands." When raising young children, just sitting down for more than a minute can be a luxury.

Katrina Kruse, mom of two, said, "It is a wonderful way to connect with other moms in the area, and be encouraged to tackle struggles in a Christ-like manner. I wasn't originally from the area (Fort Wayne native), so I met my friends here."

Jessica Meyer has been the group's MOPS Coordinator for four years now. She exclaimed, "I really love that MOPS gives moms an opportunity to come relax, connect with other moms and be encouraged! Motherhood is challenging and can be quite lonely, so having a place to come and find out that other moms have or are dealing with similar struggles is very uplifting.

"We (the steering committee) really strive to provide opportunities for our moms to build new friendships, learn new skills, have fun and be encouraged as mothers/wives and most importantly to deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ."

Running a MOPS program is a huge task. It takes a steering committee to plan the programs and keep everything organized, a group of mentor moms to guide interactions and encourage the moms, and a swarm of volunteers to watch over the children. These volunteers are affectionately called MOPPET workers.

There are 40 moms in this year's Ebenezer MOPS group. That's somewhere between 40-90 children who are lovingly watched over. It takes a minimum of 17 MOPPET workers to maintain the childcare for each meeting. And then there's the facilities to house such a program, as each age group needs its own separate room. MOPS Mondays' at Ebenezer church are busy mornings.

This service to mothers is so well received that there is a waiting list to join the Ebenezer MOPS group and they are always looking for volunteers to help with childcare.

Volunteers can choose to help at every meeting, just once a month or be a "sub" and only help when needed. If you are interested in being an "aunt" or "grandma" to someone else's children, contact Jessica Meyer at [email protected].

MOPS meets twice a month from 9-11 a.m. at Ebenezer Mennonite Church. There are also MOPS groups in Lima and Findlay.

Additional info:
There are at least two MOPS groups in Lima; one that meets at Grace Community Church every second Monday from 9:15-11:15 and another that meets on the first and third Thursday  of every month through Lima First Assembly of God.

To find out more about Findlay MOPS, contact Halley Sullivan or Heidi Croy at [email protected].