New in the Community: The Vineyard of Mercy

By Morgan Garmo

One of the things I talk about often is how I couldn’t imagine being on this crazy ride alone. God has gifted us a beautiful community to celebrate the highs and overcome the challenges with. Sure, we could take on this adventure of life alone, but when we embrace the individuals God has given us, a whole new world opens up.

I think it’s the same with work and volunteering. When we collaborate with people who have different experiences, perspectives and God-given talents, we enable ourselves to create something that we never would on our own.

Those are the moments we begin to refine the gifts God has given us. We find ourselves doing our best work because it is ultimately God’s work. That’s something many of us search to be a part of and the opportunity is waiting for us at The Vineyard of Mercy at Holy Martyrs. 

The idea for the Vineyard of Mercy was established by the Holy Martyrs Men’s Group who have encouraged and continue to encourage the project to grow and expand throughout our community.

The word ‘vineyard’ plays off the idea that this project is the fruit of individuals’ God-given gifts and talents. Like a vineyard, multiple generations are coming together to create something for years to come.

The word ‘mercy’ plays off the idea that in order to grow in faith it is essential that we begin to understand the depths of God’s Mercy. Understanding our history and how it affects our current journey is the first step in this process.

Our mission is to discover God’s mercy through unity, education, preservation and service.

Unity for us is found when we embrace each other’s God-given talents, listen to each other’s experiences with the hope of having a better understanding for our brothers and sisters, and share each other’s ideas and passions to create something greater than ourselves. The Vineyard is not focused on serving one Church, age group or side of town. Our focus is to create an all-encompassing experience in which we can do God’s work together.

“In being asked to contribute my experience to the Vineyard Project, I have been most impressed by the diversity of volunteers,” said Marla Garmo from West Bloomfield. “Father Andrew has organized a comprehensive group based on individual gifts and talents, not limited to geography. There is no mention of East Side or West Side. That has been so refreshing to me. I have met amazing Chaldeans through this project that are doing incredible work. The unity that has been created is something that our Church should continue to foster.”

The Vineyard has over 15 committees and is growing! We have a team of social workers, mental health care providers and representatives from various organizations in the community that are working together to develop resources that help people find freedom from their imprisonments. We have student architects working alongside welders and landscape architects working alongside property managers. We have a team working on Vineyard programming and a team working on the multi-sensory experience. And so much more!

As new ideas are developed, new committees are formed. The Vineyard of Mercy is a community project which means it’s constantly growing and changing based on our community's ideas and needs.

When you first enter the Vineyard of Mercy you will see the Alap Beth (first two letters in the Aramaic alphabet) playground and outdoor children’s museum. The space will be used to educate our youth on the Aramaic language, geography and culture of the Middle East.

The playground will also include a stage and story corner which will give us a backdrop to teach the youth about the epic of Gilgamesh and Cuneiform. This is important because Chaldeans originated in Mesopotamia and share similar traditions.  

The second half of the Vineyard is a self-guided, multi-sensory and multi-lingual retreat. The walking meditation is built around the journey of Jesus from Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday. Within the meditation there is a last supper table which will be used for reflection on the institution of the Eucharist and to teach about the Passover Seder which will be led in partnership with The Temple Israel.  

There is a jail which represents the imprisonment of Jesus and the imprisonment of man. This jail sets the tone for the meditative journey. Half the jail will be a memorial for all those who have lost their lives because of their Earthly imprisonments: suicide, overdoses and addiction. These challenges are false means of escaping our Earthly prison. The other half of the jail will be a monument of thanksgiving for all those who have overcome their imprisonments. The jail will be equipped with QR codes that will enable visitors to hear individual’s stories and testimonies.

The meditative walk includes the Stations of the Cross and ends at the Empowerment Station which overlooks the jail. The invitation here is to not allow which imprisons us to paralyze us but rather empower us.

Once the meditative walk is complete, we invite people to visit the Martyrs Museum and adoration chapel which is being designed to look similar to the Churches in the Middle East.

The fruits of the Vineyard of Mercy are a product of our communities God given gifts and talents. One single committee or person would not have the creativity or expertise needed to develop this project on their own.

 “The Vineyard is a beautiful project that not only shows historical facts about our religion but has also connected a multitude of people in our community” says Nathan Karakuza from Sterling Heights. “There are countless people who have had a hand in helping develop and bring this idea to life. Everyone has been willing to share their gifts and ideas to ultimately contribute wherever they can. This project has brought our community together in numerous ways. We have and continue to push the limits of each other’s talents and ideas. In return, we are beginning to experience the fruits that we would expect to see with a project of this magnitude.” 

If you would like to stay updated on the Vineyard of Mercy at Holy Martyrs, join a committee or financially support the project you can send an email to vineyardintheheights@gmail.com for additional information.