wfn.org | NCC Head Joan Campbell Recounts Freeing of U.S. Prisoners

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

GA99111 
25-June-1999 
 
                 NCC Head Joan Campbell Recounts 
               Freeing of U.S. Prisoners  in Serbia 
 
 
FORT WORTH Joan Brown Campbell, general secretary of the National Council 
of Churches, gave a riveting account of her recent trip to Yugoslavia.  She 
was part of an interfaith delegation of Americans to secure the release of 
three U.S. soldiers held captive by the Serbs during the war over Kosovo. 
     Speaking to the June 24 Washington Office Dinner during the 211th 
General Assembly, Campbell echoed the words of fellow delegation member 
Jesse Jackson as she explained why they went: "The options were clear 
either go forward in hope and faith or recycle pain and sorrow." 
     Campbell said the feeling upon seeing the three American soldiers walk 
out of the Belgrade prison where they had been held captive was 
"unbelievable." 
     She said the delegation relied heavily on the Serbian Orthodox Church, 
which invited the delegation to come to Yugoslavia.  "They have long been 
calling for the resignation of [Serbian president] Slobodan Milosevic," she 
said, "and our presence there gave credibility to the moderates in the 
country at a time when the extremists were gaining in power." 
     Campbell said the Serbian Orthodox Church also challenged the 
Americans to understand the "moral ambiguity of this war."  The Serb 
Christians, she said, "don't subscribe to any 'just war' theory   they see 
war as the lesser of two evils, but never as just." 
     "We could have leveled Belgrade and brought Milosevic to his knees," 
Campbell said of the NATO bombing campaign.  "But as Christians we believe 
that there must be a better way." She said that Kosovars wound up fleeing 
not just the Serbian army, but the bombing itself. 
     The Washington Office presented two awards during the dinner   to the 
Synod of the Trinity for its myriad social justice and public policy 
advocacy programs, and to U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), a Presbyterian, for 
his tireless work in Washington on behalf of anti-gambling and religious 
persecution legislation. 
     Synod of the Trinity executive the Rev. Tom Johnston praised the 
Washington Office for the resources it provides to the synod and said, "We 
are just living out what it means to be Presbyterian.  It is essential to 
our identity and purpose to live out our social justice commitments in the 
public arena." 
     Wolf, in a videotaped presentation, thanked the Presbyterian Church 
(U.S.A.) "for its faithful and effective involvement in these issues." 
Wolf said that "human rights concerns have driven me since I arrived in 
Washington" and praised PC(USA) efforts on behalf of recently enacted 
religious freedom legislation he sponsored.  "The Presbyterian Church has 
been very helpful in getting this legislation passed," he said. 
 
Jerry Van Marter 

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