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Date:      Feb. 16, 2001
Contact:  Walt Wiltschek
V:  847/742-5100   F:  847/742-6103
E-MAIL:   CoBNews@AOL.Com

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only." James 1:22a

NEWS
1) Decade to Overcome Violence officially begins as WCC meets.
2) Denominational agencies report a solid financial year.
3) Another quake hits El Salvador; grant heads to India.
4) The 2001 Youth Peace Travel Team is announced.
5) Global Food Crisis Fund grants aid North Korea, Honduras.
6) Plains-area youth hold Regional Youth Conference at McPherson.
7) BVS unit 242 volunteers head to their projects.
8) New Sudan Council delegation seeks solidarity in South Africa.
9) Legal victory in Nicaragua allows nurse to come out of hiding.
10) Several Brethren involved in Vieques protest.
11) Brethren bits: Brethren Service Center, BCA, Vietnam, and more.

PERSONNEL
12) Michigan District reopens search for executive minister.

COMING EVENTS
13) Bethany staff will lead 2001 Ministers' Association meeting.
14) May event to focus on church planting.
15) Elizabethtown College will host Creative Church Leader Program.

****************************************************************

1) Just over a decade ago, the city of Berlin, Germany, was two
cities: An eastern half under an oppressive Communist regime, a
western half that enjoyed freedom, and a deadly wall running
between them. Today, only a few hundred yards of the wall--left as
a remembrance--remain. The city is one again, the two halves
flowing seamlessly together in a single, energetic metropolis.

Thus, when the World Council of Churches sought a site to launch
the Decade to Overcome Violence in early February, Berlin provided
the perfect backdrop. The inauguration of the decade took place in
the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate, a Berlin landmark that once
stood at the border between East and West.

"For almost 30 years the gate was barricaded," WCC general
secretary Konrad Raiser said at the ceremony, speaking in German.
"Today it is once again open: a sign of hope for our journey
through the Decade, hope that other dividing and excluding walls
and gates will open to allow us to walk the way of peace."

The ceremony followed a candelit march from the House of World
Cultures, where a launch celebration filled with music, dancing,
speeches, and symbols was held in the afternoon. Earlier, the day
began with a worship service at Berlin=E2=80=99s historic Kaiser Wilhelm
church, which had been destroyed by World War II bombing. The
service was broadcast live on German TV.

During the afternoon event, WCC moderator His Holiness Aram I of
Armenia said "We launch the Decade to Overcome Violence with a
clear vision to transform violence into peace with justice."

Each denomination and faith tradition is being called upon to use
its own unique gifts and perspective toward this process. Delegates
at the 2000 Church of the Brethren Annual Conference voted to join
the Decade, and activities related to the emphasis are planned to
debut at this year's Annual Conference in Baltimore. The US
Conference of the WCC is planning a US launch April 23-25 in
Nashville, Tenn.

Other topics discussed at this year's WCC Central Committee
meeting, held surrounding the launch of the Decade, included: a
report from the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the
WCC; extending Raiser's term as general secretary to December 2003;
a debate over whether Christians should accept the use of violence
for humanitarian intervention, which was referred for further
study; and statements seeking peaceful resolution to conflicts in
the Middle East, Sudan, Colombia, Indonesia, and elsewhere.

The Central Committee also approved several new WCC members, set
2006 as the year for the Ninth Assembly of the World Council of
Churches, and affirmed a recommendation to hold a Conference on
World Mission and Evangelism in 2004 or 2005.=20

2) Several of the denomination's agencies are reporting overall
good financial news as year-end numbers have been tallied:

General Board: Treasurer/CFO Judy Keyser says the General Programs
budget was balanced and showed an income over expense of $367,000
for 2000. All self-funding programs also showed income over
expense--$3,800 for Brethren Press; $51,000 for Emergency
Response/Service Ministries; $70,300 for the New Windsor (Md.)
Conference Center; and $5,500 for Messenger.=20

Excess income for 2000 will be added to the respective reserves to
strengthen programs and support possible shortfalls in the future.
Keyser says it is the first time in her five and a half years as
treasurer that all ministries finished in the black. She attributes
that achievement to careful planning and hard work by staff.

Congregational support came in slightly below the budgeted level,
but gifts from individuals and bequests were greater than budgeted.

Association of Brethren Caregivers: ABC had projected a budget
deficit for 2000 but finished with a surplus of $29,297. ABC
executive director Steve Mason says "the turnaround in our
financial position is due to cost containment, strong financial
support from individuals, better than expected return on
investments, and growth in congregational financial support."

Financial support of the agency from individuals, including
offerings at the National Older Adult Conference, grew by more than
76 percent in 2000. Congregational support grew by more than 40
percent, with 221 congregations sending contributions, and
investment earnings also increased over 1999 levels. The agency's
expenses of $608,552 were 8 percent lower than budgeted, while
revenue of $637,848 was 3 percent higher than anticipated.

The agency is still projecting a $145,790 deficit for 2001 due to
the end of Behold! campaign funds, slower-than-expected growth of
congregational support, and holding Caring Ministries
Conference--the smaller and more expensive of its two biennial
conferences--this year.

On Earth Peace Assembly: The agency, whose fiscal year ended on
Sept. 30, reported a positive operating margin of $5,276, with
annual income of $347,118 and expenses of $341,842.

In addition, OEPA had $59,619 in restricted endowment fund
donations and $27,703 in restricted endowment earnings. OEPA also,
however, absorbed the liquidation of inventory from its bookstore,
The Peace Place, which closed in September. That liquidation showed
a loss of $98,694.=20

Combined, it resulted in a net loss of $6,096 for the 1999-2000
fiscal year. The OEPA board expressed strong optimism for the
current fiscal year at its fall meeting.

3) Another earthquake struck El Salvador on Tuesday, exactly a
month after a major quake hit the country and killed more than 800
near the capital of San Salvador.

The Feb. 13 quake registered 6.1 on the Richter scale and left at
least 300 more dead, more than 1,000 injured, and thousands more
homeless, according to reports. Church of the Brethren Emergency
Response/Service Ministries staff in New Windsor, Md., were called
in to facilitate a late-night shipment of plastic sheets for the US
Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. The sheets were to be
airlifted to El Salvador for use as temporary shelter.

The response came just weeks after an all-night effort to deliver
OFDA supplies to India after a major quake there. The General
Board's Emergency Disaster Fund has already sent $25,000 toward El
Salvador earthquake relief and $50,000 to India.

The India grant was officially approved last week in support of a
Church World Service appeal. It will aid distribution of supplies
to meet basic needs, including food, water, tarps, blankets, and
cooking items. Church World Service is working through its local
partner in India, Church's Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA), in
the wake of the Jan. 26 quake centered in Gujarat State. A CWS
representative this week called the destruction "undescribable."

4) The members of the 2001 Youth Peace Travel Team have been
announced: Katie Best of the Hutchinson (Kan.) Community Church of
the Brethren, Rachel Long of Crest Manor  (South Bend, Ind.),
Amanda Bunting of Elizabethtown (Pa.), and Susan Chapman of Roanoke
(Va.) Central.

The team, jointly sponsored by the General Board's Youth/Young
Adult and Brethren Witness offices, On Earth Peace Assembly, and
Outdoor Ministries Association, spends the summer traveling to
Brethren camps and leading activities related to peace, justice,
and environmental stewardship. It is the 11th straight year a team
will be sent out.

5) The General Board's Global Food Crisis Fund has approved a
grant to ship 300 tons of rice and wheat to North Korea, where
millions still suffer from food shortages after five years of
famine-like conditions.

The $25,000 grant will provide enough grain to supply 40,000 people
for three to four months, according to Brethren Witness director
David Radcliff, who manages the fund. "North Korea is still
incapable of meeting its own food needs and has few funds with
which to purchase commodities on the international market,"
Radcliff says. "This grant is part of our long-term commitment to
the people of North Korea."=20

The fund is set to ship several thousand fruit trees to North Korea
later in the spring, and hopes to send a shipment of dairy goats by
early summer.

In January, the fund authorized $10,000 for a container gardening
project at a women's prison in Honduras. This venture seeks to help
incarcerated women--who often have their children with them--grow
their own food as a needed supplement to prison food, where the
per-person spending is less than 50 cents a day. If successful,
there may also be opportunities for the women to sell produce in
the surrounding community. Skills learned in the project could also
aid the women as they return to society.

6) The US Postal Service isn't alone in delivering despite bad
weather. When one of the worst winter storms in 15 years struck
central Kansas, it didn't stop the Church of the Brethren Regional
Youth Conference at McPherson College.

McPherson chaplain Manny Diaz, who coordinated the event, says only
about half of the 70 who registered were able to make it for the
Feb. 9-11 event. Even so, people from at least five states from
Iowa to Oklahoma braved snowpacked and icy roads to attend.

"There were cars and stuff in the ditches. It was pretty bad," said
Abby Harper, who rode down from Panora, Iowa, through freezing rain
with her parents and sister. "My parents traded off every two
hours. It normally takes us six hours, but it took us close to 10."

Keynote speaker Jim Hardenbrook also made it in from Nampa, Idaho,
to lead exploration of the national youth theme "Be an example."
Hardenbrook explored the I Timothy theme passage and addressed some
of the five areas in which Paul instructs Timothy to be an example:
through one's words, demeanor, love, faith, and integrity.
Hardenbrook used storytelling as a central piece of his
presentations, sharing tales from Dr. Seuss, Tom Bodett, and his
own life.

"Being ordained or saying all the right words doesn't necessarily
say who you are," Hardenbrook said, addressing one of the points.
"Integrity is when you let your faith in Jesus penetrate every part
of your life." He urged youth to "unapologetically follow Jesus."

The weekend's service project sent youth into area neighborhoods to
gather non-perishable items for a local food bank; a generous
response provided enough cans, jars, and boxes to fill a pickup
truck.

Other activities during the weekend included workshops led by
McPherson faculty and others, a concert by an area band, attending
a McPherson basketball game, and worship at the McPherson Church of
the Brethren.

7) Brethren Volunteer Service Unit 242 completed orientation at
Camp Ithiel in Gotha, Fla., Feb. 9. The 14 volunteers spent three
weeks together choosing project assignments, learning about social
and spiritual issues, being challenged by simple living and
responses to globalization, and forming a community of support. =20

The group spent a day learning about farm-worker issues, picking
oranges for two hours (averaging $1.50 per person per hour at
farm-worker wages for the work done). They also traveled to
Sebring, where they were hosted by members of the Sebring and
Lorida congregations and visited residents of The Palms retirement
community, and to Miami, where they spent time with members of the
Miami Haitian Church of the Brethren.

Volunteers in the unit and their BVS project assignments are as
follows: Todd Bauer, Pastoral Social, Huehuetenango, Guatemala;
Eric Benner, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament/ Christian Campaign
for Nuclear Disarmament, London, England; David and Evie Bertsche,
World Friendship Center, Hiroshima, Japan; Eddie Casarez, National
Farm Worker Ministry, Seattle; Janell Dolby and Mike Horner,
Catholic Worker House, San Antonio, Texas; Nathan Kinsey-Bering,
Omega Community, Houston; Mariko Miyazaki, Pesticide Action Network
North America, San Francisco; Therese Ramolla, Tri-City Homeless
Coalition, Fremont, Calif.; Joe Ryan, Bella Vista Church of the
Brethren and Bittersweet Ministries, East Lost Angeles; Stephanie
Schaudel, Su Casa Catholic Worker House, Chicago; Matthias Stickel,
Camp Eder, Fairfield, Pa.; and Inge Zittel, Gould Farm, Monterey,
Mass.

8) A delegation from the New Sudan Council of Churches visited
Pretoria, Johannesburg, and Cape Town in South Africa from Jan. 26
to Feb. 6 at the invitation of the Southern African Catholic
Bishops' Conference, returning a visit made to Sudan by the
bishops' conference last year.

According to the NSCC, the aim of the visit was to raise the
awareness of the South African people, church, and government about
the situation in Sudan and to seek their support in attaining a
just and lasting peace. The NSCC delegation described the
oppression in Sudan as a three-fold form of apartheid: racial,
religious, and economic. Members met with several senior government
and religious officials, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The delegation asked South Africa for help in several areas as
civil war continues in Sudan between the government in the
predominantly Islamic North and the mostly Christian southern half
of the country: a call for the North to end its aerial bombardment
of civilians in the South, a halt to multinational oil operations
that are producing revenue for the North, and support of mediation
efforts according to the Declaration of Principles signed in Sudan.

The NSCC, based in Kenya, serves Christians and churches in
southern Sudan. The Church of the Brethren General Board's Global
Mission Partnerships office has several staff members working with
the NSCC.

Elsewhere, the NAACP this past week called on the US government for
sanctions against the government of Sudan, according to the
Washington Times. The World Council of Churches at its recent
Central Committee meeting also issued a call for the government to
cease its bombing of civilian targets.

9) Supporters of nurse Dorothy Granada in Nicaragua received good
news last week when Nicaraguan courts ruled against an order to
have her deported. The government, which recently has been cracking
down on non-governmental organizations, subsequently withdrew that
order.

Granada had been directing the Maria Luisa Ortiz Health Clinic in
the village of Mulukuku until December, when the government charged
her with performing abortions--illegal in Nicaragua--and serving
only rival Sandinistas. Granada, from California, has denied both
charges.

She had spent the weeks since then in hiding as the case worked its
way through the courts. Members of the US government, the National
Council of Churches, and others in the religious community called
for the government to allow Granada to resume her work. Nadine Monn
of the Church of the Brethren's Global Mission Partnerships office
was among those signing on to a letter.

Several Church of the Brethren delegations, including Faith
Expeditions from the General Board's Brethren Witness office, and
groups from Manchester College (North Manchester, Ind.) have
visited the clinic in the past. It currently remains closed, but
supporters are hopeful that the Nicaraguan government will allow it
to reopen soon. Granada came out of hiding late l
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<HTML><FONT FACE=3Darial,helvetica><FONT  SIZE=3D2>Title: Newsline - Church=20=
of the Brethren news update
<BR>Subject: Church of the Brethren Newsline
<BR>Date: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Feb. 16, 2001
<BR>From: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Church of the Brethren News Services
<BR>Contact: &nbsp;Walt Wiltschek
<BR>V: &nbsp;847/742-5100 &nbsp;&nbsp;F: &nbsp;847/742-6103
<BR>E-MAIL: &nbsp;&nbsp;CoBNews@AOL.Com
<BR>
<BR>"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only." James 1:22a
<BR>
<BR>NEWS
<BR>1) Decade to Overcome Violence officially begins as WCC meets.
<BR>2) Denominational agencies report a solid financial year.
<BR>3) Another quake hits El Salvador; grant heads to India.
<BR>4) The 2001 Youth Peace Travel Team is announced.
<BR>5) Global Food Crisis Fund grants aid North Korea, Honduras.
<BR>6) Plains-area youth hold Regional Youth Conference at McPherson.
<BR>7) BVS unit 242 volunteers head to their projects.
<BR>8) New Sudan Council delegation seeks solidarity in South Africa.
<BR>9) Legal victory in Nicaragua allows nurse to come out of hiding.
<BR>10) Several Brethren involved in Vieques protest.
<BR>11) Brethren bits: Brethren Service Center, BCA, Vietnam, and more.
<BR>
<BR>PERSONNEL
<BR>12) Michigan District reopens search for executive minister.
<BR>
<BR>COMING EVENTS
<BR>13) Bethany staff will lead 2001 Ministers' Association meeting.
<BR>14) May event to focus on church planting.
<BR>15) Elizabethtown College will host Creative Church Leader Program.
<BR>
<BR>****************************************************************
<BR>
<BR>1) Just over a decade ago, the city of Berlin, Germany, was two
<BR>cities: An eastern half under an oppressive Communist regime, a
<BR>western half that enjoyed freedom, and a deadly wall running
<BR>between them. Today, only a few hundred yards of the wall--left as
<BR>a remembrance--remain. The city is one again, the two halves
<BR>flowing seamlessly together in a single, energetic metropolis.
<BR>
<BR>Thus, when the World Council of Churches sought a site to launch
<BR>the Decade to Overcome Violence in early February, Berlin provided
<BR>the perfect backdrop. The inauguration of the decade took place in
<BR>the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate, a Berlin landmark that once
<BR>stood at the border between East and West.
<BR>
<BR>"For almost 30 years the gate was barricaded," WCC general
<BR>secretary Konrad Raiser said at the ceremony, speaking in German.
<BR>"Today it is once again open: a sign of hope for our journey
<BR>through the Decade, hope that other dividing and excluding walls
<BR>and gates will open to allow us to walk the way of peace."
<BR>
<BR>The ceremony followed a candelit march from the House of World
<BR>Cultures, where a launch celebration filled with music, dancing,
<BR>speeches, and symbols was held in the afternoon. Earlier, the day
<BR>began with a worship service at Berlin=E2=80=99s historic Kaiser Wilhelm
<BR>church, which had been destroyed by World War II bombing. The
<BR>service was broadcast live on German TV.
<BR>
<BR>During the afternoon event, WCC moderator His Holiness Aram I of
<BR>Armenia said "We launch the Decade to Overcome Violence with a
<BR>clear vision to transform violence into peace with justice."
<BR>
<BR>Each denomination and faith tradition is being called upon to use
<BR>its own unique gifts and perspective toward this process. Delegates
<BR>at the 2000 Church of the Brethren Annual Conference voted to join
<BR>the Decade, and activities related to the emphasis are planned to
<BR>debut at this year's Annual Conference in Baltimore. The US
<BR>Conference of the WCC is planning a US launch April 23-25 in
<BR>Nashville, Tenn.
<BR>
<BR>Other topics discussed at this year's WCC Central Committee
<BR>meeting, held surrounding the launch of the Decade, included: a
<BR>report from the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the
<BR>WCC; extending Raiser's term as general secretary to December 2003;
<BR>a debate over whether Christians should accept the use of violence
<BR>for humanitarian intervention, which was referred for further
<BR>study; and statements seeking peaceful resolution to conflicts in
<BR>the Middle East, Sudan, Colombia, Indonesia, and elsewhere.
<BR>
<BR>The Central Committee also approved several new WCC members, set
<BR>2006 as the year for the Ninth Assembly of the World Council of
<BR>Churches, and affirmed a recommendation to hold a Conference on
<BR>World Mission and Evangelism in 2004 or 2005.=20
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>2) Several of the denomination's agencies are reporting overall
<BR>good financial news as year-end numbers have been tallied:
<BR>
<BR>General Board: Treasurer/CFO Judy Keyser says the General Programs
<BR>budget was balanced and showed an income over expense of $367,000
<BR>for 2000. All self-funding programs also showed income over
<BR>expense--$3,800 for Brethren Press; $51,000 for Emergency
<BR>Response/Service Ministries; $70,300 for the New Windsor (Md.)
<BR>Conference Center; and $5,500 for Messenger.=20
<BR>
<BR>Excess income for 2000 will be added to the respective reserves to
<BR>strengthen programs and support possible shortfalls in the future.
<BR>Keyser says it is the first time in her five and a half years as
<BR>treasurer that all ministries finished in the black. She attributes
<BR>that achievement to careful planning and hard work by staff.
<BR>
<BR>Congregational support came in slightly below the budgeted level,
<BR>but gifts from individuals and bequests were greater than budgeted.
<BR>
<BR>Association of Brethren Caregivers: ABC had projected a budget
<BR>deficit for 2000 but finished with a surplus of $29,297. ABC
<BR>executive director Steve Mason says "the turnaround in our
<BR>financial position is due to cost containment, strong financial
<BR>support from individuals, better than expected return on
<BR>investments, and growth in congregational financial support."
<BR>
<BR>Financial support of the agency from individuals, including
<BR>offerings at the National Older Adult Conference, grew by more than
<BR>76 percent in 2000. Congregational support grew by more than 40
<BR>percent, with 221 congregations sending contributions, and
<BR>investment earnings also increased over 1999 levels. The agency's
<BR>expenses of $608,552 were 8 percent lower than budgeted, while
<BR>revenue of $637,848 was 3 percent higher than anticipated.
<BR>
<BR>The agency is still projecting a $145,790 deficit for 2001 due to
<BR>the end of Behold! campaign funds, slower-than-expected growth of
<BR>congregational support, and holding Caring Ministries
<BR>Conference--the smaller and more expensive of its two biennial
<BR>conferences--this year.
<BR>
<BR>On Earth Peace Assembly: The agency, whose fiscal year ended on
<BR>Sept. 30, reported a positive operating margin of $5,276, with
<BR>annual income of $347,118 and expenses of $341,842.
<BR>
<BR>In addition, OEPA had $59,619 in restricted endowment fund
<BR>donations and $27,703 in restricted endowment earnings. OEPA also,
<BR>however, absorbed the liquidation of inventory from its bookstore,
<BR>The Peace Place, which closed in September. That liquidation showed
<BR>a loss of $98,694.=20
<BR>
<BR>Combined, it resulted in a net loss of $6,096 for the 1999-2000
<BR>fiscal year. The OEPA board expressed strong optimism for the
<BR>current fiscal year at its fall meeting.
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>3) Another earthquake struck El Salvador on Tuesday, exactly a
<BR>month after a major quake hit the country and killed more than 800
<BR>near the capital of San Salvador.
<BR>
<BR>The Feb. 13 quake registered 6.1 on the Richter scale and left at
<BR>least 300 more dead, more than 1,000 injured, and thousands more
<BR>homeless, according to reports. Church of the Brethren Emergency
<BR>Response/Service Ministries staff in New Windsor, Md., were called
<BR>in to facilitate a late-night shipment of plastic sheets for the US
<BR>Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. The sheets were to be
<BR>airlifted to El Salvador for use as temporary shelter.
<BR>
<BR>The response came just weeks after an all-night effort to deliver
<BR>OFDA supplies to India after a major quake there. The General
<BR>Board's Emergency Disaster Fund has already sent $25,000 toward El
<BR>Salvador earthquake relief and $50,000 to India.
<BR>
<BR>The India grant was officially approved last week in support of a
<BR>Church World Service appeal. It will aid distribution of supplies
<BR>to meet basic needs, including food, water, tarps, blankets, and
<BR>cooking items. Church World Service is working through its local
<BR>partner in India, Church's Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA), in
<BR>the wake of the Jan. 26 quake centered in Gujarat State. A CWS
<BR>representative this week called the destruction "undescribable."
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>4) The members of the 2001 Youth Peace Travel Team have been
<BR>announced: Katie Best of the Hutchinson (Kan.) Community Church of
<BR>the Brethren, Rachel Long of Crest Manor &nbsp;(South Bend, Ind.),
<BR>Amanda Bunting of Elizabethtown (Pa.), and Susan Chapman of Roanoke
<BR>(Va.) Central.
<BR>
<BR>The team, jointly sponsored by the General Board's Youth/Young
<BR>Adult and Brethren Witness offices, On Earth Peace Assembly, and
<BR>Outdoor Ministries Association, spends the summer traveling to
<BR>Brethren camps and leading activities related to peace, justice,
<BR>and environmental stewardship. It is the 11th straight year a team
<BR>will be sent out.
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>5) The General Board's Global Food Crisis Fund has approved a
<BR>grant to ship 300 tons of rice and wheat to North Korea, where
<BR>millions still suffer from food shortages after five years of
<BR>famine-like conditions.
<BR>
<BR>The $25,000 grant will provide enough grain to supply 40,000 people
<BR>for three to four months, according to Brethren Witness director
<BR>David Radcliff, who manages the fund. "North Korea is still
<BR>incapable of meeting its own food needs and has few funds with
<BR>which to purchase commodities on the international market,"
<BR>Radcliff says. "This grant is part of our long-term commitment to
<BR>the people of North Korea."=20
<BR>
<BR>The fund is set to ship several thousand fruit trees to North Korea
<BR>later in the spring, and hopes to send a shipment of dairy goats by
<BR>early summer.
<BR>
<BR>In January, the fund authorized $10,000 for a container gardening
<BR>project at a women's prison in Honduras. This venture seeks to help
<BR>incarcerated women--who often have their children with them--grow
<BR>their own food as a needed supplement to prison food, where the
<BR>per-person spending is less than 50 cents a day. If successful,
<BR>there may also be opportunities for the women to sell produce in
<BR>the surrounding community. Skills learned in the project could also
<BR>aid the women as they return to society.
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>6) The US Postal Service isn't alone in delivering despite bad
<BR>weather. When one of the worst winter storms in 15 years struck
<BR>central Kansas, it didn't stop the Church of the Brethren Regional
<BR>Youth Conference at McPherson College.
<BR>
<BR>McPherson chaplain Manny Diaz, who coordinated the event, says only
<BR>about half of the 70 who registered were able to make it for the
<BR>Feb. 9-11 event. Even so, people from at least five states from
<BR>Iowa to Oklahoma braved snowpacked and icy roads to attend.
<BR>
<BR>"There were cars and stuff in the ditches. It was pretty bad," said
<BR>Abby Harper, who rode down from Panora, Iowa, through freezing rain
<BR>with her parents and sister. "My parents traded off every two
<BR>hours. It normally takes us six hours, but it took us close to 10."
<BR>
<BR>Keynote speaker Jim Hardenbrook also made it in from Nampa, Idaho,
<BR>to lead exploration of the national youth theme "Be an example."
<BR>Hardenbrook explored the I Timothy theme passage and addressed some
<BR>of the five areas in which Paul instructs Timothy to be an example:
<BR>through one's words, demeanor, love, faith, and integrity.
<BR>Hardenbrook used storytelling as a central piece of his
<BR>presentations, sharing tales from Dr. Seuss, Tom Bodett, and his
<BR>own life.
<BR>
<BR>"Being ordained or saying all the right words doesn't necessarily
<BR>say who you are," Hardenbrook said, addressing one of the points.
<BR>"Integrity is when you let your faith in Jesus penetrate every part
<BR>of your life." He urged youth to "unapologetically follow Jesus."
<BR>
<BR>The weekend's service project sent youth into area neighborhoods to
<BR>gather non-perishable items for a local food bank; a generous
<BR>response provided enough cans, jars, and boxes to fill a pickup
<BR>truck.
<BR>
<BR>Other activities during the weekend included workshops led by
<BR>McPherson faculty and others, a concert by an area band, attending
<BR>a McPherson basketball game, and worship at the McPherson Church of
<BR>the Brethren.
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>7) Brethren Volunteer Service Unit 242 completed orientation at
<BR>Camp Ithiel in Gotha, Fla., Feb. 9. The 14 volunteers spent three
<BR>weeks together choosing project assignments, learning about social
<BR>and spiritual issues, being challenged by simple living and
<BR>responses to globalization, and forming a community of support. &nbsp;
<BR>
<BR>The group spent a day learning about farm-worker issues, picking
<BR>oranges for two hours (averaging $1.50 per person per hour at
<BR>farm-worker wages for the work done). They also traveled to
<BR>Sebring, where they were hosted by members of the Sebring and
<BR>Lorida congregations and visited residents of The Palms retirement
<BR>community, and to Miami, where they spent time with members of the
<BR>Miami Haitian Church of the Brethren.
<BR>
<BR>Volunteers in the unit and their BVS project assignments are as
<BR>follows: Todd Bauer, Pastoral Social, Huehuetenango, Guatemala;
<BR>Eric Benner, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament/ Christian Campaign
<BR>for Nuclear Disarmament, London, England; David and Evie Bertsche,
<BR>World Friendship Center, Hiroshima, Japan; Eddie Casarez, National
<BR>Farm Worker Ministry, Seattle; Janell Dolby and Mike Horner,
<BR>Catholic Worker House, San Antonio, Texas; Nathan Kinsey-Bering,
<BR>Omega Community, Houston; Mariko Miyazaki, Pesticide Action Network
<BR>North America, San Francisco; Therese Ramolla, Tri-City Homeless
<BR>Coalition, Fremont, Calif.; Joe Ryan, Bella Vista Church of the
<BR>Brethren and Bittersweet Ministries, East Lost Angeles; Stephanie
<BR>Schaudel, Su Casa Catholic Worker House, Chicago; Matthias Stickel,
<BR>Camp Eder, Fairfield, Pa.; and Inge Zittel, Gould Farm, Monterey,
<BR>Mass.
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>8) A delegation from the New Sudan Council of Churches visited
<BR>Pretoria, Johannesburg, and Cape Town in South Africa from Jan. 26
<BR>to Feb. 6 at the invitation of the Southern African Catholic
<BR>Bishops' Conference, returning a visit made to Sudan by the
<BR>bishops' conference last year.
<BR>
<BR>According to the NSCC, the aim of the visit was to raise the
<BR>awareness of the South African people, church, and government about
<BR>the situation in Sudan and to seek their support in attaining a
<BR>just and lasting peace. The NSCC delegation described the
<BR>oppression in Sudan as a three-fold form of apartheid: racial,
<BR>religious, and economic. Members met with several senior government
<BR>and religious officials, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
<BR>
<BR>The delegation asked South Africa for help in several areas as
<BR>civil war continues in Sudan between the government in the
<BR>predominantly Islamic North and the mostly Christian southern half
<BR>of the country: a call for the North to end its aerial bombardment
<BR>of civilians in the South, a halt to multinational oil operations
<BR>that are producing revenue for the North, and support of mediation
<BR>efforts according to the Declaration of Principles signed in Sudan.
<BR>
<BR>The NSCC, based in Kenya, serves Christians and churches in
<BR>southern Sudan. The Church of the Brethren General Board's Global
<BR>Mission Partnerships office has several staff members working with
<BR>the NSCC.
<BR>
<BR>Elsewhere, the NAACP this past week called on the US government for
<BR>sanctions against the government of Sudan, according to the
<BR>Washington Times. The World Council of Churches at its recent
<BR>Central Committee meeting also is
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