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National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA
Contact: NCC News, 212-870-2227; news@ncccusa.org; www.ncccusa.org
NCC 7/2/2001 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHURCH WORLD SERVICE NEWS BRIEFS:

- Church World Service Delegation Visit to China and Hong Kong July 19-31
- CWS Immigration and Refugee Program Coordinates New Spiritual Care Program
- Correction, June 14, 2001, NCC News Brief on "Summer Livingstone
Expedition"

CHURCH WORLD SERVICE DELEGATION TO CHINA:

The Rev. John L. McCullough, Executive Director of Church World Service,
will lead a CWS delegation visit to China and its Special Administrative
Region, Hong Kong, July 19-31.  The group will meet with the Amity
Foundation in China and partners in Hong Kong and will visit Amity projects,
including U.S. teachers of English serving with the Amity Teachers Program.

Besides the Rev. McCullough and his wife, Monique, United Methodists, the
group will include Canon Patrick Mauney of The Episcopal Church, CWS Chair;
Mia Adjali of the United Methodist Church; Jennifer Riggs of the Christian
Church (Disciples), and CWS staff members Victor Hsu and Rick Santos, both
of the Presbyterian Church, USA.  The Rev. McCullough and Mr. Hsu will
remain in the region for visits to CWS programs in Vietnam and Cambodia,
returning to the United States on August 7.

CWS/IRP COORDINATES NEW SPIRITUAL CARE PROGRAM
SERVING IMMIGRATION DETAINEES, INCLUDING ASYLUM SEEKERS:

The Church World Service Immigration and Refugee Program is coordinating a
new spiritual care program serving immigration detainees, including asylum
seekers, being held in Immigration and Naturalization Service detention
sites across the United States.

CWS and other faith-based organizations pressed for spiritual care
standards, recently adopted as part of broad new immigration detention
standards.  Spiritual care coordinators and caregivers will coordinate
spiritual care for detainees and INS staff.  The new program is a
collaborative effort of CWS, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service,
Jesuit Refugee Service, Refugee Immigration Ministries, Episcopal Migration
Ministries,  and other non-governmental organizations.  For more
information, contact Joan Maruskin, CWS/IRP, jmaruski@ncccusa.org;
202-544-2350.

CORRECTION:

In the June 14, 2001, NCC News Brief, "Summer Livingstone Expedition
Distributes Moringa Seeds in Tanzania," we dropped part of the name of Sir
Richard Francis Burton, partner with John Hanning Speke in an 1857
expedition to seek the source of the Nile.

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