wfn.org | [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 259-Young adults explore social justice in nation's capital

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Young adults explore social justice in nation's capital

>Jun. 23, 2008

NOTE: Photographs are available at http://umns.umc.org.

>By Kathy L. Gilbert*

WASHINGTON (UMNS)-Juliana Abe, a native of Côte d'Ivoire, is exploring  a different culture and country while she works for the rights of  Africans and African-American people around the world.

She is also enjoying getting to know her new "family" - The United  Methodist Church.

Abe is one of 12 young people participating in the United Methodist  Board of Church and Society's Ethnic Young Adults Summer Internship in  the nation's capital. Young adults passionate about social justice and  active in the denomination are selected annually from the church's five  ethnic caucuses to participate in the summer intern program.

The 700,000-member Côte d'Ivoire church was formally received as a  United Methodist annual (regional) conference at the 2008 General  Conference, the denomination's lawmaking body, held in Fort Worth,  Texas, April 23-May 2.

"We have different ways of worshipping in my country," Abe says. "We  have very big choirs, lots of instruments, drums. ... African people  like to dance during the service. It is not the same here in  Washington."

>Brothers and sisters

Abe is working at TransAfrica Forum, an African-American human rights  and social justice advocacy organization that promotes diversity and  equality in the foreign policy arena, according to its Web site. All the  young adults in the intern program are placed in nonprofit and  nongovernmental organizations in Washington, for two months.

"We are all different but we are all brothers and sisters in Christ,"  she said. Abe is a doctorate student at the University of Abidjan in  Cocody, Côte d'Ivoire, and is active in the Cocody United Methodist  Church.

Included in this year's slate of interns are young adults from Gambia,  the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Philippines. "This is the  most international group we have had," said the Rev. Neal Christie,  executive at the board. Christie oversees the interns and was an intern  himself for the social action agency in 1984.

Jose Carlo G. dePano, a recent graduate from the University of the  Philippines, said he is interested in seeing how problems are addressed  in the United States so he can help his country gain social equality. He  is active in The United Methodist Church in the Philippines.

"In the Philippines the government says we have equality, the government  says we are in a democratic country, but there are a lot of political  killings, a lot of poverty issues that are not resolved," he says. "They  are offering short-term solutions for long-term problems." DePano is  working in the Board of Church and Society's communications office.

Arianne Reagor, from Washington state, is learning about "making laws  and harassing senators and Congress people," she says, laughing. She  works with the Rebecca Project for Human Rights and is learning about  how drug use affects families, schools and communities. She said she is  also learning about the racism and sexism of the prison system. She  attends George Fox University in Oregon.

>Range of assignments

Other interns and their social justice assignments this summer include:

*	Lakisha Lockhart, a student at Claflin University in South Carolina.  She attends Trinity United Methodist Church in the North Georgia Annual  Conference and is placed with the NAACP. 
*	Kelsey Williamson, a student at Sterling College in Kansas, works with  People of the American Way. 
*	Melekaufusi Pepa, a student at the University of Hawaii Manoa. She  represents the California-Pacific Conference and is working for the  Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. 
*	Mayzara Garcia, a student at the Florida International University. She  attends the Iglesia Metodista Unida de Coral Way United Methodist Church  and is working for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. 
*	Luke Eastin, a student at Illinois Central College. He is active in  the Illinois Great Rivers Conference and works with the National Council  of Churches with a focus on eco-justice issues. 
*	Jonathan Kim, a student at Emory University, Atlanta. He is from the  North Georgia Conference and works with Jubilee USA. 
*	Ilunga Raissa Kiboko, a student from Central Methodist University. She  works with the Faith and Politics Institute and represents the Iowa  Conference. 
*	Aarendy Gomez, a student at Huntingdon College in Alabama. She is  active in the Alabama-West Florida Conference and is placed with the  Latin American Working Group. 
*	Joseph Aubee, the 2008 senior intern who works with the National  Council of Churches and the Board of Church and Society. He is an  African from Gambia, studying at Shepherd University in West Virginia.  He represents the Baltimore-Washington Conference.

>Rare opportunity

The students are housed at United Methodist-related American University  and attend church together every Sunday. They meet for weekly evening  devotions and Bible studies. They will also travel to New York to visit  the United Nations office of the Board of Church and Society.

In addition to their assignments, the interns participate in weekly  seminars that explore issues that concern different racial ethnic  communities.

"The EYA program has provided me with an opportunity that very few  people are blessed to receive, which is the opportunity to step out of  my comfort zone and meet new people with different backgrounds and  traditions, from different countries, and with different views,"  Lockhart said. "It allows us all to come together and focus on the one  thing that binds us all together no matter what our age, ethnicity, or  gender ... God."

* Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in  Nashville, Tenn.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470  or newsdesk@umcom.org.

>********************

United Methodist News Service Photos and stories also available at: http://umns.umc.org

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