wfn.org | Ethnic local church interns make discoveries in Washington

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

July 29, 1998	Contact: Joretta Purdue*(202)546-8722*Washington
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NOTE: A photograph is available with this story.

By United Methodist News Service

WASHINGTON - Ten United Methodist college students came to the nation's
capital this summer to learn about advocacy and the political process.

For an eight-week period that ended July 30, the ethnic local church
interns worked in government offices or social justice organizations,
while sharing their experiences with each other and meeting with guest
facilitators weekly.

Although they came from different parts of the country, living together
in a dormitory quickly dispelled any feelings of being among strangers,
said Mattheue Locklear, a Native American from Maxton, N.C.

"One of the things I'm realizing is how broad-based the United Methodist
Church is," commented Locklear, a junior at the University of North
Carolina at Pembroke, shortly before the program ended. Of the interns,
he observed, "We're all minorities . . . from different backgrounds than
I have. I'm seeing the diversity of the church."

Each week, Locklear, who plans to become a hospital chaplain, worked in
a different division of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium,
a group of 32 community colleges that serve and are run by Native
Americans. His responsibilities included researching the effects of
welfare reform on Native American families, which led him to express
concern for welfare recipients trying to earn college degrees. With time
limits, work requirements and, often, child care needs, he commented, "a
lot of people just simply withdraw."

Soo-Jung Hwang of Vergennes, Ill., also researched the effects of
welfare reform in her work for the Children's Defense Fund. A
second-year student at Boston University, she found herself among other
interns at fund headquarters.

She discovered that the whole area of policy is very complex, but she
learned a great deal, she said. "It went by really quickly," Hwang
remarked of the eight weeks. "One of the best parts was living with the
nine other interns."

Locklear and Hwang were part of the first group of ethnic local church
interns after a 10-year hiatus in the program. They will be followed
closely and their career choices tracked, said the program's director
Phyllis Freeman, an assistant general secretary of the churchwide Board
of Church and Society.

The internship program is sponsored by an ethnic local church grant from
the board in partnership with the denomination's Inter-ethnic Strategy
Development Group, representing African American, Asian American,
Hispanic, Native American and Pacific Islander caucuses.

Gabrielle Mallory, a senior majoring in political science at United
Methodist-related Bennett College in Greensboro, found the most
interesting part of her internship was meeting "all the people that you
hear about making laws - to be able to meet them and see them in
action." She said she liked seeing "what is going on with our
government" and plans to pursue graduate studies in international
affairs.

Mallory, of Lima, Ohio, was assigned to the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), where her supervisor was Hilary
Shelton, a former program director with the United Methodist Board of
Church and Society.

"Being able to see that there are people who are combating for the
regular American" was a surprise for her. Mallory has been active in the
United Methodist Church, serving as a delegate to the 1996 General
Conference, the church's highest legislative body. She is a voting
member of the Board of Church and Society, has been president of the
West Ohio Annual Conference youth ministries, served on the steering
committee of the National Youth Ministry Organization and was a Black
College Ambassador.

Albert Hwang (no relation to Soo-Jung Hwang) of Northridge, Calif., at
"almost 18" was one of the youngest in the group. Already a junior at
California State University-Los Angeles, he was one of three interns who
worked at the Board of Church and Society. Melanie Ngaue of Salt Lake
City and Phillip Hunter of Bel Air, Md., worked with other staff on
different issues.

Hwang focused extensively on immigration, working with the Interfaith
Immigration Network and the national council of La Raza, which serves
Spanish-speaking immigrants, including asylum-seekers. He also began the
process of writing descriptions of organizational models for work on
immigration rights.

The experience was "eye-opening," Hwang said. Having operated on the
assumption that Washington was far from California and therefore not
very important, he found himself tracking legislation in Congress that
will affect the people at home. He also discovered that what happens in
California affects other parts of the country.

Kyeongah Woo, a student of church music and religion at Lambuth
University in Jackson, Tenn., said she is the oldest of the 10 and is
often called "big sister" by the others. Before going to Lambuth, she
worked as a two-year missionary in campus ministry and adult day care
for handicapped people in the United States. She is a native of Inchon,
South Korea, and hopes to attend seminary before returning to her
country.

Assigned to the staff of Rep. Peter Defazio (D-Ore.), she was one of two
interns working in congressional offices. Jennie Park of Claremont,
Calif., was the other, aiding the staff of  Sen. Daniel R. Coats
(R-Ind.).

Woo assisted Defazio's staff with research on a variety of issues,
including China and trade relationships. Woo has pondered the Washington
scene for "a way to match faith and politics together." She commented
that people involved in the political process tend to "work with the
head rather than the heart."

Damaris Rodriguez, a University of Texas-San Antonio senior, was
assigned to the Search for Common Ground, an international
conflict-resolution organization that works to bring proponents of
opposing views together where they can find agreement. Her work this
summer centered on the organization's race project. 

While many of the other interns were involved with policy and social
justice on the national level, Michelle Tello of Whittier, Calif.,
worked at Family Place, a community-based agency offering a variety of
resources to local people, including day care and classes in English as
a second language.

As the summer experience drew to a close, the students spent two days in
a workshop provided by United Methodist Seminars on National
International Affairs. This program of the Board of Church and Society
was led by Neal Christie, who participated in the internship program
years ago. Their topic was "Breaking Down the Walls and Bridging the
Gaps: How do we learn to live as peacemakers in a divided world?" A
White House briefing also was planned, with celebration and farewells
slated for the last day.

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