wfn.org | Four college freshmen receive church youth scholarships

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Oct. 9, 2002 News Media contact: Linda Green7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.
10-30-71B{462}

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - Four United Methodists entering college this year
are getting a financial boost through scholarships from the denomination's
youth organization.

The Scholarship Review Committee of the United Methodist Youth Organization
awarded $1,000 scholarships to the students in honor of Richard S. Smith and
the late David W. Self, both former staff executives of the United Methodist
Board of Discipleship and staunch supporters of the former National Youth
Ministry Organization. The scholarships are awarded annually to United
Methodists who are beginning their first year of undergraduate study. The
Smith awards go to racial-ethnic minority students.

The 2002-03 recipients are James Robert Breazeale, Ebiere Kambii Ekadi,
Margaret Bagwell and Benjamin D. Schmitt. 

Bagwell, a recipient of the David W. Self scholarship, attends United
Methodist-related LaGrange (Ga.) College. Like many freshmen, she hasn't
settled on a vocation, but said, "I feel led to serve God through a vocation
of international diplomacy."

Schmitt, at Asbury College, Wilmore, Ky., is another Self recipient. He said
that Chrysalis, the three-day spiritual renewal opportunity for 10th-
through 12th-graders, helped solidify his Christian experience. From
experiences through mission trips, he learned "that when I believe in
something, I am willing to stand apart from others and not give in or give
up." 

Breazeale, a Smith scholarship recipient, attends Southwest Texas State
University in San Marcos. He said he believes God's plan for him involves
music and drama, and that experiences with Chrysalis music teams, the church
choir and Christian theater have nurtured his gifts.

Ekadi, also a Smith scholar, is attending Middle Tennessee State University
in Murfreesboro. She said she would like "to research how religion plays a
part in rehabilitation." 

Details on aid are available at the youth organization's www.umyouth.org
site and the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry's
www.gbhem.org/gbhem/loans2.html site.
# # #
Information was provided by Pamela Crosby, a staff member in the Office of
Interpretation at the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and
Ministry in Nashville, Tenn.

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