wfn.org | Church of the Brethren youth hear truth from Sgt. Abe

[COBNews@aol.com]

Date: Oct. 27, 2005
Contact: Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
V: 847/742-5100  F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: _CoBNews@AOL.Com_ (mailto:CoBNews@AOL.Com) 
 
CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN YOUTH HEAR TRUTH FROM SERGEANT ABE
 
Oct. 27, 2005 (Elgin, IL) --  With its young folks on the receiving  end of a

slick and aggressive nationwide military recruiting drive, members of  First 
Church of the Brethren in Chicago, Ill., brought in their own recruiter:  
Sergeant Abe.
 
A creation of Quaker House in Fayetteville, N.C.--neighbor to Fort Bragg,  
one of the world's largest military complexes--"Sgt. Abe, the Honest
Recruiter"  
appears overlaid on a copy of a conscription agreement. He points out key  
details that recruiters often fail to mention, such as non-negotiable
extensions 
 of deployment, and explains what they can mean in a soldier's life.
 
Sgt. Abe was just one of many tools employed during an afternoon workshop  
held at the church on the International Day of Peace, Sept. 21, said Duane  
Ediger in a report from the event. To open the session, participants shared 
their 
connections with the military. Several offered stories of deep suffering  by 
friends and family with combat-induced Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
 
They also heard personal experiences of peacemaking in war zones, saw a  
video featuring interviews of enlistees, were given forms to fill out to help
 
establish a claim of conscientious objection in case a military draft is  
reinstated, and learned that it is possible--even easy--to back out of a 
commitment 
to the Delayed Entry Program.

The 22 participants  included seven youth--three regulars at First Church 
with four of their  friends--several adult members of First Church, a
chaplain 
from the neighboring  Bethany Hospital, a South African visitor, a Mennonite 
pastor, a Voluntary  Service worker with youth organizing for peace, and
other 
local community  organizers. Doug Hostetter, peace minister of Evanston
(Ill.) 
Mennonite Church,  and experienced draft counselor Rich Rutschman led the  
session.

Participants were invited to stay for the evening Bible  study on the related

theme of "The Healing Power of Nonviolence/Love" led by  First Church pastor 
Orlando Redekopp.
 
"Sergeant Abe, the Honest Recruiter" is downloadable as a pdf file from 
_www.quakerhouse.org_ (http://www.quakerhouse.org)  attached image:  
looking_at_Sgt_Abe.jpg.
 
The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to  
continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its
faith  in 
community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith  
traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its
 300th 
anniversary in 2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United	
States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Brazil, the  
Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nigeria.
 
# # #
 
For more information contact:
 
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
Director of News Services
Church of the  Brethren General Board
1451 Dundee Ave.
Elgin, IL 60120
847-742-5100  ext. 260
_cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org_ 
(mailto:cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org) 
 
*****************************************************************
The  Church of the Brethren Newsline is produced by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford,

 director of news services for the Church of the Brethren General Board. 
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