Brethren bits: NYAC registration, peace award, and more.

Brethren bits: Brief news and updates from around the denomination and beyond.

• The General Board's Service Ministries program received a Certificate of Appreciation from the American Red Cross in recognition of service following Hurricane Isabel this past fall. Shipments of blankets and Gift of the Heart kits were made to shelters in Maryland and Virginia.
  
  
• Registration for the 2004 National Young Adult Conference opened Jan. 1 at www.nyac2004.org. The event--the first of its kind in size and scope--will be held June 14-18 in Winter Park, Colo.
  
  
• Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) worker Peggy Gish, a member of the Church of the Brethren, accepted the Yoko Tada Human Rights Award at a Dec. 18 ceremony in Tokyo for her work with CPT. Gish has spent much of the past year as part of a CPT presence in Iraq. Japanese journalist Masakazu Honda nominated Gish for the award after he interviewed her in Jordan last March. Three Yoko Tada awards are presented each year.
  
  
• Collaboration among Interchurch Medical Assistance (IMA), Mennonite Central Committee, and Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) has resulted in a $25,000 ERD grant to support surgical services provided by a hospital in Baghdad, Iraq. The grant aids treatment for children suffering from hydrocephalus due to birth defects or from infections such as meningitis or encephalitis. The hospital has experienced a severe shortage of medical supplies.
  
  
• Manchester College (North Manchester, Ind.) has received a $750,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. for its growing collaboration with Wabash County and North Manchester economic development efforts. The four-year grant will allow the college to develop a wide-reaching local program of student internships and entrepreneurial support that will seek to stem the significant loss of college graduates from Indiana, and especially Wabash County; and to improve job opportunities for other Indiana workers.
  
  
• An ecumenical conference held in late November and early December in Prague, Czech Republic, continued a series of such meetings held since 1986 to discuss and work together on common issues in an academic context. The theme for this most recent conference was “The Significance of Reforming and Prophetic Movements in Church and Society.” Church of the Brethren member Donald F. Durnbaugh was among those attending, and made a presentation on “The Witness of the Historic Peace Churches.” Durnbaugh is also serving on a Continuation Committee to plan future gatherings for the group. A number of other Brethren have also been involved with the process over the past two decades. A story on the “Prague Conference” series is planned for the March issue of “Messenger.”

Source: Newsline 1/02/2004
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