NEWS

• Welcome Home project helps returning military personnel in the church.
  
• Brethren funds team up to respond to Sudanese refugees, West Timor drought.
  
• Brethren bits: Correction, personnel, job opening, and more.

RESOURCES

• 'Wellness in Times of Crises' is available from Association of Brethren Caregivers.
  
• Lighten Up, Brethren! is introduced at Annual Conference.

FEATURE

• AIDS/HIV becomes a focus for Nigerian church, mission workers.

Welcome Home project helps returning military personnel in the church.

Congregations are invited to take part in the Welcome Home Project: A Living Peace Church Response for Returning Military Personnel and Others. The project is a joint effort between the Association of Brethren Caregivers (ABC) and On Earth Peace.

The project's mission is to help congregations become places of healing and reconciliation for military personnel and others as they deal with the physical, mental, psychological, and spiritual wounds from war zones, and to strengthen the circles of care surrounding them. The project's mission statement provides a context for the work: "Congregations around the country are experiencing the return of soldiers who have been in active military conflict. While some return with physical injuries, there are others who are affected emotionally or spiritually. Many individuals and congregations desire to address with wisdom and compassion the needs of returning military personnel and the communities to which they return."

Committee members for the Welcome Home Project see the group's purpose as ideal for a living peace church that seeks to accompany those who have experienced the violence and trauma of war. Organizers state, "We believe that the peace church's message of love, justice, service, and humility includes responding to soldiers, who may be hurting, afraid, silent, and marginalized."

Although US casualties from the war in Iraq are less than the number of casualties from previous wars, the war in Iraq has produced significant numbers of injured and disabled military personnel, said a release about the project from ABC. According to CNN.com's news statistics report, an estimated 12,000 soldiers have been wounded, the release said. In February, the "Christian Science Monitor" reported concern from veterans organizations about the number of returning soldiers showing up in the nation's homeless shelters due to the loss of jobs or difficulties in reintegrating into civilian life. "Although the military branches are providing more services to deal with post-traumatic stress and reintegration for returning military personnel and their families, churches can assist these individuals and families by providing a community of support and care," ABC said. "This role becomes more important for rural congregations as services for returning military personnel may be more limited in rural areas."

At Annual Conference, the Welcome Home Project held an insight session "Helping Soldiers Heal from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" with panelists Doris Abdullah of On Earth Peace; Joel Bonnette, a counselor and veteran; and Peter Leddy, a veteran and retired district minister. More than 75 people attended.

Another workshop will be held at ABC's Caring Ministries Assembly in Bridgewater, Va., on Friday, Aug. 12. "Faith's Imprint During Times of Stress and Violence" will explore how people living in conflict zones experience common situations, whether they are there in the role of Christian peacemaker or armed military. A panel of speakers will describe their experiences and reflect on how their faith impacted the experiences.

The Welcome Home Project organizers hope to create a network of congregations working toward creating safe places for returning military personnel and others. Networking may take the form of conference calls on related topics, regular e-mails, and consultations with committee members.

To join the network, e-mail Mary Dulabaum, ABC staff member, at mdulabaum_abc@brethren.org, or Matt Guynn, On Earth Peace staff member, at mattguynn@earthlink.net. Resources for congregations wanting to participate in the project are available at www.brethren.org/oepa/WelcomeHomeProject.html. Links to other sites offering resources also are available.

Source: 7/20/2005 Newsline
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Brethren funds team up to respond to Sudanese refugees, West Timor drought.

Two General Board funds--the Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) and the Global Food Crisis Fund (GFCF)--are both contributing aid to Sudanese refugees returning to their homes after years of displacement due to war, and to West Timor, Indonesia, following a severe drought. The EDF gave $50,000 and the GFCF $20,000 to the needs of the Sudanese refugees. Responding to West Timor, the EDF gave $20,000 and the GFCF $10,000. Two other recent grants from the EDF support relief work in India and China.

The Sudan emergency appeal comes from the Church World Service (CWS) Emergency Response Program and the ACT Alliance. The EDF grant will help provide basic needs for refugees including fresh water, sanitation, household supplies, tools, and seeds. The GFCF grant will help provide seeds and tools, develop vegetable plots for training subsistence farmers, introduce new crops, train farmers and extension workers in appropriate technology, and create income-generating activities to spur employment, the grant request said. "A strong component of the effort is to reduce the dependency of hosts and returnees on food aid, building longterm food security," said Howard Royer, GFCF manager.

The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the government of Sudan and the rebels in southern Sudan has created the opportunity for refugees to return home, reported Roy Winter, director of the board's Emergency Response, in the grant request. "Many have been displaced for years because of the civil war that started in 1955. They are currently living in Internally Displaced People camps in northern Sudan and as refugees in surrounding countries," the grant request stated. "While organized resettlement of these people has not occurred, as many as 1,500 Sudanese are spontaneously returning to their home areas each day."

CWS also is the recipient of the Brethren grants for relief work in West Timor. The assistance from the EDF will be implemented through feeding centers and used to help prevent famine among the poor and most vulnerable. The GFCF grant will contribute to sustainable livelihood development programs and community-based health organization training. Royer said that as many as one third of the area's children under five suffer from malnutrition and nearly seven percent from severe malnutrition. "One of the priorities of CWS is to ensure basic levels of nutrition for pregnant women and for children under five," he said.

In other grants, the EDF gave $15,000 for a CWS appeal in the wake of severe flooding in the Gujarat and Madhay Pradesh States of India, where funds will help provide food, drinking water, relief kits, dry rations, and materials for shelters. Gujarat State is home to many of the Brethren in India, and long-time partner the Church of North India is also active there.

EDF also gave $5,000 to a CWS appeal for severe flooding in southern China that has affected 17 million people. Funds will help provide medicine, food, quilts, mosquito netting, and construction materials for homes and irrigation canals.

Source: 7/20/2005 Newsline
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Brethren bits: Correction, personnel, job opening, and more.

• Correction: The total of four grants from the General Board's Emergency Disaster Fund reported in the Newsline of June 22 is $165,000.
  
  
• Nigeria mission workers Matt Haren and Nancy Steedle are concluding their terms of service this summer. In Nigeria they have worked through Brethren Volunteer Service and the Global Mission Partnerships of the General Board. Haren has taught at Hillcrest School in Jos. Steedle has worked with the Women's School of Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria (EYN--the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria), located at EYN headquarters near Mubi. Haren plans to continue his teaching career in the United States. Steedle plans to enter graduate studies.
  
  
• Amy Adkins began July 18 as part-time program assistant in the General Board's Brethren Witness/Washington Office in Washington, D.C. She has been serving in the office as a legislative assistant through Brethren Volunteer Service. Adkins is from Middlebury, Ind., and is a graduate of Manchester College in North Manchester, Ind.
  
  
• The General Board seeks a customer service inventory specialist to fill a fulltime position with Brethren Press in Elgin, Ill. The position is available immediately. Brethren Press is a denominational publishing house that provides resource information including Christian education materials, supplies, and brochures to congregations and individuals. Responsibilities include inventory control, ordering, payables, reconciliation; handling telephone, mail, and Internet orders; and processing end-of-the-month activity, statements, reports, and journals. The ideal candidate will have demonstrated ability in customer service, word processing, intermediate accounting, and general office skills. Experience in a church or service organization and some college credits are preferred, experience in Christian education is a plus. To apply, mail a cover letter, resume, and references to: Church of the Brethren General Board, Office of Human Resources, 1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120. The application deadline is Aug. 8.
  
  
• The Annual Conference Study Committee on Doing Church Business is asking for prayer to support its work at an upcoming meeting, Aug. 1-3 in New Paris, Ohio. Members will share results from interviews across the denomination and consider responses to surveys filled out at Annual Conference. The committee also will prepare a first draft of its response to how the Annual Conference delegate body may more adequately discern the mind of Christ. The final draft will be presented to the 2006 Annual Conference. Committee members are Joe Detrick, Matt Guynn, Verdena Lee, Dale Posthumus, and Dave Shetler. Please address comments and questions to doingchurchbusiness@brethren.org.
  
  
• The 2005 Ecumenical Citations were given by the Committee on Interchurch Relations at Annual Conference. Colleen Hamilton of Hope Church of the Brethren in Freeport, Mich., and Marisa de Oliveira of Campo Limpo Preaching Point in Campo Limpo, Brazil, received the citations. The two were among four youth and young adults recognized for peacemaking efforts, including Matt Boyer of La Verne (Calif.) Church of the Brethren, and Anna Christine Simons of Prince of Peace Church of the Brethren in South Bend, Ind. Hamilton received the citation for her efforts for the environment and global concerns including helping to begin a recycling program at her high school, bringing focus to the use and waste of styrofoam in the school cafeteria, working and worshiping ecumenically with another congregation in the area, and participating in a high school arts troupe "HEARTS: Helping Educate Abstinence, Responsible Teens." De Oliveira received the citation for her deep sense of justice and her call to share God's love with others through her work for hunger and women's and children's issues. She volunteers at a soup kitchen, has begun a children's church and after-school tutoring program, and has developed and runs children's and women's programs in a poor and dangerous neighborhood of her city.
  
  
• People of faith are organizing around the country from July 8-21 to pray, bear political witness, and speak truth to power to end the violence in Darfur, Sudan, reported the General Board's Brethren Witness/Washington Office. Thursday July 21 is the one-year anniversary of the date the US Congress unanimously declared the violence in Darfur a genocide. The office announced that public vigils across the country are being assembled to call leaders to put meaning to the words "never again." An action alert reported that nearly 400,000 people have been killed and millions have been displaced in Darfur, and that the violence continues with little attention from the media and politicians. The office sponsored a prayer vigil for Sudan at the Church of the Brethren Song and Story Fest family camp on July 10. For more information about other vigils for Sudan, see www.sojo.net. Contact the Brethren Witness/Washington Office at 800-785-3246 or e-mail washington_office_gb@brethren.org.
  
  
• Brethren Volunteer Service is announcing the start of its summer orientation, July 24-Aug. 12 in New Windsor, Md., at the Brethren Service Center. This will be the 265th BVS unit, with 16 volunteers from the US and Germany. Brethren members will make up most of the group. The remaining volunteers come from varied faith backgrounds. The group will have a chance to work at the center, at A Greater Gift/SERRV, and at the clothing warehouse. A weekend immersion experience will take place at an inner city Baltimore homeless shelter, and while there the group also will work at soup kitchens and Habitat for Humanity. Another day of service will be spent meeting the needs of members of the local community. In addition, unit members will join in a BVS potluck that is open to all those who are interested, on July 30 at 6:30 p.m. at Union Bridge Church of the Brethren. "Please feel free to come and welcome the new BVS volunteers and share your own experiences about Brethren Volunteer Service," an invitation read. "As always your prayer support is welcome and needed. Please pray for the unit and the people they will touch during their year of service."
  
  
• A celebration of the early days of Heifer Project International will be held in Carroll County, Md., Aug. 12-14. The commemorative conference called "Passing on the Gift" is sponsored by the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., along with the Heifer International Mid-Atlantic Regional Office and the Historical Society of Carroll County. On Earth Peace is sponsoring a screening of the documentary, "Seeds of Peace," at the Carroll Arts Center in Westminster, Md., on Aug. 12 at 7 p.m. The Brethren Service Center will be the site of day-long activities featuring a gathering of Seagoing Cowboys on Aug. 13. Brochures are available from Kathleen Campanella at 410-635-8710 ext. 747 or e-mail kcampanella_gb@brethren.org.
  
  
• Brethren in the Roanoke (Va.) area are helping the Lighthouse Church build a new facility on US Rte. 220. The construction work is almost finished, reported Virlina District in an e-mail newsletter, but due to the expiration of the construction loan on July 31, the church needs to finish all of the building interior by that time. "This is a prime opportunity to engage in mission work for all of us, whether skilled or unskilled," the district said. For more information call the church at 540-798-6562.
  
  
• Codorus Church of the Brethren in Loganville, Pa., holds its Christian music festival, Dunkard Valley Live, Aug. 6-7. The festival will be at the Codorus church softball field two miles east of Loganville on Rte. 214. Rain dates are Aug. 13-14. The event will feature local groups and solists performing a wide variety of music, as well as speakers. Among the speakers is Walt Wiltschek, editor of the Church of the Brethren "Messenger" magazine. Admission is free, bring blankets or chairs for seating. Food will be available for sale. For more information e-mail DnkVallpromotion@aol.com.
  
  
• Missouri and Arkansas District will hold its district conference July 22-24 at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., with Gene Sappington as moderator. Three districts are meeting the next weekend: Northern Ohio District July 29-31 at Ashland (Ohio) University with Terry Baldwin as moderator; Southeastern District July 29-31 at Mars Hill (N.C.) College with Harold Rose as moderator; and Southern Plains District July 29-30 at Big Creek Church of the Brethren in Cushing, Okla., with Dean Stump as moderator.
  
  
• Good Shepherd Home in Fostoria, Ohio, hosted a stop for the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure on June 19. As many as 3,000 bicyclers stopped at the home, by invitation, for lunch and a break. For more information call Good Shepherd at 419-435-1801.
  
  
• Manchester College, in North Manchester, Ind., is up to the latest fundraising challenge of Lilly Endowment Inc., says president Jo Young Switzer in a release from the college. The endowment is offering $1.50 for every $1 the college receives from its donors, up to $4.5 million. "We have just built a $17 million Science Center and renovated our recital hall--both without debt," said Switzer. "Matching challenges from the Lilly Endowment made both of those campaigns a success." Manchester is among 34 Indiana colleges and universities to receive grant offers in a second phase of the endowment's Initiative to Strengthen Philanthropy for Indiana Higher Education. Only 14 schools will share in the $4.5 million challenge. Manchester has 19 months through Dec. 31, 2006, to raise $3 million to receive the $4.5 million. It may use the funds "for any proper college purpose," said the endowment. The college has two other current challenges from college trustees and donors, a $1 million dollar-for-dollar match to renovate the College Union, and a $70,000 dollar-for-dollar match to bolster the Manchester Fund. For more about Manchester College, visit www.manchester.edu.
  
  
• The Mutual Aid Association (MAA) reports that more than 400 Church of the Brethren congregations, camps, and districts, plus the denomination as a whole, will benefit from participation in Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company's Partnership Group Program. In 2005, the group was awarded approximately $109,000 as its portion of the dividend-sharing plan, based on a calculation of three-year loss ratios. In 2005, about one-half of the money will be returned to the participating congregation or other ministry, on a percentage basis of the total premium, MAA said. The remainder will be used to support denominational ventures such as the 300th Anniversary Committee and Together: Conversations on Being the Church.
  
  
• COBYS Family Services, an agency affiliated with Atlantic Northeast District, is celebrating its 25th anniversary. The ministry also has launched a $600,000 Building for the Future Campaign. The agency provides adoption and foster care services; leads family life education programs in cooperation with church, school, and community groups; operates a group home for teen mothers and their children; and offers counseling in three locations in Lancaster and Lebanon Counties, Pa. The new funds will purchase and renovate a property for a Permanency Unit serving foster children, expand adoption and foster care ministries, improve a main office in Oregon Mill, retire debt, and expand an endowment fund. For more information see www.cobys.net.
  
  
• A 60th Annual Eastern Civilian Public Service (CPS) Reunion will be held Aug. 4 at Chambersburg (Pa.) Mennonite Church. The reunion is open to all who served in CPS during World War II. Programs and registration forms are sent to all who are presently on the mailing list. If you are not on the mailing list and want a program and registration form, contact H. Howard Witmer, 1001 E. Oregon Rd., Lititz, PA 17543; 717-581-3970; hmwitmer46@juno.com.
  
  
• Canned chicken donated by the Church of the Brethren is being donated by Church World Service (CWS) to vulnerable rural families in the Dominican Republic, according to the CWS hotline of June 27. The $54,600 worth of chicken will be distributed through a CWS partner, Social Service of the Dominican Churches.
  
  
• The World Council of Churches (WCC) has announced the theme for its next assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Feb. 14-23, 2006. The theme, "God in Your Grace, Transform the World," "invites us to return to, and reappropriate, the resources of prayer," the WCC said. The theme will point the meeting of up to 3,000 church leaders and ecumenical representatives from around the globe to several spiritual nuances, the WCC said: "The world matters to God and should matter to us" (Mt. 16:24; John 3:3 and 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:17), "Blessed are the change-makers" (Mt. 19:16-22), "Human responsibility under the spotlight" (John 21:15-19), and "Transformation is God's agenda" (Mt. 4:17, 5:48; Luke 10:31-32). This is the first WCC assembly to be held in Latin America. It will be preceded by events for youth and women Feb. 11-13.
  
  
• Mennonite Central Committee is supporting an AIDS prevention project of Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria (EYN--the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) with a $3,500 grant. The money will help train 40 women, youth, and pastors in EYN churches to educate their congregations and communities about AIDS, MCC reported in a June press release. (See the feature below for more about EYN's HIV/AIDS program.)

Source: 7/20/2005 Newsline
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'Wellness in Times of Crises' is available from Association of Brethren Caregivers.

During the report by the Association of Brethren Caregivers (ABC) to Annual Conference this year, the agency showed an excerpt from its new video, "God's Spirit Is Among Us: Wellness in Times of Crises." This 17-minute video tells how Brethren have found hope and wellness during life's difficult times and circumstances.

The video on DVD is available for congregations to use individually or with small groups as they seek to discuss wellness. It may be a helpful tool for congregations wishing to learn of ways they can assist individuals find wellness through all phases of their lives, ABC said. Included on the video are excerpts of other videos relating to the caring ministries of the Church of the Brethren. ABC is making the DVD available to congregations at cost, $7.50. To order a copy, contact ABC at 800-323-8039 or abc@brethren.org.

Source: 7/20/2005 Newsline
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Lighten Up, Brethren! is introduced at Annual Conference.

Lighten Up, Brethren! is a new challenge from the Association of Brethren Caregivers (ABC) for Church of the Brethren members to adopt healthy living and behaviors. The program promotes wellness in body, mind, and spirit, and offers weekly support and encouragement to those who sign on. Anyone interested in participating can receive a weekly e-mail containing a meditation, scripture passage, or recipe. Lighten Up, Brethren! is a program of the Wellness Ministry of ABC in collaboration with Brethren Benefit Trust and the General Board.

During Annual Conference, ABC introduced the program at its booth and through a short video during its report to delegates. As part of the presentation, Kathy Reid and Stan Noffsinger, executives of ABC and the General Board respectively, accepted the challenge to lose weight by the next Annual Conference. ABC staff and other program participants wore Lighten Up, Brethren! t-shirts.

To join the program, visit www.brethren-caregivers.org and click on the Wellness Ministry. A brochure about the new program also is available, describing the invitation for Brethren to commit to lifestyle changes of increasing physical activity and decreasing consumption as a way to be good stewards of their bodies. Lighten Up, Brethren! t-shirts are available for $10 each. To order brochures or a t-shirt with the program's logo on the back, call ABC at 800-323-8039.

Source: 7/20/2005 Newsline
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AIDS/HIV becomes a focus for Nigerian church, mission workers.

By Bob and Carol Krouse

If we had to name the one area of our work that we find most compelling, we'd have to say it is our work with the HIV/AIDS ministry of Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria (EYN--the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria). HIV/AIDS is endemic throughout Africa. Millions of African men, women, and children are infected with the virus, and, with few exceptions, that number continues to grow.

Fortunately, the problem of AIDS isn't as bad in Nigeria as it is in some African nations where 30 percent of the population is infected. Nevertheless, HIV/AIDS is still a huge problem in Nigeria. According to government statistics, 5 to 12 percent of Nigeria's population is infected with HIV/AIDS. That means that between 6 and 15 million Nigerians are infected. Far too many Nigerians are either infected, afflicted, or affected by the disease.

In December 2004, we were asked to work with EYN's HIV/AIDS committee in developing a strategic plan to launch an HIV/AIDS ministry. Ten of us, two Nigerians, two Swiss, and two Americans, met for three exhausting days at EYN headquarters in early December to hammer out a plan that will unfold over the next three years. The plan endeavors to:

• Develop an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign through education, communication, and information;
  
  
• Create an HIV/AIDS action team that will take a program of music and drama to EYN congregations hoping to lessen the stigma and raise the awareness of HIV/AIDS;
  
  
• Train 4,000 volunteers to provide HIV/AIDS education and a support network in each of EYN's more than 1,000 congregations;
  
  
• Offer HIV screening in all EYN dispensaries and pre- and post-test counseling;
  
  
• Provide access to affordable antiretroviral drugs;
  
  
• Encourage a biblical model of marriage and family; and
  
  
• Empower victimized women by promoting gender equality.

Our vision is to have an HIV/AIDS-free generation built upon the foundation of solid, healthy families that will create a strong, secure society. Carol and I feel that our work with the EYN HIV/AIDS committee could be the most significant thing that we do during our sojourn in Nigeria.

--Bob Krouse is the Church of the Brethren mission coordinator in Nigeria, working for the General Board's Global Mission Partnerships. Carol Krouse provides nursing care at a women's clinic, counsels women who have reproductive and other health issues, and is a speaker for HIV/AIDS awareness events.

Source: 7/20/2005 Newsline
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Credits

Newsline is produced by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, director of news services for the Church of the Brethren General Board, on every other Wednesday with other editions as needed. Newsline stories may be reprinted if Newsline is cited as the source. Sam Bowman, Kathleen Campanella, Mary Dulabaum, Matt Guynn, Jeri S. Kornegay, and H. Howard Witmer contributed to this report.