BVS summer unit begins work at project sites.

Photo by Kendra Flory

Members of BVS Unit 297 have completed orientation and began their term of volunteer service this summer: front from left, Jenna Horgan, Amber Buck, Margaret Hughes; back from left, Chris Horgan, Jennie Ott, Hallie Pilcher, David Hoffmann, Shurè-Nachelle Parrish.

Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) Unit 297 has completed its orientation and begun work at a number of project sites in the United States, Ireland, and El Salvador. The summer unit held orientation on June 10-29 in Chicago and Elgin, Ill.

Following are the new BVS volunteers, their home congregations or home towns, and projects sites:

Amber Buck of Mount Wilson Church of the Brethren in Lebanon, Pa., is working at Comfort House Services Inc. in McAllen, Texas.

David Hoffmann of Emmendingen, Germany, is serving at Spanish Catholic Charities in Washington, D.C.

Jenna and Chris Horgan of Minneapolis, Minn., are assigned to El Centro Arte para la Paz in Suchitoto, El Salvador.

Margaret Hughes of Charlottesville, Va., has been assigned to L’Arche Community in Cork, Ireland.

Photo by Kristin Flory

BVSers serving in Europe held an annual retreat in June: front from left, Courtney Klosterman, serving at Quaker Cottage in Belfast, N. Ireland; Marie Schuster, Arche Tecklenburg, Germany; Tania Monroy, Fellowship of Reconciliation Germany, in Minden, Germany; Samantha Carwile, Quaker Cottage, Belfast; Cori Miner, Greenhill YMCA in Newcastle, N. Ireland; Gloria Oseguera-Verdugo, L'Arche Kilkenny, Callan, Ireland. Back row from left, Megan Miller, East Belfast Mission, N. Ireland; Julianne Funk, Mali Koraci (Small Steps), Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Katarina Eller, Brot und Rosen, Hamburg, Germany; Adam Stokes, Greenhill YMCA; Samantha Lyon-Hill, OKC Abrasevic (Youth Cultural Center), Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Tiffany Monarch, L'Arche Belfast; Michelle Cernoch, L'Arche Cork, Ireland.

Jennie Ott of Beacon Heights Church of the Brethren in Fort Wayne, Ind., is working with Camp Myrtlewood in Myrtle Point, Ore.

Shurè-Nachelle Parrish of Manchester Church of the Brethren in North Manchester, Ind., will serve as a placement still to be determined.

Hallie Pilcher of First Church of the Brethren in Roanoke, Va., is volunteering for Brethren Disaster Ministries in New Windsor, Md.

Two more BVS orientations are planned for this year. The BVS BRF (Brethren Revival Fellowship) orientation unit is scheduled for Aug. 19-29 at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md. (application deadline has passed). The BVS Fall orientation unit is set for Sept. 16-Oct. 5, also at the Brethren Service Center. Applications for the Fall orientation are due by Aug. 3. For more about Brethren Volunteer Service go to www.brethren.org/bvs.

Source:7/26/2012 Newsline