2006 National Youth Conference

YOUTH TAKE TIME TO WORK FOR OTHERS THROUGH SERVICE PROJECTS
“Brethren, we have met to worship,” says the hymn, but Brethren youth have also met to muck stalls, clean closets, post fliers, and in general leave the folks in Fort Collins and Loveland with a tremendously favorable impression.

It is quite possible that service is close to replacing hiking as the favorite participation sport at National Youth Conference. More than 2,000 people participated in service projects this year, and according to Steve Van Houten, coordinator, “many more stepped up to the challenge and are doing it with a smile.”

Richard Thebo, of Open Door Mission, “a 24/7 shelter for everybody that needs help,” said he had a busload of volunteers who did fantastic work. “They cleaned out my maintenance building, cleaned up and restocked it all, while others worked in the kitchen.”

Brenda Tredway, volunteer coordinator for Hearts and Horses Therapeutic Riding Center in Loveland, was enthusiastic about the two busloads of 25 that mucked stalls, weeded the arena, and moved hay. “I wish we could have them every day,” she said.

Ministry works in two directions. In addition to serving, the youth, many of whom were unaware of horse therapy as a ministry, were showed short videos and given brief instruction about the program. “They were totally unaware that this kind of thing went on,” Tredway said.

There were many ways to do the work of Jesus, simply, peacefully, and together. Cheryl Beckett, director of A Place For Peace, which provides space to the community for events that promote “peace, harmony, and better understanding,” is also president of the Ft. Collins and Interfaith Council, which ties together 30 faith communities and eight nonprofit organizations.

She said that summer is a slow time for collection for the local food pantry, so she had four youth from Michigan, Maryland, and Colorado, and an adult advisor from Pennsylvania, deliver 290 fliers to local businesses. “They explained we’d be coming next week to collect for the food bank. The volunteers got a little exercise, a look at a neighborhood, and it really helped,” she said.

She was complimentary about the service project program at NYC. “It’s just a fabulous program,” she said. “No only do we plant the seeds of community work in the youth, it’s also helpful for the community.”

The service project coordinators lined up 52 sites and 2,150 work slots, and said they were able to fill all of them this week.

Photo by Amy Adkins

WITNESS CALLS PASSERSBY TO COME AND SEE THE PRINCE OF PEACE
Heeding this year’s NYC theme, “Come and See,” participants put their faith and Brethren teachings into action with a prayer and witness vigil on Wednesday on the Colorado State University campus.

With war continuing in Iraq, and conflict escalating between Israel and Lebanon, demonstrators created signs, prayed, sang and listened to speakers during the witness sponsored by the Church of the Brethren Witness/Washington Office and hosted by the Center for Justice, Peace, and Environment and the Colorado Communities for Justice and Peace.

Photo by Amy Adkins

“Jesus calls us to come and see him and what he represents,” said Jonathan, an NYCer from Indiana. “We’re hoping others will come and see what we have to say.”

Olivia from Pennsylvania echoed that sentiment. “I believe that peace is not only the absence of violence, but the search for an alternative that will bring happiness to the people of the world,” she said. “Peace can’t be passive, but has to be an active effort for love and happiness.”

“How does it feel when you’re stuck and all of the sudden you see a whole new possibility?” asked Matt Guynn, from On Earth Peace, challenging the youth to imagine a world with new possibilities for peace that it have yet to be fully enacted. “We are called to inherit the dream of dignity for all people,” he said. “Join me as people of the dream. Let’s not settle for less.”

Highlighted during the demonstration was the 2006 Annual Conference resolution calling for an end to the war in Iraq. As was the case during the resolution’s discussions in Des Moines earlier in July, the peace witness encountered some dissent. A small counter-protest was held by a handful of NYC participants.

One of the central themes of the speakers was a call to pray for and to challenge congressional leaders and the administration to seek peaceful solutions to the nation’s conflicts. A step toward that process occurred directly after the peace witness, as a Brethren Witness/Washington Office staff member, acting as a representative to the denomination, met with staff from the office of Colorado Senator Ken Salazar. The Brethren representative presented the 2006 Iraq resolution and asked for Salazar’s support for an end to the war in Iraq and a ceasefire in Israel, Lebanon, and Palestine.

–Todd Flory is a legislative associate and a Brethren Volunteer Service worker with the Brethren Witness/Washington Office of the Church of the Brethren General Board