NEWS
1) Stop the violence, end the famine
2) The denomination’s spiritual directors hold annual retreat
3) Brethren join Heifer for earthquake reconstruction in Nepal
4) Global Mission worker carries out ministry of presence in Vietnam
5) EYN loses five church members in Boko Haram attack
6) Brethren bits
In this issue: Job openings, church anniversaries, news from districts, new Springs Academy for laity, opposition to proposed federal budget cuts, a new Brethren hymn for Father’s Day, Chibok schoolgirls graduate from high school in the United States, and more.
Five members of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) were killed in a recent Boko Haram attack in Adamawa State. Reporting the incident happened in a no-network area of Adamawa State, EYN district church secretary Mildlu Rev. Bitrus Kabu said Wakara Village was attacked from 7-9 p.m. on Thursday, June 8.
Each May, spiritual directors from throughout the Church of the Brethren meet for an annual retreat and continuing education. Shepherd’s Spring Outdoor Ministry and Retreat Center in Sharpsburg, Md., provides a beautiful and quiet setting for this event, which includes opportunities for worship, prayer, silence, creative expression, peer supervision, and keynote presentations.
It now seems undeniable that famines in our global world are directly related to war and violence. A famine is usually the intersection of deep political, racial, or social injustices compounding food insecurity, malnutrition, and drought found in at-risk communities. If we mix in war and uncontained violence, humanitarian response actors can’t respond and the crisis is elevated to a famine.
The life of this program volunteer: a ministry of presence means being with a family when they find out, “Indeed, your infant is blind.”
Fourteen young adults from various Church of the Brethren districts traveled to Nepal to assist in post-earthquake recovery in Dhading District, east of Kathmandu. Assisted by Heifer International staff in Nepal, the young adult workcamp worked at two school sites in the mountain community of Kebalpur, which was not far from the epic center of the April 2015 earthquake that killed over 9,000 people. The workcamp group was led by Church of the Brethren staff members Emily Tyler and Jay Wittmeyer.
NEWS
1) Young Adult Conference calls the church to focus on love
2) MSS interns to serve at congregations, camps, Office of Public Witness
PERSONNEL
3) Gerald Karn and Ron Anders end their service with the Church of the Brethren
UPCOMING EVENTS
4) Next Church Planting Conference is set for May 2018
RESOURCES
5) ‘Women of the Hebrew Bible’ is among new resources from Brethren Press
6) Brethren bits
In this issue: Personnel, job opening, sale of Brethren Service Center upper campus completed, disaster volunteers sought for DRSI response in Illinois, ecumenical letter urges end to Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian territories, EYN disaster response staff ask for prayer for Maiduguri, junior highs gather at Elizabethtown College, and more.
What a joy it was to take part in the 2017 Young Adult Conference over Memorial Day weekend. Dozens of young adults (ages 18-35) gathered together at Camp Harmony in Western Pennsylvania District for a weekend of reflection, fun, and worship.
