NEWS
1) Intercultural Ministry seeks to connect with churches in ‘sanctuary’ jurisdictions
2) Nursing scholarships announced for 2016, applications are received for 2017
3) Church of the Brethren members invited to Oregon Senate for key vote
UPCOMING EVENTS
4) Big Rapids Song and Story Fest to be in Michigan following Annual Conference
REMEMBER WHEN
5) From Gimbiya’s desk: Those who came before me
6) Remembering internment: Days of infamy
7) Brethren bits
A letter from the Church of the Brethren Intercultural Ministry, signed by director Gimbiya Kettering, is part of a new effort to connect with congregations located in areas considered to be “sanctuary” jurisdictions across the country.
Florence Daté Smith and her daughter Barbara Daté on Feb. 16 were among at least 17 Japanese-Americans invited to sit on the chamber floor of the Oregon State Senate for a vote unanimously approving Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 14. The resolution recognizes the historical significance of Feb. 19, 1942, the date President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed executive order 9066 setting in motion the internment of some 120,000 Japanese-Americans during World War II.
CDS completes work in Oroville, BDM winter newsletter, prayer request for gatherings in DR and Venezuela, Shine spring curriculum, On Earth Peace plans Palestine delegation, Ventures course explores Lent, Holmesville returns to Founders Day tradition, more.
Six nursing students were named as recipients of Church of the Brethren Nursing Scholarships for 2016. This scholarship, made possible by the Health Education and Research Endowment, is available to members of the Church of the Brethren enrolled in LPN, RN, or nursing graduate programs.
In this issue: ACT Alliance names new general secretary, job opening, news from congregations and camps, ULV class on leadership and culture gains attention, Bread for the World reports decreases in poverty and hunger among African Americans, and more news by, for, and about Brethren.
On Feb. 9, John and I visited the Wulari EYN Maiduguri church of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) in the large northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri. We met the EYN HIV/AIDS Project staff, and met the new pastor Joseph T. Kwaha. The church was rebuilt in 2015 after it was bombed by Boko Haram and totally destroyed in June 2009. We also visited the EYN IDP camp of 8,000 displaced persons located nearby on an old church compound.
With a grant of $2,500, the Church of the Brethren Global Food Initiative (GFI) is supporting a soybean consultation and exchange visit between Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) and Church Aid Inc. in Liberia. Another recent grant of $1,000 supports a community gardening initiative of Rockford (Ill.) Community Church of the Brethren.
NEWS
1) Children’s Disaster Services sends team to aid evacuees in northern California
2) Global Food Initiative supports soybean consultation in Africa, community garden in Illinois
3) Nigeria Crisis Response volunteers visit rebuilt church, IDP camp in Maiduguri
4) EYN disaster ministry conducts Hepatitis B screening, aids Bdagu refugees
UPCOMING EVENTS
5) General secretary continues to hold listening sessions
6) Global Mission and Service offers more Nigeria workcamps
PERSONNEL
7) Brethren Benefit Trust announces staffing changes
REFLECTION
8) Values of retirement community cooperative group live on
REMEMBER WHEN
9) Resolution on Justice for Japanese-American World War II Internees: An action of the former General Board of the Church of the Brethren
10) Brethren bits
Following the EYN president’s statement declaring a state of emergency on health, the Disaster Relief Ministry of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) moved to conduct Hepatitis B screening starting with staff and students of Kulp Bible College in Kwarhi.