Newsline for December 14, 2011

This Newsline features the following stories: 1) Brethren statement presented at meeting on torture. 2) Mission and Ministry Board member is part of ecumenical visit to Cuba. 3) National Youth Cabinet chooses theme for the year. 4) Bethany Seminary receives grant for faculty study. 5) On Earth Peace announces staff changes. 6) New Brethren staff are placed in South Sudan. 7) Reflections on Cuba, December 2011. 8) Wonder stick: An interview with Grace Mishler. 9) An Advent letter from the Annual Conference officers. 10) Brethren bits: Job openings, Annual Conference delegate registration, college news, and more.

Mission and Ministry Board Member Is Part of Ecumenical Visit to Cuba

A meeting of US church leaders with leaders of the Council of Churches of Cuba concluded in Havana on Dec. 2 with a joint declaration celebrating signs of greater unity between US and Cuban churches. Sixteen representatives of National Council of Churches (NCC) member communions including the Church of the Brethren were in Cuba from Nov. 28-Dec. 2 meeting with Cuban church and political leaders, including President Raúl Castro. Mission and Ministry Board member Becky Ball-Miller was the Brethren member on the delegation.

National Youth Cabinet Chooses Theme for the Year

“Bridging the Gap” (Romans 15:5-7) has been chosen as the youth ministry theme for 2012 by the Church of the Brethren’s National Youth Cabinet, which held a weekend meeting at the General Offices in Elgin, Ill., on Dec. 2-4. “Bridging the Gap” also will be the theme for National Youth Sunday on May 6, 2012.

New Brethren Staff Are Placed in South Sudan

Athanasus Ungang and Jillian Foerster have begun work in South Sudan on behalf of the Church of the Brethren. Both have been placed with ecumenical partners, with sponsorship from the denomination’s Global Mission and Service program.

Brethren Statement Presented at Meeting on Torture

Church of the Brethren general secretary Stan Noffsinger was one of several officials of faith-based groups in a meeting with members of the Obama administration to discuss the issue of torture. The meeting yesterday, Dec. 13, in Washington, D.C., followed up on a letter to the administration from the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) urging that the US sign and ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture.

Blevins Resigns as Advocacy Officer, Ecumenical Peace Coordinator

News bits range from a job opening for a district executive and writers sought for the Gather ’Round curriculum, to an opening date for online registration of delegates to the 2012 Annual Conference and news from the Brethren-related colleges.

Wonder Stick: An Interview with Grace Mishler

This interview with Grace Mishler, Brethren member serving in Vietnam with support from the denomination’s Global Mission and Service office, is by Vietnamese journalist Löu Vaên Ñaït. It originally appeared Nov. 15, 2011, in English in the “Vietnam News Outlook” social section. The visually impaired struggle to be more independent by using a white cane that allows them to better integrate into society. “With my cane, I feel more independent in Vieät Nam. It’s my best friend here,” says American Grace Mishler, who works as a consultant at the HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Hoslers Conclude Their Service in Nigeria, Report on Peace Work

Church of the Brethren mission workers Nathan and Jennifer Hosler are concluding their service in Nigeria and returning to the United States this week. Following is an excerpt from their final newsletter reporting on their work at Kulp Bible College of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN–the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria).

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