Reaching out
|Global
Connections|Our Denomination |Service Work|Evangelism|
|Peace|Heifer Project|SERRV|Church
World Service|
|Overseas Volunteers from
our Congregation|
Our vision of the church extends beyond the boundaries of our community. We have been blessed with persons from around the world who have come our way, made an impact on our lives, and continued on. Some of our members have traveled widely, also, and connect us to a church which extends beyond the boundaries of this country. The summer of 1997, we welcomed a seminarian from Kenya to serve as a summer pastor while our own took some time off for a sabbatical.
Our understanding of evangelism (sharing the good news of Jesus Christ) is that words and deeds go together. Thus, we seek to show good news as we speak it. Because we tend to be a quiet people, a growth area for the Brethren (including this congregation) is in the "telling" of good news. Sometimes we fail to say why we do what we do. It's all because we have experienced the love of God in Jesus Christ that we dare to reach out and do what we do in service "for the glory of God and our neighbors good" (to borrow the vision statement of one of our earliest Brethren, Alexander Mack).
The New Life Center is a resource to help congregations grow in the area of "telling" good news as we act it out. This ministry began as an official program of the Church of the Brethren, but has since spun off on its own, with the blessing of the Brethren, as an interdenominational effort. A recent workshop of "Hospitality" was attended by several of our members who hope to put what we learned into practice.
As one of the "historic peace churches" (along with the Mennonites and Quakers), we seek to make that belief contemporary rather than just "historic." For a good beginning discussion, check out "Brethren Perspectives on Peace and War". Our denomination helps us to keep this concern central to our identity, through the Office of Peace and Witness. The Church of the Brethren maintains a Washington Office to keep members informed of pending legislation and to provide a witness to our values.
A related organization among the Brethren is the On Earth Peace Assembly (OEPA), currently operating out of the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, MD. OEPA operates academies around the denomination for youth and adults to explore the peace position in greater depth. Peace Teams are sent to summer camps to help train young people in the nitty gritty of peacemaking. Our pastor will be helping lead an academy in 1998.
The National Inter-religious Service Board for Conscientious Objectors (NISBCO) was established long ago to provide alternatives for young people in time of war. Through NISBCO, we make sure that when there is a draft, our people have the option to serve in ways other than the taking of life... In recent years Brethren and others have been working at ways of extending our belief in peace into other areas - making peace rather than just refraining from war. Mediation is a growing movement in a country besieged by lawsuits.
Dan West, a Brethren peacemaker from the Midwest, had a dream. Seeing the devastation of the Spanish Civil War, he wondered what would happen if his Brethren farmer friends sent a heifer overseas to help families rebuild after that war and the one it led to, World War II. Well, one thing led to another, and Heifer Project International (HPI) was born. Learn more about this ministry, which now is much broader than the Brethren, by checking out its website, or look here for more on the HPI story. Every year we take up a special offering for HPI, often using specially made devotional calendars and filling plastic arks (recalling the animals in the story of Noah) with coins, thus involving our children and the child in all of us in this worthy effort.
Another similar effort is Trees for Life, an interdenominational program begun by Brethren. Donations go toward sending seedlings of various appropriate trees overseas to be planted in third-world areas where the land has been deforested. With such ground cover, the environment suffers - the fields erode and crops are destroyed, the people also no longer have the wood they need for heating, cooking, crafts, etc. While our congregation does not at present participate in this program, it is a valid ministry.
Operating out of the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, MD, SERRV markets items made by artists in third-world countries, with most of the profit going back to the artist and not lost in between here and there. Standing for "Sales Exchange for Refugee Rehabilitation Vocation," SERRV has its main store at New Windsor, MD (500 Main St., 410/635-8711). In this program, congregations (not limited to Brethren) often order and sell these self-help crafts as part of a periodic bazaar. Our church has not held such a bazaar recently. However, many of our people regularly volunteer at New Windsor, sorting and packing items from overseas for distribution. For more information check out the SERRV web site.
On a regular basis, we channel funds and materials overseas through our denomination's participation with Church World Service (CWS), the fund raising arm of which is called CROP. CWS is the service arm of the National Council of Churches of Christ. Brethren were heavily involved in the beginnings of CWS/CROP, and our interest in service work has been and continues to be our major contribution to the wider ecumenical movement.
Like many congregations we send relief materials (health kits, blankets, SOS packets, etc) to needy people around the world through CWS. These are a lot of fun to pull together. Sometimes we collate them during the Sunday School hour as part of a special "faith in action" class. Lately we have had an ongoing table with the necessary items ready to take home, collate there, and return. We’ve been blessed with a very active coordinator of this ministry who keeps us "on the ball."
We’ve also enjoyed walking with other Christians in our community in a CROP Walk, usually held on a Sunday afternoon toward the end of October. The 7 1/2 mile walk on the North Central Railroad Trail is good for the body, the soul (the autumn foliage is often at its peak along the way), community spirit, and the proceeds help to alleviate hunger locally and worldwide.
In the past decade we’ve had several members and friends working overseas in a volunteer capacity - long and short term. In January of 1999, Israel Rosas served as translator (and hard worker) for four weeks in the Dominican Republic. Check out his travelogue to catch a glimpse of this ministry. A sister-church relationship has been established with the San Juan congregation there, with us helping to fund supplies for remodeling of their facility. Dottie Krause went to Honduras to help rebuild in the aftermath of hurricane Mitchell. Along the way, she received much more than she gave, common experience. You might be interested in some of her reflections. Dave and Ann Fouts have twice journeyed to Nicaraugua to provide healthcare in an area raked by both war and natural disaster. In June of 2000, they are also heading to a Brethren work camp (check out last year's website) in Nigeria, revisiting a country in which they had served in younger years. Others have expressed interest and may become involved in workcamps in the future. These are open to all.
Current members Steve and Sharon Grubb served for 3 years (1992 - 95) in Jamaica, he at a small Bible college, she as a women’s health worker. We are saying farewell to them in June 2000, as they move to Maine with their three young children. Another former member, Karin Krisetya, went to Jamaica also along with her husband. Her parents, Jonathan and Mary Kay Larson, were MCC missionaries in Botswana for many years. We enjoyed their involvement with us when they were on furlough and living in Baltimore. Rebecca Sack grew up in this congregation and served in Botswana herself for 3 years (1995-98). She is currently a student at Regent College/Seminary in Vancouver (Canada), preparing for a life of foreign mission work. Her parents, David & Jean Sack, are now in Dhaka, Bangladesh where he is heading up a research hospital. We hope to welcome them home some day.
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