Spring 2014

A Newsletter by and for Church of the Brethren Young Adults

Photo: Sarah Neher

Elizabeth Gilbert, in her book Eat, Pray, Love shares an old Italian joke with the reader. Itgoes like this, “a poor man…goes to church every day and prays before the statue of agreat saint, begging, ‘Dear saint-please, please, please...give me the grace to win the lot-tery.’ This lament goes on for months. Finally the exasperated statue comes to life, looksdown at the begging man and says in weary disgust, ‘My son-please, please, please...buy aticket.’”

I’ve always known that God has a plan he wants me to fulfill and I’ve begged for him toshow me what it is. In the last year, however, I’ve learned that I can’t just sit on my handsand wait for it to happen to me. I have to do a little leg work.

Six months ago I had no idea what was coming next for me after BVS. I was worrying andwhining about it but I wasn’t doing much to help the situation. I realized one day that I wasjust waiting for someone to tell me what to do. I decided to keep praying, but to stop wait-ing and do a little work to move towards God’s next steps for me.

From the moment I stumbled across the job advertisement for Director of Young Adult Min-istries at Palmyra Church of the Brethren, it was as if I had found my missing piece. I didn’tknow such a position could exist. I had enjoyed my time working with youth, but I hadslowly started to realize that I had inherited my father’s passion for working with college-aged students and older. (But don’t tell him I said that.)

When I walked into the interview, I felt as if I was coming home. The people sitting aroundme didn’t feel like interviewers, they felt like family. I prayed hard that I wouldn’t mess itup. Then, as I accepted the job, I realized this was what I had been waiting for, where I wasmeant to be. But I never would have found it if I would have just kept waiting for it to cometo me.

God brought me home. I wasn’t in exile like those he talks about in Jeremiah 29:11-14, buthe brought me back just the same. He has plans for me and they’re not over, but he knowshow important home is. God’s really good at helping all of us find our way back home justwhen we need it most.

Rachel Witkovsky // PennsylvaniaWith the ending of her two year term in Brethren Volunteer Service, Rachel’sjourney has led her to Palmyra Church of the Brethren where she is now Di-rector of Young Adult Ministries. Describing herself as happy, contemplativeand a nurturer, Rachel’s favorite quote has helped to prepare her to workwith those who are continuing to grow in their faith journeys. “Faith is be-lieving that one of two things will happen…that there will be somethingsolid for you to stand on–or that you will be taught to fly.” Leigh Standle

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Hello, and welcome to a story of people thirsty for Christ because of the humblework of the Brethren. All thanks to the quick thinking of a brother in Christ who drewwater from the Rock into the hearts of homeowners around the country. As my yearof BVS begins, I am certain what ministries can be found through the work ofBrethren Disaster Ministries (BDM).

Bill Gay, president of the American Recycling Foundation and a village gardener inAlaska, shared a story about his experience with a homeowner while serving at aBDM site. This homeowner nervously asked when the ‘presentation’ of the Bible willbe. Gay paused, and responded, "We will talk to you about anything you want. Wewill even stay after the workday and talk, but we are not here to push the Bible onyou." After some thought the homeowner came to Gay and began to ask about Chris-tianity and Brethren heritage. A day like this makes volunteering that much more ful-filling. To bring words of Christian love into a house is an important step in building ahome.

A pastor from the Southern Ohio district told me that we can lead a horse to waterbut cannot make it drink. However, he says, we can plant salt in its seed. This fits inquite well with BDM’s mission. We cannot make a non-Christian drink but we canmake them thirsty for the love of Jesus by living and breathing God’s word.

Every time BDM builds a house, the homeowner receives so much more. They receivesmiles from hundreds of volunteers throughout the building process. They receivehope for tomorrow. They receive God's grace and accept it into their hearts. They re-ceive countless hours of Christian fellowship ringing joyfully in every room. Most im-portantly, they receive a house transformed into a home through Christian acts ofservice.

Micheal Himlie // MinnesotaHello fellow young adults! My name is Michael Himlie. Harmony, Minnesotais where I call home and McPherson College is where I am majoring in reli-gion and philosophy, with the interest of peace studies and youth and out-door ministry. I am currently serving a year with BVS and I enjoy running,ultimate, and spontaneous adventures!

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We've all heard the phrase "Home is where the heart is." We seeit on well-worn welcome mats or framed on Grandma's livingroom wall. It's a beautiful statement, but what if we replaced"the heart" with "God?" Since God is in our hearts, isn't homewhere God is, too?

“Home is a place where I find myselfserving with an easy heart; like here,

at a Heifer site in Arkansas.”

"I feel at home at the ElizabethtownChurch of the Brethren. We get to dofun things together like run for peace!"

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"I was only in Uganda for three weeks in2009, but I will always feel like I have ahome there. The faces of those childrenare imprinted on my heart. It was likestaring into the eyes of God over andover again."

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"As members of Youth Peace TravelTeam last summer, we weren't at

home, but we made every place wetraveled a home with our friendship

and God's presence."

"One of the places I feel most at home isCamp Swatara in Bethel, Pennsylvania.This is a view from the camp's RockPile."

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For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not

to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come

and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek

me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you

back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have

banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I

carried you into exile.”

-Jeremiah 29: 11-14

Whether you've been there ten times, or once, you know just how specialthe Young Adult Conference (YAC) experience is! You can remember the com-

pelling speakers, the exhilarating outdoor activities, the moving worship experi-ences and the bonding friendships. For those of you who haven't experienced

YAC yet, doesn't that sound exciting?!?!

Well, now is your chance to register! Registration is officially open on theChurch of the Brethren website, brethren.org. Don't hesitate to register! Here is

a sneak peak of YAC 2014 to get you excited!

Young Adult Conference 2014 :

We hope to see you all atYAC 2014!

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Staff for Young Adult MinistryBecky Ullom Naugle

●bullomnaugle@brethren.org

●800-323-8039 ext. 385

●Young Adult Ministry

Church of the Brethren 1451 Dundee Ave

Elgin, IL 60120

Bridge is a publication of the Young Adult Ministry office of the Church of theBrethren. Bridge wishes to include on its mailinglist anyone who would like to receive a copy.Send your name and address (regular or e-mail)to the address above; there is no subscriptionfee. Please inform us of any change in address orif you no longer want to receive Bridge.

Contributions are welcome!

From L to R: Joshua Bashore-Steury, Becky Naugle, Ashley Haldeman, HeatherHouff Landram, Laura Whitman, Katie Cummings, and Jess Hoffert.

Are you interested in receiving updates about young adult

programming?Sign up by going to

www.brethren.org/youngadult

Interested in joining the Young Adult Steering

Committee?

2013-2014

The Young Adult Ministry Office isnow accepting applications for threenew members for the Young AdultSteering Committee. You can down-load an application here:http://www.brethren.org/yya/re-sources.html or fill out the attachedform at the end of Bridge and returnto it to the Young Adult Ministry Office.

Join the conversation onFacebook!

Each week members of the Young AdultSteering Committee post a question to the“Young Adults of the Church of theBrethren” Facebook Page. Join the conver-sation and suggest your own questions!

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