BRETHREN VALUES IN ACTION

DEBRAL. ElSENBISE

Brethren Volunteer Service began as a movement and has become an established

organization within the institution of the Church of the Brethren. As with all organiza-
tions, BVS looks to its past, to the valuesfromwhich it was born, to gauge its program
integrity. Our task is to be faithful to these values in today's context; consistency and
relevance are of equal importance.1
The values which BVS embodies have characterized Brethren as a people throughout
our history. These values include our emphasis on living simply, the importance of
community, pacifism, and the Brethren understanding of no force in religion. These are
the values that are the identifiable cornerstone of Brethren Volunteer Service.

Simple Living
Brethren are fond of quoting founder Alexander Mack, who insisted that followers
"count the cost" of commitment to Christ. BVSers who spend a year or two in service
are counseled to consider seriously the choice to make this commitment. One article they
receive just prior to orientation warns them that volunteers are often "ruined for life":
their term of service sensitizes them to poverty, despair, and hope, which few have
experienced so profoundly before. Lives are changed through BVS.
Just to enter BVS you must count the cost. Are you willing to live in identification
with the poor (receiving only room, board, and $45.00 per month)? Are you willing to
go where you are needed, be that inner-city Washington, D.C., or rural Washington state?
Are you willing to leam from the experience of the uneducated, rather than the "facts" of
the experts? Are you willing to leave comfortable answers behind to live out the
perplexing paradoxical questions? Are you willing to forsake social values of status,
wealth, knowledge, renown, for uncertain gain? Are you willing to serve?
Brethren Volunteer Service is countercultural. The quiet contention underlying our
work is that the Kingdom of God is to be found amongst "the least of these" (Matthew
25:40), and that God's call to humankind is an invitation to a life of grace and compassion.
We are called to live out the Golden Rule, to follow the example of the Good Samaritan.
We are called to conform to the standards God has set for us, not those our world reveres.

Community
Upon entering the three-week orientation which precedes one's term of service,
volunteers always comment on the food allowance. During orientation this allowance is
set at $2.25-$2.75 per person per day. Thisfrugalamount helps reinforce our emphasis

284 \folume XXXVI, Fall 1991

on simple living and teaches good stewardship of few resources. It also encourages
identification with the poor who are on fixed incomes, food-stamps, welfare.
Within the orientation, such a budget encourages cooperation, sharing resources and
ideas to make a little go a long way. Small groups are put in charge of each meal. They
must plan the menu, shop for the food within the budget, prepare, serve, and clean up
afterward. They learn how to do more with less.
One of the objectives of orientation is for the volunteers to form a support community
for themselves. Through participating in many small and large group activities, the
volunteers are encouraged to teach one anotherfromtheir own experiences and to learn
from others present. Community building is not an exercise in conformity to particular
norms; it is rather the dynamic interaction of diverse points of view. During their three
weeks together, an orientation unit becomes a community of individuals wherein persons
may be honest with one another about their thoughts, beliefs, personal struggles, hopes,
and dreams.
This community grows out of the cross-cultural experience of orientation. Individu-
als bring their own cultures to the orientation. These cultures are shaped by ethnic
background, nationality, education, religious upbringing, family composition, regional
identification, personality. These we unearth and discuss during orientation. We argue
about life-style issues, theology, ethics, politics, and what we are going to have for dinner.
Volunteers are encouraged to voice their opinions, their preferences, their prejudices so
that each person might be accepted as an individual member of our common human
family.
Orientation as a training period requires a diverse group. Without plurality, cross-
cultural learning could not take place. Between 10 and 30 persons between the ages of
18 and 70 from various denominational, national, regional, educational and ethnic
backgrounds come to live and work and thrive together for a month. This is a microcosm
of the community dynamics the volunteers encounter once they are placed on their service
projects, which, in turn, is a microcosm of our world. If we can form a respect-filled,
caring community with such a diverse group in three weeks, it can give us all a great deal
of hope for crossing barriers of gender, class, race, and culture to build a world of peace.

Pacifism
Conflict is an unavoidable element of community life. Conflict is present in families,
civic forums, work places, churches. It is rarely ever addressed in any arena, though as
Christians we are counseled by the Bible concerning conflict situations and conflict
resolution.
Matthew 18:15-17 provides us with a clear outline for handling interpersonal
conflicts. This is the model employed during orientation and one's term of service. Before
staff intervention takes place, the volunteer must have spoken to the other party involved,
and attempted to work out a mutually agreed upon solution. Mediation is the next step,
always maintaining the importance of the integrity of the relationship between all persons
involved.
For many whose lives have been characterized by avoidance and denial of conflicts,
this may be their introduction to responsibly facing such situations and working through
them to a resolution. Peacemaking needs to be modeled and implemented within personal

Brethren Life and Thought 285

relationships. We cannot ask nations to make peace if we have no concept of how to do
so in our own lives. Stimulating an understanding that "the personal is political," and that
local action needs to be tied to an awareness of global realities, is another objective of
orientation. Volunteers have the opportunity to realize these connections as they corre-
spond with one another around the world through two newsletters.
Because the Church of the Brethren is known as one of the historic peace churches,
and because BVS is respected for its pacifist emphasis, many international peace
organizations request BVSers. Currently, 36 organizations are listed in the "BVS Project
Booklet" under the category of "peace." These include offices of Witness for Peace, the
Fellowship of Reconciliation, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, On Earth Peace,
regional peace networks, and local ministries of reconciliation.
While other volunteer organizations have focussed on development work around the
world, BVS has historically emphasized the work of reconciliation. During the Vietnam
war, volunteers were providing a peaceful presence in villages struggling to survive.
Today, BVSers provide the same kind of accompaniment to the people of El Salvador
and Nicaragua. Volunteers are also working with organizations seeking peaceful recon-
ciliation between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, and between Palestinians
and Jews in Israel.
Though the United States does not at present have mandatory conscription, Germany
has compulsive requirements for youth to enter the military. German conscientious
objectors may complete their alternative service in this country through EIRENE (a
service organization founded in Germany after World War II by IFOR and the Historic
Peace Churches) under the auspices of BVS. Their witness to the youth of this nation
obviates the choice that must be considered if our country should go to war.

No Force in Religion
Like Brethren congregations, BVS has an open-door policy. All are welcome who
are willing to serve and to examine the Christian faith. Brethren Volunteer Service, like
the church which supports it, is staunchly non-creedal. Volunteers are, therefore, not
required to sign a dictated statement of faith, or to formulate a profession of faith
according to a particular creed. During the application process, volunteers are asked to
write a statement of their personal faith in their own words. Their references are asked to
evaluate their spiritual maturity and ability to relate to those whose beliefs differ from
their own.
BVS, like any congregation, has volunteers with different definitions of faith, at
various levels of spiritual maturity. Mother Teresa has said that "the fruit of silence is
prayer; the fruit of prayer is love; thefruitof love is service." The converse is also true:
service done in a spirit of mutuality leads to compassion for others. Compassion for our
brothers and sisters leads us to God, without whom our service would be impossible. As
James tells us, "But someone will say, 'You have faith and I have works.* Show me your
faith apartfromyour works, and I by my works will show you my faith" (James 2:18).
During orientation, volunteers explore the relationship between prayer, faith, and
service, through daily volunteer-led devotions, weekly Bible studies, worship, prayer,
singing, and the study of the history and theology of the church. They are encouraged to

286 Volume XXXVI, Fall 1991

share their understanding of their faith with others. They are challenged by each other's
convictions. Through sudi dialogue comes the opportunity for spiritual growth.
The motto of Brethren Volunteer Service is "sharing God's love through acts of
service." Volunteers witness to God's love through living a life of peacemaking and
simplicity, through understanding themselves as members of a global community,
through serving others. Brethren values thus influence many outside of the church, calling
volunteers and the communities they serve to move from conformity to this world to
transformation by the renewal of minds and hearts and lives (Romans 12:2).

NOTES
1. The current goals of Brethren Volunteer Service are:
to advocate justice (Amos 5:24; Micah 6:8)
to make peace (Psalm 34:14; Matthew 5:9)
to serve basic human needs (1 John 3:17; Matthew 25:40)
to maintain the integrity of creation (Psalm 24:1; John 1:3).

Orientation is designed to prepare and strengthen volunteers for a life of service in BVS and beyond.
The objectives of orientation are to encourage individuals:
to share and examine personal beliefs and values with the intent of growing in their understandings
of self, others, and God
to share in responsibilities for group life while learning what helps and hinders satisfy ing group living
to struggle with the prevalent spiritual and social issues of our day and examine Christian ethical
responses to current social, political, and economic issues
to learn ways to live simply and responsibly with the world's limited resources
to become more aware of people and situations throughout the world, including responsibilities of
membership in the global family
to explore ways to enable personal and societal change which embody mutuality and nonviolence
to consider project possibilities with the support of the orientation community and finalize project
assignments through interviews with the BVS staff
to develop a BVS community of support and learn ways to develop local support for themselves
while on their project.
Note the concord between the current statement of goals and the goals stated in the BVS Handbook of
twenty years ago:
to confront the major social and spiritual issues of our day
to meet human need
to further social justice
to promote peace.
2. Philip Harn den, 'Volunteers are 'ruined for life,"'Joint Strategy and Action Committee GRAPEVINE
19, #1 (June 1987).

Brethren Life and Thought 287

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