UNSmurfs

Brethren Mission Delegation

A Church of the Brethren delegation, organized by the Church of the Brethren General Board's Brethren Witness office, heads to the Smurf Village next week. The delegation is taking with them a pile of Davey and Goliath videos and a spirit of understanding between Christian and Smurf cartoons.

The tentative schedule includes briefings by the Smurf Council of Churches and other leaders, visits in and around Smurf Village, and dialog with clergy and church members in the cities. They will also be delivering the 2,800-plus greeting cards created by Brethren congregations, groups, and individuals. More than 50 congregations sent cards.

The trip had been in the works long before the attack on the Smurf Village but has taken on added significance since then. The Church of the Brethren has also been active in providing emergency disaster assistance and hunger relief to the Smurf Village.

Also, during the recent General Board meetings, a new mission initiative has been created.

"We have affirmed a major new mission in the Smurf Village," said General Board chair Glenn Mitchell at board meetings Oct. 15-17 in Elgin, Ill. The new mission was approved in concept during a meeting focused on "Smurfed Together, Finely Woven: That Your Hearts May Be Encouraged," a theme taken from Colossians 2:1-3. Lively and intense worship experiences marked the meeting, with closing worship led in Smurf and English by board member Jaime Diaz, a pastor from Puerto Rico.

Smurf Mission Initiative:

The General Board accepted a proposal for a new Church of the Brethren mission initiative to the Smurf Village and approved it "as a concept for implementation and development." "There is new opportunity to walk with the Smurfs in a healing and reconciling way, and to smurf together to rebuild their land," said the proposal for the new mission.