'08 Grad Lands in Cape Verde with Peace Corps

ANN ARBOR, MI –Lutheran Campus at the University of Michigan is pleased to announce that 2008 graduate Andrew Bracken will spend the next 27 months working in Community Development and Environmental Education as a Peace Corps Volunteer stationed in Cape Verde, off the coast of West Africa.

A native of East Lansing, Michigan, Andrew earned a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration with a minor in the Program in the Environment from the University of Michigan. While in college, he joined Lord of Light Lutheran Church where he was active in Lutheran Campus Ministry, served as manager of the men's track team and Co-Chaired Outreach and Education for Michigan Students Advocating Recycling (MSTAR).

The desire to serve comes naturally to Andrew. “My parents encouraged volunteer work,” he says, “practicing what they preached by giving their time and talent to East Lansing Public Schools and to my home congregation, University Lutheran Church. When I got to Michigan I did some volunteer work and in 2006 I spent an incredible month in Ghana with the University of Michigan’s Intercultural Experience for Undergraduates (GIEU).

“Our group of 12 students developed and implemented plastics recycling programs in Accra and Senya-Beraku. I consider it the best four weeks of my life, and the main reason I chose Peace Corps over the other options.”
When people ask why he’s chosen to go abroad when there is so much need in the U.S., Andrew responds, “Going to Ghana opened my eyes to the new realities. Seeing crippling poverty in person - not on TV or in pictures - hammers it home. I remember walking down an alley along a canal. Within 100 meters we saw people drinking the water, washing clothes in it, and defecating in it.

“I do not want to marginalize the problems faced by millions in the US, or exaggerate living conditions in the developing world, but I believe I can do the greatest good with my education overseas. In Power Politics Arundhati Roy put it aptly: "Once you've seen it, you can't unsee it."The following summer, Bracken served as an intern with Nike, which he describes as “an incredible place to work.” And yet, found the corporate world unfulfilling; that experience further convinced him that, “If I did not feel happy there, no traditional job could satisfy me.”

You can keep up with Andrew's work in Cape Verde by logging onto his blog: Sunburned in Cape Verde (http://abrack6.blogspot.com/)

'08 Graduate Headed for Jerusalem

ANN ARBOR, MI –Lutheran Campus at the University of Michigan is pleased to announce that 2008 graduate Chelsea Mathis will be serving in Jerusalem with ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission from August, 2008 through July, 2009.

A native of Monroe, Michigan, Chelsea grew up at St. John Lutheran Church, Dundee and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in General Biology with a Music Minor from the University of Michigan. While in college, she was active in Lutheran Campus Ministry, serving for two years as a Peer Minister and regularly sharing her musical gifts in Sunday worship and at various liturgies of the Southeast Michigan Synod.

“I first felt God’s call in my life while on mission trips to Washington D.C. and Toronto with my high school youth group,” says Chelsea. “In 2005, I traveled to the Holy Land with the first youth delegation from the Southeast Michigan Synod. Walking in my Palestinian friends' shoes through checkpoints and amidst guns, tanks, and barriers, I was touched by their enduring commitment to hope and peace.

“Upon returning to the States, my life was changed from one of egocentrism and naiveté to one of activism that has driven me to lead workshops about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, enroll in classes, deliver sermons and attend and facilitate lectures, movie screenings and discussions. I attended the 2007 Churches for Middle East Peace Advocacy Days where I spoke with my representatives and their aides about this church’s commitment to peace and a shared two-state solution. I look forward to serving my brothers and sisters in Christ while living their daily challenges and celebrations.”

While at Michigan, Chelsea was active throughout the community, volunteering at Safehouse Center, a shelter for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, playing bassoon in the Ypsilanti Community Band and working at the University of Michigan Medical Center’s Cancer Genetics Clinic. In her free time, she enjoys playing the bassoon, traveling, and cooking.

Through an intensive application and rigorous interview process, Young Adults in Global Mission screens applicants and assigns them to service locations that match their gifts and passions with local needs. For the first time in its ten year history, volunteers with Young Adults in Global Mission will be serving in Jerusalem and the West Bank. Chelsea and five other young adults will be working with the churches, schools, and programs of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) under the guidance of Bishop Munib Younan, Country Coordinator Martin Shoffner and the directors of ELCJHL programs in Palestine.

Chelsea's adventures in Israel-Palestine can be followed through her blog: Life in Jerusalem: A Young Adult in Global Mission (http://sites.google.com/site/chelseamathis/).