Retire-to Volunteering

034 Sam Bowman—Brethren Volunteer Service Brethren Volunteer Service—For Those Wanting a Life Adventure Brethren Volunteer Service places volunteers in a six-month, one-, or two-year assignment in the United States and around the world, focusing on peace, justice, service to those in need, and care for creation. This Church of the Brethren ministry, which has been active since 1948, is open to all persons regardless of their faith tradition and even to those who claim no religious tradition. The program served as a model for the development of the Peace Corps. Older adults are especially welcome. Sam Bowman, who has served in two very different assignments, values especially the three-week orientation that helps volunteers discern where their passion, call, skills, and desire to grow fit with the “hundred” opportunities that the Brethren Volunteer Service coordinates. Sam matched his own farm background and interest in the outdoors with an assignment to a camping program for people with disabilities. In a sec