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Friends United Meeting |
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December 2001
News from Friends United Meeting
FUM General Board Retreat and Meeting
The FUM General Board met October 19-21 at Friends Central Offices in Richmond, Indiana. Gretchen Castle and Caroline Packard led a retreat at Norwich Lodge on staff/board relationships. As board members shared mandates they brought from their yearly meetings, others listened with open understanding and found places of unity.
Clerk Stan Bauer presided at the General Board Meetings as several items of business were discussed and approved.
The Executive Committee brought a recommendation, which was approved by the General Board, to extend the call of Retha McCutchen as General Secretary through the next Triennium, which ends in 2005. McCutchen accepted the call.
Anne Thomas, Assistant Presiding Clerk, submitted her resignation because family concerns have created the need to limit her traveling. It was with regret that her resignation was accepted. The Nominating Committee brought the names of Ann Davidson as Presiding Clerk and Darlene Pittman as Clerk of Program Coordination and Priorities Committee. They were approved by the General Board.
Planning for the July 2002 Triennial in Kenya continued. Letters of greeting from each Yearly Meeting sending representatives are to be written ahead of time and presented in the opening session. The Centennial of FUM (previously Five Years Meeting) and the coming of Friends to Kenya will be celebrated on Sunday. Ideas for songs to be included in a triennial songbook will be accepted until April 1.
The 2002 budget submitted by the Finance Committee was approved as well as reports from FUM departments—Quaker Life, Friends United Press, North American Ministries, World Missions and Quaker Hill Bookstore.
Discussion of world affairs led a small group to meet for prayer and brainstorming ideas. After discussion, the General Board expressed a concern for those in Ramallah who live with terrorism every day. A collection was taken for the Ramallah Candle Project and communication was to be sent expressing our solidarity with them as one small step of hope.
Join the 2002 Chain of Prayer
Each year hundreds of meetings support one another and undergird the work of Friends United Meeting through the Chain of Prayer. The theme for the 2002 Chain of Prayer was suggested by Kenyan Friends for use at the Triennial: "So now finish the workÉ" (2 Corinthians 8:5-15). Because the 2002 Chain of Prayer is running longer than usual to encompass the Triennial itself, dates can be selected from January 1 through July 10. Each FUM Monthly Meeting is encouraged to select a date and cover the ministries of FUM, plus local concerns, with a cloud of prayer. Kenyan Friends are also contributing to the resource packet. Send your selected date for participation to FUM, 101 Quaker Hill Drive, Richmond, IN 47374-1980 or phone (765) 962-7573. You can also register online at www.fum.org, in the North American Ministries section.
Excerpts from FUM General Board Minute of Appreciation for Anne Thomas
The General Board, in session on October 14, 2001, expresses its sincere regret in the resignation of our dear friend, Anne Thomas, as Assistant Presiding Clerk of Friends United Meeting.
Anne Thomas is deeply committed to the work and ministry of FUM. We see the Spirit of the Lord in her. Anne helps us see the importance of precise and careful understanding of the context of actions under consideration. She regrets dangling details. Anne is faithful in helping us to be sensitive to the varieties of Friends among our FUM family, while remaining faithful to the Christian Quaker call under God to FUM. She has served frequently among us as Bible teacher and as an insightful writer for Quaker Life. Anne has also generously and, sometimes unintentionally, brought to us her British/Canadian sense of humor. In laughter as well as in tears, Anne has given of herself.
The Great Accomplisher
By Stephen Whyte, former student at Belize Friends Boys School
In the past as well as in modern society, education has always played a key role in the development of human beings. This is so because education is the process by which people acquire knowledge, skill, habits and values. I received my formal primary education at Sister Clara Muhammad School. Unfortunately, I was not successful in the primary school examination (BNSE). In a sense this failure depressed me, but it also motivated me to attend Friends Boys School. While at Friends Boys School I learned how to become a useful member of society and to live a more satisfying life. The school helped me acquire the skills I needed for such everyday activities as reading a magazine and managing my money. This educational opportunity increased my knowledge and understanding of the world. I also acquired skills in sports, baking and woodworking. My education at Friends Boys School also helped me to accept change. This lesson is increasingly important because social changes today take place with increasing speed and affect the lives of more and more people. My education at Friends Boys School helped me to understand those changes and provided me with the skills necessary to adjust to them.
Teachers at Friends Boys School create conditions that encourage and stimulate learning. They help students develop their own initiative and ability to think critically, seek important knowledge and analyze possible solutions to real problems. Most of all they are loving, caring people who show concern for the well-being of their students. Unfortunately, some of the boys have little interest in learning; they are more interested in proving their masculinity. Others, however, are focused on becoming better members of society by learning trades and planning for future careers. Regardless of students' motivations, the teachers' objectives are to help students develop mechanical skills, increase their intellectual skills and develop their individual moral and spiritual values as well as healthy attitudes and emotions. I believe those efforts are successful.
After graduating from Friends Boys School, I received my secondary education at Anglican Cathedral College. During my years at ACC, I used, depended upon and further developed the skills that had been instilled at Friends Boys School. After graduating from ACC, I was one of the privileged few chosen to attend St. John's Junior College where I am presently in my first year. Even though it has been several years since I graduated from Friends Boys School, the values and morals which I acquired from the teachers there still play a great role in guiding my actions and decisions.
Friends Boys School gave me a foundation. It provided me with support and motivation, and I believe it still functions in the same way for many youth. Last year less than 50% of Belizean children passed the PSE (high school entrance exam). Friends Boys School offered many of these young men a second chance to become productive citizens. Even though patterns of teaching may change, the teachers still provide the students with the necessary elements to become successful and strong forces within our society.
The Ponce Brothers
The Ponce Brothers Abraham and Francisco Ponce are two of six children who lived with their single parent mother in Honduras. Abraham had finished grade 7, and Francisco grade 8, when in 1998 they moved to Belize in search of a better life. Neither boy spoke English, so they were unable to enter high school in this new land. That is when a pastor brought them to Belize Friends Boys School. Mr. Leal, a teacher at BFBS who spoke Spanish fluently, felt he could help. Under Mr. Leal's tutelage Francisco worked very hard and became very successful. In May 1999, Mike Cain, Director and Principal of BFBS, approached the boys' mother about Francisco attending high school. Through her tears she expressed her excitement at the prospect of her dream being fulfilled. Unfortunately, she was unable to afford the cost of tuition and books. But the BFBS school board pulled together the resources and granted their first scholarship to Francisco, who was enrolled in Anglican Cathedral College with the understanding that he would maintain at least a C+ grade average. At the end of his first year, Francisco was first in his division.
In the fall of 2000, the Ponce brothers' mother moved 60 miles inland to work in Belmopan, the capital city of Belize. By this time the schools there had no room left for new students. After exhausting all other possibilities, it was decided that Abraham and Francisco would live with Mike and Kay Cain (FUM field staff) and attend school in Belize City. This arrangement was an adjustment for everyone involved. The boys, who preferred rice and beans, had to adjust to American-style cooking. They even became spoiled with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in their lunches. The Cains, who had been empty-nesters for some time, had to adjust to having teenage boys in their home once again. Abraham and Francisco have been well-trained by their mother, and every evening they washed their school uniforms and every morning they carefully ironed them. Meeting the challenge, Abraham earned a class ranking of 4 out of 34 and Francisco 2 out of 23. Next year the boys and their mother hope to be reunited in a place of their own, back in Belize City.
This story written by John Myers from notes submitted by Mike Cain. Mike and Kay Cain serve as Friends United Meeting field staff to administer the Belize Friends Boys School. Future dreams of Belize Friends Boys School include a full high school with vocational training components and planting a Friends church in Belize City.
Copyright (c) 2001 Friends United Meeting
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