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Friends United Meeting |
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June 2002
News from Friends United Meeting
FUM Staff Visits Ramallah Friends
By Maxine Nash
Retha McCutchen and I visited the Ramallah Friends Schools from April 26-May 4, 2002. The school had been closed during the 23-day Israeli incursion into Ramallah. A curfew was imposed which severely restricted the movements of people. The first day the curfew was lifted, teachers met and the schools were able to open by the second day due to the dedication and determination of staff and students alike.
The Friends Secondary School (Boys) was not entered by the Israeli's during the incursion; however there was damage to a stone perimeter wall that was dismantled twice for use in making Israeli roadblocks. The Friends Primary School (Girls) was entered and searched on April 16 from 10:00 pm until 2:00 am. Principal Diana Abdel Nour managed to get the keys for the School to a guard during a short lift in the curfew on April 16, which along with the guard's knowledge of Hebrew probably saved the school from major damage as it made it easier for the Israeli's to gain access. The most severe damage was to the door of Colin South's office. Diana noted, "The guard didn't have that key with him, but knew where it was in my office and told the soldiers he would get it for them. They refused his request and bombed the door saying, "We have a guy who has to do his job."
The Friends Meeting House in downtown Ramallah was mostly unharmed excluding the gate, which was blown off.
The teachers and administrative staff of both schools met on April 22 after the curfew was lifted, and students returned to school on April 23. Mahmoud Amra, Administrative Director of the Secondary School noted, "All but ten students returned to school that first day. Those who did not return were mostly from Jerusalem and unable to cross the checkpoint into Ramallah. Student attendance is now mostly normal."
The first day the students returned was spent in allowing students to express themselves regarding their experiences and in helping them return to a relatively normal school routine. For the primary school students, an assembly was held with music and singing, and with some students sharing their stories. The secondary students attended a chapel service in which they were given an open forum to talk and share. The chapel service lasted three hours.
Students on each campus now appear to be back to normal, yet parents tell us of the children's fears. A parent of a first-grade student stated, "My son now wakes up every night with nightmares. We hear him scream, 'I don't want to be killed, I don't want to be killed.'" A mother of a sixteen-year daughter told us, "During the curfew, my daughter would not sleep by herself. She slept between her father and I, holding our hands. Even now, she has asked to move her bedroom from the front of the house to the back because it's safer from the shooting in the street."
The playschool overseen by Violet Zaru at the Amyria Refugee Camp in Ramallah was also able to open the day after the curfew was lifted. Violet and her sister Leila live literally just outside the perimeter of Yassir Arafat's compound, between two streets that lead into the compound. There home has been in a battlefield during this time. Most days there had been some sort of demonstration or trouble, often prompting the Israeli soldiers to use tear gas. Shelling and gunfire in the streets around their house have disturbed most nights. Through all this, Violet and Leila have been determined to stay in their home. Because of this military zone, the curfew was not lifted from their area until May 2. Yet Violet managed to visit the play center. To go to the play center, she had to look outside her house to see if there were any tanks or army jeeps in the vicinity, and if not she would make an attempt to get out past the barricade at the end of their street.
Colin South, administrator of the Ramallah Friends Schools and his wife, Kathy, evacuated prior to the incursion and were subsequently unable to return to Ramallah until May 2. Colin was able to keep in contact with school staff by phone and e-mail while the couple spent the time in England. There they used their time for speaking engagements and spending time with their family while trying to make arrangements to return.
We listened to the stories of many while in Ramallah and were saddened by the stories of insensible terrorism and destruction that we heard. However, we also heard stories of humane treatment by Israeli soldiers who expressed a feeling of helplessness in their situation if they didn't follow orders.
One Palestinian expressed to us, "We (the Israeli's and Palestinians) want peace. It is our governments who do not."
Please help in this struggle by keeping the staff and students of the Ramallah Friends Schools in your prayers. If you would like to assist financially, the school is in need of scholarship funds since many families have been without an income for some time. You can send donations to Friends United Meeting, 101 Quaker Hill Drive, Richmond, IN 47374 designated for RFS/Scholarships.
My Life as a Palestinian
By Nimeh Awwad, 6th grade
I am a Palestinian, born in Canada, and my brother and sisters were born in the United States. When we came to Ramallah, Palestine, I was eight-years-old. I am very happy to be living in Palestine because it is where my father, grandfathers and great-grandfathers were born for hundreds of years. Palestine is a beautiful country, holy to Islam, Christianity and Judaism.
I remember the first time the Israelis bombed Ramallah. We were at school and were so afraid; we thought they were going to bomb the school and us, too. That day we came home early and had to hide in the parking lot with the rest of the neighbors while they dropped missiles all over town. The noise was horrible and terrifying.
When everything was over, we did not go to school for a long time. Imagine not going to school for one whole week—being stuck at home with nothing to do and nowhere to go! Every day and at night we heard shooting around us and hid in the corridor of our apartment. When the Israelis came into Ramallah the second time on March 29, we were not allowed to go to school for 24 days due to the curfew and Israeli siege.
Both times the Israeli army detained ambulances trying to reach sick people and people who were shot and injured. Doctors, ambulance drivers and journalists were all shot at.
I have asthma and I was afraid if I got really sick and needed to get to the hospital, I would never make it time because of the curfew imposed on all of Ramallah. Now I feel in danger wherever I go.
Our people's homes and lives have been destroyed. We wish we could live in peace, safety and dignity just like kids in America, Canada, Europe and everywhere in the world have a right to do.
Holy Spirit Blesses Emerging Leaders
By Ben Richmond
"At the first worship session it was apparent this wasn't going to be just any conference," reported Sue Axtell of West Richmond Friends, Indiana Yearly Meeting. "The Holy Spirit was strongly present and the time together precious, healing and directive for the future... Open worship times were rich with God's presence, word and prophesy."
Friends United Meeting sponsored the first-ever "Emerging Leaders" conference, March 22-24, 2002. The idea was to hold an invitational conference for people suggested by monthly and yearly meeting leadership who were already committed to the Gospel and who are seen as emerging as Quaker leaders. The planners expected many of the participants would be young adults but set no age limits.
In the end, sixteen current and 44 emerging leaders came from 11 yearly meetings. While Indiana Yearly Meeting had the greatest number of participants, others traveled from as far as California, Maryland, Canada, and Texas. Of the participants, 43% were women and the median age was 26. Workshops on evangelism, praying with others, helping new believers, discerning your calling and preparing for pastoral ministry were designed to sharpen ministry skills. Bruce Bishop, field secretary for leadership development of Northwest Yearly Meeting, and Retha McCutchen, general secretary of Friends United Meeting, spoke in the evening sessions.
For Amos Foreman of Ridge Farm Friends, Western Yearly Meeting, the main impact came in the times for informal sharing: "When I checked in, my roommate and I immediately started discussing different viewpoints of the Bible and the world's influence on our religious attitudes... Then, in the bookstore, I met a member of a meeting with unprogrammed worship. I am from a programmed worship... We discovered that we share more in common than differences, particularly, the deep interest in writings that will enhance our spiritual walks with Christ."
According to Amos, "Sunday morning's worship service was the most intense open worship that I have ever experienced. I could feel the presence of Christ through the Holy Spirit during the testimonies that others offered... Those who come from a programmed worship...now have a better idea that true worship can be silent."
In fact, there was very little silence in over an hour of unprogrammed worship Sunday morning. Prayer and personal testimony and messages arose from the participants. One prophesied, "You do not know what a torrent of ministry you have unleashed here this weekend."
Joel Weinacht from Upland Friends, Indiana Yearly Meeting, assessed the personal impact of the conference this way: "[My] leadership knowledge was not increased much, but roadblocks to leading [were] taken away. Since the conference I've been more thoroughly convicted that enjoying Christ to the utmost, and unashamedly, is at the very center of what God made me to be... The atmosphere of the conference was safe because the Holy Spirit was among us, so that I could make one of the most difficult, subtle, emotional, spiritual, and necessary discoveries of my walk with Christ in this season of my soul."
In the closing session, many participants spoke about their need for on-going mentoring. They suggested that local Meetings need to learn better how to encourage emerging leaders and urged yearly meetings to create elder/mentorship programs for young adult leaders.
Sue Axtell reports, in the wrap-up session at the close of the conference, "Friends United Meeting [heard] a charge from this group to nurture emerging leaders by providing both spaces for similar groups to come together to network, worship, learn and share and for mentors/mentorship training within the attendee's yearly meetings. There is a need for Friends to pray for the continuing emergence and wholesome growth to maturity of these God-called leaders. Their ministries will serve both the Society of Friends and peoples of the world in a magnificent array of ministry roles."
The Conference was sponsored by the North American Ministries committee of Friends United Meeting to address Friends concern for leadership development. Ben Richmond, director of North American Ministries, says, "We don't need to worry about a lack of leadership. God is stirring hearts. They have passion for Christ, and the blessing of the Holy Spirit. The question is whether we will open the door for their ministry within—and more importantly—outside our Meetings."
FTC Benefits from Woodard Trust
A gift from the Earle M. Woodard Trust to Friends Theological College enabled the administration to upgrade the College's physical facilities in a manner that would have been impossible left to its own resources. The $30,000 gift allowed FTC to construct a girl's dormitory with the potential to house 24 female students; to replace a staff house that was demolished two years ago due to its deteriorated condition; and to assist in the completion of the library renovation. Because the gift was received in its entirety, the college was able to contract a local contractor who worked on all three projects at the same time.
The Woodard gift has been a blessing by enhancing the college's image, not only in the community, but also within the community of Western Kenyan Christian colleges. These projects also allowed nearly 40 families to realize an income in our very poor and mostly unemployed community.
Copyright (c) 2002 Friends United Meeting
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