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Friends United Meeting |
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January/February 2003
News from Friends United Meeting
Commitments
By Retha McCutchen
Enter 2003 with forgiveness. Receive God's grace (unmerited favor), accept God's forgiveness and then offer this Christ-like compassion to those you meet.
Oswald Chambers in My Utmost For His Highest offers a sobering definition of God's forgiveness. He states: "Very few of us know anything about conviction of sin; we know the experience of being disturbed because of having done wrong things; but conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit blots out every relationship on earth and leaves one relationship only—'Against Thee, and Thee only, have I sinned!'" Christians want to rely on God's love and deny recognition of sin in our lives. God is love. Out of God's loving nature, God's son Jesus died for our sin. Our hope comes from the resurrection. One of the most compassionate promises in scripture is "as far as the east is from the west I will remove your sin. It will be remembered no more."
Fantasize with me of a world where one person offers unconditional forgiveness to another, a world where the mistakes of last year are remembered no more. Peace begins at home. The world at large will not change. The change will come between one individual and another. Then those two passes unconditional forgiveness, and now we have four. Those four offer forgiveness and then there are eight. In my lifetime or yours we may not see radical change in the world, but we will see radical change in our lives and the lives of our families and churches. An apology carries with it more than the words, "I'm sorry."
An apology (or confession) carries with it the intent to change and not to repeat the offense. Offering forgiveness on a spiritual level means giving up of a grudge—an attempt to forget as far as humanly possible. Forgiveness means letting go—never using that insult/hurt to harm the reputation of the one forgiven.
In my experience, this is a fantasy world. First, it's difficult to accept that level of forgiveness. And second, it is even more difficult to offer such forgiveness. Yet, I believe this is the forgiveness God requires of Christians.
The church often has a difficult time with forgiveness—what if he/she didn't really change? What if she/he repeats the offense and I am hurt again? Seventy times seven comes to mind. As people of God we want to be forgiving, yet we often only offer conditional forgiveness. We put the sin/wrong in a box, wrap it up and put it on the closet shelf. Twenty-five years later we hear "yes, she's an excellent speaker, but..."
Chambers ends the chapter by writing "the thing that awakens the deepest well of gratitude in a human being is that God has forgiven sin. When once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vice, constrained by the love of God."
Throughout 2002 Friends United Meeting focused on the centennial theme of "so now, finish the work." In 2003 God is calling FUM to continue our work by offering the healing power of forgiveness to one another and then, to the world at large.
New Books from the Press
Imagination and Spirit: A Contemporary Quaker Reader (October, 2002), edited and introduced by J. Brent Bill, and Notes from Ramallah, 1939 by Nancy Parker McDowell, will be released to the trade (major bookstores, independent bookstores and chains) through Independent Publishers Group (IPG) in April, 2003. IPG sales representatives began promoting these two Friends United Press books to their customers in January.
Early Friends lived out their faith in ways that changed the world. Their lives can be models for us as we face today's world of violence, consumerism and isolation. Two Friends United Press titles due out early in 2003 will be resources for individual and group study for Friends and beyond.
A Near Sympathy: The Timeless Quaker Wisdom of John Woolman by Michael Birkel invites readers into a friendship with John Woolman that leads to an understanding of his listening spirit and of how the Bible and meeting for worship nurtured and supported his faithful acts of peacemaking and justice for the oppressed.
I Stand Convinced: The Letters of Margaret Fell, edited by Elsa Glines, is filled with the indomitable spirit and Christian faith of the earliest Friends. In more than 160 letters, filled with allusions to scripture, Margaret Fell confronts Kings, priests and other Friends with Jesus' message of love and justice. The letters also reflect deep love for her family and encouragement for the ministry and welfare of other Friends.
Friends Pray for Peace
Responding to the threats of terrorism and wars around the world, many Friends Meetings are joining in the annual Chain of Prayer to pray for peace. The Chain began on January 1, with Highfalls Friends in North Carolina. By mid-November, Meetings from seven yearly meetings had joined the Chain, which concludes on Pentecost Sunday, June 8, 2003.
In addition to praying for peace, Friends are praying for the needs in specific mission fields and for the common work of Friends United Meeting of bringing people into fellowships where Jesus Christ is known, loved and obeyed as Teacher and Lord. Several of the mission fields are dealing with significant levels of violence, most obviously the schools in Ramallah, Palestine, but also the school in Belize that has had to confront street violence.
It is still possible to sign up to join the Chain by contacting the FUM office.
Consultation for Yearly Meeting Peace Committees
How do we encourage local meetings to be faithful to the peace testimony as an essential part of the Christian faith and then to witness to it in the world? Members of yearly meeting peace committees from FUM yearly meetings in North American are invited to participate in a consultation to address this question. The consultation will be held in Richmond, Indiana, May 2-4, 2003. More details will follow in the coming months.
New Bookstore Manager Named
Carl Bennett of Indiana Yearly Meeting assumed management of Quaker Hill Bookstore in December, 2002.ÊCarl has pastored in both Indiana and Western Yearly Meetings.ÊHe brings to the bookstore recent retail management experience, a passion for reading Christian writings and an understanding of the Quaker market.ÊCarl, his wife Sheri, and children, Hannah and Ethan, live in Dublin, where they also pastor the Dublin Friends Church.
Consultation Begins To Shape FUM's Outreach
A consultation held at the FUM offices in Richmond, Indiana, at the end of October began to give shape to how Friends United Meeting will energize and equip Friends to share the Christian faith. Several years ago, the General Board identified that goal as one of FUM's three priorities. The consultation was designed to begin addressing the question of what FUM should do programmatically. The plan that emerged has a major focus on communications work focused on helping seekers become aware of the Friends message, and also in developing training resources and a mentoring program to help Friends respond to inquirers. The plan is being discussed in various settings before coming back to the General Board in June, 2003.
The consultation plan recognizes that evangelism and outreach take place at the local level: it has to do with individual Friends talking with friends and helping them form an internal acquaintance with the Spirit of God. So Friends United Meeting's program role is not to "do evangelism" but to "energize and equip" Friends. The consultation also recognized that FUM's role is not to define the faith of Friends: that is determined by each member yearly meeting in their books of Faith and Practice. Therefore, the consultation did not discuss the content of the Friends message in detail. However, over the course of the last year, the North American Ministries Committee of the General Board has identified three core elements of the Christian message of Friends:
- Our faith is rooted in the atoning work of Christ: his life, death and resurrection.
- We emphasize a "listening spirituality": listening to the living Word of God revealed within each individual; listening to God's word revealed in Scripture; listening to God's word revealed among us in the church.
- We expect that this faith will result in lives transformed to reflect the character of Jesus: peace, simplicity, equality, moral purity, integrity, etc.
Whatever communications strategy is developed, consultation participants felt that maintaining all these elements of the Christian message of Friends would be important for any work carried out through Friends United Meeting. In a meeting following the consultation, the North American Ministries Committee agreed to encourage Friends to discuss their understanding of these points and how well this summarizes the Friends Christian message.
The main point of the consultation was to bring Friends with a variety of perspectives (pastors, unprogrammed Friends, and Friends with expertise in communications) together with key members of the FUM staff, to insure that whatever plan is developed makes sense from the perspective of local meetings.
A Phoenix from Ashes: KayKab Educational Garden
By Colin South, Ramallah Friends Schools
From a near-derelict site in front of Swift House, across the road from the Friends Boys School (FBS), grew a garden. An inspired thought from Dr. Ramzi Sansur and imaginative backing from The Heinrich Boll Foundation led to its transformation. Oaks, pistachios, willows, eucalyptus, walnut and fig trees among many other species of trees began to make an appearance. The collection finally was graced by the presence of a wild russet barked tree, a KayKab tree. Its hard wood, white flowers and small strawberry-like fruits seemed to call out to be recognized again in Palestine. Russet-colored in summer, the bark turns green in winter. Presently, it is surrounded by bushes and flowers, which when fully grown, will fill the garden with color.
The KayKab Educational Garden was opened to the public on November 14, 2002. The opening included singing by the Friends Girls School (FGS) choir and dancing from FBS students as well an exhibition of paintings, collages, drawings and posters presented by FGS senior students.
Now open from noon until dusk two days a week, the KayKab Educational Garden offers a relaxing environment plus an educational walk around beautifully labeled plants. Aluminum nameplates placed on local stone state the name of each plant.
The KayKab garden will also be the center of an educational project whose purpose is to promote environmental awareness. A model organic vegetable garden is planned using land at one corner of the Friends Boys School. This will model good gardening without chemical fertilizers or pesticides and will encourage composting and general recycling practices. A series of workshops will be held for children and adults on environmental issues such as conservation of water and energy, which will lead to earning a KayKab Environmental Education Certificate. Local community theater groups will be commissioned to produce educational drama for school children around these central themes. Women in our twin towns will be offered courses on home gardening and selective purchasing.
The idea has grown, and the garden has really taken root. For those who have contributed financially to the cost of the garden, and for others who have shown interest and given encouragement, thank you. We are looking forward to the development of this positive initiative in very challenging times.
Mission Motions
- Friends Boys School, Belize—Mike and Kay Cain were able, after a lengthy wait and much anticipation, to purchase a new vehicle for the work at Friends Boys School in Belize. They purchased a Ford Ranger truck and are very happy to have reliable transportation once again. The previous vehicle, a Ford Bronco, was long overdue for replacement. Thank you to all who have given financial support to this purchase.
- Friends Theological College, Kenya—Patrick Nugent, Mary Kay Rehard and Emma and Eliza have arrived at the college, and are transitioning responsibilities from Stan and Karen Bauer who have been serving as interim principal. In November and December of 2002 the Nugent/Rehard's attended language school in Tanzania to learn Swahili (properly known as Kiswahili). Although English is widely used in Kenya, a working knowledge of Swahili will enable Patrick, Mary Kay and their children to communicate with Kenyans in their own language and will open communication with those in rural and remote settings who may not know English.
- Friends Lugulu Hospital, Kenya—The Special Ward (private rooms) is near completion. The floor is finished and plumbing, ceiling, painting and electrical fixtures are being finalized. Dr. Lugaria (Medical Officer in Charge) notes they look forward to opening these rooms in the near future.
- Samburu Friends Mission, Kenya—A total of $5,377 was raised for the 2002 Vacation Bible School project of building and equipping two new classrooms at Lotulelei Friends Mission Primary School. The school has primary school classrooms from standard 1 to 6. The two new classrooms will house students in standards 7 and 8. The estimated cost of the buildings, furnishings and equipment was estimated at $5000. Many thanks to those of you who donated in this way toward our efforts to improve education in Samburu. Hopefully it improved the education of young Friends here at home as well!
- Turkana Friends Mission, Kenya—Herman Otioko visited the United States in September and October of 2002 on a fund raising tour and to educate and inform about the mission at Turkana. Many were blessed by Herman's presence and enlightened by his description of the mission and its work. Please help the work there to continue. Financial support has sometimes not been adequate to help us in aiding the mission to meet regular expenses such as staff salaries.
- Ramallah Friends School, Palestine—The school continues to function amid irregular curfews and many uncertainties. However, the staff and students have worked hard to find ways to enable the educational process to move forward despite these difficulties. Visit the school website to find out more at www.palfriends.org.
Listening for the Call
By Maxine Nash
In my job as Director of World Ministries, one of my duties is to select and place field staff. Applicants come to me in many ways. Sometimes people call after seeing a Quaker Life advertisement, sometimes they're recommended by folks in their meeting who see in them something special, and sometimes they just find themselves in conversation with someone and one thing leads to another. In fact, often the first question I ask candidates is, "How were you led here?"
This question starts many conversations that are a true joy of my work. I'm privileged to hear wonderful stories of God's leading in both simple and extraordinary ways. Each story is unique and embodies a distinct path being walked with God. The key is that these individuals are listening and have heard God's call to them. Sometimes the voice is fuzzy. Sometimes, in fact most of the time, details are few and uncertainties abound. Yet those who are led persist because they know they've been asked to listen and ultimately to respond to that call to action.
How do you know if you've been called? How do you know what you're being called to? The first question has to be answered before the second one should even be considered. If you're feeling led, discern your leading. Open your eyes, your ears and your life to God's presence. Don't focus on the particulars of the leading but rather on being in the presence of God. Leave your expectations at the door. Study the Scriptures with an open mind and an open heart. Raise your awareness level to the point where there is constant conversation between you and God.
Once you've done that, find spiritual mentors who can help you in the discernment process. Utilize clearness committees and informal networks of friends who can help in this marvelous process of discovery. Read devotional literature and the newspaper. And remember, sometimes God speaks through those whom we would least expect.
If you offer your undivided attention, a response is assured. Sometimes the response may not be what you were wanting, but remember that God knows the plans he has for you. Don't be discouraged if you're asked to wait or to attend to something outside your hopes. Mother Teresa served for 14 years as a teacher and later a principal in a school before being called to her mission to the poor of Calcutta. God's timing is based on all sorts of factors we can't even imagine, and part of being faithful is accepting what we don't control.
Let God speak to you, and in trust be willing to follow as He leads.
Copyright (c) 2003 Friends United Meeting
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