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Friends United Meeting |
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May 2005
Calling All Youth - Triennial Plans
Bookstore Sets New Hours, Goals
Report from the Workteam to Gibara, Cuba
The sixth FUM work trip to Ramallah led by Max and Jane Carter will be June 24 to July 10, 2005. Max taught at the Ramallah Friends Schools in 1970-72, and he and Jane are well acquainted with people in both Palestine and Israel. Program: Work will be done at the Ramallah Friends Schools and the Friends meetinghouse, including landscaping, cleaning, painting and possibly helping with a summer youth activities program. Meetings will be held with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in politics, religion and social work, including frequent visits in local homes. Trips will be made into Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Galilee.
Cost: $2,000, inclusive of air fare from New York or Newark to Tel Aviv, all meals, accommodations, ground transport in the Middle East, fees and other program costs. For further information, contact Max Carter, (336)316-2445 or e-mail: mcarter@guilford.edu.
Time is a hot commodity! Time is limited and not guaranteed; therefore, we must all chose wisely how we will spend it. For many students, each week is carefully identified in the summer, with a purpose and plan. Sleeping late and hanging out with friends on a regular basis is usually a foundation of the calendar.
An unique opportunity to meet and hang out with Friends is offered this coming summer. All youth from 11–18 years old are invited to share five days of your life with other youth from across the country and even the world. You will join youth representatives from many other states and countries that are a part of the body of Friends United Meeting. This great gathering will be in Des Moines, Iowa during FUM Triennial — from Wednesday, July 13 to Sunday, July 17, 2005. Youth will stay overnight in a separate area at the Holiday Inn Airport. All program costs, hotel suites, meals and extraordinary activities are covered for the reduced rate of $120.
This event will be worth the expense of time and money! We will study together and explore the event theme: “And the Lamb shall overcome.” How does God enable and use us as His instruments to overcome the pain, suffering and evil in our world? We will literally dig into these Scriptural teachings and more as we identify our spiritual gifts, participate in a service project and worship with hundreds of Friends. Added bonus items include: cheering on the Iowa Cubs at their baseball game, late night broomball and Frisbee Golf.
We realize you are selective as to where you spend your time. This opportunity will prove to be a bargain!
For full registration information log on to: http://meetingsfirst.com/fum/add.lasso or contact Brian Clark at Meeting Planning Services, Inc., 8 Main Street, 2nd Floor, Hingham, MA 02043; phone (781)741-9966 or email bclark@meetingsfirst.com
QHB Sets New Focus, Hours
Quaker Hill Bookstore is committed to quality service for our primary customers, the Friends United Meeting constituency. To this end, we will be: expanding our inventory of Quaker resources; distributing our first Catalog of Quaker Books and Resources in May; building relationships with more meetings and churches; increasing the number of consignments for yearly meeting and other Quaker events; and upgrading the Quaker Hill Bookstore website.
As part of this new focus, the bookstore will be open to walk-in customers only on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with the exception of specific needs of Quaker Hill Conference Center groups.
Bookstore staff will be able to serve phone and web customers throughout the week, as always. Visit Quaker Hill Bookstore on the web at www.quakerhillbooks.org anytime! Phone-in orders at (765) 962-7575 or (800) 537-8838 Monday–Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10a.m. to 4 p.m. Walk-in customer hours are: Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. New hours are effective April 1, 2005.
Thirteen Friends traveled to Cuba for a work team in Gibara, Cuba from January 23 to February 6, 2005. Because Cuba Yearly Meeting had not received permission to proceed with construction of a new addition to the conference center in Gibara, the work team helped with smaller projects such as leveling and paving the courtyard patio, cleaning and painting fan covers and dormitory beds, repairing woodwork around the conference center and church, and installing a roof over the cooking area.
The group also worshiped with Friends and visited former work sites in Pueblo Nuevo, Holguín, Floro Pérez, Velasco, Delicias, Puerto Padre, El Retrete and Banes. Linda Garrison led the work team with support from Terri Johns of FUM’s Global Ministries. Other work team members were: Harold and Libby Curry, Jim Glading, Lois and Jim Hackney, Margaret Hawthorn, Derek Maurer, Jerry and Patti Phillips and Larry and Mary Ann Roddy. Work team members share some refl ections: Teamwork in Gibara
“We went to Cuba to do one job, but ended up doing something completely different. We are sent to build relations, not buildings. The people in Cuba are very capable, hard working and intelligent; they don’t need us to do the work for them. The work is a way for us to come together.”
— Jerry and Patti Phillips
“Harold Curry and I put up the roof over the kitchen. It is actually a 5'4" x 16'4" alley between two buildings with a 6" trough in the fl oor for drainage where they cook outdoors with charcoal. We had 9 tree poles and 6-foot slats we had removed from the benches around the courtyard as the only material to work with. We bought some concrete roofi ng material from the lady next door to cover the roof with.”
— Larry Roddy
“After eight trips to Cuba, I am still amazed concerning the lack of materials. For example, I needed a few screws today to do a roof project but there are none in Gibara.”
— Harold Curry
“The one thing I had a hard time comprehending until I came was the lack of supplies. You simply cannot go to the store to purchase something you left behind. Paper is at a premium. I have not seen pads of paper anywhere to purchase. Amazing! This experience has defi nitely changed my perspective on life. I don’t know the effects it will have on me when I return, but I do know I won’t be the same on the inside as I was when I left to come here.”
— Terri Johns
Worship and Visits with Other Friends
“Early in the morning we climbed into the back of a truck for a ride to Holguin Friends Meeting. The experience of riding in the truck might be compared to a convertible without comfortable seats. We were welcomed by the Monthly Meeting. Cuba Yearly Meeting Executive Committee was meeting for the day.
“We observed part of the Executive Committee. It was interesting to me as a clerk to watch the Quaker process in another language. Even after long discussions they could not reach consensus. Like many of us, they tabled the matter until the next meeting.
“We were up early, had breakfast and were back on the truck — this time many of us carrying pillows to cushion our bottoms on the hard benches. Many women wore slacks under their dresses.
“First stop, Velasco Meeting for Sunday School. They greeted us warmly at the front door. There were 114 present and more than 70 were children. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and learning. After a scrumptious lunch, we got back on the truck and on to Puerto Padre. Attending church always amazes me. The children give long recitations from memory, and sing and perform. The Cubans sing with feeling and gusto. We arrived back at Gibara, very tired but energized by the spirit that we see among our Cuban Friends. The church is constantly being built in Cuba by the Holy Spirit as is evidenced in the different meetings and the interactions with one another.”
— Jim and Lois Hackney
Local Ministry By Cuban Friends
“USFW and Quaker Men meet on Mondays in Gibara. While they don’t have money to send to missions around the world, they are doing missions in their own community. They make food baskets for the poor even when there is barely enough food to feed their own families; they don’t worry about saving it for themselves. They give what they have to others less fortunate, knowing that God will provide whatever they need when they need it. They minister at the local mental hospital by bringing things the people there need, singing to them or with them, listening to their stories and visiting and telling them about God. They also support each other. They call on the sick and elderly. They help their members develop their spiritual gifts and talents. They teach the children the Bible & the ways of the church so they don’t go the way of the streets.”
— Patti Philli