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Friends United Meeting |
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June 2005
Mission Notes
Ramallah Friends Meetinghouse Rededicated
Africa General Board Meets
Join the Africa Prayer Cycle
Africa Ministries Office Celebrates Opening
Ramallah Students Attend Model UN Conference
Ramallah
Joyce Ajlouny and the school are heavily involved in continued development of the school facilities with new attention to Special Needs.
John Hishmeh escorted 11 youth with one other teacher to the model United Nations program in Cairo (sponsored by UNDP).
Belize
Andy and Lisa Stout are established in a new house with air conditioning, and are expecting their baby in late May. They feel the Friends Boys School is where they should be and they have many plans for the future.
Mike and Kay Cain are seeking to revamp the Board of Governors of FBS to bring on board professional educators to help with thinking through the prospect of a new High School. A person with a Ph.D. from the Ministry of Education is willing to serve.
Africa
Patrick Nugent is developing the college curriculum heading towards a degree program but maintaining breadth as well as depth. Mary Kay Rehard is beginning her training as a doctor.
James and Eden Grace are forming a formidable team with John Muhanji. James and Eden are very excited about their work and their placement.
Russia
Johan Maurer and Colin South left in early May to investigate the possibility of a new mission field in Electrostal, Russia. More to come following the visit.
Deputation
Ten field staff are available for deputation this summer. If you are interested in scheduling someone, contact Terri Johns at FUM.
Ramallah Friends Meetinghouse Rededicated
By Jane Carter
Whenever I travel to Ramallah, Palestine, I come away with a myriad of impressions, but this time I left with an impression of hope. My husband, Max, and I traveled to Ramallah in early March, along with other members of an international committee, to celebrate the rededication of the Quaker meetinghouse in central Ramallah. This simple stone structure was built under the guidance of Timothy Hussey of Maine in the early 1900s and was first dedicated on March 6, 1910. Ninety-five years later to the day, we gathered to rededicate this building once more. Through the years, it had suffered the normal decay of time, but it also was damaged by the conflicts in the region. The number of members of Ramallah Meeting dramatically decreased as people fled to the West for education and employment. The future of the structure appeared bleak since the estimated cost of repairs far exceeded the small meeting’s means. Appeals to the wider Friends community were heard, but the task seemed overwhelming.
It was with incredible joy we went to Ramallah to share in the celebration of the meetinghouse’s rebirth. The tone of the service was reverent and shared by people of the three major faiths of the region. The mayor of Ramallah shared his delight at the renewed space and spoke of his and his children’s experience of First Day School in past years. He was hopeful his grandchildren would be given the opportunity to have that same experience.
Others read minutes of greeting from their home meetings. Some stood out of the silence and offered thanks for this place of spiritual refreshment in the midst of a difficult situation. A near capacity attendance of more than 100 worshipers rejuvenated spirits as had the restoration of the building.
For the next few days the international committee traveled throughout the region seeking to hear what others might suggest for the ministry of the facility. We toured the area around Jerusalem with a young American Jewish man and listened as he shared his knowledge of the Israeli settlements and showed us the impact of Israel’s 26-foot high concrete security fence. Members of Sabeel, an ecumenical group of Palestinian Christians, shared with us their work for peace and justice in Jerusalem. We listened to Jewish Women’s groups talk of their work in Israel and with Palestinian women for a more just future.
We visited the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Hebron and the tiny ancient village of At-Tuwani where CPT members and other internationals seek to reduce the level of violence directed at the civilian population.
The streets of Bethlehem were quiet as tourists rarely come now. We listened there to a panel of Palestinian organizations working for nonviolent transformation. We returned to Ramallah to listen to the members of the meeting and their dreams for the refurbished facility.
Then came time for discussion and discernment. The international committee reached clearness on three areas of service for a program called Friends International Center in Ramallah: first, to support the meeting spiritually and help it share the Quaker faith, hopefully working closely with the Ramallah Friends Schools and other Friends organizations in the area; second, to celebrate and support the community in Ramallah by providing a safe space for cultural gatherings, events and conversations among those who share the values of Friends; and third, to offer a place for those working nonviolently for peace and justice throughout Palestine to meet, share ideas and offer programs. It is our hope to raise the funds to eventually have a residential Friend to help supervise and create these programs.
The African members of Friends United Meeting’s General Board met on March 23-24 at Friends Theological College, Kaimosi, Kenya, for an historic meeting. Although this section of the Board has been meeting for several years, this was its first meeting since the opening of the Friends United Meeting Africa Ministries Office. The Board heard an extensive report from Africa Ministries Representative, John Muhanji. Together with his colleagues, Eden & James Grace and Herman Otioko, John offered a Power Point presentation about the proposed program of FUM’s Africa Ministries. The Board strongly endorsed the direction in which the new office is proceeding with its work. (You may view the entire report on the Global Ministries blog.)
The Board also made important decisions regarding the Kaimosi Friends Hospital. This hospital, established in the early part of the 20th century as part of FUM’s mission complex, has in recent years descended into sub-standard condition. At the request of East Africa Yearly Meeting, and with the approval granted at this Board meeting, FUM will eventually take over governance of the Kaimosi Friends Hospital for an initial twoyear period and carry out strategic planning for the improvement of all aspects of the Hospital program. This is particularly good news for the people of Tiriki, rural subsistence farmers who are grossly underserved by quality medical care.
The Board discussed substantive reports from the leaders of all five of FUM’s African project partners. Chwele Yearly Meeting applied for FUM membership and was accepted as an Associate member at this meeting. The decision to recommend Uganda Yearly Meeting as a full yearly meeting will be presented to the General Board at this summer’s Triennial sessions. Tuloi Yearly Meeting will also be welcomed into full membership at the July Triennial.
In February, 23 Friends gathered from various FUM projects in Kenya for a time of prayer, biblical reflection, fellowship, visioning and recommitment. At the closing of the weekend, all committed themselves to pray daily for each other’s work, according to a weekly cycle. All Friends everywhere are invited to join them in this daily prayer. Specific prayer concerns will be posted on the Global Ministries blog at www.fum.org.
Prayer Cycle:
Monday — Turkana Friends Mission
Tuesday — Lugulu Friends Mission Hospital (Dr. Lugaria’s long surgery day)
Wednesday — Friends Theological College (the day for the Spiritual Formation program at FTC)
Thursday — Samburu Friends Mission (the day of women’s worship)
Friday — Africa Ministries Office and the Yearly Meetings in Africa
Saturday — AQUAVIS (all the AQUAVIS members are employed fulltime in other work, and volunteer their evenings and weekends to this ministry)
Sunday — the FUM staff in Richmond, Indiana, the worldwide body of Friends and all our project partners.
Africa Ministries Office Celebrates Opening
It is difficult to express how significant a day this was, Monday, March 21, 2005. This day marked a turning point for the life of Friends United Meeting in Africa. Almost 200 guests arrived in Kisumu, Kenya to hear Brent McKinney, FUM Presiding Clerk, Retha McCutchen, FUM General Secretary and Colin South, Director of Global Ministries formally declare the Africa Ministries Office open.
Also present were John Muhanji, the FUM Africa Representative and James and Eden Grace, Field Staff (Africa Ministries) and Herman Otioko, Missions Consultant and all the hard work that they had put into the event was transparently clear.
Representatives from 15 Yearly Meetings in Kenya and several other denominations in Kisumu had sent their representatives to celebrate with us. Those gathered heard speeches of commitment and common mission, and joined in prayer to dedicate the office and its staff to God’s work in Africa. The Africa Ministries Office was off to a good start and was Good News.
Ramallah Students Attend Model UN Conference
By John Hishmeh
School has been unbelievably busy. In April, another teacher and I took 11 students to Egypt for the Model United Nations Conference in Cairo. It was terrific. The students labored with 300 others from throughout the Middle East and Europe on such issues as globalization and human rights, stem cell research, worldwide drug trafficking, violent national ideologies, the withdrawal from Iraq, the crisis in Sudan, North Korea’s nuclear program, state-sponsored terrorism, water and technological needs for underdeveloped countries, and much more. Each assembly was committed to developing resolutions for issues such as these and each student was assigned a country to represent in those assemblies. Our students did wonderful and we had loads of fun. The only down points were the border transitions going in and out of the West Bank, Jordan and Egypt. Since Palestinians cannot use the airport in Tel Aviv, we crossed the bridge in Jericho and flew to Cairo from Amman. Other than that, everything was terrific.