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Friends United Meeting |
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FUM News
Quaker
Life
July-August 2005
Meetings Participate in Chain of Prayer
114 Meetings Participate in Chain of Prayer
One hundred and fourteen Friends meetings in the United States and Canada participated in the 2005 FUM Chain of Prayer. Friends prayed in groups and in half-hour time periods almost every day from January 1 through Pentecost Sunday, May 15, in support of Friends United Meeting’s ministries world-wide and specifically for another Meeting in the Chain. The theme, “And the Lamb Shall Overcome,” was taken from the FUM Triennial sessions to be held this July in Des Moines, Iowa.
Meetings requested over 1,500 individual prayer guides for use during the Chain of Prayer. Participation spanned almost all the FUM yearly meetings in North America; Indiana and North Carolina tied for the most meetings participating with 27. Other yearly meetings with the total monthly meetings follow:
Canadian Yearly Meeting (3)
Great Plains Yearly Meeting (1)
Iowa Yearly Meeting (15)
New England Yearly Meeting (5)
New York Yearly Meeting (8)
Southeastern Yearly Meeting (2)
Western Yearly Meeting (18)
Western Assoc. of the Religious Society of Friends (2)
Wilmington Yearly Meeting (6)
“The work of Friends cannot bear fruit unless it is carried by power of the Holy Spirit,” said Ben Richmond, coordinator of the Chain of Prayer. “We are so grateful for the many hundreds of Friends who participated this year. Our staff in Richmond, and our field staff depend on your prayers.”
Two Kenyans Appointed to Ramallah: Two Firsts for FUM
Henry Mukwanja, a Kenyan Friend, has been appointed as a Friend-in- Residence with Friends Schools, Ramallah/el-Bireh, Palestine. He will serve FUM as a volunteer for six months in three-month blocks. His role as a Friend-in-Residence is to work within the Friends School helping with chapel assemblies, observing the life of the school, participating when invited and advising the executive team of Friends School on strengthening the Quaker identity of the school.
Henry was part of the FUM Pastoral Visit to Israel/Palestine in 2002 and the visit made a deep impression on him. He felt God had a place for him alongside the Palestinian people to bring a Christian message of hope and reconciliation to the troubled land.
Henry Mukwanja is the first Kenyan Friend appointed to serve in this role. He brings with him leadership experience in schools and in the Christian community. He currently serves as the Presiding Clerk of East Africa Yearly Meeting North.
Please support him financially and with prayer as he prepares to undertake this responsibility. The financial target for his six-month appointment is $7,000. Kenyan Friends will provide the funds for his airfare. Please make checks payable to Friends United Meeting and designate “Friend in Residence” in the memo section of your check.
Joshua Lilande has been appointed as a High School teacher at Friends Schools, Ramallah/el-Bireh, Palestine; he will serve FUM there on a one-year contract which can be extended. Joshua will teach a combination of History, English, Ethics and Quaker Christianity. He has felt called to work alongside the oppressed and to demonstrate, as far as he is able, the love of God in his relationships with his colleagues, his students and his new community.
Joshua visited Ramallah at FUM’s request in response to his call to serve there. He spent one month in Israel and Palestine, ten days of that time at the School. The principal, Mahmoud Amra, interviewed him and has been eager to appoint him to his staff.
Joshua brings with him educational and leadership experience at all levels within his Yearly Meeting. He is a member of Millimani Monthly Meeting in Eldoret and currently serves as the Presiding Clerk of Lugari Yearly Meeting. This is the first time a Kenyan Friend has been appointed as International Field Staff through FUM.
Before his departure, planned in August, the Africa Ministries Office in Kisumu needs to raise his airfare within Kenya. The rest of his Ministry support of $3000 will be raised in the United States. Friends School, Ramallah/El-Bireh will pay his salary. Please make checks payable to Friends United Meeting and designate “Joshua Lilande” in the memo section of your check.
Spencer Joseph Stout, son of Andy and Lisa Stout, was born May 27 in Belize City, Belize. He was 8 lbs. 4 1.2 ounces and 20 1.2 inches. Introduce yourself at the FUM Triennial! Read more about Spencer and other current Global Ministries news on the FUM website blog: http://www.fum. org/worldmissions/blog/blog.html
By Nancy McCormick
In April, a work team of four individuals departed from Dayton, Ohio to paint the Friends Meetinghouse in La Democracia, Belize, a village about 30 minutes outside of Belize City. Sometimes it is hard to prepare people’s hearts and minds for a work team experience, especially if they have never been on one. Here are a few things you might find helpful if you choose to participate in a work team experience.
When traveling, you need to expect the unexpected. One of the greatest skills needed is the skill of listening—listening for God and listening to one another. We can plan our own agenda, but sometimes it will change and often it changes for the better. Are you willing to listen and lay down your own agenda for the good of the ministry?
Another thing to know is—are you able to go with the flow? This requires patience, waiting on God, listening and a willingness to follow the designated leader. Too many bosses and not enough workers make for a bad mix. It is important for members of the work team to do just that—work!
Work comes in many forms, shapes and sizes; the physical and spiritual ministries go hand in hand. Playing with children, meeting old friends, participating in worship services and sharing meals together are all ways Quakers can celebrate community. When we do this we find out how alike we are as we connect with others in their homes.
As the leader of this group, I was especially blessed by how quickly we meshed, coming from much diversified backgrounds. I was blessed by the tenacity of a 70-year-old woman who wanted to work as hard as anyone. She was determined! I was encouraged by our friend from California who desired to learn and gain as much from the people we served as well as serving. My husband, Mike, once again blessed me as he offered the gift of openness to strangers who came our way. Because of the size of our group we were gifted with being able to spend more time with Andy and Lisa Stout and Mike and Kay Cain as we broke bread, worked and played. This was a sacred and uplifting time for us as we experienced communion with friends.
Nancy McCormick is co-pastor of Chester Friends Meeting, Ohio. The people of Belize hold a special place in her.
Israel/Palestine: September 15–October 1, 2005
Approximate cost: $2,323
Pastoral visit to Israel/Palestine led by Retha McCutchen, FUM general secretary. Encouragement of Ramallah Friends Schools constituency is a major purpose of this visit.
Cuba: January 21–February 4, 2006
Approximate cost: $1300
15 team members, Registration deadline: October 15, 2005 This team will work on a building project at one of the Cuban meetinghouses. This work team fills up quickly, so get your applications in soon.
Kenya: April 2006 for 2 weeks
Approximate cost: $2500
Geared for Young Adults ages 18–35, 30 team members Registration deadline: December 15, 2005
The team will visit youth camps at each of the African yearly meetings to raise awareness and build relationships. There will be two or three different teams because these youth camps go on for most of the month of April. Start asking your local meetings now for help is raising the funds for this new and exciting work team.
Ramallah: June/July 2006 for 2 weeks
Approximate cost: $2000
8–10 team members, Registration deadline: April 1, 2006 Max and Jane Carter, North Carolina Friends, lead this trip every summer. Many team members are Guilford students, but don’t let that hinder you from registering for this exciting visit to the holy lands. Each year is filled with visits to and with interesting places and people.
Jamaica: Fall 2006 for 1 week
Approximate cost: $1300
10–15 team members, Registration deadline: August 1, 2006 Friends United Meeting and Jamaica Yearly Meeting are partnering to build a stronger relationship. Be a part of this team and share in this important work among Jamaican Friends.
Belize: Winter 2005/spring 2006 for 1 week
Approximate cost: $1300
10–15 team members, Regis. deadline to be announced The 2005 FUM VBS project will purchase a tractor and mower for Belize, but where will they put it once it’s purchased? This team will finish the construction of a building to house their implements.
All work team dates and cost are subject to change due to airline prices. Work teams may also be cancelled due to lack of participation.
For more information or an application, contact Terri Johns, Program Assistant, Global Ministries, Friends United Meeting, 101 Quaker Hill Drive, Richmond, Indiana; phone (765) 962-7573; email terrij@fum.org.
Good News for Widows Friends Theological College (FTC) Tutor Simon Bulimoh was an active pastor in Lugari Yearly Meeting before coming to FTC—and he still balances teaching with pastoral work. He founded “Meet the Widows,” an interdenominational self-help group for over 200 local widows, which involves pastors from several churches. The group’s mission comes from James 1:27: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
Patrick Nugent, Principal of FTC, spoke at their annual conference last year using the stories of widows in the Bible and the church as the giver of hope. This year he spoke again, challenging them to become involved in church leadership, and made a commitment that FTC would use its scholarship resources to fund the studies of one widow from the group for training in pastoral ministry. The woman selected would then return to serve “Meet the Widows” as an interdenominational pastor, ministering specifically to widows and orphans. The local group was asked to pay about $50 per year, and FTC will cover the remaining $350 from the John Sarrin Scholarship Fund, the Women’s Scholarship Fund provided by North Carolina Yearly Meeting’s USFW and other available funds.
In Kenya, women often lose their husbands at a very early age because of AIDS, accidents and other forms of early death. A widow is often abandoned by her husband’s family and forcibly ejected from the home, or may be “inherited” by the deceased husband’s brother as an additional wife. Widows are often left with no means of supporting their children or paying school fees. Groups that minister to widows and orphans are growing, but the need is desperate. “Meet the Widows” is unique because it provides a means for widows to minister to one another, and addresses both their economic situation and their spiritual lives. FTC hopes to make its small contribution to this ministry by building the capacity of the widows to meet their own spiritual needs rather than relying on pastors who are not widows.
Members of “Meet the Widows” are selecting a candidate at the time of this writing, and her name will be announced when the admissions process is concluded in June. A pamphlet containing Patrick’s talk together with Simon’s address to FTC students on ministry to widows and orphans is available this summer; please e-mail ftc1@fum.org if you are interested in purchasing individual copies or bulk orders.