|
Friends United Meeting |
 |
October 1997
News from Friends United Meeting
- Short-Term Cross-Cultural Opportunities:
Reconciliation, Construction, Evangelism
- Contribute to Children's Activities Book
- Nancy Maeder
- The Fields Are Ripe for Harvest: Register for Chain of Prayer
- Jamaica Yearly Meeting
- Contribute to Children's Activities Book
Short-Term Cross-Cultural Opportunities: Reconciliation, Construction, Evangelism
KENYA: Friends United Meeting extends an invitation to Young Friends in FUM yearly meetings to consider being involved in Peace Conference 1997, sponsored by the Young Quakers Association in Kenya. This conference is scheduled for December 10-14 at the Kaimosi Teachers' Training College in Kaimosi (Kenya). Each FUM-member yearly meeting has been asked to consider one to two Young Friends from their constituency who might benefit from this experience. Approximate costs range from US$1800 to $2,000 for this trip. In addition to the conference, participants may take an extra week to visit the various ministries sponsored by FUM and East Africa yearly meetings.
FUM offers several opportunities in 1998 for service through participation in work teams in Cuba, Jamaica and Mexico.
CUBA: A work team, planned for January 16-30, is currently being put together. This year's project, in the village of Bocas, near Velasco, will be much the same as the 1997 project carried on in Retrete-a total replacement of the existing building. Preliminary work is expected to be undertaken by a work team from Guilford College which will be visiting Cuba October 18-25. Friends United Meeting is looking for 12-15 people, many with construction abilities (masonry skills are especially needed) and the physical ability to work in the sunny, humid weather for two weeks without the benefit of modern machinery. Most of the work will involve hard physical labor-digging, mixing concrete, handling a wheelbarrow. Other, less demanding jobs, also need to be done-cutting reinforcing steel, digging trenches, assisting in putting together the reinforcing frameworks, carrying mortar and blocks. Participants will also visit in the village and make new friends in the community. There will be plenty of opportunities in the evenings and the weekend to worship with Friends at the Velasco and Bocas meetings. Side trips to the beach during the weekends are also planned, so it won't be all work. Housing will be with local members of the meetings. Due to travel restrictions on flights leaving the United States, the team will depart from either Toronto or Montreal. Approximate cost for the trip is $800 per person, excluding travel to Canada. The deadline for signing up for this work team is November 1, 1997; a $100 deposit is required.
Two additional work opportunities are still in the planning stages. If you are interested in participating, please let our office know, so we can keep you informed as the plans develop.
JAMACIA: FUM is committed to provide support for Worthington Meeting in Kingston in their outreach efforts in the New Kingston community during the summer of 1998. The program will consist of providing a Bible School program during the day, visits with families, recreational activities and music during evenings. Another work team may be able to assist in the refurbishing of some of the older meetinghouses that are a part of Jamaica Yearly Meeting.
MEXICO: FUM is investigating ways to work with Western Yearly Meeting in their efforts to assist the Friends Meeting in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Victoria Monthly Meeting has been working in the village of Jaumave (about one hour south of Victoria), to establish a sewing center that will provide supplemental income for local families. Work has already been completed on the actual structure but the building needs to be finished on the inside and machinery provided to be able to open the sewing center. Several containers of fabric have already been provided by Western Yearly Meeting. There is an opportunity to provide materials and physical assistance to this project.
For information contact Curt Ankeny, program assistant for outreach and recruitment at FUM, or e-mail KENYA: Friends United Meeting extends an invitation to Young Friends in FUM yearly meetings to consider being involved in Peace Conference 1997, sponsored by the Young Quakers Association in Kenya. This conference is scheduled for December 10-14 at the Kaimosi Teachers' Training College in Kaimosi (Kenya). Each FUM-member yearly meeting has been asked to consider one to two Young Friends from their constituency who might benefit from this experience. Approximate costs range from US$1800 to $2,000 for this trip. In addition to the conference, participants may take an extra week to visit the various ministries sponsored by FUM and East Africa yearly meetings.
FUM offers several opportunities in 1998 for service through participation in work teams in Cuba, Jamaica and Mexico.
CUBA: A work team, planned for January 16-30, is currently being put together. This year's project, in the village of Bocas, near Velasco, will be much the same as the 1997 project carried on in Retrete-a total replacement of the existing building. Preliminary work is expected to be undertaken by a work team from Guilford College which will be visiting Cuba October 18-25. Friends United Meeting is looking for 12-15 people, many with construction abilities (masonry skills are especially needed) and the physical ability to work in the sunny, humid weather for two weeks without the benefit of modern machinery. Most of the work will involve hard physical labor-digging, mixing concrete, handling a wheelbarrow. Other, less demanding jobs, also need to be done-cutting reinforcing steel, digging trenches, assisting in putting together the reinforcing frameworks, carrying mortar and blocks. Participants will also visit in the village and make new friends in the community. There will be plenty of opportunities in the evenings and the weekend to worship with Friends at the Velasco and Bocas meetings. Side trips to the beach during the weekends are also planned, so it won't be all work. Housing will be with local members of the meetings. Due to travel restrictions on flights leaving the United States, the team will depart from either Toronto or Montreal. Approximate cost for the trip is $800 per person, excluding travel to Canada. The deadline for signing up for this work team is November 1, 1997; a $100 deposit is required.
Two additional work opportunities are still in the planning stages. If you are interested in participating, please let our office know, so we can keep you informed as the plans develop.
JAMACIA: FUM is committed to provide support for Worthington Meeting in Kingston in their outreach efforts in the New Kingston community during the summer of 1998. The program will consist of providing a Bible School program during the day, visits with families, recreational activities and music during evenings. Another work team may be able to assist in the refurbishing of some of the older meetinghouses that are a part of Jamaica Yearly Meeting.
MEXICO: FUM is investigating ways to work with Western Yearly Meeting in their efforts to assist the Friends Meeting in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Victoria Monthly Meeting has been working in the village of Jaumave (about one hour south of Victoria), to establish a sewing center that will provide supplemental income for local families. Work has already been completed on the actual structure but the building needs to be finished on the inside and machinery provided to be able to open the sewing center. Several containers of fabric have already been provided by Western Yearly Meeting. There is an opportunity to provide materials and physical assistance to this project.
For information contact Curt Ankeny, program assistant for outreach and recruitment at FUM, or e-mail .
Contribute to Children's Activities Book
Have you prepared some interesting activities to accompany or enhance lessons for your children in your meeting? Friends United Meeting is in the process of preparing an Activities Book for children that will provide ideas that could be used to expand Sunday/First Day School lessons or Quaker teachings. We are looking for biblical, Quaker or mission short stories . We want a variety of activities such as coloring pictures, object lessons, puzzles, games, music, short skits that will enhance the story or lesson to be taught. Materials can include a single lesson or a sequence of lessons. The length of the lessons can vary. They may be intended for an opening exercise or they may be enough for an hour's session.
Please include credit for the author, if known, and the name of the meeting. Materials can be sent to Mary Glenn Hadley, Friends United Meeting, 101 Quaker Hill Drive, Richmond, IN 47374-1980. We need the material by November 1 so we can make the book available by May, 1998.
Nancy Maeder
In mid-September, Nancy Maeder took up her assignment as Friend in Residence at the Ramallah Friends Schools. Among her duties are starting a youth group, organizing and leading a mid-week worship group and teaching high school music.
A gifted musician and committed Christian from Iowa Yearly Meeting, Nancy served as FUM's assistant secretary for World Ministries, 1990-1992, visiting Ramallah twice. She writes that, in addition to prayers for peace, "the strongest concern on my heart has been to encourage and help strengthen the local Christian population."
The Fields Are Ripe for Harvest: Register for Chain of Prayer
The Fields Are Ripe for Harvest will be the theme for the 1998 FUM Chain of Prayer which begins January 1 and runs to Pentecost Sunday, May 31, 1998. Meetings across the FUM constituency are invited to sign up for a Chain of Prayer day during which time participants will focus their prayer on FUM ministries.
The deadline to register to participate in the Chain of Prayer is November 3, 1997. Packets will be available that will provide accompanying materials such as children's and youth lessons on prayer, reproducible bulletin folders, poster, sign-up sheet, a guide for prayer and FUM prayer concerns. The packet can be purchased for $10. A letter of invitation to be a part of the FUM Chain of Prayer has been sent to your clerk and/or pastor.
Making prayer a greater focus of our meetings will help us mature in our relationship with God. For more information, contact Mary Glenn Hadley at Friends United Meeting.
Jamaica Yearly Meeting
Jamaica Yearly Meeting holds its sessions in a most beautiful setting overlooking the Caribbean. As people gathered for the 1997 sessions, it was clear many are ready to move forward in spreading the message of Jesus Christ on the island.
A highlight of each day was the "Quaker-Watch" session, focusing on different aspects of living our faith in the world. At least two sessions each day were devoted to worship and evangelistic preaching. These times of worship created the setting for God's call to integrity in business and ministry.
The yearly meeting heard a report of a fact-finding committee appointed last year to evaluate conditions at the Swift-Purscell and Lyndale Homes under the supervision of the Friends Education Council. This report revealed problems that were addressed openly with follow-up scheduled.
My personal visit to the Homes was an encouragement. Much improvement is noted in the buildings at both Homes. Dorrell Blake, superintendent at Lyndale continues to improve the program for the girls. A new "great room," built through the help of Christian Service International, now provides a lovely living area for relaxation and study. Derrick Worrell has made large strides toward the improvement of Swift-Purscell in his short tenure as superintendent. With a local board active in the affairs at Swift, they have remodeled several buildings and improved the child/adult ratio to better care for the boys' needs.
David and Shauna Goode have accepted a call to serve in the pastorate of the Highgate Friends Meeting and chaplain at the Homes. Through their leadership, tutoring is being provided in both homes two to three times a week. A vacation Bible school held in July reached many children and families.
Pray that the untimely death of clerk Kenneth Josephs (see Commitments, p. 11) as we were leaving the yearly meeting will raise awareness of God's leading on other leaders. Several churches in Jamaica are asking for pastoral leadership, and both a farm manager and a short-term architect are needed. Much improvement has been made; much is still to come.
Retha McCutchen
Copyright (c) 1997 Friends United Meeting
Return to October 1997 Contents page