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Friends United Meeting |
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June 1998
News From Friends United Meeting
Two Belize Workcamps: Consider Participating
Nairobi Yearly Meeting Harambee
Harambee choir shown (right)
Two Belize Workcamps: Consider Participating
VBS Outreach Team, August 8-17, 1998
Twelve to fifteen adults and young Friends will be involved in an outreach and evangelism program with the children in Belize City. The team will serve as the program staff for a five-day Vacation Bible School in Belize City.
There will be opportunities for worship in an area church and a "day off" to one of the Cays off the coast of Belize-snorkeling and swimming in the warm Caribbean or simply enjoying the sunshine in this beautiful Central American country.
Participants must possess a desire to share their personal faith in Christ with others. Having a love for children and enjoy working with them will be a definite advantage!
Nancy McCormick of Wilmington Yearly Meeting will be the team leader. Nancy and her husband, Mike, are co-pastors of the Chester Friends Meeting near Wilmington, Ohio. Nancy is familiar with the country of Belize and Belize City having done her Field Placement experience for her degree (Wilmington College) working with Sadie Vernon, and other denominations and local organizations. Nancy is currently the activities director and chaplain at Quality Quaker Management, an apartment complex for senior adults in Wilmington, Ohio.
The cost for theVBS Outreach Team will be approximately $900.00 per person. This includes round-trip airfare from Indianapolis, Indiana, to Belize City, Belize; food and lodging, local transportation, insurance, boat rental and lunch for the team's day trip to the Cays; and applicable taxes and fees. This does not include transportation to Indianapolis for the pre-trip orientation on August 7 or your return trip home from Indianapolis. A non-refundable $100 deposit must accompany your application form. Registration deadline: June 8, 1998.
Friends Boys School Work Team, November 2-15, 1998
The Friends Boys School was started just about four years ago, growing out a concern for the educational needs of those young men who do not pass the exam to move on to high school. FBS helps prepare these young men to continue their schooling.
In October, 1997, a team of ten people traveled to Belize City to work on the remodeling of the two-story building that houses the school. This two-week long work team (October 13-27, 1997) was able to do some extensive remodeling of this structure. An excellent short video about that workteam's experience is available from FUM's World Ministries office.
FUM is looking for 10-15 people, some with construction skills, to continue the project. Team members must have the physical ability to work in sunny, humid weather. Those who may not consider themselves skilled in construction can help with painting, hammering and other important tasks.
Curt Ankeny, program assistant for Outreach and Recruitment for FUM, will be leading this work team. In-country volunteers, Mike and Kay Cain and Florence Emma Peery will also be assisting the team in Belize City.
The estimated cost will be approximately $1,100.00 per person. This price includes round-trip airfare from Indianapolis, Indiana, to Belize City, Belize; food and lodging, local transportation, insurance, boat rental and lunch for the team's day trip to the Cays; and applicable taxes and fees. This does not include: your transportation costs to Indianapolis for the pre-trip orientation on November 1 or your return trip home at the conclusion of this trip; or, optional weekend trips in Belize. A nonrefundable $100 deposit must accompany your application form. Registration deadline: August 31, 1998.
Contact Curt Ankeny, (765) 962-7573
for information or a brochure.
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Youth: New York Trip
Ambassadors for Christ Seminar
November 21-25, 1998
The Ambassadors for Christ Seminar, for high school sophomores through college sophomores, will be held in New York City with the theme Global Reconciliation: Focusing on Conflict Resolution.
The seminar will be held at the United Nations and The Methodist Church Center. Young Friends and adults will act out the roles of mediator, peacemaker, and servant to those in the midst of conflict in our world and in our own neighborhoods. Friends will be introduced to the Quaker United Nations Office and will worship at 15th Street Friends Meeting. There will be opportunity to visit the NBC Studio, Empire State Building, try the Skyride, walk through Times Square and more.
This replaces the former United Nations Seminar. This year, and for the next three seminars, the focus will be on how we are called as followers of Christ to be involved "in the world." In II Corinthians 5:18-20, we are told that "God has entrusted the message of reconciliation to us! So we are ambassadors for Christ." We will be meeting in different sites such as Washington, D.C., and Atlanta for the 1999 and 2001 conferences, but the theme will remain the same.
The 1998 cost is $187 and includes registration and lodging. Through grants obtained by Friends United Meeting, this seminar is being offered at a significantly reduced price. Registration fees of $53 are due September 10, 1998, with the remaining $134 due October 15, 1998, along with an essay on, "Global Reconciliation and Our Role As Ambassadors of Christ."
Get these dates on your calendars and prepare now to attend. Perhaps
your meeting can plan some events to help raise money to make it possible
for the youth to attend. For more information, contact Mary
Glenn Hadley at Friends United Meeting (765) 962-7573.
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Work with New Meetings
In October, 1995, the General Board of Friends United Meeting approved a set of "Core Values" and goals intended to guide the formation of new Friends meetings under the umbrella of FUM.
Friends in Christ
One worship group FUM has worked with is Friends in Christ. Based in the Washington, D.C. area, they began meeting in the latter part of 1995. They contacted Friends United Meeting and Curt Ankeny, the FUM staff person with responsibilities for outreach and recruitment, paid his first visit in September, 1996. During the course of the weekend, Friends in Christ developed their own set of Core Values. They also began to look at ways of reaching out and drawing in more people. Curt made a second visit in June, 1997, to discuss how to draw in new attenders. The group decided to offer a neighborhood Bible study in an area where there was no Friends meeting. FUM provided some funding for an extensive direct mail campaign to promote these meetings.
During this third visit in late February, the core group evaluated their progress, discussed methods of following-up the visitors, and the feasibility of continuing for another eight weeks. They committed themselves to additional advertising and developed a second eight-week series of Bible studies, which concluded May 6.
Prayer Support
In addition to this sort of staff support, FUM has developed a group of individuals from each FUM yearly meeting committed to pray for specific needs of those starting new meetings and efforts such as Friends in Christ.
Demographic Studies Available
Friends United Meeting can help arrange demographic studies for new or existing groups with information about population, lifestyle diversity, household incomes, education, worship style indicators, trends and more. These studies are obtained through Percept Group. Costs begin at $250.
Friends United Meeting is currently working with several groups who are discerning the possibilities for starting new meetings in their areas. If this program could be of assistance to you, contact Curt Ankeny or Mary Glenn Hadley, Friends United Meeting for more information. Phone (765) 962-7573; e-mail Resources@xc.org.
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Nairobi Yearly Meeting Harambee
Sunday, March 19, 1998, Nairobi
Yearly Meeting (Kenya EA) hosted a harambee (fund-raiser) to benefit Friends
Theological College in Kaimosi. Honorary guest Stanley Ndezwa led the
days' activities. Nairobi Yearly Meeting, monthly meetings, village meetings
and individuals across Kenya brought contributions totaling 477803 Kenya
shillings ($7,963). Gifts from America added funds to reach the $8,558
goal. These funds are for the college's "construction" fund.
Richard and Sandy Davis, FUM Representative and principal of FTC, said, "These funds are adequate to renovate the classroom building which now leaks during the rainy season. This is a first priority on our list of construction and maintenance projects needed to bring the FTC campus up to good repair. Our dreams include improvement of the dining hall, a chapel, a larger library building, livable student dorms and staff housing."
Copyright (c) 1998 Friends United Meeting
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