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Friends United
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January-March 2008
Minutes of Concern for Kenya
Dear Friends,
Plainfield Friends have observed with alarm the tragedy of ethnic violence unfolding in Kenya since the 27 December 2007 election, and we have worried about Friends and all the people of Kenya. Then, in the middle of this brutality, we were heartened by the Quaker Peace Conference of 24-27 January 2008. Kenyan Friends are surely following God's leading, bringing Friends' testimonies to reality in a difficult world.
Some would say Kenyan Friends and American Friends are different and we are certainly separated by miles. But we want you to know that you are our sisters and brothers. We join you in prayer for a solution to the violence. We stand in unity with you, seeking the gifts of healing and reconciliation. We rejoice in your strength of commitment to bring peace and reconciliation, and we hold you in prayer during this hard time.
Endorsed by the Meeting for Worship for Business 17 February 2008
Carol Dawes, Clerk
Plainfield Friends Meeting of New England Yearly Meeting
Member of Friends United Meeting and Friends General Conference
MINUTE OF CONCERN FOR FRIENDS IN EAST AFRICA
The following minute was approved by the Permanent Board of Wilmington Yearly Meeting on the 16th day of the Second Month 2008
Friends in Wilmington Yearly Meeting have been following the news from Kenya closely. Some of us could recognize the roads we had traveled down in 2002 and 2007. As you live in this very stressful time, we express concern for your safety and well being. We pray that the Prince of Peace will truly dwell amongst you and your light will show others how to put violence and hatred aside. Our prayers are for a fair resolution in the election impasse, so that all of Kenya can move towards PEACE. We pray for spiritual and physical healing for all of those who have been wounded physically, spiritually, and emotionally.
Lois Hackney, Presiding Clerk
Wilmington Yearly Meeting
Weare Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
525 Quaker Street
Henniker, New Hampshire, 03244 USA
Greetings to all Friends in Kenya
At our monthly meeting today we again held you in our prayers and thoughts. We especially send our prayers to Friends in Kibera, where our member Darcy Drayton worked with Lindi school, and to Friends in Western Province where our member, Marian Baker was headmistress of three Friends Girls High Schools and worked with the Youth Programme (before the division into multiple yearly meetings).
As sisters and brothers in Christ we are grateful for the ways all of you have come together to act as peace-builders during this time of uneasy violence. We thank God for your witness as a peace church, training others in peace work, reconciliation and trauma healing, as well as for relief work to IDP's May our Almighty God give you strength and endurance to persevere in these difficult tasks.
We are holding a meeting within the next few weeks to explain to the public what is happening in Kenya (beyond the limited news in the local news media). We also have sent contributions both for peace work and for refugee relief work and will continue to encourage others to help.
We pray for peace to prevail as we all follow the Prince of Peace.
Signed on behalf of Weare Monthly Meeting,
In Christian fellowship,
David Erikson, Clerk
At our most recent Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business, which took place on the thirteenth day of the first month in the year 2008, Moorestown Monthly Meeting approved the following minute:
"The members of Moorestown Monthly Meeting (New Jersey, USA) are gravely concerned about the recent violence in Kenya. We stand as one with our fellow Friends in Kenya and urge all parties to search their consciences, affirm the dignity of all human beings and condemn any resort to violence. We are holding you in the Light."
Tricia Edwards, Clerk
Letter of Concern
Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
17100 Quaker Lane
Sandy Spring, MD USA
January 10, 2008
Friends in Baltimore Yearly Meeting have been following the news from Kenya closely. Some of us could recognize the places we saw in the newscasts. In your time of stress, we remember that you wrote us after 11 September 2001.
In that spirit, we express concern for the safety of Friends, those we have not met as well as those we know. In addition, two members of our Yearly Meeting, working on the Africa Great Lakes Initiative are living in Kenya. They tell us of Friends Meetings that are testifying with their works and aiding those made homeless. Both your deeds and words are life affirming, faith-filled, truth and justice-guided, peace-building, comfort-giving, repentance-seeking, and reconciliation-oriented.
We will hold you in our prayers.
Howard Fullerton
Presiding Clerk
Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
January 2, 2008
Dear Friends,
Friends in New York Yearly Meeting are deeply grieved to hear reports of ethnic violence, lack of food, and the perilous conditions in your country. We fear for the safety of those known to us and those we do not know. Our hearts and prayers go out to you in this time of crisis.
We pray that in this New Year that all Kenyans might see the Light of God in each other, and put violence and hatred aside. Friends in New York Yearly Meeting also pray for a just and peaceful resolution of the impasse over the election, so that all Kenyans can move towards a lasting peace. Finally, we are praying for those who have perished and those wounded, for healing of all those wounded physically, emotionally and spiritually in the current disruption of civil society in Kenya, that genuine healing and reconciliation can be the foundation of a strong, peaceful, and just Kenya.
In God's Love,
Ernestine Buscemi, Clerk
Christopher Sammond, General Secretary
New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends