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Section of the Americas
| August 10, 2011
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Greetings!
My first six weeks here have been delightful. I have received so many kind words and messages of support. It has been a source of strength and comfort to me and my family to learn how many people have been praying for us all over the Section of the Americas, and around the world. Many, many people have asked, "How can I help?" In the first few weeks, I didn't even know how to answer that question. But now, with slightly more experience, I have some ideas.
First, you could to five Friends you think might be interested. The very first thing we need is for more Friends to know about the good work of FWCC.
Second, you can donate money to support our ongoing programs. Small or large, every gift helps Friends to connect more widely and learn from one another more deeply.
Third, whether or not you are currently a representative of your yearly meeting, you can volunteer to help with one of our projects. We have posted a wishlist of ways anyone could assist us:
- Send suggestions for Wider Quaker Fellowship pamphlets
- Be a delegate coordinator/liaison within our Section for the upcoming World Conference of Friends
- Update our Facebook page
- Coordinate donations of frequent flyer miles
Contact us if you would like to know more or if you are ready to volunteer. There are many more suggestions on our website. Whether you want a short term project or an ongoing commitment, we need your help. Notice that most of these possibilities do not require coming in to the Philadelphia office.
Thank you for your support in so many ways. If you have further ideas or advice, please let me know.
In friendship,
Robin Mohr
Executive Secretary |
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New site for Friends and Seekers: Voices of Friends!
For people who are looking for a new religious community but just don't know that it's called Quakerism. For all those folks who take the Belief-O-Matic Quiz and find out they are Quakers but don't know what that means. For your friends and family members who you think would like to know more about Quakers. 
Voices of Friends offers clear and concise introductions to the different varieties of Friends. Beyond the introductions, it includes links to current Quaker blogs and a selection of engaging and relevant pamphlets on topics like peace, simplicity and prayer, in a searchable database and downloadable formats. For those seeking a more direct connection to Friends, our directories of Quaker meetings and churches around the world enables them to find their closest Quaker community. Brought to you by the Wider Quaker Fellowship, a ministry of FWCC to Friends and seekers. Check it out, tell your friends. www.voicesoffriends.org |
 World Conference updatesThe good news in the World Office is that the new Conference Coordinator, Marleen Schepers, started this week. You can send questions to marleens@saltandlight2012.org, but please understand that it will take some time for her to learn the answers and reply to your emails. More information for those going, or considering going, to the World Conference is availalable on the website, www.saltandlight2012.org. Check there first for the latest news and information.
We are still raising funds for the Travel Fund for Friends from outside North America to attend the World Conference in Kenya. If you would like to contribute to the fair representation of all Friends at the conference, please click here or send it to our office, marked "2012 Travel Fund". Now is a good time to start planning a discussion of the theme, "Being Salt & Light: Friends Living the Kingdom of God in a Broken World" in your local church, meeting or youth group. How is this theme relevant to your community? What does it mean to be salt or light? How are Friends living the kingdom of God? What are we doing about this broken world we live in? The official study booklet will be available to download in September, with writings from Friends around the world on this theme. |
Jamaican, Central American Friends host 'Salt & Light' events taking place right now
Having surpassed initial challenges of crossing international borders, Esteban Ajnota (National Evangelical Friends Church of Bolivia) and Leonardo Catachura (National Evangelical Friends Church of Peru) have arrived in Chiquimula, Guatemala, for a week of visits here, after leading a youth conference in El Salvador on the theme Being Salt and Light: Friends living the kingdom of God in a broken world. Raul Perez, clerk of the Yearly Meeting of the Evangelical Friends Church in El Salvador, writes: "The conference has been an opportunity to reflect on the role that as a church we must carry out, in our environment, and on the need to begin to make changes within each one of us so that this internal change can lead us to reflect on the power of God in our lives. In this way we can make a positive impact on our society."  | |
Some of the participants in 'Salt & Light' at the Tabernacle Friends Church in Chiquimula, Guatemala
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In Chiquimula, Esteban and Leonardo, both pastors, will visit and speak to churches of Guatemala Holiness Friends Yearly Meeting, the National Evangelical Friends Church of Guatemala, and Ambassador Friends Evangelical Church. Next week Honduran Friends will welcome the travelers in San Pedro Sula, San Marcos Ocotepeque and Copán Ruinas, where the speakers will address a men's gathering.
Tomorrow 'Salt and Light' in Jamaica begins, with Linda Kusse-Wolfe and David Wolfe leading a day of study of this world conference theme, as part of Jamaica Yearly Meeting sessions. Linda and David are recorded Friends ministers from University Friends Meeting in Wichita, Kansas. They carry a ministry of reconciliation among peoples of different races, classes and cultures. This led them to live and study in Qom, Iran, where they were the only publicly-declared Christians in a city of over one million inhabitants. The Holy City of Qom is the center for education for Shiite Muslim clerics. Linda and David will provide opportunities to relate their experiences to current issues of 'brokenness' that Friends in Jamaica are facing. Read more about FWCC's Salt & Light events. |
| Come to an FWCC event this fall!
All Friends are welcome at any of the local gatherings that FWCC is planning this fall as a prelude to the 2012 Sixth World Conference of Friends in Kenya. Events are coming to Indiana, Illinois, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut, and other locations still in the planning stage.
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Linda Kusse-Wolfe & David Wolfe
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David Wolfe and Linda Kusse-Wolfe will speak in early October in Urbana-Champaign, IL and Kokomo and South Bend, IN. Valerie Joy and Abel Sibonio, from Australia YM, will travel for a month speaking to the Salt & Light theme.
Valerie is the Executive Secretary of FWCC's Asia-West Pacific Section. Her international experience of Quakers worldwide has shaped her service to God. Valerie will share some
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Valerie Joy
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of the special aspects of the lives, projects, difficulties and triumphs, in the context of 'Being Salt and Light," of Friends in Asia and the West Pacific.
Abel Sibonio, Friends pastor originally from Burundi, will talk about the 'broken world' of life in refugee camps in Tanzania.
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Abel Sibonio
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He will share why he and his family migrated to Australia and how his
Quaker experience has carried him through the difficulties of becoming established in a new country.
Stay tuned for details on each of these gatherings. Registration and information will be available on our website.
Download a flyer to post at your meeting or church.
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From QUNO: Election-related violence prevention work in Kenya
In its recent newsletter, the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO) includes a report on work that Friends in Kenya have undertaken in preparation for their 2012 elections, which are scheduled for after the World Conference of Friends. Separately, in the annual Letter of Greeting to Friends, QUNO-New York and Geneva offices report: Our aims are as they always have been: to provide a space away from the microphones for quieter and more reflective discussions on the challenges that face the international community, a place for Rufus Jones' "quiet processes and small circles" in which he hoped that "vital and transforming events" would have an opportunity to flower; to represent voices that are insufficiently heard in the corridors of power; and to work quietly to foster approaches to international problems that are informed by Quaker insights.
Quaker United Nations Offices in New York and Geneva hold consultative status as Non-Governmental Organizations at the Un  ited Nations through FWCC's World Office. Staff in each location seek to support and forward the humanitarian and peace work of the United Nations.
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 Reminder: apply for the 2012 Quaker Youth Pilgrimage If you (or someone you know) will be between 16 and 18 in the summer of 2012, and if you want an amazing experience of learning, spiritual growth and diverse Quaker community, think about being (or encouraging someone else to be) a QYP Pilgrim. The pilgrimage brings together 28 young Friends from the Section of the Americas and the Europe and Middle East Section of FWCC to explore their spiritual lives and Quakerism, while traveling together for four weeks in community with a team of four leaders. The next pilgrimage takes place July 12 - August 13, 2012, in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Pilgrims need to submit their applications by October 1, 2011. Friends who wish to be considered for adult leader positions should apply by September 15, 2011. Click here for pilgrim information and the application form. Click here for leader information and the application form. Read more about the Quaker Youth Pilgrimage program of FWCC. Download a flyer to share. Look us up on Facebook. |
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