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Section of the Americas
| March 15, 2013
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Greetings!
Do you remember how you first heard of the Friends World Committee? I do. I was a new attender at 15th Street Meeting in New York, and a visiting Friend told me about the Wider Quaker Fellowship. A few years later, I heard more about FWCC at Pacific Yearly Meeting in California.
In 2007, I was invited to co-lead a workshop at the Section Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island. It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know the wider family of Friends, and I had so much fun. In fact, I wrote about it in Friends Journal that fall, Convergence among Friends: From the Kitchen to the Parlor. And I've been telling people about that experience several times in the last week as I prepare for this year's Section Meeting.
When was the last time you told someone about the Friends World Committee, or one of our programs that matters to you? Think about how you'll do that this week. Tell us how it goes on our Facebook page. Don't keep the good news about Friends to yourself.
In friendship,
Robin Mohr
Executive Secretary
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Section Meeting in full swing. You can still come to the Saturday program, Let the Living Water Flow!
On Saturday, March 16, we will pause from business meetings at the Section of the Americas Meeting now in session in Indiana, for a dynamic program on the theme "Let the Living Water Flow: Friends Serving God's Purposes." This will be followed by a showing of the "Salt and Light" documentary from the Sixth World Conference and a celebration of FWCC's 75th anniversary, complete with cake and ice cream. You can still come but please register here to let us know.
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Committee of Latin American Friends in session in Indiana
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Friends, below, at the start of the Section of the Americas Meeting at Waycross Episcopal Camp and Conference Center in Morgantown, Indiana.
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Don't miss the Living Water program coming to your area soon
Opportunities are coming to New England, Tennessee, Colorado and California this month for more FWCC programs on the theme Let the Living Water Flow! Friends Serving God's purposes.
Three events are taking place on the same day in three different locations. On Saturday, March 23 the "Living Water" program will flow in to Portland, ME; Denver, CO and Memphis, TN.
- John Fitzgerald (below, L) and Simon Lamb, both Irish Friends, will speak at Portland Friends Meeting in conjunction with New England Yearly Meeting's Mid-Winter Gathering. This event is now closed because it has reached capacity, and registrations are no longer being accepted.
 
- Cristela Martinez (El Salvador YM) and David Millar (Canadian YM) will be at Memphis, TN Friends Meeting. Sign up here or contact David Ciscel.
- Ramon Gonzalez Longoria will speak in Denver to English and Spanish-speaking congregations in Rocky Mountain and Intermountain yearly meetings. Later in the month Ramon travels to Southern California to speak at East Whittier Friends Church (Evangelical Friends Church Southwest), Santa Monica and Orange Grove Friends Meetings (Pacific Yearly Meeting). Click here for more information.
In April Esther Mombo of Nairobi (Kenya) Yearly Meeting will come to Portland, OR and Greensboro, NC to continue spreading the Living Water. See our website for details including dates and locations.
  
L to R: Ramón González Longoria; Cristela Martínez; David Millar.
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Meet the Central Executive Committee: me mbers of the Asia-West Pacific Section
Continuing our series on the world governing body of FWCC, we would like to introduce you to the clerk of the Asia West Pacific Section (AWPS), Patricia Macgregor from Yearly Meeting of Aotearoa New Zealand. Patricia, on the right, plays tennis regularly. The Executive Secretary of the Asia West Pacific Section is Ronis Chapman from Australia Yearly Meeting. She is an avid hiker, biker and film goer. She and her husband Michael have two adult daughters. Both Ronis and Patricia have been involved in Friend's activities for many years as well as in their local and national communities. This Section includes countries where yearly meetings, independent monthly meetings and developing mission fields are present, including but not limited to Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, India, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines and Hong Kong. |
Quaker United Nations Offices: New York and Geneva
In Geneva, the QUNO staff are collaborating more than ever to bring their varied expertise on the human impacts of climate change, food and agriculture policy, human rights and refugees, peace and disarmament to bear on UN policies regarding natural resources, conflict and cooperation. They are raising awareness of how humans have primarily cooperated, around water especially, in order to circumvent future militarization of natural resources. Read more in Steven Heywood's paper, Diverting the Flow: Cooperation over international water resources.
Applications are due March 11, 2013 for the Geneva International Summer School for young adults ages 20-26. The Summer School, July 7-19, 2013, provides an introduction to the work of the United Nations, as seen through the programs of QUNO Geneva. Applicants do not have to be members of a Quaker meeting or church.
In New York, the QUNO staff are continuing their work on building understanding of the role of civil society in peacebuilding and reconciliation work in Africa and Asia. Increasingly, they are focused on influencing the definition of the Post 2015 Millenium Development Goals to include greater attention to inclusive, restorative and non-violent approaches in fragile and conflict-affected states.
The Program Assistant positions offer a chance for two recent college graduates to spend a year in our New York office to learn about the United Nations, NGOs, and Quaker international affairs work, For more information about the positions, please click here. Deadline for applying is April 2, 2013.
Read more about the Quaker United Nations Office.
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