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Section of the Americas
| April 9, 2014
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Greetings!
"Let the Living Water Flow!
Friends Serving God's Purposes"
This has been an incredibly rich theme over the last two years. It has generated two Living Water study booklets: the first was primarily a response to the 6th World Conference and the second, in English or Spanish, is directly connected to the topics of the regional consultations this spring.
But the living water flows on. As we wind up our time with this theme, what theme will inform our work going forward? What do you think we should focus on? What does the Religious Society of Friends/Friends Church need from a Friends World Committee? Email me or leave your answers on our Facebook page. Watch for the announcement of the new theme in May!
In friendship,
Robin Mohr
Executive Secretary
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The Mustard Seed Campaign
"It is like a tiny mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the garden; it grew and became a great tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches."
Luke 13:18-19
Small donations are like mustard seeds: they can grow into much bigger things. A small group of generous, long-time supporters of the Friends World Committee have offered to double every donation by a new donor to the Section of the Americas in 2014. For example: when your gift of $10 becomes $20, your gift provides Wider Quaker Fellowship pamphlets for 5 incarcerated persons. When your gift of $100 becomes $200, your gift provides a scholarship for a young Friend to attend an FWCC conference. When your gift of $1,000 becomes $2,000, your gift brings a Bolivian minister to North Carolina, or vice versa, for intervisitation.
In the last few years, the Friends World Committee has planted a lot of seeds around the Section of the Americas. Tender sprouts are growing. Let's nurture them into great trees of faithfulness. If you have never donated, or not in the last five years, please make a donation this year. If you have donated in the last five years, invite a new Friend to make a donation this year. www.fwccamericas.org/donate
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Fourth and Final Living Water Consultation in North Carolina!
| Ashley Wilcox Freedom Friends Church |
Friends representing over 20 yearly meetings and a variety of theological traditions will learn new skills and affirm our mutual Quaker identity at the last Section Consultation of the year.
Didn't register? Join us online as we attempt our first-ever livestream, of the Friday evening presentations, including the message from Ashley Wilcox. Come to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/fwcc2014 at 7 pm Eastern Daylight Time. No password required.
Reports from the Bolivia and California Consultations will be online soon, and the report from the El Salvador Consultation is in last month's e-news. Said one participant, "I experienced unanticipated ways people can find their way to unity with each other across seemingly irreconcilable differences in theology and 'conviction'. In some ways we accomplished this in spite of ourselves. This is wonderfully encouraging."
Read more about the 2014 Consultations, and download the study booklet in English and Spanish.
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Become a Sustainer!
April 30 marks the end of our fiscal year. It's an important time for adding up a year's worth of costs and accomplishments for the Section of the Americas. But as we approach the end of this cycle, it's important to remember our work goes on year round. Some of our supporters choose to spread out their giving over twelve months, providing the Section with steady income and reduced mailing costs. The benefits to you: receive only one appeal letter per year and a written receipt every January, no searching for stamps, no forgetting. You can set up your sustaining gift with a credit card or a bank account, online or by mail. Learn more by reading the brochure.
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What is the Friends World Committee?
Do people ever ask that? If you'd like help with the answer, get a copy of our table top display sent to your yearly meeting or other gathering this year. It's free, lightweight, and attractive. It comes with a few brochures to give out and a return shipping label. To have an FWCC display sent to your yearly meeting sessions or other event, contact Evan Draper.
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