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On the 15th of December Belize Friends Church held a Christmas party, with 47 participants. The toddlers were running around laughing and playing. The children and teenagers occupied the largest table with their heated discussions and loud laughter. Mothers were helping and engaging in conversations, disciplining their toddlers and enjoying. The young adults came in with big smiles on their faces. Carrols were playing in the background. There was Christmas at Belize Friends Church. When everyone had finally gathered (hours after we started to pick the first group) there was sharing of the meaning of Advent, and Jesus Christ, born as hope into our darkness. And for a few seconds everything turned completely silent, with the message in our hearts, that Jesus Christ came as a light of hope to the darkness of the south side of Belize City. With a full church hall, and hearts overflowing with thankfulness to God, we could glimpse the impact that Belize Friends Church has on this community.
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As Way opened, Lawrence Meeting became further connected with Friends in Turkana. With additional assistance from Muchuma Niva, of The Evangelical Friends Church of Nashua NH (NEYM), we began to learn about the water needs of Kalongolomoe Friends Church, the "Church-under-the-tree" formed in 2021 in Turkana. We visited here in Massachusetts with Getry Agizah, FUM Africa Program Coordinator, and learned more about what Friends in the Turkana Mission were doing to help others there. We met with Peter Loten'gan, the current Director of the Turkana Friends Mission, and with members of the Kalongolomoe Friends Church over zoom. Last month, Muchuma visited the area on our behalf, learning more about water needs and borehole drilling there. We eventually discerned that the best way to proceed with this project was to partner with FUM - their extensive and long term knowledge of the region, relationship with the Turkana Friends Mission, careful consideration of infrastructure in Turkana, and long term goals of equipping Friends in the region to be able to follow their own discernment of needs aligned very well with our leading. (photo: one of the many ZOOM calls with Kalongolomoe and Lawrence Friends and others!)Lawrence Monthly Meeting is a tiny meeting in cold, snowy Massachusetts on the New Hampshire border.
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Sir Michael Barber KB has been re-appointed the UK’s Envoy for Palestinian Authority Governance, in addition to his role as the adviser on Effective Delivery. Sir Michael is supporting the Palestinian Authority as it implements its vital reform agenda to strengthen its delivery capacity and improve service provision.Sir Michael has long standing experience in the education sector and attended a quaker school himself in the UK. Because of that, he had a personal interest in visiting the Friends School during his visit, and was very keen to meet with members of the school’s leadership. He was joined on this visit by Acting Consul General, Ms. Alison McEwen, the Development Director, Billy Stewart, along with other members of the team (including Dima Abdellatif, who is herself an alumnus of the school!).
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John 15:1-4 (NIV)15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. When I read about pruning it reminds me of a time when my grandfather would send us to his coffee farm to help him prune the coffee bushes. In preparation, would sharpen the pruning saw and the pruning shears and head to the farm...
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“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15: 7 ESV) My father depended on a small-scale farm he owned to provide for his family. As a child, I saw how he struggled to plough, plant, tend and harvest his maize crop amidst constantly changing weather patterns. Each year, he trusted in God to get just the right kind of harvest to feed and clothe his family, keep his five children in school and sustain his calling as a Quaker pastor. Every evening before we read scriptures and prayed, Dad impressed on us to trust in God and focus on our education in order to change our family’s fortune...
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Throughout our history, the people known as Friends (or Quakers) keep rediscovering an essential and enduring truth: There is one who speaks to our most basic needs and most significant hopes—Christ Jesus the Lord. Both individually and communally, we are learning to know and follow the Voice that guides us in the way we should go. Together, we seek to understand and obey that truth which sets us free. As a people, we share in the experience of that powerful life which makes all things new. Maybe you are searching for an authentic and transforming faith and community to call home—if so, come in and join us as we seek to know and follow Christ.
Friends United Meeting commits itself to energize and equip Friends through the power of the Holy Spirit to gather people into fellowships where Jesus Christ is known, loved, and obeyed as Teacher and Lord.
