Some of our readers already know that Friends United Meeting–Belize consists of a school, Belize Friends School, a church, Belize Friends Church, and a community center, Belize Friends Center. Do you know the people who do the work there? Do you know how the school intends to make the biggest impact on the lives of their students? Do you know how many people come to church on a Sunday morning? Do you know the ways in which the Friends Center reaches out into its community?
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In recent weeks, I have been sharing reflections about the recent FUM-sponsored pastoral care trip to Ramallah Friends School. During our week there, we had the privilege of visiting classrooms, engaging with teachers, and connecting with the students. Amidst the ongoing conflict and its inherent stresses, our students are a ray of light. Their brilliance and kindness, in my opinion, truly represent the world's hope for a more peaceful and stable Middle East and beyond. It's inspiring to note that nearly all Ramallah Friends School graduates—an impressive 98%—go on to pursue higher education, both within Palestine and at universities across Europe, Canada, and the United States.
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Have you heard or read this quote from Howard Thurman? “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Thurman’s quote came to mind on a recent Wednesday evening, listening to Colin Saxton deliver his message for the Perkins Family Lecture hosted by Earlham School of Religion. Colin repeatedly invited us to think about the question George Fox raised: Friends all everywhere, in the life and power of God live and dwell, and spread the truth abroad. Quench not the spirit, but live in love and unity one with another; that with the wisdom of God ye may all be ordered to God's glory... And live all as the family of God in love, in life, in truth, in power…George Fox, Epistle 150 Saxton wrote in his essay: “Do I live in the Life and Power? Do you? Do we, as the Religious Society of Friends? I want this reality to become radically true in my experience. Even more, I long to belong to a community that hungers and thirsts for this same reality, as we proclaim and demonstrate the peaceable kingdom.”
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Genesis 22:9 – 9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. The blunder many believers make I to think that, the last thing that God wants from them is the sacrifice of death, but when we carefully look at the passage above, we realize that God is interested on the sacrifice through death which enables us to do what Christ Jesus did.
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Mathew 4:19 - He said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people!” For us to become effective co-workers with Christ, we must come to a place of fully accepting our ministry call. 1 Thess. 5:23 – Now may the God of peace himself make you completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Your whole spirit… the great mystical work of the Holy Spirit is in the less bright side of our personality which we can get at. This is what David thought when he wrote Psalm 139 and said – “though art the God of the early Mornings, the God of the late nights, the God of the mountain peaks and greater depth than any sea in nature – You are the God of all these, be my God. I cannot reach the depth of the horizons of my soul without you. Take my hand and lead me in ways everlasting.
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In the physical realm, none of us wants to abide (stay, remain, live) in the darkness. When they were young, my children feared that an approaching storm might cause us to lose power and be cast into darkness. Explaining that it would be temporary didn’t give them much comfort. But a flashlight placed in their hand seemed to do the trick. Having a light with them gave them reassurance that they would not be left in the dark...
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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.
