FUM News

Lawrence Monthly Meeting partners with Kalongolomoe Friends Church and Turkana Friends Mission, FUM

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.

Sir Michael Barber KB visits the Ramallah Friends School

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!).

Letter From Friends Theological College

On November 22, 2024, the eighty-second graduation ceremony at Friends Theological College was a resounding success. During the 2023–2024 academic year, a total of 139 students graduated across various programs: Certificate in Pastoral Ministry, Diploma in Theology, Advanced Certificate in Chaplaincy, and Bachelor of Theology. This milestone is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our students and the entire FTC community, who worked tirelessly to make this event a memorable one. The ceremony was well attended by distinguished guests from diverse sectors, including churches, Yearly Meetings, the corporate world, other academic institutions, and representatives from the national government. Our guest speaker, Hon. Meshack Onzere Mulongo, the Vihiga County County Executive Committee Member for Environment, Water, Energy, Natural Resources, and Climate Change, graced the occasion by delivering an inspiring address. He encouraged the graduates to take up the mantle of leadership and become problem-solvers within their churches and communities.

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FUM Journal

Thirty Days of Prayer - Day Eighteen

The Psalmist says that, “it’s good and pleasant for brethren to dwell together in unity. This attracts God’s blessing (Psalm 133). Our gathering together as FUM, QMI, and USFWI will touch God’s heart and cause as to have an open heaven with showers of blessing and at the end of the gathering each one of us will have a story of praise to the Lord.

Thirty Days of Prayer - Day Seventeen

Mark 4:10 – “When he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables”. Sometimes allows situations in our lives that would call for a time of solitude with Him. God may allow this by affliction, temptation, heartbreak, disappointment, sickness or by simply thwarting affection by a broken relationship by a loved one. When He gets us absolutely alone, and we are dumbfounded by the situation and we cannot even ask a question – then He begins to expound and make things clearer to our minds so that we can know Him better. When you look at the life of Jesus Christ with the disciples, it was the disciples who were perplexed by His deeds and not the crowds outside.

Thirty Days of Prayer - Day Fifteen

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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An Enduring Truth

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.