In Samburu, Kenya, pastor Christopher Leduma, from Samburu Friends Mission, facilitated a one-day transformative dialogue called by Samburu community members who are tired of bandits from rival Samburu communities attacking familes and stealing their animals.
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Each year on Pentecost weekend Friends United Meeting hosts a retreat, Stoking the Fire, inspired by Acts 2:1–4: “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” Inspiration for this year’s Stoking the Fire came from The Four Pivots, a book by Shawn Ginwright. In the introduction Ginwright writes, “Our real power comes from the courage to deal with our fractured relationships, the vulnerability to acknowledge our hurt feelings, and the awareness to know when our ego shows up.” . . . This year at Stoking the Fire we looked directly at how each of us might be able to, as Isaac Penington wrote, “Give over thine own willing. Give over thine own running. Give over thine own desiring to know or be anything, and sink down to the seed which God chose in thy heart...”
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The Friends Church Kenya (FCK) inaugurated its formal constitution in an auspicious ceremony held in Poroko-Highland Yearly Meeting. The ratification took place after an intensive development process that involved representatives from all Yearly Meetings in Kenya. The Yearly Meeting representatives participated in a robust and dynamic discussion over several meetings, ultimately arriving at the completed document that was approved and launched in April during the FCK Triennial.
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The Fall 2019 issue of Quaker Life, on justice, is in the mail and on shelves now. In the Bible, justice has to do with land and labor and family structures; with ownership and employment; with widows, orphans, and immigrants; with food and water and housing; with access to God at the Temple—with everything, material or spiritual, that is required for a human being to thrive. God cares for ALL of what God has created, and therefore shows a special regard for the weak and the marginalized for whom society cares less. And since God shows a special regard for the weak and the poor, a corresponding quality is required of God’s people. God’s people must also be especially concerned with equity and fairness in society and economy, with guaranteeing every creature’s access to the necessities of life: to water, food, health, respect, attention, kindness, helpful community, and the opportunity to draw near to God. As a foundation for life together, justice is a vast and widening gyre, and our authors in this issue explore the theme from many angles.
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“What is this community worth to you?” By “community,” I mean the spiritual family that sustains, nurtures and inspires us in our faith. It includes those mentors, teachers, and examples who spur us on toward love and godliness. I am referencing the faith laboratory in which we get to practice (often with great regularity!) the essential disciplines...
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The notion that all our resources belong to God is integral to the message of simplicity. Where Roger excelled—and helped me find that missing and liberating element within simplicity—was in generosity. Roger loved to give, and he did so with a spirit of joy and gratitude for being able to partner in God’s work in the world.
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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.
