FUM General Secretary Kelly Kellum was recently invited to be a founding member of the Covid-19 Community Corps, in company with other community, business, and faith leaders. The Corps is an initiative of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to fight against Covid-19, to increase confidence in Covid-19 vaccines, and to encourage measures to slow the spread of the disease. The inaugural meeting was held on April 1, after which Kelly wrote to staff members: “While I spend hours and hours in virtual meetings these days, it’s not every meeting that my Zoom profile is sandwiched between that of the Vice President and the Surgeon General of the United States.”
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2020 was a year filled with challenges. The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the institution as most clients cannot offset their hospital bills. This financial crisis weighs heavily on the hospital's limited resources. Staff members are also prone to contracting Covid-19, so the hospital does regular testing. To date, no staff of Friends Lugulu Mission Hospital has been diagnosed with Covid-19.
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Many members of the Friends United Meeting community in both Africa and North America have been moved by the recent deaths of David Zarembka, on April 1, and his wife Gladys Kamonya, on March 25. David and Gladys were well-known for their peace work in East Africa, and for their work for Friends, which brought them into partnership with FUM in various ways.David worked closely with FUM as an FCPT leader, as a member of the Kaimosi Hospital board, and as an FUM General Board member and triennial representative. In addition to the many remembrances that can be found online, FUM staff and representatives who worked closely with David have shared these memories with us.
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On Friday night I went to dinner with two classmates from Earlham. Between quick intakes of breath taken to counter our fatally authentic Indian dishes, our discussion turned toward how women should respond to misogyny in the workplace.
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The lessons for this Sunday describe signs of God that appear in the midst of everyday life. Joseph was an example of faithfulness, even when the signs he perceived were unclear, even mysterious. When we have been “fed with the bread of tears,” scorned and ridiculed, we long to be restored by God.
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Several years ago, I was inspired by the one of ten in the Gospel account, so I started the spiritual practice of “returning.” On a sheet of paper, I counted my many blessings, identifying places that were transformative in my life and people who have influenced and encouraged me along the way. My list became quite long. Then, when possible, I returned to those places and people to simply say, “Thank you.” I have had opportunities to return to my childhood church in Burundi, teachers, family members, pastors, colleagues, high school, friends, the youth camp where I answered the call to ministry, and other places of blessings.
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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.
