The Seventy-Eighth and Seventy-Ninth Commencement exercises of Friends Theological College—Kaimosi, celebrating the graduations of the 2020 and 2021 classes, took place in a combined in-person ceremony on Friday, 29 October 2021. Commencement ceremonies and graduation celebratory activities are a culmination of all the hard work, personal sacrifice, and determination manifested by FTC’s students and faculty. But with the Covid-19 pandemic putting every academic institution in limbo, difficult decisions were made in an effort to keep our communities safe. In 2020, FTC, like many other schools, was faced with the decision to cancel or postpone their in-person commencement ceremony due to the worldwide pandemic, leading the celebration to be re-scheduled for later dates in 2021.
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Although Shawn and Katrina McConaughey will not leave their positions as Programme Officers in Friends United Meeting’s Africa Ministries Office until March 2022, work is already beginning in the AMO transition plan. As outlined in an E-news story on October 6, the interim plan to cover some of the McConaugheys’ responsibilities after their departure is to distribute them among the AMO staff and to bring on Friends Church Peace Team Coordinator Getry Agizah in a new role as Programme Manager, in which she will coordinate the activities of the Friends Church Peace Teams and Girl Child Education Programme, while also working with the Global Ministries department and the AMO to oversee FUM’s relationships with Samburu Friends Mission and Turkana Friends Mission, including serving on both boards.
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With Wilmington College’s Quaker Heritage Center playing a leading role in identifying sites of historical interest, the Ohio Department of Transportation recently announced the creation of the Quaker Heritage Scenic Byway, a 54-mile loop through Clinton and Warren counties in southwestern Ohio.
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Getry Agizah, Coordinator for Friends Church Peace Team, recently spoke in the Living Witness of Friends Fall Conversation Series organized by Wilmington (Ohio) Friends Meeting, and open to all Friends over Zoom. Getry shared testimonies of her work in FCPT—a ministry born out of Kenyan Quakers’ response to the 2007 Kenyan election violence. FCPT continues to work to reduce violence and conflict in Kenya, whatever the causes may be. FCPT volunteers and staff have trained thousands of Kenyans in Alternatives to Violence, Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities, trauma healing, nonviolent social change, transformative mediation, and more. The Peace Team’s efforts were central to the quelling of violence between the 2007 and 2013 elections. They enabled displaced persons to move back to their homes. They worked to rebuild connections between neighbors of rival communities. The ongoing work done through this ministry literally removes the causes of war.
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During the General Board Meeting, FUM members received an update from the Planning Committee about the upcoming Triennial. The Planning Committee reported that plans are underway to host the 2023 Triennial in Kenya. Given plans for the joint gathering in 2020 were disrupted, invitations were issued to the United Society of Friends Women International and Quaker Men International to partner with FUM in the gathering. Both agreed.
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During the first retreat of the FUM African Mission Committee or Friends Africa Board of Missions (FABOM), held at Noble Hotel in Eldoret in August, the Board explored what they need to do to make mission a part of the work of the African church. During the retreat in Eldoret, it was clear that the committee needed to develop a mission, vision, and strategy for African missions. The purpose of the Friends Africa Board of Missions (FABOM) is to fuel the engagement of African Friends in fulfillment of the Great Commission across the world. The mission statement developed at the retreat directs FABOM to energize, equip, and send African Friends to mission fields to fulfill Jesus’ Great Commission through the power of the Holy Spirit.
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