New England Friends Womensilhouette of quaker woman

United Society of Friends Women

February 2006

Blessed Are Those Who Struggle

For all of those of us who live in the Northeast this has been a lurching sort of winter and we look anxiously to see if this is yet another sign of global warming. On all fronts there are signs that show us that we need to stay close to our guide and look for ways that our discernment of God’s love in our service may work to heal the world’s wounds. I have come to see that those who have done this most faithfully are not necessarily the quick, flashy and charismatic individuals who work in a whirlwind drawing after them people who do their bidding for their vision. Their accomplishments crumbling when they can no longer personally lead the efforts they so arduously worked to build for they did not allow for the initiative of other’s vision and did not look to make others strong in the organization so that they could become dispensable. Rather I look to those who do the work of building community in which the service of many can thrive and grow each according to the call God has given them.

These are people whose characters are such that the work they do is larger than themselves. They seek to minimize their importance to their work and other people’s dependency on them. They look for ways of working that enable those who would join them in their work to grow in understanding and discernment. For Quakers this means encouraging each other to create habits of prayer and contemplation through which we can listen and discern what God would have us do or not do! In this process we learn to recognize each other’s striving for discernment and seek counsel together in prayer and contemplation. With these tools of the spirit we can forge ways of working within our budding communities of concern and discover ways of working that ensure that divine guidance is at the center of all we do. Because it is about the Spirit and not about us, we become open to hearing that the path we have taken that day strays from the work God would have all our efforts go towards. We rejoice in the making of new wine skins even if it means that the skins we have so arduously made needs to be laid aside so that a new one can be crafted which can better hold what God has to give.

I cannot think of a harder thing to do than to build a community around a concern. When I look at the Kakamega Orphanage Project in Kenya I see strong women each with their own gifts and distinct personalities coming together to build something that is greater than themselves. At many points in this venture this project could have gone the way of many good efforts of service in the world where individual personalities and their particular visions become more important than the work, or the harboring of grudges or disagreements more important than the hard, hard task of seeking forgiveness and new understandings. When this happens there are splits and the work of an organization is drastically, often fatally, weakened. I have listened with admiration, awe, and joy to the stories of struggle that have come from the Kakamega project where they have discovered that there are no final solutions or final mistakes, only the continuous joy of working at being a part of the dynamic creation of God’s making.

For who among us does not make mistakes? I do not want to hear about a never-ending parade of successes with none of the struggle. Give me the mistakes and the lessons learned that I might have the hope of redemption offered within a community. Show me how a group led by the light of God within the multitude of his peoples can steer a course together, for there lies the future of humankind and the making of the kingdom of heaven on earth!



Please come to our next United Society Friends Women’s meeting in Durham, Maine May 7th following the rise of Durham Monthly Meetings worship and social time. Sukie Rice will be speaking about the Kakamega Orphanage Project. And women, bring your men friends to this portion of our meeting, for do we not all need to learn from each other?

Darcy Drayton

Clerk NEYM USFW

2/23/06


Minute Excerpts: USFW NEYM November 6, 2005

Thirteen people were present for the Fall USFW meeting held at Monadnock

Friends meeting house in Jaffrey, NH.

1. Minutes from the August meeting were approved.

2. Dorothy Hinshaw reported on the USFW International meeting held in Richmond, IN on October 6 & 7, 2005, with the theme "woven into a tapestry of love" from Galatians. The Advocate is on sale to yearly meeting officers: $25 for three years.

3. Clarabel Marstaller gave a treasurer's report.

Friends approved her recommendation to remove $100 from dues to USFW International and add it to the newsletter.

Friends minuted appreciation to Clarabel for her work as treasurer, and to Ann Armstrong for doing a great job on the newsletter.

4. Various fund raising projects were discussed.

For the winter appeal, Eden and James Grace and John Muhanji will be asked to write a short article to include in the New England USFW newsletter.

Darcy Drayton will contact the Graces to ask them to write it. She will ask them to let us know how much money is needed to support them, and how much to support John, so we can make decisions how to allocate monies raised.

The spring appeal will be dedicated to the feeding program for orphans in Kenya.

5. Dorothy Hinshaw will check to see if USFW appeals and/or announcements of meetings and programs can be printed in in the New England Friend.

6. Friends agreed to ask Nancy Shippen to speak at the spring program about her work in Kenya with the Alternatives to Violence Program.

7. Friends closed the meeting, agreeing to meet again on Sunday, May 7, in Durham, ME, God willing.

Margaret Hawthorne

CONSIDERING OUR MISSION....

The USFWI handbook states our purposes as being "...to share in the mission of the church everywhere, to stimulate spiritual development, to cultivate Christian stewardship, to nurture education for mission among Friends,including youth and children. Through study and active participation in the program of the United Society of Friends Women International, we increase our concerns for the needs of those around us."

When I think of USFW members in New England I am struck by the great variety in the women who belong and the varied ways we substantiate our individual and corporate witness. The unifying elements is the conviction that Christ asks us to open our hearts, minds, and spirit and yield the energies that come forth thereby to his service and direction, and we do that in a many different ways.

For some it is the training of all our skills and abilities in a specific career and going out to the world as a Christ bearer through those skills. Teachers, nurses, social workers and all other helping professions come quickly to mind but we are more than that. We are artists of all varieties, scientists, service workers, friends, wives, widows, mothers, daughters, aunts, nieces, and even more than I can name here.

It strikes me that at our core, whoever and wherever we are, we are dedicated to healing. Healing the wounds of others whether they be psychological, social or physical in nature.

Certainly the life and example of Jesus's miracles reveal the importance he placed on healing and the beatitudes confirm that. Jesus feeding the poor, curing the ill, spending time and energy serving the needs of others cannot be overlooked as how much he valued them. In fact, there are many more examples of this witness then there are of political confrontation per se. Yet in the big picture the acts of serving which he demonstrates are truly revolutionary in that they empower people whose situations have prevented them from living to their fullest capacity. And that is what vested interests and those wielding power to benefit themselves fear most of all; a strong confident and able populace which is not easily cowed and driven often spells trouble for those who seek dominance and control.

So how does this apply to us? Well, I think we who serve others wherever we are and however best we can are following in the footsteps of Jesus even as we know it is the Christ who does the healing. We may be lead to work with those needing us at home or those far away whose needs we hear and cannot ignore. We just have to be still, be open and listen, trusting that we will be given all we need to accomplish our tasks.

I give thanks that in my life and through my membership in USFW I see many other women doing just that and it strengthens me and I gratefully acknowledge it.

Barbara Sturrock

Martin Luther King Day, St. Paul’s Church, Concord, NH - January 16, 2006

I was here in Concord the day our Governor, Jeanne Shaheen, signed into NH law the holiday called Martin Luther King Day. I was amazed at how good I felt. And, because it took so long for New Hampshire to recognize his achievements, I stood there waiting, holding my breath. I thought, it can’t be this easy. It hasn’t been that easy. It continues not to be that easy.

Remembering MLK, and remembering my own life as a child, I never expected to BE somebody. There were more people telling me that because I was “colored”, I could not be the teacher I wanted to be. I knew I could think, but without a model or known history of struggling with change, I doubted that I had what it took; I was afraid. Dr. King was not popular in my community. He was seen as a rabble rouser, a ‘Freedom Rider” putting all those black people on a bus to cause trouble! People close to me and my community were telling me that those who were not making it in their lives were dumb, slow and lazy, or were not interested in community concerns.

In high school, I would not be allowed to attend college-track courses. When I protested that my grades proved that I could do the work, my guidance counselor reminded me that I was colored. He said, “Your husband will leave you; so therefore, you need a trade, or you will end up on welfare”. I was not even allowed to attend general courses because I might find my way to college through the back door. Choice not being an option, I played every business machine I could get a hold of as though I were playing a piano. At that time, I did not understand that the roots of my own anger and violence laid somewhere between artificial barriers, being humiliated, and my own frustration.

I would like to think that my high school experience did not follow me. It was too many years ago to look back now. However, now that I am a psychotherapist, and while working with parents, guidance counselors, employees and employers, it is difficult to witness the remaining injustice, barriers, and denial. These constructs require us to work toward better solutions. Could I ever dream today of having the courage and persistence that MLK showed and shared with the people that surrounded him during the days of marching and sit-ins? Jailed almost 20 times, if not more, he wrote that the lonely jail gave him the time to reflect on the passions of his focus, the dismantling of racism.

He spoke for organizing to remove racial barriers, for having the freedom to sit in the front of a bus, use a lunch counter, a clean lavatory, or vote without considerable concern for your physical welfare; he encouraged us to do that which others would not expect. He spoke to blacks and other minorities asking them not to swallow the racism that stops us from living peaceful lives, lives that promote our own health and welfare. He encouraged us to keep our dignity and to organize, non-violently, to lessen our racial burdens. He encouraged us to accept our place as intelligent human beings, and use our skills to the betterment of humanity. It was not until I began studying the implications of domestic violence and sexual assault that I got a new understanding of MLK and what he meant as he spoke about the three dimensions of life.

Let us not be afraid. Dr King tells us through his sermon, at New Covenant Baptist Church in Chicago on April 9, 1967, that there are three dimensions of life. He was speaking to people of color. He said that if we want to be complete, we need to pay attention to these three dimensions: 1/ to accept ourselves as we are—and we must allow ourselves to celebrate and cherish our completeness. We must not try to be white. We must work with a concern for our best interest, beginning with where we are. 2/ Let’s look to building and completing goals; and, 3/ He says that to continue our work, to nurture our spirits, we need to continue working on” the outward concern for the welfare of others.”

Dr. King is not talking about negative self interest. No matter what racial identity you have, he is saying that unless we learn to love and help ourselves, we will not be able to move out of our own misery to help anyone else. He says…

If you can’t be a pine on the top of a hill

Be a scrub in the valley, but be

The best little scrub on the side of the hill,

Be a bush if you can’t be a tree.

If you can’t be a highway just be a trail

If you can’t be the sun be a star;

It isn’t by size that you win or fail—

Be the best of whatever you are.

And when you do this, when you do this, you’ve mastered the length of life.

When a thought or expectation remains an unwritten, an unchallenged law influences our behaviors, judgments, and our interactions. When it is accepted by the rest of our community, we say it has been institutionalized. Our racism is institutionalized when women of color are seen as seductive and when blamed for being raped. Our racism is institutionalized when cross the street because a young black man is coming toward us. What are we expecting? Our racism is institutionalized when we, the persons of color, are discouraged enough not to protect or to advocate in our own behalf. Our racism is institutionalized when we expect people of color not to expect to return to their homes because our government wants to take it by eminent domain; and they explain-- for the good of the community.

Are the things that MLK spoke about still happening today?

Anita Mendes,

World Day of Prayer, March 3, 2006 -

Friend Marian Baker, at whose house in New Hampshire I'm presently staying has alerted me to the annual World Day of Prayer (WDP). Marian actively contributes to the celebration in her town. WDP worship is given shape by women of a different country each year; this year, it is South Africa's turn, with the theme, "Signs of the Times." Every year's theme is also expressed in a specially created visual image lending itself to prayerful contemplation of the theme. This year it is a pair of African hands holding forth a flaming-red object in the shape of a ribbon tied in a bow, the symbol for the HIV AIDS pandemic.

The World Day of Prayer grew out of a movement of American and Canadian church women in the 19thcentury,from a need to balance the male emphasis in mission work at the time. The current WDP brochure names the women's concerns as they evolved over the years: Care for women and children (1861); the role of prayer (1881); Christian unity (ecumenism; 1897);study as everyone's responsibility (1900); interdenominational structures for attending to social issues (1908); celebration of women's commitment to ecumenical cooperation and local and global linkage (1910). After World War I, the concern for world mission became linked with the concern for world peace (1918). By 1928the World Day of Prayer had come into being:.A statement from the WDP Committee of that year says:

The circle of prayer has expanded literally around the world We have learned the great lesson of praying with, rather than for, our sisters of other races and nations, thus enriching our experience and releasing the power which must be ours if we are to accomplish tasks entrusted to us.

Two years later, the first woman outside of the U.S., Helen Kim of Korea, was chosen to write the order of worship for WDP 1930. An International Committee for the coordination and planning of the WDP was formed in 1968 and has met every four years since then. Women in 180 countries are participating in WDP at this time.

The current WDP brochure states: "Through World Day Of Prayer, women affirm that prayer and action are inseparable and that both have immeasurable influence in the world."

In this year's Worship Bulletin prepared by the WDP Women of South Africa, I find I enter especially into this prayer:

All you big things, praise the Lord. Drakensberg and Table Mountain, Indian and Atlantic Oceans, Yellow-wood,Oak and Baobab trees...
Praise the Lord and bless His name.

All you tiny things, praise the Lord. Busy red ants and lurking ticks, wriggling tadpoles and pestering mosquitoes...
Praise the Lord and bless his name.

All you sharp things, praise the Lord. Cactus thorns and prickly pears, aloe leaves and high-heeled shoes...
Praise the Lord and bless his name.

All you soft things, praise the Lord. Golden ripe mangoes; sponges and moss, babies' skin, cuddly toys and porridge...
Praise the Lord and bless: his name.

All you sweet things, praise the Lord. Apples, peaches and blueberry jam, young people's dreams and old people's good wishes...
Praise the Lord and bless his name.

All you swift things, praise the Lord. Lightning and swallows flit through the sky, traffic on highways and speeding ambulances...
Praise the Lord and bless his name.

All you slow things, praise the Lord. Huge big elephants and bony old cows, tortoises. snails and patients on crutches... Praise the Lord and bless his name.

All you loud things, praise the Lord. Thunder, midnight drums and taxis, hail and rain on aluminum roofs...
Praise the Lord and bless his name.

All you quiet things, praise the Lord. A gentle breeze in the midday heat, sleeping babies and fish in the sea, women who care and suffer and weep...
Praise the Lord and bless his name.

All you spiritual things, praise the Lord. Uplifting music and singing psalms, Bible studies and gospel praise, preaching the Word and receiving God's gifts...
Praise the Lord and bless his name.

All you created things, praise the Lord! Our planet earth and its orbiting moon, our galaxy with its systems of suns, all the universe - both known and unknown...
Praise the Lord and bless his name!

Heidi Blocher

African Ministries Office in Kisumu Kenya

Overview of our ministry

Friends United Meeting has established an Africa Ministries office in Kisumu, Kenya, for the purpose of better enabling FUM's ministry in Africa. The office is headed by FUM's Africa Ministries Representative John Muhanji, of Nairobi Yearly Meeting. Eden and James Grace of New England Yearly Meeting serve as international field staff in the office. The Africa Ministries office is one of the manifestations of restructuring by Friends United Meeting to put the different areas of FUM's global constituency on a more equal footing.

It is exciting to be here at the start of such a venture, and the potential for making a positive impact is very large. When the North American missionaries turned over control of the Quaker missions in East Africa to the Africans in the 1940's, there was a single East Africa Yearly Meeting. There have since been divisions and separations -- some very difficult, and some quite natural and easy -- to the point where there are now 16 FUM member yearly meetings in East Africa. But there has been no single place in Africa to coordinate the work among these yearly meetings and to coordinate their participation in FUM.

Plans for the next two years

Together with the Africa Ministries representative John Muhanji and under the guidance of an advisory committee formed by representatives from all of the FUM Yearly Meetings in Africa, we plan in the next two years the following activities to support FUM's four priorities of evangelism, leadership training, global partnerships and communication:

Thank You

We are very grateful for those in New England and elsewhere that have supported our ministry with Friends United Meeting in Africa. We have been blessed with prayers and gifts from many of you, and we are very grateful for these blessings.

As we start our second year of ministry in Africa, we are mindful of the many blessings in our lives. One blessing for which we are especially grateful is the opportunity to be at this time in this position of service. The Quakers in Africa are clear and unabashed in their faith in God through Jesus Christ. Yet they seek renewal in their worship services. They seek increased transparency and good order in their church government. They seek revitalization of their hospitals and schools.

Many of the resources they need can be found here in Africa. Where the church leaders need training or where the hospital administrators need guidance, there are resources within the African Friends community to fill these needs. The Africa Ministries office here in Kisumu under the leadership of John Muhanji is coordinating these resources and addressing the needs expressed by the FUM Yearly Meetings of Friends in Africa. We are honored to be international field staff working to assist in this worthy enterprise.

We are also facilitating international assistance for Friends United Meeting projects in Africa. James is currently managing a project to build staff housing at Lugulu Hospital, funded by the U.S. government through their USAID program. He also serves as secretary on the new board of Kaimosi hospital as we seek to revitalize that institution. We have hosted and made local arrangements for international visitors who have come here to serve those in need. Each month we process donations to specific FUM projects and distribute them to their respective missions.

To USFW of NEYM

It is very timely for NE USFW to be considering how it can financially support the work of John, Eden and me on behalf of Quakers in Africa. Thank you! Money is a big need right now.

There are funds that enable us to do our ministry. One is the Graces' ministry account at FUM which pays Eden's and my salary and all business expenses that we incur personally (travel, hospitality, etc.) The other source is FUM's general budget, which funds all other Africa Ministries expenses (office rent & utilities, John's salary and expenses, a small program budget for hospital board meetings, yearly meeting leader training, etc.) Both sources of funds are in need at the moment. Last we knew, our ministry fund was in a deficit of over $10,000. We recently sent out an appeal (which I hope you got), so we hope this will reduce the deficit. But we still need more, not only to break even but to finish our second year!

As far as the FUM general fund goes, you may have heard of its problems. Budgets have been cut, both in Richmond and here. We have little program fund left, which has limited the amount of programming we can do outside of what is self-funding. The areas that are most affected are leadership training and publications (e.g., printing Quaker Life in Africa.) The need for the FUM general fund is great and I wouldn't know how to quantify it. Any support would be much appreciated.

My suggestion is that you raise money for both our ministry account and for the FUM general fund to support our work here. You could split the money you raise 50/50 between the two, or split it by any other ratio that makes sense to you.

Eden and I would be delighted to speak at USFW during yearly meeting. Please sign us up! John won't be in the U.S. during August this year.

James Grace

This issues appeal is for Eden and James Grace and John Muhanji. It is also time for annual dues.

Contributions can be sent to USFW of NEYM PO Box 1401 Shirley MA 01464. Please include the following information.

Enclosed please find a total of $________________________

Please use it as specified below:

_________________ Eden and James Grace and John Muhanji in the Kenyan office of FUM (see previous article)

_________________ Contribution to the General fund of USFW of NEYM

_________________ Annual dues to NEYM USFW (please check the appropriate line below)

___ $8 I don’t want a subscription to The Advocate . If you don't already subscribe please reconsider.

___ $18 Please send my subscription to The Advocate to the following address:

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

Checks should be made out to "USFW of NEYM"



The dues are two tiered: $8 to cover the cost of the NE newsletter and dues to USFWI, or $18 to cover the above and a subscription to The Advocate, the bimonthly publication of United Society of Friends Women International. We really encourage all of you to get The Advocate since it is a great source of inspiration and information about Friends women around the world. Of course contributions to the general fund of USFW of NEYM are always welcome.