The New Year - 2016
I started 2016 visiting my baby sister, Molly, on Bainbridge Island,
WA. It is just a short ferry ride to Seattle from Bainbridge Island, WA.
Birthdays so close to Christmas are often lost in the
holidays, but mine was wonderful. I had
a safe travel birthday thousands of feet in the air on a “red eye” heading back
to Harrisonburg, VA.
Virgina or Michigan Weather
I am thinking I did not get far enough south. I was snowed in last weekend. It gave me the chance to “catch up” on my
paperwork. Extra time in my hotel room
allowed me to process through 311 emails on Saturday. The storm caused church cancellation for 1/24/16.
My car became part of a snowdrift. I have new appreciation for my garage. My car is to the left of the man shoveling
his out.
Joys of Individual Volunteer in Missions
Previous Mission Ministry Service with United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, www.umcmission.org.
I praise God for the many opportunities I have had for
service in many locations. The people of
Jordan and the Syrian refugees they welcomed, Palestine and Israel remain in my prayers. Daily injustices faced with steadfastness!
On my face book page, I shared a video by Jewish Voice for
Peace, "Decoding Israel Palestine: Apartheid."
My sister who was visiting New Orleans sent me this photo of
Weeping Angels.
My mind went to thoughts
of Angels celebrating over Bethlehem at the birth of Jesus. Now, I am sure angels weeping over the pains of
people Jesus loves. They are experiencing the
pain of denial of movement at checkpoints, homes demolished, children in prison,
home invaded by military, and further loss to settlers of land homes and
belongings. These are some of the pains of people God loves.
I honor the
commitment of the Palestinian Christians to the Way, the way of peace based on
nonviolence and honoring of international law.
I am glad to be a part of God’s answer to their prayers.
Many of you are part of the United Methodist Kairos
Response, (UMKR). This group of United
Methodists continues to work on behalf of a just peace. They are acting in many ways to answer the
call of Palestinian Christians. They
raise awareness so that my church, the United Methodist Church, will divest
from companies that hurt people God loves.
Please go to their web site,
www.kairosresponse.org
for more information.
I am happy to report that the United Methodist Pension board
has divested from some banks that were involved in funding actions of
violence. The complete story is
available on the UMKR web site.
Church World Service (CWS) Refugee Resettlement Program
Praise God with me for the opportunity to be involved with
the CWS refugee resettlement.
Three mornings a week, I am involved in cultural orientation. Everything is new for the refugees; there is
so much to learn. During this orientation,
interpreters are available. The class I
will be teaching next involves orientation to banks, ATMs, Post Office,
mailing, rental leases, budgeting and money values. All these topics are covered in one
hour!
Last week a CWS Sarah Alice asked me if I could substitute,
show the CWS Power-point and teach the Cultural Orientation lesson on
Employment and Job Interviews. I said
yes very quickly! At one point in my
career with the State of Michigan, I had been an employment specialist for the Department
of Labor. I enjoyed the memories this
teaching brought back, of the lessons I taught on the same subject back then. I laughed when I realized that was thirty-three
years ago. “Oh My” even before Sarah Alice
was born.
The second hour on the three mornings is English class. We make an effort to teach the words related
to the cultural orientation topic of the day.
My heart continues to go out to the refugees. They have been through so much, and now so
much to learn and do. Just getting
around on the buses with babies is tough.
I am glad I can help with transportation for some events. My child is 49 years old, so struggling to
get the child restraint seats in properly and everyone belted in is a new
struggle for me.
What fun the children have when we go to the Children’s
Museum. Mothers and I make efforts to
communicate as we watch the toddlers play.
How fun it was to find some Kurdish words that are the same
in English. The word “horn” is the
same.
On the way home from the museum a week ago the mother asked
me if I would stop at the grocery store.
At least that is what I thought she said. It became obvious through our game of
charades that I was driving to a store, and neither of knew the location. I stopped driving and took the GPS out of the
trunk. However, it did not find a store
with the name I think she said.
Fortunately, she is a very smart person.
She said bike and pointed to where I had taken her a few weeks earlier
for bike lessons. I plugged the bike
class location into the GPS and we found the grocery store on the way! I am glad I was able to take her and to help
at the grocery store. Her husband works
long hours and she has to be very careful when buying groceries for her family
of five.
Office work activities fill in the rest of my days. I also do in home English lessons a couple
hours week. Next Sunday afternoon and
for six weeks, I will be involved in teaching driving knowledge. We are preparing individuals to take the written
test.
I managed the
Secretary of State Office and gave road tests in Traverse City, MI in 1984. Who could have imagined that
I would be using the same skills to help refugees from Iraq, Kurdistan, Cuba, Somali and Eritrea in 2016..
Asbury United Methodist Church
Sunday School
I am glad for new friends.
Celia made sure I did not sit alone the first week I attended.
She is very special to me. We visited families together after church one
Sunday.
She has invited some international students and me for lunch after church this Sunday.
The Sunday School class I go to is live streamed. You can hear the same lesson by going to
www.asbury.org click on the Francis Asbury
Sunday school class live stream and sermon archives. Class starts at 9:45 every Sunday.
UMW
United Methodist Women are instant friends. I enjoyed a tea that the UMW units put on for
the all the women of the church. It was
an old fashion tea, gloves and hats optional.
Stylish women, the Supernal Salteries, entertained us and every one enjoyed the event. I will be making a presentation to one of the Asbury Units, February 8th.
Worship
I am enjoying the worshiping experiences at Asbury United Methodist
Church. I like the dynamics of a large church. They have two services and music is varied
and wonderful, including a bell choir.
New Friends
The church is near James Madison University. I met some international teachers who are
here for a semester for the International Leaders in Education Program. The following Sunday
I provided transportation for two of them. It
started showing as we drove toward church.
Neither Victor, from Mexico, nor Reggie, from Ghana, had ever seen snow. Their enthusiasm was contagious. We took time in the parking lot to have our
pictures taken with a few snowflakes in the air.
It is interesting to hear about their studies here in VA and their lives in their home countries. Reggie teaches math at a Methodist school in
Ghana. Victor teaches in Mexico and
pastors a United Methodist Church.
The next weekend there was no church because of the two feet
of snow that came Friday and Saturday. I
emailed Reggie and Victor the YouTube, “How to Make a Snowman.” I got these photos later that evening.
I think this is a first for all of us, seeing a snowman with a
Ghana scarf.
Outreach to Community
One of Asbury’s outreach to the community is a dinner every
Wednesday. I have had the fun of
attending and helping. During the
program after the meal on January 13, I had the privilege of hearing a
presentation by Rev. Dr. Wayne Lavender.
Dr. Lavender is running, walking and driving across the
country to the General Conference in May, in Portland, OR. Along the way, he is seeking support from
members of the United Methodist Churches (UMC) for a petition to be considered
at General Conference. His petition is
to make orphans and vulnerable children the missional priority of the
UMC.
Dr. Lavender feels a focus of UMC on orphans and vulnerable
children is a unifying way
forward. See his current work with orphans and obtain more information at
his
website,
www.f4o.org.
Rev. Dr.Martin Luther King Jr
The community and members of Asbury UMC accepted the invitation of the
NAACP for a memorial event in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther Jr.
Rev. Laura
Douglas, the music director at Asbury, led the ecumenical choir.
I did not know until recently that Rev. Dr. Martin King’s
movement had Methodist roots. I am
reading books by E Stanley Jones, a famous Methodist. His influenced
guided and guides Americans and people around the world today. In 1948, Jones
had written the book, Mahatma Gandhi: An Interpretation. It
was his worst selling book. In 1948 message of civil rights for all people
regardless of race was not a welcomed topic.
The quote below about that book is from the
forward of Jones’ book, Abundant Living, (a republished
version available through Cokesbury) the forward's author, Professor Leonard
Sweet, stated the following about Jones’ 1948 book.
"A few years later, a recent graduate of
Crozier Theological School and a doctoral candidate at Boston University was
looking up some references about Mahatma Gandhi and happened upon E. Stanley
Jones's unsung volume. As he read about Gandhi's commitment to a
nonviolent, yet non compliant form of protest, this young pastor and civil
rights leader found a basis for forming his own resistance to abuse and oppression.
The book that Jones deemed his greatest failure was pulled from the stacks of a
theological library and then had enthusiastically penned in its margins 'THIS
IS IT !' by a single student: Martin Luther King Jr.
You can still see King's marginal notation in the Martin
Luther King Library in Atlanta, where the full handwritten side bar reads:
'This is it! This is the way to achieve freedom for the Negro in
America."
Our Methodist moral authority, energy and success are ours
because we, with the example of E Stanley Jones and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King, we walk the Way of God who is Peace and Justice and Love for all.
Rev. Laura Douglas and I walked in the Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr Day Parade.
Members of law enforcement were on hand to help the
community. It was held along a street
renamed in 2013, Martin Luther King Jr Way.
As we walked along the way and over the bridge, the scenes from the past
came to mind. Selma movie relived.
There is still a lot more to do to achieve racial
justice. More people need to understand
equality and walk Dr. King’s Way of nonviolence.
W. Michigan Conference United Methodist Women (UMW)
With gratitude to God, I continue my duties as UMW Social
Action Coordinator with W. MI Conference. Reading and research on Social Justice Issues
has changed my life!
While on this
Individual Volunteer in Mission assignment, I stay current with Michigan issues
by reading the news. I also find helpful
articles in the Bridge magazine,
www.bridgemi.com. Another favorite resource is articles from
www.readthespirit.org.
Prayers and social justice actions continue through the W.
MI Conference of the UMW. Members have
identified their areas of expertise and action.
Many of the UMW Units are taking steps to Intercept Traffickers. Read more about what the UMW is doing
www.unitedmethodistwomen.org.
Acting on social issues is a gifted privilege from God. We are United Methodist Women, beloved
daughters of God Almighty. We are experiencing God as we act on behalf of the vulnerable.
“There
is an experience of the Eternal breaking into time, which transforms all life
into a miracle of faith and action. Unspeakable, profound, and full of glory as
an inward experience, it is the root of concern for all creation, the true
ground of social endeavor. This inward Life and the outward Concern are truly
one whole, and, were it possible, ought to be described simultaneously.”
~Thomas Kelly (d. 1982)
PLEASE PRAY FOR REFUGEES AND THOSE WHO SERVE THEM.
