Bolivia - Friends World Committee for Consultation Section of the Americas

FWCC joins consultation with organizations focused on Bolivia

FWCC participated in a consultation between organizations interested in Bolivia, convened by the Bolivian Quaker Education Fund (BQEF). Goals of this consultation were to 1) Gain a more thorough understanding of the work of Quaker or Quaker-affiliated organizations located in the Global North working in solidarity with Bolivian partners 2) Explore our responses to the evolving landscapes of solidarity work in Bolivia and reflect on deepening our faithful accompaniment with Bolivian Communities and Friends 3) Discover possibilities for further support and collaborations. We are very thankful to Rebecca Day Cutter of BQEF and Consultation and Intervisitation Program Group Clerk Milena Villca for their leadership in this initiative

Representatives from BQEF, United 4 Change (which has taken on the work of Quaker Bolivia Link), Waljok, Quaker Earthcare Witness, the American Friends Service Committee, Thee Quaker Podcast (through a videomaking project in partnership with Waljok), Friends Journal shared about their work and FWCC shared about our relationships with Friends and Yearly Meetings in Bolivia.

Outcomes of this meeting include multiple opportunities to engage and learn more about Bolivia, including an in person study tour lead by BQEF to Bolivia in January and a virtual tour organized by Waljok.

BQEF has just a few spots left for its Quaker Study Tour, January 7-20 2025, which will visit several of the projects described in the consultation. BQEF staff say that despite the fact that deadlines and information sessions listed on the tour page have past, you are still welcome to express interest.

Waljok is organizing a virtual study tour and released a preview of that opportunity, produced by Thee Quaker filmmaker Michael Candelori (who has also produced media for FWCC). Learn more about that tour at this link, and enjoy the preview below:

Voices of Young Adult Friends

Hazel Guindon (Monteverde Friends Meeting) – Monteverde, Costa Rica

As we continue learning how to expand as a faith community while including all voices, I want to express my deep appreciation for all the work being done—both locally and globally—to keep our diverse Quaker community alive.

Currently, I am on Vancouver Island, worshiping with friends near Duncan, where acknowledgment of the broader Quaker practice and FWCC was mentioned on World Quaker Day. That same weekend, I had a video call with Neyda from Bolivia and Fernanda from México, which inspired me to write a short article. I hope it encourages them to write about their own experiences, and I would be very curious to learn more about their perspectives on Quaker life. I ended up submitting a publication to Friends Journal, as Renzo has been motivating us to share our work in the journal’s Latin American part.

I also want to express my heartfelt gratitude for FWCC, especially the gathering in Arizona. I learned so much from that experience, and it has shaped the way I hope to approach future Quaker experiences. I feel deeply honored to be part of a non-programmed Quaker practice within the Latin American section. I admire how our meeting is growing, and I’m profoundly grateful we are part of a global network.

Thank you, truly, for all that you do!

With love and peace,

Hazel

Meg Cody (North Pacific Yearly Meeting) – Portland, Oregon

I wonder how the trials of young adulthood have changed over the decades. I find it hard to believe the current state of society is all that novel—there have been countless economic crises, wars, and billows of hatred rising up throughout the centuries. Have things really changed all that much? Is this really the “most difficult” time for young adults?

While these questions frenzy my mind over whether the world has always been on fire, it doesn’t negate the urgency I feel at present to find a way to make the world a better place.

I was spread so thin over the past year with responsibilities that moving with a quickness drowned out the small, still voice of Spirit. It was so easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of opportunity, something which I find so challenging to navigate at this point in my life. I feel the surmounting pressure to balance my faith, career, and personal life—a ceaseless discernment of how to experience a connection with Spirit as I consider what it means to live a holy life.

It’s not Spirit that asks me to make money and pay my bills—that urging stems from my choosing to live in a capitalist society. But how I meet that end can be filled with Spirit.

I’m grateful to know I’m not alone in my struggle to navigate life’s many crossroads as I commiserate with other Quakers my age. Uplifting this community offers me comfort as I navigate endemic polarization between what I believe to be right and wrong, just and unjust. I’ve turned my efforts towards encouraging and empowering young adult friends in my monthly and yearly meetings, and am now led to forge a path for North and Latin American young adults to connect. And while I’ve encountered little resistance from the community in all of these endeavors, I find the challenge lies within myself.

It was an honor to be a part of planning opportunities for North and Latin American Friends to connect with one another. In this great, big, overwhelming world, it’s comforting to know there are Quakers everywhere showing up for that of God in everything. I feel my worries ease as more and more spaces for young adults to connect open across our section.

I’m stumbling along as I learn more about the cultural differences I have with Latin American friends. I’m embarrassed with every faux pas I make and grow frustrated with myself for not being more considerate. How dare I not know what I don’t know?

I turn these frustrations towards Spirit and recognize how I’m being led. I might walk along the path clumsily, but I continue to move towards Spirit’s light.

Spirit’s light is shining on a small and mighty group of young adults who are determined to build the future for young adult Friends as way opens. The first of four virtual gatherings was held on September 6th to facilitate introductions between young adults in the Section of the Americas. While it wasn’t a smooth planning process or program, it was filled with Spirit and opportunity. I’m excited to see how each event grows and changes from previous ones, and even more enthused about what might come of these connections.

The next events will occur on the first Saturdays of December, March, and June. Please share this opportunity widely! A registration form for December will be shared in the coming months.

Meg

Young Adult Friends Section Meeting Retreat Report

Young Adult Friends (YAFs, ages 18-35) serve a vital role in the health of the Quaker community. They carry the weighty responsibility of the future of Quakerism. They provide a bridge for Junior Friends to step into the larger Meeting. They bring energy and vibrance to gatherings. They steward what it means to be a Quaker.

Hosting opportunities for YAFs to be with one another builds a collective identity of Quakerism for this generation and becomes a foundation for what Quakerism will become. It also offers YAFs opportunities to engage with people going through similar experiences and learn to navigate those challenges from a place of inner light.

YAFs from across the Section of the Americas (SOA) were blessed with a unique and historic opportunity which was made possible by the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC). In March, 18 YAFs from Canada, the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Peru, and Bolivia gathered in Scottsdale, Arizona for three days leading up to the SOA Annual Section Meeting. This gathering was the first of its kind, and was inspired by the spirit of connection sparked at the YAF Gathering prior to the World Plenary last August. It marked a powerful moment of cross-cultural fellowship and spiritual deepening among young Friends.

YAFs were grounded in their shared belief of honoring the light within each of us while celebrating the unique facets of our local, regional, and national expressions of our faith. The first activity together was to establish the following intentions to aid the navigation of this diversity.

To learn and respect the differences between our cultures and worship / Para aprender y respetar las diferencias entre nuestras culturas y adoración
Speak on behalf of yourself – use ‘I’ statements / Habla en nombre de ti mismo – usa declaraciones ‘Yo’
Seek unity in our diversity / Buscar unidad en nuestra diversidad
We’re learning from God through each other / Estamos aprendiendo de Dios el uno a través del otro
Every experience is unique and valued / Cada experiencia es única y valorada
Enjoy being in each other’s presence / Disfruta de estar en presencia del otro
In building trust with one another, we learn how to share our light / Al construir confianza entre nosotros, aprendemos a compartir nuestra luz

YAFs deepened their spiritual bonds through a rich tapestry of shared experiences. Throughout the gathering, YAFs stepped into roles of leadership by guiding workshops, facilitating worship, and greeting the day together on peaceful sunrise hikes. A memorable excursion to the Desert Botanical Garden, led by two gracious friends from Phoenix Monthly Meeting, offered a space for reflection and connection with the natural world. With open hearts and willing hands, YAFs also gave back to the Phoenix Meeting community, providing much-needed yard care for its smaller, aging congregation. YAFs led the entire community in worship on the final day of the Section Meeting—an experience many described as spiritually moving and left a lasting impression on all who were present.

What young Friends do now shapes the future of Quakerism. Opportunities for YAFs to connect amongst themselves are crucial for the discernment of their identity and emboldens the brilliance of Quakerism for generations to come. This event is just one instance of the commitment that FWCC has in supporting YAFs around the world to honor their presence, engagement, and visibility.

Inspired by the depth of connection and shared spirit they experienced, YAFs left the gathering with a renewed commitment to strengthening their bonds and expanding their presence within the wider Quaker community across the Section of the Americas. While this may have been the first event of its kind, it is clear it will not be the last. The seeds planted in Scottsdale are already taking root, and are nurturing a growing movement of young Friends ready to walk together in faith, friendship, and service.

Meg Cody

Building the Future as Way Opens: Reflecting on our 2025 Section Meeting

Gathering of Friends from the 2025 Section Meeting

From March 20–23, 2025, 145 Friends gathered in Scottsdale, Arizona and 30 more connected online for the FWCC Section of the Americas Meeting. We came from all across the Americas and beyond, including the largest Latin America delegation in recent memory. Friends traveled from their homes in Bolivia, Canada, Jamaica, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Peru, the United Kingdom, and the United States—to be together in the Spirit and celebrate our diversity in fellowship. The theme of our gathering, “Building the Future as Way Opens,” was drawn from Isaiah 43:19: “Look, I am doing something new! Now it emerges; can you not see it? Yes, I am making a road in the desert and rivers in the wasteland.”

And we truly saw something new emerge among us.

Throughout our time together, worship set the heartbeat of our days. Each morning began with early worship—quiet, grounded, Spirit-led. We experienced rich and diverse forms of worship led by Latin American Friends, Conservative Friends, and Young Adult Friends. Each voice, each style, was a reminder of how our varied spiritual practices all seek and serve the same Divine source.

Bible study sessions opened the scriptures in new ways, inviting us to listen with fresh ears and softened hearts. Home groups offered a space to reflect, laugh, and share stories across languages and backgrounds. In these small circles, we grew in our understanding of one another—not just intellectually, but spiritually and as members of a greater community.

In addition to worship and fellowship, we came together in workshops and business sessions, exploring how FWCC can live more deeply into its calling. After a successful campaign “Becoming the Quakers the World Needs”, we feel some fatigue on committees and in our fundraising efforts as transition, new programs and reorganization require more new energy.

We saw progress on new programming made possible by the campaign. We shared a beta version of our Digital Quaker Glossary, an evolution of a collaborative tool for making Quaker terms and vocabulary accessible to all in English and Spanish. We look forward to the next phase of this project, supporting our active Bilingual Services team to develop a certified interpretation and translation program. We also announced new partnerships on our digital map, offering a single source to find Friends’ projects as well as meetings, churches and worship groups around the world. Our Quaker Connect program launched in the days leading up to the Section Meeting and apprentices from meetings across the Section joined our gathering for the first time with new perspective and enthusiasm for what is possible in the Society of Friends. To witness their excitement and growing connection was to witness the future unfolding before our eyes.

Young Adult Friends brought great energy to the gathering, not only in their worship leadership but also in their fellowship. They explored the desert gardens together, shared meals and laughter, and took part in a service project for a local Friends meeting—offering their hands and hearts in service as part of a first-of-its-kind pre-conference gathering for young people across the Section.

Evan Welkin, our new Executive Secretary, introduced himself and set his personal experience within our gathering theme and what is unfolding in the Section. Joined by FWCC General Secretary Tim Gee, they both invited us to trust God and in each other as an unknown path unfolds before us in a time of uncertainty and great possibility. Our plenary speakers, Ana Gabriela Castañeda Aguilera and Debbie Humphries, built on this theme and reminded us of examples from scripture and our own lives when we are invited to do new things: how do we respond? We are excited that Ana and Debbie’s remarks will be printed for distribution soon.

We are, as ever, a community of Friends seeking unity across languages, cultures, and traditions. This gathering gave us the opportunity to treasure our diversity and to celebrate our shared commitment to God’s leading among us. There were long conversations over meals, joyful singing in multiple languages, and celebration over the work we are doing throughout the Section. Embracing Friends from across the globe, not just physically but spiritually, helped us find new ways to speak, to listen, to walk forward together.

The Spirit is doing something new among us. We came away from this gathering excited about projects that inspire and unite us, energized by the possibilities that lie ahead. We are also clear-eyed about the clear and present challenges in the world around us today. As we return to our home countries and meetings, may we continue to walk forward in faith, trusting that the road will open, and rivers will flow, even in the wasteland.

As Ana Gabriela shared powerfully with us during her evening plenaries: “Sometimes, it’s the very act of stepping into the unknown that prepares us in ways we never imagined.” Like the road in the desert or the river in the wasteland, this gathering reminded us that new paths are revealed when we walk forward in faith, trusting the unknown. We are all grateful for every person who made this gathering possible and for each Friend who took that leap. Together, we are building the future—as way opens.

Friends World Committee for Consultation Receives $1.125 Million Grant for Quaker Connect

The Friends World Committee for Consultation, Section of the Americas—the global fellowship association for the Religious Society of Friends—has received a $1.125 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Thriving Congregations Initiative to help establish Quaker Connect, a program designed to reinvigorate the Quaker movement.

FWCC Americas recently hired Jade Rockwell as the program director. Jade joins FWCC Americas from West Elkton (OH) Friends Meeting, where she serves as Co-Pastor. She is pursuing a Masters of Divinity with an emphasis on Pastoral Ministry from Earlham School of Religion.

“I’m pleased to join FWCC Americas as the program director for Quaker Connect,” Jade said. “In this role I’m thrilled to dedicate my life work toward revitalizing Quakerism to reflect its beautiful diversity.”

“Quaker Connect is responding to the need of local Friends to develop a spirit of experimentation in partnership with God to support the members of their meetings and engage in issues important to their communities,” said Robin Mohr, Executive Secretary for FWCC Americas. “Quaker Connect will equip Quaker churches to be more clearly who they are meant to be: profoundly Quaker, deeply rooted, and highly visible in their local community. We are very pleased that Jade Rockwell has joined us at this pivotal point.”

Friends meetings and churches who wish to be considered for the first cohort of the Quaker Connect program should check the FWCC Americas website, QuakerConnect.org, for updates. The application period is planned to open in September 2024.

In the United States, the project is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative. An additional $200,000 grant from the Thomas H. and Mary Williams Shoemaker Fund will extend the program to Friends outside of the United States—from Canada to Bolivia—and enhance collaboration among Quaker organizations to support the growth and vitality of the Society of Friends.

Quaker Connect will be a structured network of Quaker meetings across the branches of Friends in the Americas. Each participating local meeting will nominate two to three Friends to join a cohort of other energized Friends in virtual workshops over a two year period. At the heart of the program, each meeting will choose one signpost of renewal that is lacking in their meeting, one Quaker, Christian, or FWCC practice to address the need, and take three months to try the experiment, and then initiate further experiments. Robust evaluation and communication processes are essential parts of the program. Quaker Connect is designed to adapt and seed the continuing revitalization of the Religious Society of Friends.

FWCC Americas is one of 104 organizations that has received grants through a competitive round of Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative. Reflecting a wide variety of Christian traditions, the organizations represent mainline Protestant, evangelical, Catholic, Orthodox, peace church and Pentecostal faith communities.

“Congregations play an essential role in deepening the faith of individuals and contributing to the vitality of communities,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion. “We hope that these programs will nurture the vibrancy and spark the creativity of congregations, helping them imagine new ways to share God’s love in their communities and across the globe.”

About Lilly Endowment Inc.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. A principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to improve public understanding of diverse religious traditions by supporting fair and accurate portrayals of the role religion plays in the United States and across the globe.

About Shoemaker

The Thomas H. and Mary Williams Shoemaker Fund, established by the 1936 and 1953 wills of Thomas Howard Shoemaker and Mary Williams Shoemaker, is a private, trustee-managed foundation with five volunteer, self-perpetuating distributing trustees. Since the death of Mary Shoemaker, approximately $9 million has been distributed to selected charities, including Friends meetings and Quaker-related organizations primarily in the Philadelphia area.

In recent years, the Shoemaker Trustees have become increasingly concerned about the future vitality and membership of the Religious Society of Friends. As a result, the Fund has shifted its focus to organizations that are investing specifically in the growth and development of the Society of Friends. In this spirit, the Fund is providing major support for new and collaborative initiatives developed by organizations that provide leadership, innovation and resources which address this strategic goal.

About FWCC Americas

The Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) is the global fellowship association for the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, also known as the Friends Church. In the Americas, the Quaker community extends from the Arctic to the Andes, spanning a rich diversity of regional cultures, beliefs and styles of worship. www.fwccamericas.org

Strengthening our Community of Friends: Visit to the Yearly Meetings of Bolivia

By Karen Gregorio de Calderon, Coordinator of Latin American Programs

In the month of January, God allowed us the privilege of making a visit to the affiliated yearly meetings of Bolivia, with the objective of strengthening our community and sharing the love of God that unites us. It was a wonderful experience to be able to greet the brothers of the different congregations to share with them, in the worship services and multiple scheduled activities, in which we were able to live together in harmony, worship our Lord Jesus Christ, share our cultures and our common heritage. We thank God for this privilege and for what it will allow us to continue doing in the near future with each of the Meetings. We are sure that God will direct the plans for the growth and expansion of his work.

I traveled with Raúl Pérez, member of the Executive Committee of FWCC-Section of the Americas and member of El Salvador Yearly Meeting and Robin Mohr, Executive Secretary for the Section of the Americas. We had the opportunity to visit the yearly meeting annual sessions of INELA Bolivia, the Bolivian Union Friends and the Central Friends yearly meetings.

We particularly want to thank Pr. Gualberto Torrez, of the Iglesia Evangelica Union Boliviana Amigos for his support and taking us to visit some of the rural churches of their yearly meeting.
We also had the opportunity to visit with Friends of Central Yearly Meeting. It was a blessing to share the message of God’s word and participate in the worship services. We thank its president Armando Mamani and the Congregation for the organization of the activities and their development.

The FWCC-COAL deeply thanks the local arrangements committee, who did an excellent job coordinating travel to the different Annual Meeting. They include: Jhoana Ramos, member of the Section’s Nominating Committee, (INELA Peru), Milena Villca, FWCC Executive Committee (Union Boliviana Amigos), Carmen Rosa Paye, (Bolivian Friends Union), Timoteo Choque and family (INELA-Bolivia), Agustina Callejas and family, (INELA Bolivia) Ruben Maydana (INELA Bolivia), and Florentino Ramos and family (INELA Peru). We appreciate and value their support.

Introducing the 2018 Traveling Ministry Corps – Spanish speakers!

The Traveling Ministry Corps has named five new members from Central and South America, and they are preparing to serve your meeting or church. In January, the new cohort will meet in the City of Coroico, Bolivia for training.

Get to know each of them, and invite them to share with your Yearly or Monthly meeting. Remember that it does not have to be a large event but a time to share fellowship and the word of God.

Betriz

My name is Beatriz Apaza. I am a member of INELA Bolivia Yearly Meeting. I have had opportunities to serve in missions, first within the Unión Jeventud Evangèlica Los Amigos in Bolivia. Currently, I am volunteering at the Friends International Bilingual Center, a new project that aims to promote teaching based on Quaker principles in service of church and society as a whole. The search for the will and purposes of God led me to meditate on Faith, Hope and Love (1 Corinthians 13) as eternal principles that allow us to transform our way of seeing and understanding things, being guided by the Spirit Holy to be convinced of the Love of God as the greatest gift that man can have without deserving it.

“Let your dreams be bigger than your fears and let your actions be stronger than your words”

Oscar

My name is Oscar Eduardo Rodriguez Merino. I am 22 years old and I am a member of El Salvador Yearly Meeting. Since I was born, my parents instilled in me values of brotherhood and holiness that helped me to grow as a Christian and as a person in society. I am the son of a pastor. I love working with young people. My passion is to give my whole life to the one who loved me on the cross of Calvary, to surrender in adoration. I am Vice President of the Youth Society Friendly Ambassadors in my country, and member of the district board; Serve, the blessed Jesus said! I am very excited to visit and meet more Friends.

Elvis

My name is Elvis Ivan Calderon Morales. I am 21 years old and I am from the Yearly Meeting Embajadores Amigos of Chiquimula, Guatemala. I am an industrial engineering student, and currently serving as the secretary of the council and president of the youth society of my church. I like to play soccer, to play the guitar; I like to serve, to help people. I am very happy to be part of the FWCC Traveling Ministry Corps and I hope to share with many Friends of the Americas.

Yulieed

My name is Yulieed, I am 20 years old and I belong to the Friends Church of Ciudad Victoria, where I attend regularly with all my family. I am a third year Civil Engineering student and what I most enjoy doing is taking care of my large collection of cacti and succulents, and attending the university where I study. I love to run in the afternoon and be in contact with nature. I am very happy to participate in the Traveling Ministry Corps and in to share my testimony with various Friends around the Americas.

Jonatan

My name is Jonatan Mamani, I am from La Paz, Bolivia, and a member of the INELA Bolivia Yearly Meeting. Since I was a child I have been blessed to be part of the Friends Church and to participate in all of its activities. In the last four years I have been integrating the youth board of UJELAB (Union of Evangelical Youth Friends of Bolivia), visiting rural and some urban churches, and sharing with young people the teachings of the Word of God. All this has been a great experience that the Lord has allowed me to live. Now, as part of the leaders traveling in the CMCA ministry, I have much more to thank God for.

Virginia

My name is Maria Virginia Jalire Pisque. I am 24 years old. I am a member of the Evangelical Friends Church of La Paz, Bolivia. Since I was little I was raised in the Christian life by my parents and grandfather, and I received the call of God at age 15. God has shown me great wonders along the way, showing me my talent in praise, in the solidarity of being able to raise many people internally. I work with people in rural areas, giving help and offering support with the profession of nurse and pharmacist by profession that God proposed. I am now about to finish the career of physiotherapy kinesiology. I believe God showed me these careers so I can help people with limited resources and I feel satisfied because I can talk about the word of God in hospitals.

Traveling Ministry Corps Prepares

“We send them forth on wings of love”: The FWCC Traveling Ministry Corps.

by Chuck Schobert, Member of the 2016-17 Traveling Ministry Corps.

There were seven of us. Four North Americans and three Bolivians. Evangelical and unprogrammed worship styles. Different languages. Cultures. Social attitudes. We spent just over two FULL days together learning about each other’s spiritual journey’s, sharing worship “styles”, singing, trading experiences of traveling in the Quaker ministry, the joys and the pitfalls. We were the inaugural “class” of the Traveling Ministry Corps of the Friends World Committee for Consultation, Section of the America’s (FWCC-SOA). Despite this time together, we all knew the actual training would be in our travels, with God as our teacher.

We had three trainers, and two elders holding us in prayer (one of whom was NYM’s Susan Greenler). The work went prayerfully deep and God was with us throughout. As we grew closer, I felt God becoming nearer. We were often moved to tears, especially when we talked about the divisions among Friends. Those wounds. Our wounds. And yet, much hope……….embracing the opportunities, the possibilities of our common ground to explore what Friends can do as a prophetic people to bridge those divisions. We came to realize that by crossing our own Quaker divisions, we can take that healing knowledge out into a broken world and “be patterns, be examples”. No one pretended THAT would be easy! These Friends are living their faith into action. And I love them all, these sisters and brothers, even though we don’t agree on every thing. In a broken world, our allies in healing will not always be “like us”.

The FWCC Section of the America’s plans to make the Traveling Ministry Corps its major focus in 2017. Rather than organize large meetings requiring many Friends to travel great distances at great expense of money and cost to the environment from airplane travel, the intent is to send out ministers by twos, a minister and an elder as companion, to visit or connect with churches and meeting in the Section over the next five years. After a year, our group will meet again in community, to learn from each other and help train the next “class” of the Traveling Ministry Corps, which we hope to be primarily young adult Friends, if that is God’s will.

Immediately following the training, the biannual Section of the America’s meeting began. This rich time was chock full of plenary talks, worship, singing, committee work, good food and fellowship. In the midst of this meeting, the body held a blessing for the seven ministers. We sat in a ring together in the center of the auditorium, full of Friends in worship. The Clerk of the Section spoke of sending the ministers off from the “ring of fire” and shared his image that we were embarking in “little boats” to carry out the work God gives us. At this point, he invited the rest of the Friends, 100 or so, to lay hands on us and asked people approaching the growing circle to continue to lay hands on the people in front of them, forming concentric circles of humans, holding the seven ministers like a woven basket of concentric human circles, holding our little circle of seven in prayer.

A beautiful blessing, writing by Susan Greenler, was read. We continued in silent prayer for several minutes. The circles created a spiritual, human well that was filled with the Living Water of God and love from our friends. I can’t say exactly what happened, but I was changed. Transformed? The quote from the journal of George Fox came to me: “All things were new, and all the creation gave another smell unto me than before, beyond what words can utter”. So I end with Susan’s blessing and the query that came to me after the blessing: “What just happened?”

BLESSING FOR TRAVELING MINISTRY CORPS

God of compassion,
God of love,
With Christ’s light, and with God’s love,
We send forth these seven traveling ministers, Part of our world community of Friends.

We send them forth on wings of love,
To share the Gospel ministry as they are called and led. As part of our beloved community.

We hold them tenderly in our hearts.
May they be graced with light and love
As they go forth – open vessels, giving and receiving.

May they be open, vulnerable, protected.
Building bridges of faith,
Opening us all to the power of God’s love and Christ’s spirit.

Blessed be.

—Susan Greenler

Introducing the 2017 Traveling Ministry Corps

Congratulations to the inaugural members of the FWCC Traveling Ministry Corps! In the 21st century, inter-visitation is an important way to realize our vision of a thriving and integrated network of Friends woven together in transformative faith.

The South American members are Agustina Callejas, Estefany Vargas, and Hector Castro (National Evangelical Friends Church INELA Bolivia). The North American members are Debbie Humphries (New England YM), Emily Provance (New York YM), Chuck Schobert (Northern YM), and Julie Peyton (Northwest YM).

Over the next two years, the Friends who serve in the Traveling Ministry Corps will visit Friends meetings and churches in yearly meetings other than their own and offer one of the following:

Facilitate a weekend workshop on a topic of mutual interest to the meeting and the minister
Bring a message and organize worship sharing after a weeknight potluck
Attend a regularly scheduled worship service.
Write a letter of encouragement and pastoral care, particularly to meetings who were just outside the travel route or who may be wary of receiving a visitor.

Their initial training retreat will be in March, just before the Section Meeting. More information about each of them will be available soon on our website. In the meantime, if your church or meeting would like to request a visit from any of them, please fill out the form on our website!

Traveling Ministry Corps

Conservative Quakers Raise Cattle Sustainably in Bolivia

We met Neva and Grant Kaufmann at World Plenary of Friends in Peru and were fascinated by their story. The Kaufmans have lived in Bolivia for several decades but they are not typical Bolivian Friends. They are Conservative Friends who moved to Bolivia from Iowa twenty years ago and became cattle ranchers. They live as simply and as sustainably as possible. Neva is a birthright Friend and Grant was born into a secular Jewish family. With their mostly homemade plain dress, they look like Friends who’ve stepped out of the 19th century.

Grant and Neva moved to an area in the southeast part of Bolivia called the Chaco, where the climate is extremely hot and arid. When they arrived, the pond on their property looked like pea soup. To make the water drinkable, they had to boil it over a wood fire. The cistern held rainwater, but it rains so rarely the water was insufficient. They couldn’t grow corn because it is too dry. The ground was unproductive. They lost cattle because there was not enough grass to feed them.

Through the Mennonites they learned about panicum gatton, a species of grass that grows in shade. They also learned about a system of ranching called sylvopastoralism, which is “the practice of combining forestry and grazing of domesticated animals in a mutually beneficial way.” Instead of cutting down trees to create a monoculture, the Kaufmanns planted panicum grass, which grows under trees and feeds their cattle. As a result of thispractice, the Kaufmanns began to see deer, wild pigs and new species of birds. As their ranch prospered, neighboring ranchers also began to follow their example.

They learned that certain trees called choroquete thrive in this dry climate. Their leaves taste like salad. In June through October they drop their leaves and help create a cushion, which the cattle like to lick up.

“It’s a beautiful symbiotic system,” explained Grant.

Their life hasn’t been easy. In the first year they killed over 300 poisonous snakes. They had to work hard to live sustainably but they have a happy family and a deep gratitude to God. Neva explained, “Our family loves to work and loves to have fun. They love to milk cows. One son wanted a cow since he was four years old. Nathan likes ranching, and Rachel trains horses. She loves animals and is very gentle and kind.”

Grant told us, “The biblical counsel ‘whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might’ has encouraged us to press ahead with the ranch at a time when Bolivia’s chronic political and legal instability, combined with threats of climate change, have discouraged many others.” He is thankful for all that he has been able to accomplish in South America.

We enjoyed many meals with Grant and Neva in Pisac, and we have kept in touch in the year that has passed. For us, the encounter with these Friends, living a particular but sustainable life, displays the essence of FWCC’s mission to bring Friends of varying traditions and cultural experiences together.

When we asked the Kauffmans what was most memorable about the FWCC Plenary, they responded: “Knowing again that we are not alone….The essence of our Friends community seems to be sharing the love of God, whether we call it that or something else. This was the Pisaq experience for us.”

To learn more about the Kaufmanns, including their spiritual journey, go to http://laquaker.blogspot.com/2016/10/conservative-quakers-raise-cattle.html.