Peru - Friends World Committee for Consultation Section of the Americas

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.

Living Peace at Home and in the World

In the last month, I have had multiple opportunities to examine my privilege, my perspective and how I am working to promote inclusion in the work of the Friends World Committee.

The Section of the Americas is vibrant and growing, and covers a broad swath of geography with many different versions of Quakerism. In the course of choosing a theme for the next Section Meeting, the Executive Committee had a deep and honest discussion of these differences. We recognized the danger right in our own committee of seeing only one side and denigrating the other, intentionally or not. E.C. members found the love in the room gave them the capacity to offer and receive forgiveness. A Friend noted that the depth, care and openness of this discussion is rare. How can we best foster this kind of discussion? How can we infuse the larger gatherings of the Section with the depth and tenderness we experienced in our honest conversation?

We will be exploring how to prepare ourselves to go deeper while we are together next March. To be honest and brave, vulnerable and tender, and forgiving – these are Quaker values I hope we can share in our local communities and the worldwide.

In friendship,
Robin Mohr
Executive Secretary

Theme of the 2017 Section Meeting: Vivir La Paz – Living Peace

At their April meeting, the Executive Committee approved the theme for the next Section Meeting: Vivir La Paz – Living Peace (John 16:33).

The concept of Peace, capitalized, is deep and comes from God. How can we live that Peace in the face of the tribulations of the world, such as terrorism and fear, yearly meeting schisms, the current tensions of elections throughout the Americas? Peace may also include peace with the earth, as reflected in the covenant in Genesis. Peace with justice. Peace with disparity. All of these are aspects that we might consider through this theme.

In addition, the peace testimony is seen differently by different strands of our tradition. Some see it as primarily an internal peace, while others hear a call to work to end war. Have we lost the faith base on the one hand, or activism and outreach on the other?

At the Section Meeting in March 2017, we will be searching for ways to bridge the divergences in the Quaker spectrum. We are seeking pathways to an attitude of both/and rather than either/or. Stay tuned for more ways to prepare for this journey of exploration.

Traveling Ministry Corps – Deadline Extended! Applications due September 30, 2016

After the WPM: Traveling in the Ministry in South America

Suzanne Bennett, a British Friend with a traveling minute from her monthly meeting
in Dover, England, has been traveling in South America and reports back on her experiences so far. After attending the WPM in Pisac, Suzanne traveled to Arequipa, Peru and then on to Ecuador. She will continue traveling through Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina until March 2017.

What has been a particular blessing in your travels?
A key time has been the last 4 weeks in Otovalo, Ecuador. I have been working as a volunteer nurse in a local health clinic, which features a mix of Western and Indigenous medicine. I am impressed by the holistic and fluid way the doctor I work with offers up a range of healing methods from blood tests and referrals for investigations, to acupressure, massage, Moxa heat therapy, advice on herbs, and plant medicine.

Then, on the 16th of April, the earthquake happened. I volunteered to be a part of a search and rescue team going to that area. The team I worked with are part of an international, entirely voluntary organization called Topos, which serves to offer help in times of disaster. It was very challenging and powerful, and I loved having the chance to work within this fantastic team, an honor and a delight. It has deepened my understanding of this lovely country. Ecuador and its people have touched my heart, as I have touched the hearts of many Ecuadorians, simply by being present to offer help.

Conditions in Pedernarles, and Portoviejo were terrible, the scale of devastation immense, tough going for all of us, but the team spirit and camaraderie were a constant source of uplift. I am now proud to say I am a member of the Topos organisation. I feel I have been called to this work, and strongly drawn to Otovalo, and the community I have got to know here. I plan to return here later in year to continue

What has been a challenge?
I’m aware of ways I may be “different;” I had a long term same-sex partner, I don’t consider myself Christian or know the Bible well, and yet I am a Quaker of the Unprogrammed tradition…I confess I ask the question, “will this be acceptable?”

What is next for you in traveling in the ministry?
I have plans in place to return to Peru, to walk the Inca trail and go to the Cusco Inca Inti Raymi ceremony and then to travel to Puno and meet again with some of the Peruvian Quakers I met in Pisaq. I have then arranged to go to La Paz , and stay in the Quaker house there and help out, particularly with teaching English with some of the Bolivian Friends I met in Pisaq. It will be hard to leave here, but I sense this is the right way forward.

I’m aware already of my understanding of Quakerism deepening and becoming broader also. So I will travel on, and my prayer is to remain ever open to the ways we connect, and inspire each other through the strength of our shared experience of how God works in our lives.