Acting in Faith

Nob Hill Market, May 2012

Farm trainee Joseluis Ortiz selling produce at farmer's market.

Hear the story of how AFSC partnered with local organizations in the South Valley of New Mexico to create the Farmer to Farmer training program.  Participants in the program have recently formed the Agri-cultura Network, a brokerage of farmers that provides local public schools with fresh vegetables year round.  Listen to the voices of the community members who have contributed to this program's success.

Religious leaders, Sri Lanka

Religious leaders gathered in Sri Lanka to discuss climate change.

by Madeline Schaefer

How do we—as Quakers, as humans—address climate change? It’s a broad question about a multi-faceted issue, I know—and one that I’m certainly not ready to answer in 500 words or fewer.  But Quakers around the country are gathering in their local meetings and churches to ask this question, consider answers, and work with others to speak about and advocate for the solutions they propose. 

Candle

Candle

by Lucy Duncan

In the Liberian version of the Christmas story, “Every Man Heart Lay Down,” retold by author Lorenz Graham, God is frustrated.

He says, “The people no hear My Word, The people no walk my way, Nev mind. I going break the world and lose the people, I going make the day dark and the night I going make hot… And I going make a new country and make a new people.”

The Peaceable Kingdom by Edward Hicks at the National Gallery

"The Peaceable Kingdom" by Edward Hicks at the National Gallery

Note: I sent Max Carter a note about an unrelated matter and he sent me these reflections about the recent mass shootings in Newtown, Conn., which he posted on the Guilford College Friends Center Facebook page yesterday.  - Lucy

by Max L. Carter

Displaced people from Masisi who were in the Mugunga IDP camp near Goma

Displaced people from Masisi who were in the Mugunga IDP camp near Goma

Note: I've been receiving regular updates on Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo from David Zarembka, Coordinator of AGLI of the Friends Peace Teams, for the past few weeks. They are insightful, sensitive and heart-breaking. I invited David to write a reflective post about the situation there, and he sent me this, powerful words to consider carefully, and to remember that we are connected via our Quaker brothers and sisters to the situation there.

San Francsico Friends Meeting/AFSC Peace Vigil

San Francsico Friends Meeting/AFSC Peace Vigil

by Lucy Duncan

“Let them remember that there is a meaning beyond absurdity. Let them be sure that every little deed counts, that every word has power, and that we can do — every one — our share to redeem the world despite all [the] absurdities and all the frustrations and all [the] disappointments. And above all, remember that the meaning of life is to live life as if it were a work of art.” – Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

David Niyonzima

David Niyonzima

by Madeline Schaefer

Steve Cary

Stephen Cary, peace activist and longtime AFSC staff member.

Regularly we will be posting a piece inspired by the rich history and archives of AFSC. The below post is the first in the series. - Lucy

by Madeline Schaefer