Shirien works in AFSC's Chicago office as a Middle East Program Associate and is on the steering committee of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and National Students for Justice in Palestine.

In February of this year (2014), torrential rainfall in the East African country of Burundi led to devastating floods and the death of over 60 people, destroying properties and leaving 12,000 people homeless.  The Burundi government came to the aid of the victims by calling together various relief organizations to provide support, including the American Friends Service Committee, Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities (HROC) and other Quaker organizations in Burundi.  Together, these organizations developed an Action Plan to respond to the needs of the thousands of homeless and in

“How good it is, how pleasant for God’s people to live in unity.” – Psalm 133:1

The first time I experienced a gathered meeting was at Mid-Year Meeting of Iowa Yearly Meeting Conservative. We were in an old meeting house up on a hill that overlooked the prairie.  It was a windy day. As we sat in meeting for worship, the wind whipped around us.  The silence was deep and rich. As the wind swirled, stirring up dust and bringing a breeze into the meeting house, I could sense the Spirit also moving in the room. I felt as though we were one body, coming together.

Lucy served as Director of Friends Relations for AFSC. She writes, teaches, and organizes Quakers to work for justice.

Madeline served as the Friends Relations Associate.

Noah Baker Merrill is a member of Putney Friends Meeting in Vermont. He travels widely in the ministry, offering messages at Friends' gatherings and beyond; seeking to encourage faithfulness; and nurturing the integration of worship and witness in the Quaker movement. In this service, Noah leads workshops on spiritual activism, "prophetic service", deepening worship, traveling ministry, and the future of the Religious Society of Friends.