The Acorn of LOFM

Mar 5 and 6: Special events related to the Peace Festival

Special events related to the Peace Festival

 

Friday, March 5, 7:30pm             Chris Moore-Backman

                                                         “Walking with Gandhi:  Project Nonviolent Life”         

                

Chris Moore-Backman will be the keynote speaker for the LOFM Peace Festival at 7:30pm on Friday, March, at the Meeting House.  LOFM will join with the greater Houston peace community to hear Chris share his experiences of “Walking with Gandhi” through his work as an Alternatives to Violence Project facilitator, a staff member for Nonviolent Peaceforce (an international peace team initiative), and human rights activist in Columbia. 

 

Chris recently launched a project called Operation Nonviolent Life which works from the premise that the building blocks of a nonviolent society are the vibrant, productive, nonviolent lives of individual men and women, and that nonviolent movements are the tapestry of such lives woven together.  He developed The Wheel of Nonviolence, which is the basis of the adult education series currently underway at LOFM.

 

Saturday, March 6           

 

9:00am             Fellowship & Food (fruit, baked goods, beverages)

 

9:30am             Participants of The Wheel of Nonviolence Series

 

Chris-Moore Backman will meet with participants from all 3 groups of The Wheel of Nonviolence series to discuss the 10 points of the wheel, to answer questions, to hear about your experiences,  and to listen to your suggestions.   This time with Chris (including the called meeting at 11:00) will allow us to go deeper in understanding how The Wheel can help us knit together as a community to create a joyful life while building a cohesive and powerful nonviolent movement.

 

11:00am          Special Meeting for all LOFM members and attenders

 

We will explore the topic of “building and nurturing community” with Chris Moore-Backman by identifying our individual strengths, passions, and weaknesses which will allow the Meeting to create an empowering balance through mutual encouragement and sharing our knowledge and strengths with each other.  We will also consider the question, “What is the constructive program for LOFM in the decade of 2010?” 

 

12:30pm         Lunch and music to kick-off the Peace Festival

                         Bring a picnic or enjoy our festival food.

                           (donations to cover expenses for the festival food will be appreciated)

 

1:00-8:00         PEACE FESTIVAL!

Draft minutes from Jan 2010 business meeting

Pleaser review before this Sunday's business meeting.

Download Minutes 2010-1-17

Feb 20: Quaker Parenting Potlucks start at Little House

LOFM's  Quaker Parenting Potlucks start this Saturday - Febuary 20, 2010 at the Little House at 6:00.     These gatherings are for families,  empty nesters and anyone who would like to talk about the relationship between Quakerism and parenting.         We are aiming for a monthly get-together for community, support and spiritual growth.     You do not have to commit to coming every month -- come when you can.     Bring a dish to share.

Our vision is to eat together, then have the kids mostly play in one room while the adults talk in the other.      Elizabeth (and maybe Alexander) Tyska will be on hand to help supervise the younger children.    My hope is that those that  are able will contribute abit toward paying her for this evenings help.

If you have questions,  contact Joan Stewart.

Mar 6: Peace Festival at LOFM

         Where: Live Oak Friends Meeting, 1318 W. 26th St

         When: Saturday, March 6th • 1:00PM - 8:00PM

         What: A day of celebration and networking with local and national organizations working to improve our community an world.

Live Music by:

            Zachary Ford http://www.myspace.com/featuresyndicate

            Tyagaraja http://www.myspace.com/orionelapse

            listenlisten http://myspace.com/listenlisten

            Much Love http://www.myspace.com/muchlovemusac

            Spain Colored Orange http://www.myspace.com/spaincolouredorange

            Electric Attitude http://www.myspace.com/electricattitude

            Lapel http://www.myspace.com/lapelband

            also Macy McKinzie, Meghan Miller, Jordan Cervantez and Micah Lamb

Dance performances by: Dancepatheatre • http://www.dancepath.com and Brazilian Arts Foundation • http://www.brazilianarts.org & http://www.houstonbrazilianfest.org

Vendors & Artists selling their merchandise/works
(vendors/artists interested in a table, contact Peg Nosek at QuakersChoosePeace@yahoo.com

For information contact Lidney Molnari at lidneymolnari@yahoo.com

Apr 1-4: South Central Yearly Meeting registration now open

South Central Yearly Meeting will take place April 1-4 at Greene Family Camp. For more information and to register go to the SCYM website: http://scym.org

Dick Steele in Thailand

Dick Steele is off to Thailand to visit a refugee camp in Mae Sot for people fleeing Burma. He will be back the end of February.

Feb 20: Big website changes

On February 20, we will be switching over to a new version of the LOFM website. The new website will allow the clerks to add content, such as committee minutes, to the website without going through the webmaster. Also, we will be implementing individual userid/passwords for more security. 

On February 20, when we make the swtch, everyone will get an email letting them know what their userid will be, with instructions for setting a password. You will need to do this in order to access the private content, such as the newsletters  and directory. 

If your e-mail address in the directory is not correct, please let us know (listkeeper@friendshouston.org) before February 20 so that we can correct it. 

If you need more help or support through this transition, please don't hesitate to ask! Jeff Fox, Zoe McCoy, Patrick Brooks,  and Susan Long are available to help.

For a more detailed description of the changes - see the attached document.

Download Website

Information on Friends Peace Team workcamps: consider signing up

Attached is some information if you are interested in participating:

Download 2010 Workcamp Flyer

Download 2010 Workcamp FAQs

AFSC Haiti update

The American Friends Service Committee’s assessment team in Haiti reports that while the situation is calm, needs are great.   Many in Haiti are now homeless, living in temporary camps or sleeping in the streets.  In Haiti , AFSC has granted $50,000 to provide 10,000 meals for 100 days and another $50,000 to transport medical supplies and provide emergency shelter materials for medical teams.   The Service Committee is thankful for the generous contributions from thousands of Friends and others and is in the process of determining a longer-term plan that supports a Haitian-led recovery.  For more information, please visit the web site, www.afsc.org/haiti.

Feb 8: author of 3 Cups of Tea speaking in Houston

This fall the Children's First Day classes began by reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, about the difference one man has made in providing community-based education in Pakistan.    Greg Mortenson will be speaking in Houston on Febuary 8th at Jones Hall about his life's journey from mountain climber to humanitarian.    He is being sponsored by  the organization Texans for Pennies for Peace -- and the link for information on this event is:http://www.texans4p4p.com