Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers)

by Dwight Kimberly, member at Reedwood Friends and long-time teacher in the science department of George Fox University. Dwight has an incredible curiosity about creation. His family has learned to not open brown paper bags in the freezer (recent road kills of interest are often found inside).

I must be getting old because I often reflect on the way things were, the golden years of my youth during the 1940s and ’50s. How can one forget the 1955 Chevrolet, gasoline at $ 0.299 per gallon, the innocence and security of walking home after the football game, the loaf of bread for 5 cents, and the family mealtime. We had parents who were raised during the Great Depression of the 1930s and without much of the excesses of today. The stress of surviving the Depression influenced the way we were raised. We carefully used adhesive tape, made our own glue out of flour & water, were thrilled with the one-party telephone, and marveled at the neighbor’s 8-inch black/white television. It is interesting that this generation of parents still adheres to many of these ideals even though there are adequate financial resources for less restrictive living. One of the concerns of a retirement community is that Depression-era residents may deprive themselves of adequate nutrition because they want to cut costs. Today’s children don’t think this way—they have credit cards. Most of the children of the past 30 years have not known the disciplined living of the 1930s. The line between ‘”appetite” and ‘”need” is a bit fuzzy for many of us that have not faced hard times.

One aspect of contemporary living which generates discussion between several of my friends is the “throw away generation.” It seems much of what we buy is intentionally disposable—not meant to last beyond one use—or built to be unfixable. Continue reading …

Colin Saxton is general superintendent of Northwest Yearly Meeting.

Last month I joined a bunch of men at Quaker Hill Camp in McCall, Idaho for their Friends Men retreat. Quaker Hill is one of the gems in NWYM—a fabulous place of retreat—and McCall is one of the most beautiful spots on earth. The theme for the camp is “Living a Balanced Life.” As I prepared to speak, I realized…I am not sure I know what a balanced life is or how to live it!?!

Maybe this is one of those cliché moments, where “those that can’t do…teach.” Given some of my tendencies toward workaholism…this may, in fact, be an issue.

Confessions aside, I did give this topic a great deal of thought and prayer. And I sat with the scriptures, looking for examples of “balance.” What, I wondered, is a balanced life–and who decides? Continue reading …

by Karen Oberst, Klamath Falls Friends.  Karen enjoys working in the garden and helping people write blessings on people and places they care about. She has a book about the Sermon on the Mount published by Barclay Press.

One of the benefits of Celtic Christianity is that it calls us to remember the sacredness of the Earth. The Celts originally worshiped nature beings, but when Christianity came to them, this was exchanged for a love of nature as the creation of God. They believed that God has a hand in creating each flower, each animal, and each human being that comes into our world.

Celtic Christianity is older than the time when Constantine sponsored the council that declared the Christianity practiced around Rome to be the only orthodox form of the religion. Therefore they approached Christianity a little differently. Continue reading …

by Jamie Johnson, Friends Leadership Program director (Newberg Friends)

Can you recall a time in your life when someone older than you joined you in your journey, sought to learn more about you, and helped you experience the work of Christ in your life more clearly? As I reflect on my life, I realize that I often chronologically organize my life according to those people who mentored me. What a blessing to reflect on how I was shaped by people who cared enough about me to join their life to mine!

We have embarked on a mentoring journey as part of the Friends Leadership Program (FLP). Each of the students involved have selected a mentor and begun meeting with them on a regular basis. We believe this is an important aspect of growing in our understanding of who God is, and how he has created each of us. Continue reading …

• Junior High Jamboree, a retreat at Twin Rocks Friends Camp over Presidents’ Day weekend, had a record 58 attenders! Planned and directed by a group of high schoolers from the Portland and Newberg Areas, it also helps develop the leadership and ministry skills of our youth.

• A near-final tally for our Thanksgiving Offering is $31,355! Our goal was three water filtration micro-businesses at $3,000 each. We far exceeded that desire and will be able to work with Burundi’s water needs in a completely new way!

For updates on this project, follow:

· Twitter: biosand
· Biosand website
· Facebook: Del Livingston

• The Friends Leadership Program at George Fox University (featured in an article on page 12 of the Connection) continues to grow. Jamie Johnson, program director, provides this update:

· We have received 35 applications from Friends students thus far—last year we received a total of 29!
· There were approximately 15 students interviewing for the Friends Leadership Scholarship in February—these students are from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and California.
· Our goal is to enroll 25-30 Friends students for the next school year. Any encouragement you can provide to high school seniors to apply is much appreciated and will help us get closer to this goal.

• In May 2003, Evangelical Friends Mission expanded its work in Mexico to a new field, Aguascalientes. Central Mexico is one of the most unevangelized areas in the world. NWYM has selected nine students, as part of Youth Challenged to Expand their Worldview (YCEW), to come alongside this work in Mexico this summer. The team members are: Colleen Young, leader (Eugene), Shreela McFadden (Meridian), Alyssa Redford (Meridian), Melynda Lujaun (Caldwell), Jessica Ice (Sherwood), Stephanie Andres (Newberg), David Reid (Sherwood), Lucas Startin (Sherwood), Mark and Tim Almquist (West Chehalem). An additional leader is still being sought. Contact Rachelle Staley if you are interested

• Youth Challenged through Local Service (YCLS) will place several NWYM high schoolers with Bridgetown Ministries, June 21-27. Youth will also attend Youth Yearly Meeting in late July. YCLS is a five-day learning experience that will challenge all who participate, providing a broad overview of service in the inner city of Portland. Each participant will have opportunity to learn, serve, and build relationships with people of all walks of life. Find application information on our website.

• At their fall retreat, the Board of Local Outreach finalized laying down the Quaker Cove ministry point, which had met at the campground in Anacortes, Washington. Transitions in leadership made continuity difficult. Be praying for new opportunities in this region of the Northwest.

• The Leadership Institute for Group Discernment, co-sponsored by NWYM, George Fox Evangelical Seminary, and Good News Associates, is scheduled for May 17-20. NWYM folks can sign up by April 1 and be eligible for one of eight program scholarships, bringing the cost of the institute down to $50. This national institute will feature discussions and presentations around working together to discern the mind of God. Business meetings, personal discernment, dealing with dissent, and applications to youth ministry will all be covered. For further information and registration.

• The Joy of Clerking will be a one-day seminar emphasis during the Leadership Institute for Group Discernment. Sign up to deepen your clerking skills and discover the joy of God’s movement in your meeting. The cost is just $30 for the one-day event on May 18, to be held at George Fox University. Go here to register.

• Spiritual discernment training continues to be a priority for the Board of Congregational Care. Bruce Bishop has been tasked with organizing strategic training for churches, committees, and individuals. If your church is interested in sponsoring a “discernment day” for your leadership and congregation, please contact him.

• NWYM youth volleyball tournament will be held in Hayden Lake, ID, April 30-May 1 for NWYM high school students! The cost is $35 per team. Registration information is available. If your church has an experienced, qualified, person who would be able to referee during the tournament, or if you have questions, please contact Buddy Holton. Time to get practicing!

• Many of our churches will be doing ministry over Spring Break. NWYM has a long-standing relationship with people and churches in Mexico via the “Get Away Give Away” program begun and administered through Eugene Friends. Be in prayer for more than two hundred youth, young adults, and adults who will travel and minister in Mexico.

• Established in 2008, the Sower’s Fund is dedicated to the growth and vitality of NWYM–both now and into the future. Through the generous support of people like you, we received more than $46,000 in 2009! These resources from the Sower’s Fund are used to scatter the seeds of change, hope and new life for the Friends of Northwest Yearly Meeting and in the world we serve.

If you would like to partner with others in the work of supporting NWYM ministries through the Sower’s Fund, here is what it means:

· Commit to pray regularly
· Make an annual gift or monthly pledge
· Receive a quarterly communication from the NWYM Superintendent
· Engage the NWYM superintendent around hosting an informational event, or sharing ideas and plans for the future.

Our goal for 2010 is $75,000, and $20,000 is already pledged. Online donations can be made, and you can download the Sower’s Fund brochure.

• Interested in receiving this newsletter as a PDF in your email box? Let us know.

• Gil and Louise George, former pastors at Boise Friends, have accepted a call to pastor the congregation at Woodland Friends in central Idaho. They hope to begin immediately, arriving for Easter Sunday.

Training Leaders Who Train Other Leaders In Central Africa

The students struggled to do their best to answer the tough questions in the oral exams that covered the two years of classes they had attended. When the questions seemed to be a little too easy, the exam panel asked follow-up questions to further assess their grasp of the content—Bible, theology, ministry methods, church administration, conflict resolution, and other topics. Those who didn’t do so well, were given another chance to show their strengths the next day. When they heard they had all passed, there was much rejoicing.


These exams were at the end of one of three training programs for pastors and other church leaders in the “Great Lakes” region of Central Africa. For a small fraction of the cost of sending a missionary family there, Great Lakes Leadership Training (GLLT) has prepared hundreds of men and women for evangelism, church planting, and pastoral work. These trained leaders already know the local languages, the history of the people, the local cultures, and are able to serve the Lord with modest amounts of financial support. Students receive training at the level which best suits their background and circumstances.


By joining hands with Friends across the US through Evangelical Friends Mission (EFM), we are able to assist this multiplication process of training effective leaders. Several former missionaries to Africa who now live in the Northwest have a deep interest in the work of the Great Lakes area. In addition a NWYM family, David and Debby Thomas, works closely with the leadership training programs in Rwanda where they see the fruits of training men and women to serve Jesus. Ron Stansell (Newberg), Shawn McConaughey (North Valley), and Lon Fendall (West Chehalem) serve on the Evangelical Friends Mission committee that gives guidance to the Great Lakes Leadership programs.


What’s next for these training programs? Most students in the programs have been mature adults who did not have the chance to complete primary school, partly because of political chaos in their region. Now the yearly meetings are ready to move on to training those who have some high school education and who also want to improve their effectiveness in Christian ministry. To find out how to support these programs, please contact Lon Fendall, Director of Great Lakes Leadership Training, or Ben Staley, GLLT Board Chairman.


Please pray for the growth and support of these much needed programs in Africa.

Shawn Leonard participated in the Mountain Ministry
and now is on staff, helping others. He attends
Rose Valley Friends church.

Ephesians 4:22-24 You were taught, with regard to the former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by it’s deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. NIV

Mountain Ministries, located just outside of Kelso, WA., is a one-year discipleship program designed to lead a person from a life of drugs and alcohol to a life committed to serving Jesus Christ. With a 70% success rate, Mountain Ministries shows that Jesus Christ is the answer to drugs, alcohol, and other forms of addiction. Gary and Fay Miller, the executive directors, have dedicated their home, property, money and time to “the Mountain” because of the call God put on their lives. There are two sides to the Mountain: The Women of Faith (along with their children), and the Mountain Men. Between the women, children, men and staff, we number around 100 people. The staff are full-time volunteers. God provides for the Mountain through many small donations every day. God pays the bills and feeds everyone. God is a very good provider; if you’ve ever tried to out-give God, it’s the best losing game around. The Mountain has a high level of accountability and a very structured environment which includes worship, Bible teaching, prayer, and counseling. Jim and Jeanne Leonard, my parents, are retired pastors from South Salem Friends Church. They provide the Mountain with counseling and some of the teaching.
Continue reading …

Celebrate Recovery, a ministry born at Saddleback Church in California, is a Christ-centered program based on the Biblical principles of recovery given by Christ at the very beginning of in his most famous message, the Sermon on the Mount.

In 2005 2nd Street Community Church, a ministry of Friends in Newberg, OR, launched Celebrate Recovery and soon outgrew its facility. After talking with Newberg pastors, asking them to join us, Northside Community Church offered their building, several other churches offered resources, and in November 2008, we changed our name to “Newberg Community Celebrate Recovery”. Currently 15 area churches are involved in this cooperative program of healing discipleship.

If you joined us on Monday nights you’d find a gathering of people who know they are loved and accepted by Jesus Christ. As we worship, it’s clear we know what we’ve been set free from! Most will be happy to tell you their story; how they came to the end of themselves, how they surrendered to God, and how Christ stepped into their darkness and offered hope to begin their journey of change.

We are a mixed group of people: We are co-dependents, struggling with setting healthy boundaries in relationships; food addicts with lifelong struggles with unhealthy food choices; abuse survivors wounded in childhood, acting out of our pain and loss of self; sex addicts working on sexual purity and the core issues of why we use pornography; workaholics; alcoholics; drugs addicts… and the list continues as people understand they cannot change in isolation and that God, not time, is the healer of all wounds.

We are followers of Jesus Christ who have found a safe place to take off our masks and take the first step to change – surrendering our lives and wills to our true Higher Power, Jesus Christ!

For information on this program, or how to begin your own, contact 2nd Street’s Celebration Recovery ministry director, Becky Emmons. You can reach her at 503/538-9761 or at rebeccalynnemmons @ gmail.com.

We asked Doug Wedin, pastor, and Carole Spencer, director of the Friends Center at George Fox Evangelical Seminary, to provide short essays on “disciplining the mind and body as servants of the Lord,” Query 18.

by Doug Wedin, pictured here with his wife Debby. Doug and Debby provide leadership at Valley Friends meeting in Mt. Vernon, Washington. Organic farming and foster childcare are aspects of their ministry.

“No one stops to think…”  God commented through Isaiah. (44:9-20 NIV)

What’s he mean? Well, it seems we have trouble connecting the dots of belief and practice. Apparently, we don’t understand implications very well, like how instinct and impulse regularly shape our worship. He wants us to personally examine ourselves, raid our religiosity and confront our character. And, that is not easily done.

Why don’t we stop to think? The typical answer is we’re too busy, though we’re never too busy to dwell on what worries us. We’re chronically distracted by our old nature as it bullies us into concentrating on gnats, and so, we swallow camels. Honest evaluation always threatens the status quo and tends to reveal our posturing. Critique takes painful effort. Interestingly, our old nature doesn’t care what we believe as long as we act with self-interest. It allows us to pursue faith, as long as our faith is predominately sensual and sensational. So, confronting our character becomes as rare as repentance.
Continue reading …

By Patrick N., Friend Serving Abroad in the Middle East, shown here with his family, all flashing their new passports!

With every ending comes a new beginning. At no other time is this more pronounced than at the end of a calendar year. Not long ago, we said, “Goodbye” to 2009 and “Hello” to 2010. Some welcomed in the New Year with great anticipation of good things to come. Others may have done so with fear and trepidation, sure that some sort of doom and gloom lie ahead. I think for me it’s a mix.

As we approach the end of the year, we often reflect upon the events of the previous twelve months, especially those things that are enjoyable to recall. Maybe we are reminded of those rare moments spent with family and friends. Perhaps we remember a special occasion or milestone like a wedding, graduation or the birth of a baby. One of the big thrills of the year for our family was how God provided us with visas to live in Israel, this after hearing of so many people who were denied this privilege.

Of course, God’s people don’t only encounter favorable circumstances. Undoubtedly, there are some whose year was marked by grave difficulties or even unspeakable tragedy. I’m sure many have faced financial challenges of some sort due to the lagging economy or the loss of a job or retirement funds. Others may be grieving the loss of a loved one or struggling through a painful divorce. I pray these times of trial will pass quickly.

Through all of my experiences of 2009, either positive or negative, I saw God at work in my life, always for my betterment. Everything that has happened to me throughout my life, good and bad, was an opportunity for personal growth. I know God is concerned about my character more than he is about my comfort. That gives me great hope for the coming calendar year and beyond. I encourage you to carefully consider your life to discover the many ways in which God has worked and in which he is working even today. I believe without a doubt that you will find him faithful.