Global Ministries of Friends United Meeting
Friends United Meeting includes 30 yearly meetings (regional associations) of Friends, along with several smaller groups, local meetings (churches) and affiliated organizations. We cooperate in cross-cultural missions and cooperative ventures, coordinating across yearly meetings through offices in Richmond, Indiana (USA) and Kisumu (Kenya).
Spread across several continents, the Global Ministries of Friends United Meeting seeks to support the worldwide Body of Christ in its local and regional ministries. Through financial support, human ingenuity and open communication, Friends United Meeting is energizing and equipping Friends to live into the calling and gifts we have received from the Holy Spirit.
Friends United Meeting currently operates in five major mission fields:
Belize
Quakers have been present and engaged in the Central American nation of Belize for more than two generations. The primary ministry of Friends United Meeting in Belize is the Friends Boys school. Originally founded as a school for boys facing educational difficulties, today the school is a co-educational institution that provides opportunities for young men and women to attend high school who would otherwise be disqualified from doing so.
Learn more about the work of Friends in Belize
Cuba
Friends in Cuba have survived generations of Communist rule, thriving despite government hostility to their Christian faith. Cuba Yearly Meeting maintains a strong witness to the living presence of Jesus Christ in every person. Because of governmental restrictions on the life of the Church, Friends in Cuba benefit in a special way from the solidarity of brothers and sisters in the wider Religious Society of Friends.
Learn more about the work of Friends in Cuba
East Africa
The living power of Jesus Christ is abundantly clear among Friends in East Africa. After decades of phenomenal growth, the Republic of Kenya is now home to the majority of Friends worldwide. Quakers continue to flourish and expand in East Africa, with Yearly Meetings in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and beyond.
Learn more about the work of Friends in East Africa
North America
North America is the historical homeland of FUM, and the effort of North American missionaries was decisive in bringing the Friends understanding of the gospel to areas a diverse as East Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. Today, the Body of Christ in the United States and Canada is experiencing numerical decline and a financial crisis that has sapped much of the prosperity that once defined this continent. As a new century dawns, Friends in North America look to our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver us from the snares of materialism and despair, gathering us once again as his people.
Learn more about the work of Friends in North America
Ramallah, Palestine
Outside of North America, the Friends presence in Ramallah is the longest established in Friends United Meeting. Founded in 1869, the Ramallah Friends school serves the needs of Palestinian families, providing educational excellence built upon the Quaker values of peace, equality and non-violence. Unique in many ways, the school commits itself to developing the whole person — physical, mental, spiritual and social — regardless of varying abilities.
Learn more about the work of Friends in Ramallah