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Friends United
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International Field Staff
International Field Staff are recruited from around the world.
FUM Global Ministries believes that
- Field Staff should be equipped to provide the particular service/ministry that they are called to do. Equipping might involve language training and skill training. This might also be the provision of a vehicle or office space for field staff to do their work effectively.
- Thorough selection, orientation, preparation, regular review and opportunities for reflection and retreat are essential resources needed to support people working internationally
- Spiritual support is integral to ministry. Field Staff are serving internationally because God has called them to respond to His Love in this way. They are doing very demanding work usually in leadership roles in different cultures than their own. We need to recognise that stress levels are often high and staff need opportunities and space to reflect, gather together, support each other and renew their vision.
- There must be a minimum stipend or salary for Field Staff to meet their needs including food, accommodation, safety and security, family health and children's education.
- Opportunities to return home to i. help others participate in their ministry in providing prayer support and financial assistance and ii. provide challenge and resources for their home communities. These challenges and other resources help home communities re-evaluate their Christian life in relation to the experience of others and to grow in faith. Ulitmately this enrichment should assist our churches to reach out to others locally as they share the excitement of their faith.
FUM is pleased to support such ministry as it has done for over 100 years. The cost of a typical international appointment for a family today is approximately 70,000 US$ per annum. This includes three basic elements for a family with children:
1. 30,000 US$ on average to provide for a family; education, housing, security, food and to pay such taxes as are required locally.
2. 20,000 US$ on average to provide employment costs such as health insurance, pension savings, selection, orientation, field supervision, continuing review and a project vehicle if necessary
3. 20,000 US$ on average to provide necessary equipment, language study, other project travel, telecommunication, deputation in their home country and local project administration
We are proud to acknowledge the service of our International Field Staff. FUM is pleased to provide you with the information below concerning the nature of their work and the level of financial support that they are currently receiving. To support their ministry return to the link: Supporting the work of International Field Staff.
Sam and Becky Barber - Friends Boys School, Belize City, Belize
Ben and Jody Richmond - Friends Theological College, Kaimosi, Kenya
Pat Shrock - Volunteer Field Staff
Joyce Ajlouny - Friends Schools, Ramallah/el-Bireh, Palestine
Eden Grace - Africa Ministries, Kisumu, KenyaRead the October 2008 Field Staff newsletter (PDF)
Sam and Becky Barber — FUM Field Staff headed for Belize
Sam
and Becky Barber met at Vennard College in Oskaloosa, Iowa, where they
married and graduated with degrees in Bible/theology. They also completed
degrees in elementary education at William Penn College. In 1996, they
were called to return to a struggling Vennard College and stayed until
2008 when Vennard closed its doors. Becky is currently working on a master’s
degree in English language learning. These different life experiences
will be a significant help to them in their work at Friends Boys School.
Sam and Becky have four wonderfully energetic and loving children. Robert
was born in 1992, Katie in 1994, Kristy in 1999 and the youngest, Kassie,
in 2002.
Barbers' Web site
Ben and Jody Richmond — FUM Interim Field Staff in Kenya
Currently,
Ben Richmond is serving as Interim Principal at Friends Theological College.
The ministry at FTC is built on mutual listening and learning with Kenyan
Friends to:
- provide a place of hospitality and conversation for all Kenyan Friends
- implement a stronger, expanded curriculum, and an accredited diploma
- enrich academic life, through lecture series and discussions
- foster spiritual growth, with a day each week devoted to prayer, reflection, Bible study, and discernment in small groups
- provide faculty development and assist faculty toward earning advanced degrees
- expand the college library collection
- develop income-generating projects to support college programs
- increase financial commitment from Kenyan Yearly Meetings
- train all students in HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness, as well as peace and conflict resolution skills (AVP)
- create publications for Friends in East Africa through Kaimosi Friends Press.
Jesus said: Happy are they who hear the word of God and obey it.—Luke 11:27-28
You can support this ministry through your prayers and financial gifts. All of the funding needed for Ben and Jody is raised outside of the FUM general operating budget. If you or your meeting is interested in more information please fill in the RESPONSE FORM, or contact us at the address at the bottom of the page. Your support will make a difference in the lives of many Kenyan Friends.
Email Ben and Jody
Pat Shrock — Volunteer Field Staff
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She says this about her ministry, "I believe I have been called to this work and that God has prepared me for it. He gave me a desire and a gift for teaching, a heart for missions and a personal relationship with His Son, Jesus." Pat is a devoted mother and grandmother. She enjoys her home, her flowerbeds, reading, needlework and her grandchildren! A member of Sycamore Friends, Indiana Yearly Meeting, Pat has been on three work teams to Jamaica and one to Kenya. She says, "Earlier this year God gave me a verse: 'all the days ordained for me were written in your book before any of them came to be.' (Psalm 139:16) After a year of prayerful preparation and a visit to Friends Theological College in Kenya, I see how God has been working 'all the days.'" |
Pat
Shrock gives six months of her life every year to serve as volunteer
field staff. Pat is retired from her job and graduated from Indiana
University at Kokomo. She is excited that God has opened way for
her to follow a leading to pursue missions service, a leading which
was initially felt in childhood.
Eden Grace, husband James and children Jesse and Isaiah — FUM Field Staff in Kenya
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Eden and James Grace are members of New England Yearly Meeting,
and have been serving FUM in Kenya since 2004. Eden has a Masters
of Divinity and has served in numerous leadership roles with New
England Eden and James are living with their family of two boys, Isaiah and Jesse in Kisumu, Kenya. Eden works in FUM's Africa Ministries office alongside John Muhanji, the Africa Ministries Repesentative, as FUM seeks to enhance its ministries of evangelism, leadership training, communication and global partnership in the African context. The Christian ministry of reconciliation is a significant part of their faithfulness to God's call in their lives. They are inspired by FUM's commitment to global partnership, and seek to be instruments of partnership among Freinds world-wide. Eden and James are committed to a model of parenting that honors the spiritual, emotional and moral development of their children and are excited about the growth they are experiencing together as a family in Kenya. |
Yearly
Meeting and Friends United Meeting. Eden is very much an international
Friend serving as FUM's representative on the World Council of Churches
form 1998 to 2006. James brings many years of business management
and leadership experience from the computer software field as well
as the clerking of Monthly and Quarterly Meetings. He has served
on NEYM's Ministry and Counsel Commmittee and has studied Quakerism
at Earlham School of Religion. E-mail Eden
Joyce Ajlouny, husband Ziad Khalaf and their children Nader, Ramzi and Tareq — FUM Field Staff in Palestine
Joyce Ajlouny has been appointed to serve as Director of Friends School,
Ramallah/El-Bireh and FUM Representative in 
Palestine
and Israel. For 15 years, Joyce enjoyed an exciting career working at
senior management level with international development and relief organizations,
at the United Nations, and most recently as Oxfam Great Britain Representative
in Palestine.
(Photo; R to L: Nader, Ziad, Ramzi, Joyce, Tareq)
Joyce writes, "As a parent in the Ramallah community, I know first hand the worries of parents and the inner fears of children. There isn't anything in my life more gratifying than knowing I can take part in the efforts of alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian community by providing its future leaders with hope and a healthy learning environment. I am driven by a conviction that a Quaker education is even more relevant now than any other time in this region's history, to balance our present local and global challenges and make way for peace and tolerance. It gives me great pride to answer God's calling to Christian ministry and take part in the continuation of the success story at the Friends Schools in Ramallah/El-Bireh."
E-mail Joyce