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SEPTEMBER 2006
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Local Witness |
ARTICLES:
• VBS at Cone UMC
• Kabir Moss to Africa University
• Swords into Ploughshares
• Camp DARFUR at Redding
• Arcata Call to Prayer |
 Sunnyvale team to Cone UMC
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VBS at Cone UMC
Vacation Bible School 2006 at Cone Community United Methodist Church centered around a team of youth from Valley Faith United Methodist Church in Sunnyvale.
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Meeting from July 24-28, 2006, nine youth and one adult leader from Valley Faith UMC-Sunnyvale, five youth from the local church, and three adult volunteers who provided kitchen support, all worked under the theme “Fiesta! Where Kids Are Fired Up About God!”
Valley Faith UMC Coordinator for Children & Youth, Marcia B. Cepe, said “What a fantastic week! The Sunnyvale team came with lots of enthusiasm and energy. We recognized some of the kids from last year and it was great to know that they remembered us. They seemed surprised that we remembered them!”
Activities included general assembly and singing, indoor and outdoor play, arts and crafts, theater/movie time, and interactive story telling of Bible adventures. “
The five full days for VBS gave us the opportunity to do preparation in between and also evaluate how the day went,” Ms. Cepe said. “ Children were grouped into three crews with varying ages, instead of having the same ages in one group. This allowed the crew to work together as a team and taught the older kids to help out with the younger kids.
“Each one of the youth volunteers has grown as a leader. One thing is certain, that the Sunnyvale team is looking forward to our mission trip for Vacation Bible School next year, and we hope that you are too!” (Debbie Dillon is assistant pastor at Cone UMC.) |
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Kabir Moss to Africa University
Kabir Moss, now at Africa University, with parents the Rev. David Leeper Moss (Pastor of Trinity UMC, Chico and Cedar Moss. |
| In mid-August Kabir Moss, son of Trinity United Methodist Church Pastor David Leeper Moss and Cedar Moss, left Chico to enroll as a student at Africa University in Old Mutare, Zimbabwe. Kabir’s time at AU will be an adventure at the only United Methodist-related institution on the continent of Africa approved by the General Conference of The United Methodist Church.
Kabir describes himself as “born to a third-generation peace preaching family and born, not to suburban America, but to the world.” His father , the Rev. David Moss, has worked his whole life for peace and justice causes, and in fact, met his mother at a peace demonstration held each Saturday on Main Street in Chico.
Although a continent away, there’s a “local angle” to this story. Africa University is supported through Apportionments (Benevolences or “Shared Giving”) programs of The United Methodist Church. It’s not an enormous amount we see each month in our church budget. For example, Trinity Church-Chico pays only about $134.00 each year toward Africa University. However, considering that all of the approximately 35,000United Methodist Churches in the U.S. contribute to this “shared giving” amount, it adds up to a significant amount of support for this United Methodist University.
It is the first fully accredited United Methodist-related institution on the African continent. There are currently students enrolled from fifteen African countries, with twelve countries represented on Faculty. At this time there are 1,246 students enrolled, and to date 2,317 have graduated from AU. Anyone can personally donate to Africa University, as well as participate in your local church apportionment share. For $5,000 per year, one can sponsor an African student who would otherwise not have such an education, and would rise up to become a leader for peace in his or her country.
There’s a further “local” aspect to this story. Ron and Betty Gill, former members of Trinity-Chico, told of trips Ron made to AU. Ron said, “In 1992 the Methodists finally had a sight for their university. A complete staff had been assembled, but the Zimbabwe government had refused them a charter until the school was in operation, and the Methodists did not want to start building until they had a charter. There was an old abandoned agriculture school on the property, with five old buildings in various stages of repair. A team was organized and sent to the sight to determine if a temporary school could be established using the existing buildings. That fall the school of theology for fifty-nine students was ready to go. Ron understood that at that point there were over 2000 applications for 59 openings. The first buildings were completed and to be dedicated in 1994. “Every member of the Methodist Church should be proud of what their money has done,” Ron said.
We wish you well, Kabir, in this year of study in Zimbabwe, and hope we can better understand Africa University through your eyes, thoughts and perceptions! |
Swords into Ploughshares
Trinity-Chico UMC Pastor David Leeper Moss recently ended a “Fast For Peace” after seventeen days in the rotunda of Congressional Representative Wally Herger’s local office at 55 Independence Circle in Chico. The intent of Pastor David’s fast was to call attention to the vast amounts of federal money used for our armed forces, and to prioritize more money for programs of social benefit for the marginalized both here and around the world. “It is poverty that breeds Terrorism,” Moss said “Our huge military budget bankrupts our nation, fiscally and morally. Using the military must be a last resort, never a tool of diplomacy. Violence or the threat of violence causes massive human suffering and will not solve international problems.”
Using a poster board which read “Swords into Ploughshares – Isaiah 2:4” Moss used this opportunity for peaceful demonstration, receiving visitors who were invited to sign a guest book. He subsisted on juice with communion bread once a day. At 12:30 each day, he invited visitors to take communion with him, and to meditate, read, or pray with him.
David Moss had originally planned to use what had been scheduled as his vacation time to walk the Pacific Crest Trail. Instead, he found himself compelled to use that time as a witness for peace. Related to his view of scripture, Moss said, “I would call for our leaders and for the rest of us to risk their lives for peace in the same way we call our young men and women to risk their lives for war. I would institute a Department of Peace, with equal cabinet status as the War Department and a budget big enough to do something earth shaking. I would revive the Peace Corps and send our best and brightest to places of poverty all over the world, to build bridges, dig wells, build classrooms and teach native teachers, build clinics and staff them with native doctors and nurses to help the poor, provide them with small low cost loans to help them establish their own businesses and raise their standard of living. This is the most powerful and most meaningful thing we can do to combat terrorism. Jim Wallis once said that the hopelessness of poverty breeds terrorism the way a swamp breeds mosquitoes. Draining the swamp is much more effective than just swatting at the mosquitoes.”
The pastor’s fast drew considerable attention from TV camera crews as well as area newspaper coverage. However, of his vigil, Moss said, “This is a holy time. I’m asking for Spiritual Intervention here.” He invited visitors and vigilers to continue his fast, either publicly or in private, using whatever means of peaceful demonstration one might choose as an individual act. |
Camp DARFUR at Redding
Refugee tents arranged in a half-circle on the grounds of the Redding Convention Center June 30 called attention to the plight of refugees in DARFUR and brought the concept of genocide home. “It’s a step above just seeing people rallying and carrying signs. It’s a simulated refugee camp, with actual U.N. refugee tents and artwork done by the children in DARFUR,” according to Adam Sterling, a UCLA student leader in the movement for divestment from Sudan.
One of the event’s sponsors, the Rev. Martin Murdock, pastor of First UMC in Redding, said “It’s a chance to get a feel for what’s happening in the refugee camps and to interact with that information.” A prayer vigil on the nearby Sundial Bridge over the Sacramento River was held on Friday evening.
Camp DARFUR was designed to make people more aware of what is going on in DARFUR, so that politicians can be energized to do something about it, and concerned people can raise money for humanitarian aid. |
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Arcata Call to Prayer
Arcata United Methodist women celebrated “A Call To Prayer and Self-Denial” at the home of Fran Gilkey on august 17. Looking back into UMW history, they discovered more than 135 years ago, women in Boston decided that they could give two cents and a prayer for work with women, children and youth. That small sum grew into millions of dollars and programs and projects in the U.S. and abroad. The Arcata UM Women are still working that the same goal in mind. “To do this, we are attempting to stop the rush of our lives to pray, and deny ourselves so that other women and children may have a chance. An offering was received for the building, repair, renovation and reconstruction of mission institutions in the U.S. and other countries….(From August 2006 Sea Breeze.) |
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