March @ Amistad

Greetings Amistad!

Yesterday we received a letter from See's Candies -- this was in response to our letter about child labor and forced labor on cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast. I'll share it on Friday, including this important sentence: "Despite the fact that we are somewhat removed from the actual cocoa bean, we do care deeply about the issue of Fair Trade and the elimination of any abhorrent labor practices." So that's encouraging! (We still haven't heard from Hershey or Ghirardelli.)

Here's a tentative schedule of themes for our Friday evening Agape Meal gatherings in March. Check the website for updates.

Friday, March 4 – We'll wrap up Epiphany and get ready for our Lenten focus on "Wild Jesus" by reading together a short excerpt from the book "ReJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church" by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch. And we'll celebrate Matthew's birthday "in absentia" by praying for him while he's at work!

Friday, March 11 – "Wild Jesus #1: the woman at the well" Read the gospel of John, chapter 4, as we begin our Lenten focus on the Wild Jesus who ignored social taboos, challenged untruths and astonished his disciples. And for even more reading -- see "John Dominic Crossan's 'blasphemous' portrait of Jesus" on today's CNN online Belief Blog -- very long, very interesting to me!!
Friday, March 18 – at Terry's home in Fairfield for her signature corned beef 'n cabbage with Irish soda bread. Vegetarian version available! Table talk will center on Celtic Spirituality and St. Brigid of Ireland. (Also Keith's 70th birthday celebration!) Call or email me if you'd like to carpool into Fairfield.

Friday, March 25 – I will be in Chicago this weekend to celebrate Jake's 6th birthday, so no Amistad gathering here. Does someone else want to host? or shall we take the week off? Let me know!

Some other March opportunities:

Last fall, when we disbursed our Mission Fund (to Women for Women International, the Cebu Rural Scholars, the Vacaville Veterans' Thanksgiving meal and our tithe to UCC Share) we said we'd start saving up for a $200 donation to one of the fistula hospitals in Africa mentioned in the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. We've got almost $200 saved up now, so let's confirm that that's how we want to use it, then we can research just where to send it.

While having coffee at Green Beans a few weeks ago, I discovered a lovely glossy postcard advertising "Celtic Mystery: A St. Patrick's Day Event" at 7:00 p.m. on March 17 at the Vacaville Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $18. "This St. Patrick's Day immerse yourself in magic and mystery. Experience the land St. Patrick transformed. A magical evening of Celtic music, art, food, original stories and more." Anyway, I have some of the postcards here if anyone is interested -- and let me know if you want to go!

We've already been busy packing our semi-annual "Balikbayan Box" for the Bingtans' Cebu Rural Christian Ministry in the Philippines. This one is our "Back to School" box with school supplies and children's backpacks for the new school year which begins in June. There's still room for additional donations. We'll ship the box right after Easter.
And during March we will have available (in addition to our regular offering basket) a donation box for the One Great Hour of Sharing, our annual UCC denomination-wide offering for global development, disaster relief and refugee assistance.

Now, I know that's a LOT of mission opportunities! We have never expected everyone to contribute to everything, so if there is a special offering that appeals to you, please support it and don't feel obligated to support the others. (That's what I do!) But a variety of opportunities helps to raise our awareness about the needs of our own community as well as the global community, and gives us a choice of how to contribute.

Blessings, hope and health to all --

Marian

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