Dear Friend of KairosUSA - Holland/Zeeland Community,
As you know, we are part of the KUSA (National) Community. Here is the most recent newsletter from our parent organization, and our Program Director, Mark Braverman.
It includes a message from our Fort Wayne partner, Mike Spath, whom many of you have met.
Our KUSA H/Z Community is planning on bringing Mr. Braverman to Holland, MI, to train others from the Midwest USA in the KUSA document/response to the Call for Help from our Palestinian brothers and sisters.
This winter, I'm hopeful of refreshing our understanding of that document in three consecutive weeks after the first of the year. Watch for the news. (Perhaps you were part of the HASP classes in October/November of 2012. We'll take a fresh look. KUSA communities are spring up all over the USA, from ecumenical and evangelical congregations and communities like Fort Wayne and Holland/Zeeland.
We are working closely with Western Theological Seminary here in Holland. Our friend Marlin (Sally) Vis will be taking 12 Western Seminary students (plus others) to I/P for 10 days beginning early in January. We hope they will be part of the training Mark will give on a full day of Saturday training in April, 2015, right at Western Seminary (@ College Avenue and 13th Street!)
This is such a crucial time for the Israelis (and Palestinians too). The present Likud-led government has broken up. New elections have been called for in March. The choice for Israelis is more of the same Nationalistic, Jewish ethnocracy; or opening up to more of a Democracy led by a coalition of Mr. Herzog and Ms. Livni. We are still a long way from equal rights for the 20% of Israelis who are Arab Palestinians, to say nothing of the hundreds of thousands (millions?) who have fled the country and are wanting to return to their homes and property, confiscated and colonized by the Jewish/Israeli State. The situation still looks very bleak and hopeless. Watch for a pick-up in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in the years ahead.
Have a great New Year, everybody. JRK for FPI/KUSA-Holland/Zeeland Community
1 comment:
John,
My wife Caroline and I moved to Holland 12 months ago and are just coming out from under a large house remodel in Holland, and are looking around for like-minded people with whom to associate. We have spent some time in the Middle East; most recently I was working for UNDP in Ramallah for most of 2008. Is this a group that meets occasionally?
Fred Van Antwerp (fjvanantwerp@yahoo.com)
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