Jackson Community Church

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Outreach

Recognition of pride month (June). Before July arrives, in the midst of so many other national and global events, let us remember and celebrate Pride month.

By jacksonnhccPosted on Posted in Clergy of the Eastern Slope, Home, Justice & Activism, Weekly Meditations, YouthTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it’s curved like a road through mountains. — Tennessee Williams

Please remember, especially in these times of group-think and the right-on chorus, that no person is your friend (or kin) who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow and be perceived as fully blossomed as you were intended. – Alice Walker

This year’s theme across the Department of Defense is: “All Together” The fight for respect and dignity in the LGBTQ+ community has been ongoing for decades: From the Stonewall Riots in New York in 1969, to today’s social revolution for equality, we have seen what progression looks like. We have seen where we started, and what it has taken for the LGBTQ+ community to gain a foothold in the mountainous climb for rights. Without victimizing our own community, it has been a waiting game that spans over a time period of decades, married with protests, political action, court cases, prevention of violent/non-violent discriminatory acts, and best of all, lives saved. And it has all been made possible by the advocates and activists that were [and are] passionate about doing one thing: elevating pride. — Hills Air Force Base Pride Committee

Closer to Fine (excerpt) — Indigo Girls
I’m tryin’ to tell you somethin’ ’bout my life
Maybe give me insight between black and white
And the best thing you’ve ever done for me
Is to help me take my life less seriously
It’s only life after all, yeah

Well darkness has a hunger that’s insatiable
And lightness has a call that’s hard to hear
I wrap my fear around me like a blanket
I sailed my ship of safety ’til I sank it
I’m crawling on your shores
… I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains

I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains
We go to the doctor, we go to the mountains
We look to the children, we drink from the fountain
Yeah, we go to the Bible, we go through the work out
We read up on revival, we stand up for the lookout
There’s more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in a crooked line
And the less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine
The closer I am to fine
The closer I am to fine, yeah

Some songs to celebrate Pride Month:

Questions to consider:

  • Who has helped you understand LGBTQ experience on a more personal level? Who has humanized this social justice issue for you, if it wasn’t already a human experience with which you are familiar or connected?
  • What view or belief are you glad to have overcome or changed? What learning has helped you the most? What learning do you still need or want to do?
  • What does it mean that all people are created in the image and likeness of God?

Love as a Revolutionary Act: Love of Self, Love for Others, The Right to Love Whom You Choose

Burst down those closet doors once and for all, and stand up, and start to fight. — Harvey Milk

Love, in the New Testament, is not something you feel; it is something you do… Love seeks the well-being of others and is embodied in concrete efforts in their behalf. — Francis Taylor Gench

The beauty of standing up for your rights is others see you standing and stand up as well. — Cassandra Duffy

You never completely have your rights, one person, until you all have your rights. — Marsha P. Johnson
 
All of us who are openly gay are living and writing the history of our movement. We are no more — and no less — heroic than the suffragists and abolitionists of the 19th century; and the labor organizers, Freedom Riders, Stonewall demonstrators, and environmentalists of the 20th century. — Tammy Baldwin

This community has fought and continues to fight a war of acceptance, a war of tolerance and the most relentless bravery. You are the definition of courage, do you know that? — Lady Gaga
 
I believe that telling our stories, first to ourselves and then to one another and the world, is a revolutionary act. — Janet Mock
 
Being born gay, black and female is not a revolutionary act. Being proud to be a gay, black female is. — Lena Waithe
 
Our society needs to recognize the unstoppable momentum toward unequivocal civil equality for every gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender citizen of this country. — Zachary Quinto

Who would give a law to lovers? Love is unto itself a higher law. — Boethius

Every single courageous act of coming out chips away at the curse of homophobia. Most importantly it’s destroyed within yourself, and that one act creates the potential for its destruction where it exists in friends, family and society. — Anthony Venn-Brown

Surviving and Thriving

We are powerful because we have survived. — Audre Lorde

Know Thyself! Understand yourself fully and find your peace of mind. Peace comes when you are not trying to copy someone else or be someone else other than you. When you find that stability within yourself, share with others how you got there without selling them something, or trying to fix them. — Rev Yolanda
 
Every gay and lesbian person who has been lucky enough to survive the turmoil of growing up is a survivor. Survivors always have an obligation to those who will face the same challenges. — Bob Paris

I want to do the right thing and not hide anymore. I want to march for tolerance, acceptance, and understanding. I want to take a stand and say, “Me, too.’“ — Jason Collins

I want to make sure that any young person or anyone really who is looking up to me—who sees a glimpse of who I am as a person—that they see no shame, that they see pride, and that I’m truly unabashed about the person that I am. — Samira Wiley

It is better to live one day on this planet being true to yourself than an entire lifetime which is a lie. — Anthony Venn-Brown

Beauty in Diversity

We should indeed keep calm in the face of difference, and live our lives in a state of inclusion and wonder at the diversity of humanity. — George Takei

What I preach is: People fall in love with people, not gender, not looks, not whatever. What I’m in love with exists on almost a spiritual level. — Miley Cyrus

It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences. — Audre Lord

When all Americans are treated as equal, no matter who they are or whom they love, we are all more free. — Former U.S. President, Barack Obama

I was not ladylike, nor was I manly. I was something else altogether. There were so many different ways to be beautiful. — Michael Cunningham

True hospitality is marked by an open response to the dignity of each and every person. Henri Nouwen has described it as receiving the stranger on his own terms, and asserts that it can be offered only by those who ‘have found the center of their lives in their own hearts.’ — Kathleen Norris

A Litany for Survival — Audre Lord

For those of us who live at the shoreline
standing upon the constant edges of decision
crucial and alone
for those of us who cannot indulge
the passing dreams of choice
who love in doorways coming and going
in the hours between dawns
looking inward and outward
at once before and after
seeking a now that can breed
futures
like bread in our children’s mouths
so their dreams will not reflect
the death of ours;

For those of us
who were imprinted with fear
like a faint line in the center of our foreheads
learning to be afraid with our mother’s milk
for by this weapon
this illusion of some safety to be found
the heavy-footed hoped to silence us

For all of us
this instant and this triumph

We were never meant to survive.
And when the sun rises we are afraid
it might not remain
when the sun sets we are afraid
it might not rise in the morning
when our stomachs are full we are afraid
of indigestion
when our stomachs are empty we are afraid
we may never eat again
when we are loved we are afraid
love will vanish
when we are alone we are afraid
love will never return
and when we speak we are afraid
our words will not be heard
nor welcomed
but when we are silent
we are still afraid

So it is better to speak
remembering
we were never meant to survive.

Beyond Fear & Shame: Embracing & Celebrating

Openness may not completely disarm prejudice, but it’s a good place to start. — Jason Collins

To be afraid is to behave as if the truth were not true. — Bayard Rustin

We deserve to experience love fully, equally, without shame, and without compromise. — Ellen Page

I’ve never been interested in being invisible and erased. — Laverne Cox
 
I learned compassion from being discriminated against. Everything bad that’s ever happened to me has taught me compassion. — Ellen DeGeneres
 
I’ve been embraced by a new community. That’s what happens when you’re finally honest about who you are; you find others like you. — Chaz Bono
 
I am a strong, black, lesbian woman. Every single time I say it, I feel so much better. — Brittney Griner
 
We have to do it because we can no longer stay invisible. We have to be visible. We should not be ashamed of who we are. — Sylvia Rivera
 
I’m living by example by continuing on with my career and having a full, rich life, and I am incidentally gay. — Portia de Rossi

All young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential. — Harvey Milk
 
I’m a young, bisexual woman, and I’ve spent a large part of my life trying to validate myself — to my friends, to my family, to myself — trying to prove that who I love and how I feel is not a phase. — Halsey
 
You have to go the way your blood beats. If you don’t live the only life you have, you won’t live some other life, you won’t live any life at all. — James Baldwin
  
I am always amazed how powerful that three letter word ‘gay’ can be. Many of us rejected it and wouldn’t even let the word come out of our mouth because of all the negative connotations attached to it…sin…. promiscuity….a ‘lifestyle’ etc etc. We would definitely never ever use it to label ourselves. We didn’t want to own it. When we break free and we use the word with empowerment, ownership and pride…..then we have moved from a world of denial to finally being real. — Anthony Venn-Brown 
 
Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself. — Harvey Fierstein
 
I think being gay is a blessing, and it’s something I am thankful for every single day. — Anderson Cooper
 

Learn More: Stonewall as Milestone

When we look back at the Stonewall uprising and activism that grew out of that moment, even the most basic progress seemed like it would take a revolution to achieve. So we had one. And that’s how we’ve made such enormous progress over the last 50 years. Today, we should remain inspired by the courage of the story of Stonewall. — Tammy Baldwin

Stonewall represented, absolutely, the first time that the LGBT community successfully fought back and forged an organized movement and community. — Mark Segal

Faith and Pride

There is God. And then there is the church. The less we conflate the two, the better. The church may reject God’s children, but God never does. To my queer siblings, I’m so sorry. You are glorious. — Nadia Bolz-Weber

The Lord is my Shepherd and he knows I’m gay. — Troy Perry

“God is love,” Christians remind one another. This means that Christians experience love as something alive and living and personal and true. This Love that is God and God that is Love is the creating and healing power within life. This Love that is God is kind and patient and humble and free–never trying to control nor manipulate. Every human being has experienced and knows this capital “L” Love that Christians call God. Christians believe that to receive and share this reality of Love, this God within who live and move and have our being, is the meaning and purpose of life. Why would we stop anyone from experiencing and expressing love? Or to put it another way, why would we stop gay, lesbian, bisexual, straight, transgendered–anyone from experiencing, celebrating, and expressing God? — Mark Yaconelli

You can safely assume you have created God in your own image when God hates all the same people you do. — Anne Lamott

Sexuality and gender identity elicit so many strong feelings and even irrational opinions because they touch upon something foundational. If you don’t recognize the sacred at this deep level of identity and desire, I don’t know if you will be able to see it anywhere else. When Christians label LGBTQIA individuals as ‘other,’ sinful, or ‘disordered,’” we hurt these precious people and the larger community, and we actually limit ourselves. Fear of difference creates a very constricted, exclusive, and small religion and life, the very opposite of what God invites us into … Even as we acknowledge the sacredness of gender and sex, we also need to realize that there’s something deeper than our gender, anatomy, or physical passion: our ontological self, who we are forever in Christ. You are beyond the metaphor of male and female; you are a child of the Resurrection, a creature of Eternal Life. As Paul courageously puts it, ‘There is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus’ (Galatians 3:28). Those who have already begun to experience their divine union will usually find it very easy to be compassionate toward all ‘Two Spirit’ people because they know they share the same ontological, essential self that is ‘hidden with Christ in God’ (Colossians 3:3). — Richard Rohr

About Juneteenth

By jacksonnhccPosted on Posted in Calendar, Home, Justice & Activism, Music, Weekly MeditationsTagged , , , , , , , ,

What this day means and how we observe it in NH

JUNETEENTH OBSERVANCES:

June 19:

Through June 20:

SONGS for JUNETEENTH:

Fury & Faith —  Amanda Gorman

You will be told this is not a problem, 
Not your problem. 
You will be told now is not the time
For change to begin, 
Told that we cannot win. 

But the point of protest isn’t winning; 
It’s holding fast to the promise of freedom, 
Even when fast victory is not promised. 

Meaning, we cannot stand up to police 
If we cannot cease policing our imagination,
Convincing our communities that this won’t work, 
When the work hasn’t even begun,
That this can wait, 
When we’ve already waited out a thousand suns.
By now, we understand
That white supremacy
& the despair it demands
Are as destructive as any disease.

So when you’re told that your rage is reactionary,
Remind yourself that rage is our right.
It teaches us it is time to fight.
In the face of injustice,
Not only is anger natural, but necessary,
Because it helps carry us to our destination.

Our goal is never revenge, just restoration.
Not dominace, just dignity.
Not fear, just freedom.
Just justice.

Whether we prevail is not detemined
By all the challenges that are present,
But by all the change that is possible.

& though we are unstoppable,
If we ever feel we might fail,
If we be fatigued & frail, 
When our fire can no longer be fueled by fury,
We will always be fortified by this faith,
Found in the anthem, the vow:

Black lives matter,
No matter what.
Black lives are worth living,
Worth defending,
Worth every struggle.
We owe it to the fallen to fight,
But we owe it to ourselves to never stay kneeling
When the day calls us to stand. 

Together, we envision a land that is liberated, not lawless.
We create a future that is free, not flawless.
Again & again, over & over,
We will stride up every mountainside,
Magnanimous & modest.
We will be protected & served
By a force that is honored & honest.
This is more than protest
               It’s a promise.

Articles and information about Juneteenth:

Statement from NH UCC’s Racial Justice Group:

Our Purpose in Celebrating Juneteenth in New Hampshire is based upon our desire for greater visibility, education, and alliance in a state and geographic region that is historically perceived as demographically white. This misperception is perpetuated through the mainstream and local media; socially, culturally, and politically governed institutions; and lack of cultural awareness manifested in expressions of implicit bias. On Wednesday, June 19, 2019, Governor Chris Sununu signed a bill proclaiming an annual observance Juneteenth as an officially recognized state holiday. This act ended many decades of oversight.
       Juneteenth Commemorates the End of Slavery and the Beginning of a Journey into Freedom – It recalls how the states of Louisiana and Texas heard that President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Slavery continued in those two states for more than two years after the proclamation was signed due to active resistance. News of Emancipation had not been fully shared until June 19, 1865. Hence this is the origin of the Juneteenth holiday which is still celebrated in many communities of African American descent. Americans, this is our collective history and a narrative that deserves to be shared. Remember that in NH, slaves were not legally freed until the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, though many NH people fought on the side of the Union. NH was not a free state.
      The truth is that people of African heritage have always been part of New Hampshire history. The narrative of enslaved African people and their descendants is far too often untold and denied. We appreciate the ongoing efforts of our allies to preserve these stories. We embrace Juneteenth as an opportunity to request that EVERYONE participate and join us in celebration for the whole month of June.

PEACE CAIRN: Vigil for Ukraine

By jacksonnhccPosted on Posted in Calendar, Justice & Activism, OutreachTagged , , , , , , , , , ,

PEACE CAIRN (and vigil) for the Ukraine: Sun, Mar 13 @ 1pm in Schouler Park.

Plus: 2 local Fryeburg Academy students set up fundraising campaign and site with additional resources. Details in email. Also: Donate, pray, stay informed, and advocate! Many ways to get involved.

Sunday, March 13th
1:00 PM
Schouler Park North Conway, NH
The Peace Cairn

“Let there be peace on earth…”
 
       In Ireland there is a tradition known as the “Peace Cairn”.  Stones, in this view, symbolize ancient weapons and the Peace Cairn is a heaping pile of stones laid down to stop war.  Each stone is balanced against other stones that represents the balance necessary for peace to exist.  Officially, the Peace Cairn is designated as ‘laying down primitive weapons – – turning them into building blocks for a better future.”
 
       On Sunday, March 13th at 1:00 p.m. people are asked to bring stones to Schouler Park in North Conway to build a Peace Cairn.  You may write a one-word, or a few-words of prayer, (if you choose), to help build a balanced heap of stones.  It is part of the Prayer Vigil the “Clergy of the Eastern Slope” are organizing to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine.  (Please feel free to wear clothing or scarfs of yellow and blue if you desire) … There is no dress code, we are just looking for kind souls to offer prayers for peace.
 
       Whatever your prayers are for those who live in fear, for refugees who wander, for families fractured and frayed, for the innocent to survive, for diplomats to build trust, for peacemakers on all sides, come to Schouler Park, add your prayers to ours, and help build the Peace Cairn.Vigil will include Prayer, Music, and the building of a Peace Cairn


United Church of Christ/UCC with its GLOBAL PARTNERS

The United Church of Christ is issuing an appeal for the people of Ukraine and will be working with global partners to assist vulnerable communities within that country. (more info: https://www.ucc.org/ucc-issues-appeal-for-ukraine-calls-on-u-s-to-provide-humanitarian-aid/)

What you can do through the UCC and its partners:

  • DONATE: Donate to the UCC Ukraine relief effort here.
  • READ & LEARN: Access daily updates from Ukraine. Global Ministries will be posting daily updates provided by the Reformed Church of Hungary here.
  • PRAY: Access the UCC officers’ call to prayer here.
  • ADVOCATE:  Action alert directed to current administration for direct forms of assistance in this crisis: https://p2a.co/OKUfu7z

The appeal joins an earlier call to prayer issued by the UCC’s executive officers and an invitation from Global Ministries to pray with the worldwide interfaith community. The national ministries are also encouraging people to call on the Biden administration to offer Ukrainians more humanitarian assistance, both in the U.S. and abroad.

  • Interfaith call to prayer issued by the UCC’s executive officers and an invitation from Global Ministries to pray with the worldwide interfaith community.
  • The UCC, through Global H.O.P.E. and Global Ministries, will be collaborating with ACT Alliance and the Reformed Church of Hungary (RCH) to bring aid to Ukraine. RCH is responding to the situation in the war-torn country through its agency, Hungarian Reformed Church Aid. That group has been offering humanitarian assistance since Russian troops first attacked Ukraine on Feb. 24. It’s working with elderly and other vulnerable communities inside the country who have not been able to leave, including immigrants and migrant populations who are experiencing difficulties crossing into other European countries. HRCA is also working with refugees who are leaving the country. 
  • Gifts to the UCC Ukraine Emergency Appeal will provide shelter, food and other care to war refugees and internally displaced people. It also will help refugees and asylum seekers from African, Middle Eastern and other countries who had sought refuge in Ukraine and now are twice displaced, as well as other citizens of more than 125 countries living in Ukraine. Donate here.
  • The UCC’s advocacy office in Washington, D.C., is encouraging people through this action alert to: providing significant humanitarian assistance, both in terms of financial support and operational personnel, rebuild a robust, well-resourced refugee program that can effectively process refugees from a variety of regions across the globe, including Ukraine, designate Ukraine for Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) or Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to protect Ukrainians already in the U.S., grant Special Student Relief (SSR) to allow eligible students from Ukraine to remain in the U.S.

SOME PATHS to HELP

NEW: Fryeburg Academy students set up website to make donations toward resources for Ukraine. Anna Bondar, 17, a junior at the school, and Daryna Serediuk, 18, a senior are both from western Ukraine. One thing they did was to create online “Help Ukraine Now” posters with built-in QR codes that direct people to a website where people can donate to causes like the Armed Forces of Ukraine as well as humanitarian causes or buy Ukrainian Army themed merchandise. The link is linktr.ee/help_ukraine_global.

Full article in Conway Daily Sun: https://www.conwaydailysun.com/news/local/fryeburg-academy-students-from-ukraine-holding-fundraisers/article_62101efc-9e5e-11ec-8837-7b4d619c6fb6.html

Recommended by other congregation friends and members. Note: These are suggestions about how you might contribute to the relief effort, should this be something you feel you’d like to do. We are not prioritizing any one agency or group. Here are several organizations with excellent reputations for supporting refugees or assisting with on-the-ground relief work:

PRAYER CONCERN & PERSONAL SITUATIONS

If people have prayer concerns or specific situations to bring to our community’s attention, we will continue to share such information. We will trust that all such recommendations are authentic.

Caution: We remind donors that such personal fundraising initiatives are not monitored or supervised, so it is best if you have a direct connection (or at least know and trust the person making the request) if you are moved to support these personalized campaigns. Sadly, even in the midst of crisis, people will also try to use this as a chance to scam others for money.

Kimberli Jo Lewis’ Family: Additionally, this is about a friend and neighbor of a member of our congregation. Sue Carrigan brought to our attention to a specific Ukrainian family’s plight and the Go Fund Me page set up to assist them (they are family to a neighbor in NH): https://gofund.me/8b517a9f.

Updates:

  • “Update is the family is in a shelter near me in Prague, my apartment is too small for 2 adults and 2 children. We supply most to them but the 7 year old is traumatize with entire situation , so is Grandma who is same age as many of our friends. All had to flee their home, each had one bag.  It is nothing we can think about other than our for 100 years many of our families did the same.  We appreciate the support as there is a long way ahead of them.”
  • I spent 2 hours yesterday at the embassy, we are doing everything we can.  Thank you, everything helps.  We have some people in RI reaching out to the state department.”
  • … I just traveled to to pick up Lena’s Mom, Sister and 2 children 7 and 19 months.  They are now with me, and we are trying to get them to US and … despite what is on TV, they can not get to the US because the 19 month baby has no visa. I hate to ask you this but in your friend group if you know anyone who would give 25 USD it will help us.  Personally, it has costed me until now 5000, to get them this far, and to start a new life once we get them in is horrible.  If you in your church group know anyone 10 dollars helps I would appreciate it. I am so tired and so stressed, I remember when you did fundraiser after the accident , I get it now … I have now done 1 intensive week to get them out, I attach the story, anyone who can give 10 dollars we would appreciate, it is not to reimburse me, it is for the next step once we get through the US BS,
    Please read the story of my best friend, a devoted Catholic who gave his live for 1 week to save my family.  Please say him in your prayers, he got them to me without one ounce of selfishness the story I need to tell you in person.  I called him for advice and he said no advice “action.”

UKRAINE: Ways to Help

By jacksonnhccPosted on Posted in Home, Justice & Activism, OutreachTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

United Church of Christ and Other Churches:

The United Church of Christ is issuing an appeal for the people of Ukraine and will be working with global partners to assist vulnerable communities within that country.

.AAccess the UCC officers’ call to prayer here.

  • Donate to the UCC Ukraine relief effort here.
  • Access daily updates from Ukraine. Global Ministries will be posting daily updates provided by the Reformed Church of Hungary here.
  • Access the UCC officers’ call to prayer here.

The appeal joins an earlier call to prayer issued by the UCC’s executive officers and an invitation from Global Ministries to pray with the worldwide interfaith community. The national ministries are also encouraging people to call on the Biden administration to offer Ukrainians more humanitarian assistance, both in the U.S. and abroad.

  • Interfaith call to prayer issued by the UCC’s executive officers and an invitation from Global Ministries to pray with the worldwide interfaith community.
  • The UCC, through Global H.O.P.E. and Global Ministries, will be collaborating with ACT Alliance and the Reformed Church of Hungary (RCH) to bring aid to Ukraine. RCH is responding to the situation in the war-torn country through its agency, Hungarian Reformed Church Aid. That group has been offering humanitarian assistance since Russian troops first attacked Ukraine on Feb. 24. It’s working with elderly and other vulnerable communities inside the country who have not been able to leave, including immigrants and migrant populations who are experiencing difficulties crossing into other European countries. HRCA is also working with refugees who are leaving the country. 
  • Gifts to the UCC Ukraine Emergency Appeal will provide shelter, food and other care to war refugees and internally displaced people. It also will help refugees and asylum seekers from African, Middle Eastern and other countries who had sought refuge in Ukraine and now are twice displaced, as well as other citizens of more than 125 countries living in Ukraine. Donate here.
  • The UCC’s advocacy office in Washington, D.C., is encouraging people through this action alert to: providing significant humanitarian assistance, both in terms of financial support and operational personnel, rebuild a robust, well-resourced refugee program that can effectively process refugees from a variety of regions across the globe, including Ukraine, designate Ukraine for Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) or Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to protect Ukrainians already in the U.S., grant Special Student Relief (SSR) to allow eligible students from Ukraine to remain in the U.S.

Recommended by other congregation friends and members. Note: These are suggestions about how you might contribute to the relief effort, should this be something you feel you’d like to do. We are not prioritizing any one agency or group. Here are several organizations with excellent reputations for supporting refugees or assisting with on-the-ground relief work:

PRAYER CONCERN & PERSONAL SITUATIONS

If people have prayer concerns or specific situations to bring to our community’s attention, we will continue to share such information. We will trust that all such recommendations are authentic.

Caution: We remind donors that such personal fundraising initiatives are not monitored or supervised, so it is best if you have a direct connection (or at least know and trust the person making the request) if you are moved to support these personalized campaigns. Sadly, even in the midst of crisis, people will also try to use this as a chance to scam others for money.

Kimberli Jo Lewis’ Family: Additionally, this is about a friend and neighbor of a member of our congregation. Sue Carrigan brought to our attention to a specific Ukrainian family’s plight and the Go Fund Me page set up to assist them (they are family to a neighbor in NH): https://gofund.me/8b517a9f.

Updates:

  • Update is the family is in a shelter near me in Prague, my apartment is too small for 2 adults and 2 children. We supply most to them but the 7 year old is traumatize with entire situation , so is Grandma who is same age as many of our friends. All had to flee their home, each had one bag.  It is nothing we can think about other than our for 100 years many of our families did the same.  We appreciate the support as there is a long way ahead of them.
  • I spent 2 hours yesterday at the embassy, we are doing everything we can.  Thank you, everything helps.  We have some people in RI reaching out to the state department.”
  • … I just traveled to to pick up Lena’s Mom, Sister and 2 children 7 and 19 months.  They are now with me, and we are trying to get them to US and … despite what is on TV, they can not get to the US because the 19 month baby has no visa. I hate to ask you this but in your friend group if you know anyone who would give 25 USD it will help us.  Personally, it has costed me until now $5000, to get them this far, and to start a new life once we get them in is horrible. … I am so tired and so stressed … I have now done 1 intensive week to get them out, I attach the story, anyone who can give … we would appreciate, it is not to reimburse me, it is for the next step once we get …[to] the US …
    Please read the story of my best friend, a devoted Catholic who gave his live for 1 week to save my family.  Please say him in your prayers, he got them to me without one ounce of selfishness the story I need to tell you in person.  I called him for advice and he said no advice “action.”

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