Gabriel's Report for Days 2 and 3

On Thursday the ministry team (A) visited Kutemwa Orphan Care Center in the morning and Mzuzu Central Hospital in the afternoon. Dolls and toys were given to children in pediatrician ward. But before we went to Pediatrician wards, we visited the nutrition department which is involved in making soy flour and is being given to children and other people who are on ARV treatment. The soya is mixed with corn, ground nuts and beans to make it tastier. Cooking oil is also added to the soya flour for increased ingredients.

The construction team (B)has been very busy, and the local people are very excited and encouraged to see whites getting involved in construction. It is challenging to see a person like Ricky Bates working so hard on construction. At FOMCO Orphan Care center, the foundation is being raised up.

At Mzuzu Baptist Church, the hard flooring has been completed and now the smooth course is in progress.

At Mzuzu Central Prison, a soccer ball was donated and Rob shared the Good News of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Yesterday, some members from the skills team decided to join construction team and help them by carrying bricks to the rightful place. Ricky and Rob in collaboration
with Ryan and Chad are doing a marvelous job. The arrival of Wendy Robbins and Linda Knight have strengthened both teams.

Many donations have been made by both teams, like carpentry tools, soccer balls, basket ball, basket ball ring, volley balls, base ball kit and others. It is such a wonderful and good time for the FOMCO orphans.

The music done by the teams is so inspiring and touching the soul. “Open the eyes of my heart Lord” is one of many outstanding songs.

Mother Shalom

South Central, Los Angeles, was the neighborhood in the city where Communities of Shalom began in 1992. I met Marx Gutierrez from El Salvador who was there attending High School at the time. He remembers what happened at the corner of Florence and Normandy Streets in South Central, LA, when Reginald Denny was pulled out of his truck and beaten while the crowd looked on and the police did nothing; and how the Rodney King beating resulted in a not-guilty verdict for the police and resulted in a major, 3-day uprising in the neighborhood, until the National Guard came in and finally imposed law and order. He can still remember the fires, the bright orange night sky, the mass looting, 45 unsolved killings, the social chaos...And how the United Methodist Churches responded by creating a zone of shalom in 7 neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Today, Marx is a community organizer, and married to Jennifer Gutierrez, Conference Shalom Coordinator in the Calif-Pacific Annual Conference, and Rev. Vilma

First Generation Lambs Club Reunion

Fifteen of us gathered Saturday night at the Lambs Club for a 35 th year reunion of those who helped start the Lamb’s Church in Times Square in the mid to late 1970’s, including: Rev. Paul S. Moore , Founder of the Lamb’s Church of the Nazarene, and his wife, Tamara Dr. Michael J. Christensen , charter member and former associate pastor, and his wife Dr. Rebecca Laird Fr. William (BJ) Webe r, former Associate Pastor and Director of the Lamb’s Residency, and his wife Sheila who lived at the Lamb’s Jim and Dustee Hullinger, who were on staff together and made the Lamb’s their home for over 25 years Effie Canepa , who was the church pianist under 3 pastors, and her husband Peter Shirley Close, who attended the Lamb’s in the late 1970’s while studying, performing and teaching music and voice Carl "Chappy" Valente , former associate pastor Rev. Bob DiQuatto , lead singer of the Church’s “Manhattan Project” and staff member of the Lamb’s, and his son Jason Rev. Gabriel

Liberation Spirituality: Henri Nouwen and Gustavo Gutierrez in Dialogue

Liberation Spirituality: Henri Nouwen and Gustavo Gutierrez in Dialogue Lecture Notes: Presented by Michael J. Christensen, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Practice of Spirituality and Ministry, Drew University; and International Director, Communities of Shalom, The United Methodist Church Introduction “There is a little man in Peru, a man without any power, who lives in a barrio with poor people and who wrote a book. In this book he simply reclaimed the basic Christian truth that God became human to bring good news to the poor, new light to the blind, and liberty to the captives. Then years later this book and movement it started is considered a danger by [the USA, or Rome], the greatest power on earth. When I look at this little man, Gustavo, and think about [the President of the US, or the Pope], I see David standing before Goliath, again with no more weapon than a little stone, a stone called A Theology of Liberation (Henri Nouwen

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