By Ministry & Counsel
We have new attenders and visitors who don’t know all our names. Out of courtesy to them, and any forgetful regulars, please wear your nametag at Meeting. Some of you have already made them. They are in a box or basket on the shelf in the entryway. If you don’t already have one, or have forgotten it at home, there are blank nametags in the basket, so you make yourself one.
The Meeting thanks for your help!

Creativity is a gift of the Spirit!  And what is it that inspires us to create?  The beauty of God’s creation; the love between us; a light heart; something funny or tender or even tragic … here is the sacred in our ordinary lives.  Let us give voice to this, or capture it with your camera, your palette and your brush.

George Fox asked: “And what cans’t thou say?” and so does your Newsletter Committee.

Daphne Clement

By Sukie Rice

I will be leaving for Kenya July 27, and am excited about this year’s trip.  We have a great group of 14 adults and youth going, all ready for adventure.  We’re carrying 30 storage bins of children’s clothing, gifts, art supplies sports equipment, sheets and towels.  I am excited that this year we are bringing 258 fleece jackets and all the children will have a jacket now to keep them warm, thanks to all the sponsors,

Although the project was begun with a focus on the Care Centre, the High School portion of the Care Centre has steadily grown from three students in the first year to 58 this year.  Please read the report and know that, without sponsorships, the boys would be in despair as to what to do with themselves and the girls would be pregnant by 16, with or without a young man to take care of them and their baby.

As we can see from Tess Marstaller’s article, she is doing marvelous work in Africa.  The package we sent was well received and my understanding is that we will probably try to send another.  Please speak to Nancy Marstaller concerning future needs.

By Jo-an Jacobus, Editor

As editor of our newsletter, some things have become clear to me as I work with Wayne to get the newsletter to you in a timely manner.

The most obvious to me is I can’t guarantee you will receive the information about events happening during the first week of the month before they occur.  The turn-around time after monthly meeting is just too short.  It is a virtual certainty that the paper copies will not have arrived until late in the first week of the month.  It is tight in some months for the email version as well.

The most important area of clarity involves a positive step that can be taken by those submitting articles concerning upcoming events.  Tell us in advance.  Put an October event into September’s newsletter.  Even if your event is in late October, September is better.  Send it to us early, at least a month early.  Get the news in a month early to be sure Friends can attend your event.

Another positive step for those submitting articles is not new but bears repeating.  Please get your articles to me by 5 P.M. on the Wednesday following monthly meeting.  If I don’t have it by then, it won’t go in.

My last thoughts on hearing about upcoming events in a timely manner I have said before but it does make a difference.  If you want to receive your newsletter in time to see notices about events occurring in the first week of the month, email is the way to go.  This might not be an issue for you.  If it is, I’m doing everything I can to get it to you on time.  Once the newsletter is in final copy, that’s the end for the email edition but only the beginning for a paper version.  It must be copied, collated, prepared for mailing, and go through the US Mail.

I spoke with a Durham (F)friend this week who was very upset with the quality of the photographs in the paper copy of the newsletter.  This friend felt the photos weren’t worth printing, although having seen them once online thought those were terrific.  This friend is adding email delivery to paper delivery, wanting to see the lovely photos but still wanting to have a copy to hold.  A “twofer” that works for one friend: early news with great photos and paper to hold.

By Ann Ruthsdottir

I sent two boxes to the relief project for Japan.  After I took all the packaging off (mostly around tooth paste), I was able to tightly pack all of the generous offerings into 1.75 boxes.  I filled the last quarter box by adding a small, child-safe wooden toy, a small baby quilt and some wash clothes.  I used wash clothes for packing material.  Everything in the boxes could be of use.

Thank you all for your wonderful offerings to a people who have been harmed in so many ways.

By Clarabel Marstaller for the Christian Education Committee

Sunday, June 12, is Children’s Day with meeting for worship and special events to show appreciation for our children.  A second offering will be taken during meeting for worship which will go to the Youth and Children’s Project of the United Society of Friends Women International.  That project supports three ministries helping young people:

1.  Children and Youth programs at three Friends Indian Centers–MOWA Choctaw in Alabama, Kickapoo in Oklahoma, and Mesquakie in Iowa.

2.  Eli and Sibyl Jones scholarships for the Friends Schools in Ramallah.

3.  Support for girls’ education in Turkana, Kenya.

Please help us make these programs come alive in all three areas.  Thank you!

By Jo-an Jacobus

Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends (DMM) has received two donations of computers.  Thank you to both donors.

Kitsie Hildebrandt as Treasurer will use the first computer donated by John Curtis A laptop it can be used at Kitsie’s home to prepare reports and also brought to Monthly Meeting so she is able to answer questions about the meeting’s finances.

The second donated computer came from Sarah Sprogell.  Bobbie Jordan bought it not long before she passed away.  Sarah felt the meeting would be a good home for this computer.  It is also a laptop which allows Jo-an Jacobus to do the newsletter and website work on a computer dedicated to DMM of Friends.

By Angie Reed

Tess Marstaller is currently serving in Tombel, Cameroon as a Peace Corp Volunteer.  She has asked the Woman’s Society and Durham Meeting of Friends to put together a care package for the children she works with.  Woman’s Society will collect items from now until Father’s Day in the box next to the piano in the Gathering Space at Meeting. The box will be small so keep that in mind when planning donations.

Items Requested:

Jump ropes (large ones held by 2 people are best), a tie-dye kit (colors, no shirts), shiny prize items to be used in a summer camp setting and as educational prizes, such as stickers or pens. Also books of stories, games, theater sequences (especially of a Christian nature), other camp type games, and fixin’s for s’mores. Items with a Christian theme are especially well received.  For more information, check out Tess’s Blog at   tessincameroon.blogspot.com   Thank you.

By Jo-an Jacobus

Durham Monthly Meeting has had local landline phone service installed in the meetinghouse.  Because of the difficulty with cell phone reception on the property, the number of evening events and to deal with possible medical emergencies, the meeting decided it needs to have local phone service in the building.

The phone number is 207.725.0411.

Currently, there is a phone on loan to the meeting. However we need a permanent replacement.  A corded phone would be best in case the power goes out.  If you have a corded phone, not wireless, that you would like to donate to the meeting, please contact Jo-an Jacobus at 666.3213 or jacobusj@gwi.net .

Having phone service means we will now be listed in both the white and yellow pages of the Brunswick phone book.  The listing will read Durham Meeting of Friends.

By Jo-an Jacobus

A few newsletter readers have swapped their delivery method from paper to email.  Thank you for your willingness to make the changeover.  We are hoping that even more people will want change in the near future.  Would you switch today?  You could have a part in shrinking the deficit in Durham Friends Meeting’s budget for this year.  If you decide you’d like to help the meeting in this way, please drop us a note at the return address on the newsletter, call 207.666.3213 or email jacobusj@gwi.net to let us know you’d like to switch. The meeting would appreciate your help.

By Angie Reed

Orders are currently being taken for pies of all types to be distributed Easter Sunday morning.  Pies will be sold for a suggested donation of $15.00. To order please contact Theresa Oleksiw at either 449-0700, or 865-6495. Types of pies available for order include Pecan, Apple-berry, Chocolate Cream, Banana Cream, or Blueberry. Other types of pie may be available upon request.  This is a Woman’s Society fundraiser, and a portion of these funds will be earmarked for the Adopt-a-Nurse program.