Summer Theater Camps—The Justice Theater Project

The Justice Theater Project holds three summer theater camps for youth each year. This year’s camp at St. Francis of Assisi, from July 11^th to July 29^th, was the camp’s 14^th summer.  It began small, with just 7 campers, and this year we had an enrollment of 85 campers, 30 high school and college counselors and a professional staff of 10.  The camp at St. Francis is three weeks in length and culminates with a full theater production with lights, sound, costumes, and set. The camp is a beautiful blend of church and community members with campers driving from near and far to attend. Some campers and counselors only see each other for the three weeks of camp each summer. An extraordinary number of scholarships are given to camper families in need, and for the past two summers we have waived our fees for before and after care to help families during the current economic recession.  This year’s summer production was The Jungle Book. 

Nick Kempton, a participant of Justice Theater Project’s summer camps since middle school, is now a junior at UNC-Wilmington and continues to return to the camps to assist as a counselor.  This year he is teaching a session at the JTP camps on film studies, which, along with English and Theater, are his majors in college.  Nick remembers fondly his first lessons as a 7^th grader when he learned the importance of voice projection, stage presence, and interplay with others – all skills he continues to draw from as an actor on stage as well as in his current role as Residence Assistant in a dorm at UNCW. 

Several high school counselors noted how they loved to help the younger camp participants learn to creatively express themselves.  And they also laughed aloud and said that Deb and Melissa are so fun, “There’s never a dull moment.  They (Deb and Melissa) are always engaging us to grow and become better people.”

In addition to St. Francis of Assisi’s summer camp, JTP also provided a summer camp in Durham at the Emily K Center August 1^st to August 13^th.  This is the sixth summer of camp shows at the Emily K Center.  JTP was the first summer camp at the space when it opened, and enrollment is capped each year at 65 campers.

Lastly, for the second time, this summer we provided a 100% scholarship camp at The Safety Club in Raleigh, which was funded both years by the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Name Province, and this year additional funding was secured from the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation.

All camps conclude in a full production with children of all ages expressing their gifts for the stage.

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World Water Week

World Water Week – August 21-27, 2011

World Water Week spans this next week, allowing us each to reflect on World Water issues and how we can each do our part to help. 

Did you know?

• Water is a finite resource: what we have is all we have; it is not limitless, nor is it free.
• Drought, over-use, and pollution of our watershed are all local Triangle water problems.
• Flushing toilets is the main personal use of water in the U.S.  The typical American flushes the toilet five times per day at home, using a total of 18.5 gallons to do so; in other words, Americans use 5,700,000,000 gallons daily to flush.
• The biggest consumer is the power plant industry: 201 billion gallons daily, 49% of all water.
• In 1955, each American used 60 gallons of water per day; today, 100 gallons per person.
• 1.16 billion (1 out of 6) do not have access to potable/drinkable water; 40% of the world’s population must walk a kilometer or farther each day to draw and carry water to their homes.
• 5,000 children die every day due water-related diseases, the 2nd highest cause of death globally.

This week a gathering of academic researchers, policy makers, and governmental leaders from around the globe will gather in Stockholm, Sweden under the overarching theme “Water in an Urbanising World.”  Follow their work on www.worldwaterweek.org and their social media. 

The St. Francis of Assisi Care of Creation group will continue their work on water issues this year.  They look to continue their Falls Lake clean-up efforts and develop a more comprehensive program in advancing the education of our parish in water issues.  If you are interested in being a part of the development of this program, please contact Art Clark alclark39@bellsouth.net or Bill Rhodes wrhodes1@mac.com

Let us combine our prayers, reflection, and action so that water justice might be indeed attained by all people in our community and in our world.

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One Flesh, Two Traditions

By Jason and Julie Lillis
For the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

On a Sunday where the Gospel reading is so fundamental to Catholic identity, it’s hard not to think about the number of marriages in our community that are religiously “mixed.” At St. Francis, almost 55% of couples preparing for marriage are made up of a Catholic and a non-Catholic. As a Catholic/Lutheran couple, we—Jason and Julie Lillis—are one of many such couples who are involved in worship and ministry at a Catholic community.

Jesus’ question in today’s Gospel, “Who do you say that I am?” strikes a chord with us because it reminds us of how our denominational identities inform who we are and what our marriage looks like. Even if the simple versions of our answers sound just like Peter’s—“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”—the different meanings, histories, and associations we each attach to those words bring multiplicity into seemingly identical answers. In our experience, having such diversity within our unity is a positive thing: our perspectives are enriched through shared worship and conversation, each of us is challenged by the other, and our dialogue transforms our attitudes toward other traditions. A related question that has become especially important for us to think through and talk about is, “Why is it important for Jason/Julie to still be Catholic/Lutheran?” Some things would be easier if we both belonged to only one tradition instead of being committed to two. But by continuing to reflect on this question, we continue to learn about what we need from and what we can offer to the church through worship, community, and our particular calls and gifts. Our union is strengthened by being fully called to our own traditions and being honorary members of each other’s.

One of our ministries that provide space for couples to have conversations about their relationship is the Six Great Dates program, which starts in September. For interfaith couples, and for all couples, part of this opportunity could be to respond to Jesus’ question, perhaps rephrased: “Who do you that have become one flesh say that I am?” We’d also like to hear from you about the ways St. Francis can best help Catholic/non-Catholic couples prepare for, celebrate, and enrich their marriages. You can contact Jason (and Julie through him) at 847-8205, x244.

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Budrus Film Inspired Us to Make Peace in Palestine

On August 17, nearly a hundred people gathered at St. Francis of Assisi to watch Budrus, a feature documentary film about a Palestinian community organizer, Ayed Morrar, who unites local Fatah and Hamas members along with Israeli supporters in an unarmed movement to save his village of Budrus from destruction by Israel’s Separation Barrier.  This is an inspirational story of how success eludes them until his 15-year-old daughter, Iltezam, launches a women’s contingent that quickly moves to the front lines. Struggling side by side, father and daughter unleash an inspiring, yet little-known, movement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that is still gaining ground today. In an action-filled documentary chronicling this movement from its infancy, Budrus shines a light on people who choose nonviolence to confront a threat.  The movie is directed by filmmaker Julia Bacha (co-writer and editor of Control Room and co-director Encounter Point), and produced by Bacha, Palestinian journalist Rula Salameh, and filmmaker and human rights advocate Ronit Avni (formerly of WITNESS, Director of Encounter Point).

Fr. David McBriar, OFM, with the help Kathleen Owen and many delegates who traveled with him to the Middle East, organized this event.  Before viewing the film, St. Francis parishioner Marianne Williams offered a brief overview of the complex and important history of this region, especially noting the points of conflict in recent history.  After the film, a panel of five people led a discussion about signs of hope in this region and ways that we can take action in the efforts of creating lasting peace.  The panelists included:  1.  St. Francis parishioner Dana Bauman who has been to Palestine a number of times reflected on her experiences of traveling and living with families struggling to save their land and villages.  2.  Arab Muslim Jihad Shawwa born in the Gaza Strip shared his impassioned reflections on meeting men and women of good will all over the world who desire to come together and find common ground to work for peace.  3.  Jewish storyteller and inspirational speaker Rachel Galper witnessed about her returning to her Jewish roots and finding rich Biblical passages and imagery suggesting the call for peace.  4.  Senior Rabbi of Temple Beth Or Lucy Dinner shared her hopes for a future peace as well.  5.  Miriam Thompson who is active with Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and Coalition for Peace with Justice called all participants to get involved in peace work in the Middle East, particulrly to write their legislative respresentatives.  As participants engaged in Q&A with the panelists, there were many who named the United States’ role in this conflict, especially noting our history with the region and our military/defense support of Israel.  Participants finished the evening by writing and signing letters to members of the North Carolina legislature asking for a renewed commitment to securing peace in the Middle East.  Over 100 letters were sent.

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Teen Parishioner Colleen Kane Reflects on her Witness for Peace Delegation

In July, sixteen teens from all around the country, including one of our parishioners, Colleen Kane, traveled to Nicaragua as part of a teen-focused delegation sponsored by Witness for Peace.  This particular delegation offered the opportunity to experience the reality of Central American rural living, work on a community project, live with a Nicaraguan family and receive training in how to be a teenager for social change.  The teens had a unique opportunity to meet community leaders, visit schools and health centers and visit the lakes and mountains of Nicaragua.  This delegation was led by St. Francis of Assisi parishioner Gail Phares who heads Carolina Interfaith Taskforce for Central America (CITCA) and directs Witness for Peace Southeast. 

Both CITCA and Witness for Peace support peace, justice and sustainable economies in the Americas by changing U.S. policies which contribute to poverty and oppression in Latin America and the Caribbean.

See Collen Kane’s powerful reflection below:

I just had the best two weeks of my life. No joke. I met sixteen other teens from around the country, all of whom had different cultural backgrounds, personalities, religious and political views. Through our experiences, games, songs, and time together, we all bonded as a group and became friends. At the main hostel we stayed at in Managua, Cepad, we learned about the history of U.S.and Nicaraguarelations and trade agreements. During the day, we went in our big van with our driver, Luis, and met with different Nicaraguan community activists, economists, environmentalists, and volunteer health coordinators.                                                                                                     

We visited La Chureca, Managua’s municipal dump, where people and animals look through the trash for food. We went to Los Quinchos, an awesome organization that takes in street kids who have been sniffing glue and cares for them until they’re eighteen. We visited the U.S. Embassy to ask some questions about what we had been learning about, like CAFTA, subsidies to U.S. Farmers and why we support a dictator like Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua’s current president. We stopped by a fair trade store and Nueva Vida, a women’s sewing co-op.                                                                 

We each stayed with an urban host family for three days with another teen from the delegation. My host mom, Xiomara, worked with a volunteer organization that provided pregnant farm animals to poor Nicaraguans and had them pass on the babies to the next family. The first night there was one of the best nights of the trip, because there were dance parties for the anniversary of the Revolution (July 19^th) going on in every neighborhood. We all came out with our host families and danced to the blaring music and strobe lights with the little children, who wanted to talk to us and hug us even though they had just met us. During the urban stay, we also went to the plaza for revolutionary festivities, hiked in a nature preserve, and had a “concert” of Nicaraguan music with our host families at the Witness for Peace house, where some of the leaders of our delegation live.             

Colleen's rural home-stay family

 

Kitchen in Colleen's rural home-stay house

Then we had our three day rural home stay in Ramon Garcia, which is about four hours fromManagua, in the mountains. Again we each stayed with one other teen in a home. My host mom, Daisy, was a leader in the Christian community there as well as an excellent cook. My host dad, Julio, farmed corn and beans, and when I talked to him I learned that he had only gone through third grade and that he helped people in the community learn how to write their signature.  We helped plant some mango trees by a school, moved some rocks to fill potholes, took a tour of a farm, learned about the community’s long struggle for access to clean water, and went to a religious service and a cultural dance night.                                                                                                                                                                                    

At the end of the trip, we stayed at the Laguna de Apoyo, which was possibly the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. There we processed all that we had learned and experienced

Laguna de Apoyo

together and made an action plan for what we wanted to do upon returning to theUnited States. We decided that we would create the “ripple effect” by encouraging others to go, by telling our stories through blogs, Facebook, letters to government representatives, church bulletins and letters to the editor in our local newspapers. We plan to visit Congress in October to explain what we have witnessed firsthand and to question some of the policies of theU.S. that we learned about. The Raleigh delegates also hope to meet with David Price sometime in August.                                                                                                                                        

So what are some of the things I learned during this delegation? I learned that I don’t get homesick easily, that I love being surrounded by teens and activities with a purpose all the time, that I love seeing new places and meeting new people who care enough to change the reality of the world that they live in. These things convinced me 100% that I do want to take a gap year after high school to be an exchange student!  I learned that the U.S is certainly not always the “good guy”. I learned that we, as educated citizens of the currently most powerful country in the world, have more power to work for justice than most of us realize. I also learned that that apathy is the biggest obstacle we have to overcome in the struggle for justice.   

At the boys’ home of Los Quinchos

 

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Mission Trip to Savannah Accomplishes Their Goal

On July 17 a delegation of 16 teenagers and 3 adults from St. Francis of Assisi journeyed to Savannah, GA on a mission trip sponsored by YouthWorks.

This trip was the third service experience that our Youth Ministry offered this summer. Including Mercy Camp and the mission trip to St. Francis Inn in Philadelphia held in June, approximately 120 Middle and High School teens have participated in experiencing what it’s like to serve others above self.

These types of experiences are important to forming our teens in their faith journey.  By living their faith in ministry to others they better understand what it means to be Christ-like.  By defying the common misperception that young people are self absorbed and materialistic, these teens chose to reach out beyond themselves by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and  giving hope to those in need.

One of the places visited during the trip to Savannah was an inner city boys and girls club (yes, Savannah is more than the historic district). Here some of our youth worked with children to teach them arts and crafts and got to know them personally.

Two of the girls on the delegation used this experience to achieve the silver award badge for Girl Scouts by planning the event and collecting donations to leave behind. Others on the delegation did interior painting at homes that were being remodeled to house the homeless and worked in a Salvation Army clothing center sorting clothes. The trip wasn’t all work as they also had time to visit a beach and swim and tour some of the historic sites, all while they were building new friendships within the delegation and meeting youth from other delegations.

The bottom line for everyone on the trip was that the experience accomplished the goal of helping them understand better what was like to serve others while also providing an opportunity to meet new friends and build new relationships. All would do it again next year.

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Children’s Justice Ministry Reaching Out to At-Risk Children in our World

Through a local non-profit serving at risk children from Ukrainian orphanages, Parishioner Denise Huska and her family are hosting a young girl pictured below (name withheld for legal reasons) for three weeks.  In the past years, the Huska’s and a number of other St. Francis parishioners hosted children from Ukraine during the summer months, particularly targeting children negatively affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.  Over the years, this outreach ministry to at-risk youth has evolved but continues to inspire families to open their homes and be advocates for children who are at risk. 

For more information about becoming an Advocacy for adoptive family for three weeks in future summers, contact Denise Huska at dhuska@nc.rr.com

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“Messy” Kinds of Conversations

There is an intriguing story of St. Francis of Assisi traveling to Egypt during the bloody medieval crusades to meet with an important Islamic leader, the Sultan Malek al-Kamel.  At a time when Pope Innocent III referred to Muslims as enemies of Christ and his people” and the prophet Mohammed as a “son of perdition” and excommunicated anyone who provided “the enemy” with supplies, the story goes that Francis entered the Muslim camp as a “brother,” approached the Sultan with the greatest reverence, and had a conversation with him that deeply affected them both. In fact, some scholars have shown that when Francis returned to Italy, he composed a poetic prayer to God inspired by his experience of Islam and respect for the devotion of the Sultan. If this story is true, Francis acted courageously and boldly, navigating outside the prejudices of the dominant culture of his day.  Through a spirit of fraternal service, he found some kind of common faith with the Sultan, someone the Church called the “enemy.” It’s hard not to see Francis taking the lead from Jesus himself who, as seen in today’s Gospel, seemed to constantly be interacting with the so-called “impure” and marginalized with compassion and dignity.  We have many experiential opportunities in our parish to engage in this “messy” kind of conversation embodied by Jesus and Francis.

We have ministries that provide delegations to an indigenous Mayan community in Guatemala, delegations to inner-city Philadelphia with one of the highest homelessness rate in the country, and a ministry that provides transportation and companionship to migrant workers less than an hour away from our homes.  In addition to the experiential, there are also a number of educational opportunities on the horizon for engaging in this kind of “messy” conversation.  I’d like to highlight three. One is a special presentation of the award-winning documentary film called Budrus on August 17 that narrates how Palestinians and Israelis are coming together nonviolently to save a Palestinian village from destruction. See website for more details. Also, starting in September, we will begin Just-Faith, a 30-week opportunity to engage a number of social issues in light of our faith tradition. Through books, videos, prayer, discussion, and immersion trips, this formational opportunity provides a safe space to talk about increasing compassion and justice in our world.  Contact Kathleen Owen at 847-8205×225 for more information.  To cross into unfamiliar territory and meet someone “on the other side” is by no means easy, but overcoming our prejudices to help someone in need through “messy” conversations seems to be what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

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Ministries for the Storms of Marriage and Divorce

One of my close friends who has been married nearly eight years recently shared these words with me, “Marriage is hard, and it’s nearly impossible when things are going bad.” 

Perhaps you’ve found yourself echoing these sentiments, trying to persevere through the nearly impossible, feeling your marriage-boat being tossed about by waves and wind, and daily fearing that the whole thing will capsize.  And the reality is that, in fact, many marriages do sink.  A first marriage has about a 50% chance at survival in the United States, and chances go down with each consecutive marriage.  Catholic sacramental marriages rate a little better than this, but does not guarantee immunity from difficulty.  Personally, both my wife and I are children of divorced parents, and many friends share this experience of divorced parents, difficult marriages, and/or capsized marriages themselves. 

If you are experiencing difficulties in your marriage, or have experienced the pain of divorce, you are by no means alone.  There are many of us out there, each of us carrying a story about the dark storms and struggles we have faced during the “fourth watch of the night.”  In addition to seeking out those around you, our faith community is also here to support you, reaching out, like Jesus, wherever you are in this journey of life and love, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”  Below are two St. Francis ministries that many have found to be sources of Christ’s healing.  As the first reading says so well, God is not necessarily in the storms of life, but so frequently the storms create the opportunity to hear the “tiny whispering sound” of God’s loving voice in our lives.  Best to you and yours on this journey of life and love.

DivorceCare is a special weekly seminar and support group for those who are separated or divorced. It’s a place where you can be around people who understand what you are feeling and where you can hear valuable information about ways to heal from the hurt of separation or divorce.

A new series of DivorceCare begins August 30th, meeting for 13 weeks, 7pm to 9pm, in the Padua Room.  If interested or need more information, contact ministry leader Mary Joslin at 889-1417.

The Third Option is a skills-based group program for couples who are on the brink of divorce or hope to learn vital skills for an improved marriage.  Both spouses do not need to attend.   This group meets in LaVerna Center from 7:00-9:00 pm on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month.  Schedule and room assignment may vary – please check the Events Page of the website.  The Third Option is being sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh. For more information, call Linda Bedo at 821-9753 or email linda.bedo@raldioc.org or call the coordinator of Family Life at St. Francis of Assisi, Jason Lillis, at 847-8205 x244.

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