The Mennonite Church & Its Work in the World

Our guest speaker this week is Judy Hoffhein. She's an active member in the Mennonite Church of Houston and on the Board of Ten Thousand Villages, a non-profit sponsored by her church. Additionally, she's working on The Decade for Non-Violence and is also on the Board of The Houston Peace & Justice Center. Judy is a member of WILPF (Women's International League for Peace & Freedom) and was the Program Director of the annual Peace Camp for Children held in Houston for the ninth year this summer.

She will be speaking to us about "The Mennonite Church & Its Work in the
World."

Many thanks to Debbie Antoon for coordinating this opportunity for us!

Be Well,
Susanna Hooper

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Dr. Harvey Aronson - Meditation

Dear Folks -

This week class member, Tom Oldham brought Dr. Harvey Aronson to
class. Dr. Aronson has a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the University
of Wisconsin (1975). He has taught at both the University of Virginia
and Stanford. He completed his clinical education at Boston
University's School of Social Work (1984). Dr. Aronson is author of
Buddhist Practice on Western Ground (2004) with the research being
supported by a Ford Foundation grant. He is also the founding
Co-Director of Dawn Mountain - Tibetan Temple, Community Center, and
Research Institute (since 1996) right here in Houston.

Here's a link to the website: http://www.dawnmountain.org

This week he discussed meditation, the present moment, in
the context of our spiritual and relational life. He draws
from the Judeo-Christian tradition of dialogue, as embodied by Martin
Buber, some of the recent work by psychoanalyst Daniel Stern, and his
own background as a psychotherapist and teacher of Buddhist meditation.

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Orphans of Rwanda presentation

Dear Folks -

We are having a rare opportunity this week. First, Jordon
Stewart, the daughter of one of our members, has spent time teaching
in Rwanda. In working with the program Orphans of Rwanda, she was
challenged to explore her own faith. She is going to talk about the
experiences she had during this time. With her will be Michael
Brotchner who is the executive director of the Orphans of Rwanda
program. She has provided me with two websites you might want to
explore before we gather this week -

www.orphansofrwanda.org

is about the organization and

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/10/14-years-later/index.html?
scp=3-b&sq=Jean+Baptiste&st=nyt

is an amazing story about forgiveness.

Then, for a few minutes at the end of their time, we will have an
opportunity to meet and hear from Peter Storey. Peter will be
preaching at the 11:05 service at St. Paul's. He is a native of South
Africa and served as chaplain to Nelson Mandela and other political
prisoners on Robben Island. He was a national leader in the church
struggle against apartheid. You can read more about him at

http://www.divinity.duke.edu/portal_memberdata/pstorey

This week provides us with a rich opportunity to learn and
expand our horizons with people who have had personal experiences in
areas we are concerned about.

Much love,

Bill Kerley

Unfortunately there is not a recording of this presentation.

www.orphansofrwanda.org

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