Christmas at Allen’s Neck Meeting
December , 2005
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| While Shepherds Wait (Kristen, Jackson and Jack) | Joseph and Mary (Brendon and Krystal) | Angels on High (Jacque, Olivia and Charlotte) |
Letter from Dawn and Steve
In January in First Day School we have continued our exploration of bible stories from the Old Testament. During the first two Sundays, we compared the story of Jonah and the whale with the story of Daniel in the lion’s den. We discussed how these two stories are, in different ways, both about learning to listen to the voice of God.When we read the story of Jonah, we talked about how at first, Jonah does not listen to the voice of God, and as a result is swallowed by the whale. In the story of Daniel, Daniel does listen. His listening takes the form of praying, and it is this prayer that saves him when he is thrown to the lions.
We have discussed the relationship between the voice of God in these two stories and the Quaker principle of the voice within. We have talked about the importance of learning how to sit in the silence, so we can begin to hear the voice within. At the end of class on these past Sundays, we have closed with a few minutes of sitting in silence, before we go back to meeting-for-worship.
On January 22, we began to discuss the story of Moses. We will be studying Moses for the next three weeks—the story of Moses in the bulrushes, Moses and the burning bush, and the story of the Exodus.
Mid-February, two of the older members of our First Day School, Frances and Hannah, will be giving a talk in meeting-for-worship, about the underground railroad, the involvement of Quakers in the fight to abolish slavery, and Harriet Tubman, as a Moses figure, leading her people out of slavery and into freedom.
Sharon A. has continued to develop and lead exciting art projects for the children in our First Day School, crafts which reflect both the concrete and abstract principles of the stories we read.
News From KakemegaIn the past, Allen’s Neck Meeting has supported a Quaker Project supervised by the United Society of Friends Women in Kakamega, Africa. The women are building a school for children whose parents have died of aids. Allen’s Neck has supported one of their students, Samuel. He has graduated and now we are sponsoring a girl named Purity. We are also supporting their farming efforts by sending money for a cow. We have just heard that the cow, Ellen ( Feminine form of Allen) is now pregnant!
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