August 2007
a monthly e-news publication

Did You Know?

Great news… Koinonia has gone bio-diesel! All of our farm’s diesel vehicles now run on B20, a mix of 20% vegetable oil and 80% conventional diesel. Biodiesel reduces the amount of air toxics and soot released into the atmosphere, compared with regular diesel fuel. The vegetable oil comes from a renewable resource grown in the USA, which reduces dependence on foreign oil. And you don’t need to modify your vehicle to use B20, so if you drive diesel, you can make the switch if you’re near one of the 1000+ biodiesel sellers nationwide! Visit www.biodiesel.org to get started.

Community member of the month: Ann Karp has been a Koinonian since 2004. While not serving in our hospitality ministry, cooking vegetarian meals for the community, or teaching ESL to native Spanish speakers, she creates “Koinonia comics” (below) celebrating our life together… and poking fun at our (frequent) mishaps. If you’d like to take a look, they are on display online. Ann is also the author of your humble monthly email newsletter, Koinonia Briefly.

Reaching Out

The Koinonia-based Peace Action Team in collaboration with the American Friends Service Committee recently hosted a Public Awareness Forum at the Lake Blackshear public library in Americus, GA about military recruiters in our schools. The No Child Left Behind act guarantees recruiters the right to private contact information for all secondary school students, unless they exercise their right to “opt out.” School administrators often are unaware of, or turn a blind eye to recruiter abuses of their privileges of visitation, advertising, and activities in the schools. The team hopes to bring truth-in-recruiting materials to the community in fun and creative ways soon--we'll keep you informed.

Heart to Heart home repair ministry celebrates the rededication of LaTonya Anderson’s home! LaTonya grew up in Koinonia’s Forest Park neighborhood since the age of one, and thanked J., Brendan, and the many helpers who completed a full remodeling of her home. “My grandmother would be so proud of the way this house looks now,” she said during the blessing ceremony. Heart to Heart is now working on many small jobs both in our neighborhood and in Koinonia-built houses in Plains.

The Circle of Friends reunited, after a short break during the Koinonia Community Outreach Center’s summer youth camp, with a rousing meeting replete with songs and prayers. We are also celebrating Koinonia community member and Circle of Friends member Jo Knox’s 70th birthday… congratulations, Jo, and keep on truckin’!

At the Farm

A Christian Peacemaker Teams delegation witnessing to U.S./Mexico border issues recently spent an evening at Koinonia. After potluck dinner, we met, prayed, and exchanged information and inspiration. We concluded by signing a banner bearing the signatures of all the friends and allies the delegation met during their journey. The banner reads, “No al Muro!” (No Border Wall!) and proclaims alternatives to the growing wall dividing God’s people in the US from God’s people in Mexico. With our blessing these four friends have carried this banner to Washington, DC to share with legislators and policymakers. Please visit the delegation’s blog to learn more.

Hospitality at Koinonia has been so rewarding recently. We have had the joy of hosting RVers Glenn and Candy Smith… a group of Episcopalians on a Peace Pilgrimage… an energetic and positive youth group of 25 middle schoolers from 1st Baptist Church of Henderson, NC… and we have also been blessed with the hospitality of others! Six of us were invited to visit our friends in the Eugene, Oregon-based Christian community Church of the Servant King. Sandy, Izzy, Kathleen, Kurt, Geneva, and Dave from Koinonia had a wonderful, enriching time—here they are with a group of church members. 

Coming Soon!

The Fuller Center for Housing Blitz Build and Home Revival is coming up in Shreveport, LA in September, and for the second year running, a crew of Koinonians is going along to pitch in. With ten new homes and five repair projects, it should be a busy week. This blitz build is part of ongoing efforts to rebuild housing for those who lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina—with new homes in the north part of the state, we are literally building “on higher ground.” We’ll have a full report afterwards.

Our juicy, organic scuppernong and muscadine grapes are now in season and will be for the next six weeks or more, so if you’re in town, be sure to stop by and pick a few.