Did You Know?

Congratulations to our fellow community member, friend and brother Norris “Bone” Harris—he has been named Pastor of the Year 2008 in his church community! In addition to his duties in the chapel and in the pecan orchards at Koinonia, Norris pastors three churches in the Oglethorpe Circuit of the southwest Georgia A.M.E. (African Methodist Episcopalian) Church. Norris, we already know that you are special, talented, patient and kind. We hope that this recognition makes you even more aware of how beloved you are to all of us.

Dave Cooper, inspired by the Koinonia documentary Briars in the Cotton Patch, wrote an editorial for the Roanoke Times. “As we celebrate Black History Month, the parallels between the great civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s and the current struggle against mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia are interesting...” We found it very interesting! Read more here.

Claudia Larson has written, directed and produced a wonderful documentary about Catholic Worker co-founder Dorothy Day. There is a beautiful mention of Koinonia in the film. Dorothy visited the farm during Holy Week of 1957 and spent two weeks helping out during the hard times of the boycott. We are reminded again how Koinonia has been blessed by so many special people throughout the years. To find out more about the documentary, contact one lucky dog productions at 2512 Lyric Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027. Congratulations, Claudia, on a terrific piece of work!

Reaching Out

The Peace Action Team is offering a $1,000 Peace Scholarship to help youth make non-military life paths possible and desirable. The award will go to a graduating senior of Sumter County High School who plans to pursue higher education or to do volunteer service. If you know a youth who is active in the community and who cares about peacemaking, let him or her know about this opportunity! Interested individuals can call Matt Christian at 229-931-6412 to request an application. May peace prevail on earth… especially among our youth.

We are already planning for the Koinonia Community Outreach Center’s annual Summer Youth Camp in June. Would your group or church like to visit Koinonia and “adopt” a week of Summer Youth Camp? Build relationships, have fun, enjoy Koinonia living, and bring a themed week of activities to local youth ages 5-12. Contact Kathleen Monts at 229-924-0391 to learn more.

The Heart to Heart home repair ministry has been working on Geneva Brown’s house this month. Beth and J. replaced the front door, trimmed out several windows, and improved the kitchen sink.

At the Farm

The organic gardeners are planting Satsuma orange trees, peach trees, pomegranates, and other varieties around the farm. How miraculous it will be, in a few years, when fresh organic fruit is available at arm’s reach! It’s especially important to plant trees after the Americus tornado last year felled thousands of trees not yet replaced. We hope to raise another generation of oxygen-producing friends.

Who knew sorting pecans could be this much fun? Pictured, students from Warren Wilson College and Messiah College take a break with Koinonians Emma Sue Clay and Kathleen Monts—and dance, dance, dance! As usual, this month has been chock-full of alternative spring break groups from colleges and churches, as well as individual visitors, campers, and RVers. Messiah College students left a note upon departing, telling us in part: “We had a pecan-picking, Cotton-Patch-Gospel-singing, fried-chicken-cornbread- coffee-chocolate-eating, fantastic time.” Thank you all for coming to Koinonia!

The “sensational six,” our spring 2008 community interns, have continued to bring their group spirit to everything they do here, whether it’s gardening, helping renovate a house, or creating an “open mic” in the chapel for all to share. Part of the intern program is weekly study sessions, which are sometimes a lively discussion over a reading, or a guest speaker such as John Cole-Vodicka from the Prison & Jail Project, or a field trip to Café Campesino, our sister organization that is the source of our delicious Koinonia Fair Trade Coffee.

Koinonia children Ana Laura and Adrian Navarro (ages 10 and 13, respectively) have written charming lyrics to the tune of “My Favorite Things”—describing their favorite Koinonia things! “Gathering grapes during fall with Ms. Ellie / Smash them and strain them and turn them to jelly / Playing piano and climbing on trees / These are my favorite Koinonia things…” Click here to read the rest.

Easter morning began for us with a sunrise service. This is the view of what we saw that cool, crisp morning. Do we need to tell you that it took our breath away? After prayers and hymns, we went to Dave and Ellie’s house for a scrumptious breakfast. Jubilation!

Geoffrey Hennies, our web designer, attended this year’s Non-Profit Technology Conference in New Orleans. With the ever-increasing amount of spam, more and more legitimate newsletters get lost in junk mail folders or don’t reach the recipient at all. But Geoffrey learned new ways to ensure that “real” emails, like our newsletter, are delivered correctly, as well as ways to help spread the word about Koinonia electronically. *Check out his tips* on getting the emails you want!

Coming Soon

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