November 2008

a monthly e-news publication

Would you be willing to help?

The downturn in the economy has affected us all, and it’s a particularly difficult time for a nonprofit group such as Koinonia. But, with the help of our friends, we have come up with one possible solution — a donation from each of our Koinonia Briefly E-news readers will assure that we weather this current crisis and continue to serve. Click here to make a secure Online contribution. Whether you can give a few dollars, a few hundred dollars, a few thousand dollars, we sincerely appreciate each and every gift. We work diligently in our products business to support ourselves so that we may support our ministries with the donations we receive. Thanks for donating what you can!

We’ve mentioned our dear playwright friend Dennis Hassell in previous editions of Koinonia Briefly. Now we’re thrilled to invite you all to the world premiere of his play about Koinonia, “The Glory Man.” This play tells the story of Koinonia, our co-founders Clarence and Florence Jordan, the inspiration behind Habitat for Humanity, and Clarence’s ground-breaking approach to Christian service. We’re excited to see our story on stage and hope you can join us there! “The Glory Man” opens at The Regent Theatre in Virginia Beach, VA on Friday, Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. The show runs through Dec. 14, with showings on Dec. 5, 6, 12, and 13 at 8 p.m. and on Dec. 7 and 14 at 3 p.m. To buy tickets and for more information, visit www.regent.edu/theatre. Thank you, Dennis, for all of your hard work getting the story on stage! We can’t wait to see it.

If you know something of Koinonia’s early days, you likely know about Hutterite Joe Maendel and all the help he gave the farm especially during the years of the boycott. Joe said of Clarence, "I tell you, that man had some gift for saying what Jesus meant." He told of how Clarence opened the Bible to him in a way he had not experienced. Before Joe saw the Bible as a book solely about law, order, rules, commandments and what happened to you if you didn't follow them. "I had been trained to think that Jesus' words were in the Bible from one end to the other... [Clarence] showed me some of the Bible is just history, where some of it is just telling how so-and-so applied what Jesus said, and how some of it just sets the stage for what Jesus did or said. He told me there was only one place where Jesus starts giving you orders and that was in Matthew five, six, and seven. He showed me how Jesus didn't talk about community or how to be a Christian—he talked about love, and mercy, and humbleness—and Clarence said if you have these, you have community automatically." Koinonia benefited from Joe's friendship, too. We continue to benefit from friendships with many of his offspring as well, including his son George Maendel. George came to Koinonia in the late 60s to do his conscientious objector service work. Recently Koinonia director Bren Dubay met with him and his partner, Annie Sheble, while in Maine. They plan to visit the farm in January or February, hopefully, making it an annual event. We’re thankful for these friendships.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner and this year’s harvesting well underway, our bakery is in full gear. We’d love to help you find the perfect gifts this holiday season, and it’s not too early to place your order now. You can order though our Online store, mail in your order using the forms found in the catalog, or place your order by phone. Call us toll-free at 877-738-1741 Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 1-6 p.m. EST. To make things easier for everyone, please plan ahead. The last day to order for guaranteed Thanksgiving delivery is November 15. To guarantee that your packages arrive by Christmas, place your order by December 10. Thanks for partnering with us!

Give Koinonia a Christmas present this year while you do your shopping Online with IGive.com! As you shop Online, you can—at no extra cost to you—donate a percentage of your dollars spent online to Koinonia. Just go to www.igive.com/koinonia, register or login (it’s a free service), and make your purchase from over 700 online stores, and know that you are also helping to support the Koinonia community and ministries. Thanks for keeping us in mind as you do your Online holiday shopping.

Each year, Koinonia manages to make its way around the country! This year, Director Bren Dubay has been to nearly all four corners of the states while visiting with friends of Koinonia. From in-home visits to the college lecture hall, from Sunday morning church sermons to small group presentations, we’re grateful for any opportunity to share about our life here at Koinonia. Bren just returned from nearly two weeks in the vibrantly autumnal Northeast. She visited with nearly 20 people and spoke at the First Congregational Church in New London, Connecticut. Many thanks to all who hosted Bren during this trip, especially the Zall family for hosting her Connecticut stay. If you would like to have Bren come speak at your group, church, college, or to visit with you, just let us know! Pictured here, Bren joins the procession out after delivering a commencement address at St. Ambrose University.

The annual School of the Americas Watch vigils at Fort Benning are November 21-23. As usual, we will welcome many visitors to use Koinonia as “home base” during the weekend of prayer, protest, nonviolent civil disobedience, and peace activism. All of our beds and most of our floors are reserved for the weekend, but there is still camping space… just be sure to let us know you are coming. Please pray for the activists, as well as for the soldiers and citizens of Latin America, that their hearts and hands may pursue only peace.

The Circle of Friends’ annual Health Fair brought neighbors and community members of all ages together with health professionals and nursing students for everyone’s benefit. Participants were thoroughly needled, weighed, measured, and gifted! We learned about hemoglobin, blood sugar, and much more. Affordable flu shots were administered thanks to the Georgia Farmworker Health project. Pictured, Koinonia steward Kathleen Monts has her blood sugar checked. Keep eating those carbs, Kathleen!

We’ve had quite a few visitors recently. This month a group from Eckerd College spent a few days helping us clean up the orchards, just in time for harvesting! And our annual Canadians have returned – It’s good to have Dick and Trish Oliver with us for another harvest season! The State of Change Tour came through on October 14, bringing good music and tons of visitors. Koinonia novice Kurt Morrow has kept all of our visitors busy with bonfires and celebrations galore. It’s always good to have visitors. If you’re interested in spending some time with us, we’d love to have you! Just let us know.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Hot off the press! The fall Koinonia Farm Chronicle features articles on the International Peace Award we just received, the start of our homeschool tutoring program, articles from community members, and a memorial to our late brother David Castle. We’ve asked readers to help us fund the paper with an annual subscription donation of $5. Would you be willing to subscribe to our bi-annual newspaper? If so, send us your name, address, and phone number. Although the subscription isn’t necessary to receive the paper, it helps tremendously with production costs. In the mean time, click here to browse the fall Koinonia Farm Chronicle.

We’re grateful for all the prayers and support for Sandy Thornburgh. Since sharing news last month of her breast cancer diagnosis, we’ve received many notes of encouragement. We continue to be amazed by the friends God blesses us with. If you would like to e-mail Sandy, send your message to info@koinoniapartners.org. Here is the latest update from Sandy:

Thanks to everyone who has been supporting us through prayer, letters and e-mails. We feel well-loved! We have tentatively scheduled my surgery for Nov. 13, but are awaiting the results of a gene test before finalizing the surgery. Seven weeks of radiation therapy will complete the local treatment. Regarding systemic treatment, I am prayerfully considering participating in the TAILORx clinical trial. Having personally benefited from the knowledge gained in previous breast cancer treatment trials, I feel compelled to contribute something to humanity and womanhood by taking part in a new trial. However, I am unnerved by the idea that a computer may randomly select my treatment. I had the passing thought, “I wish I knew what God wanted me to do,” and then the sinking feeling that I have no idea. God help my indecision! Sanders says we are facing a trial. But I believe we are traveling a road where we will have the opportunity to see God work. Over and over again in my life, the times when I have the least control are the times when God has the most room to work and I run into His face and His grace the most frequently. So here I am enjoying life, eating healthy foods, getting sunshine and occasional exercise. In God’s hands, I am at peace and unafraid.

As many of you noticed last month, we forgot to include the photo of Clarence, the bull. Clarence is our 300-pound Irish Dexter bull. He’s getting bigger every week, and getting used to all the other animals and people around. Sorry we forgot you, Clarence.

Coming Soon

We have lots of upcoming events for you to participate in. If you don’t see something below that you’re interested in, send us your ideas and we’ll add them to our list of possible future events. Contact us at info@koinoniapartners.org

Registration is open for the February 12-22 Permaculture design course. Cost for the course is $750, with discounts available, and includes room and board. For more information and to register, contact Sarah Prendergast at sarah@koinoniapartners.org or 229.924.0391.

Make plans now for the upcoming first Reiki training session February 28 and March 1. The workshop, “On Trust & Faith,” gives an introduction to this meditative type of healing. Cost for the weekend is $190 for out of town guests and $145 for commuters. For more information, contact Ana Navarro at 229-924-0391 or ana@koinoniapartners.org.

We’ll host A Marriage Enrichment Retreat February 6-8, 2009, led by Trent Dollyhigh, a certified marriage enrichment facilitator. Cost is $150 and includes lodging and meals.

The School for Conversion is making its way to Koinonia again! This year’s retreat SFC 101: Intro to Christianity as a Way of Life will be March 27- 29.

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