January 2009

a monthly e-news publication

Happy New Year from the farm!

We’re on a treasure hunt. Do you have old recordings of Clarence Jordan talks? Of Con Browne? Of Ladon Sheets? Florence Jordan, Martin England or Mabel England? Any of the Koinonians? Do you have letters or notes from any of them? Do you have any printed material from Koinonia’s earlier days? If so, we’d love to receive copies of any materials you may have. Drop us an e-mail at info@koinoniapartners.org, subject line “archives,” or write us at:

Archives
Koinonia Farm 1324 GA Hwy 49 S
Americus, GA 31719
Thanks for your help with this treasure hunt!

We had a great time with our playwright friend Dennis Hassell at the world premiere of his play, “The Glory Man.” The cast did a phenomenal job at capturing the spirit of Koinonia, from its early formative days, to the days filled with violence and the boycott, and to the productive and flourishing days that ultimately begot Habitat for Humanity. We were pleased that Alma Jackson was able to join us for the trip to Regent Theatre in Virginia Beach, VA. Alma lived and worked at Koinonia when the violence and boycott began and his character and story are an important part of in the play. Below, he stands between Gene Gray and Philip Wrencher. Gene portrayed Alma today and Philip portrayed Alma as he was in his 20s at Koinonia.

Catholic Relief Services approached Koinonia several months ago about a project called Foods Resource Bank (FRB). FRB works on behalf of its member organizations - 15 of the mainline Christian denominations or their agencies - to mobilize and increase the resources needed to support smallholder, agricultural food security programs in some of the world's poorest villages. We’re happy to announce the Southwest GA FRB project will be located at Koinonia Farm. We are working on a way for a portion of our efforts to go to FRB and a portion to go to local needs right here in Sumter County. A percentage from the sale of our gift baskets, donations to our Adopt-a-Tree project and from our newest agriculture effort — raising and selling grass-fed cattle — will go to help both local folks and folks abroad. Watch for more details as this partnership takes root.

God graced us with a warm evening for our annual Christmas caroling through the villages. We gathered with children and friends from the two villages, and caroled our way through, stopping to visit with some of the elders, bearing gifts and joyous spirits. We’re thankful for our neighbors and are grateful for the opportunity to return some of the joy and generosity they share with us.

On December 19, the Circle of Friends held their annual Christmas dinner at Mom’s Kitchen in Plains. We nearly filled up the restaurant with our Circle members and their guests. It was great to have an evening of relaxed fellowship, gift giving, and celebrating the reason for the season. We read from Scripture, exchanged presents, and shared our joys and hopes for the New Year. Earlier that same day, Koinonia held its Christmas lunch. Friends, neighbors, visitors joined community members in a great feast. Koinonia steward Ellie Castle led us in a Koinonia Style rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas, and our interns made us laugh until our sides hurt with a performance of their goodbye skit. It was a relaxing afternoon full of fellowship — just what we needed at the end of a busy products season. Below, our sign holders cue us on the words to 12 Days of a Koinonia Christmas.

The newly formed Georgia Detention Watch organized a weekend of education, action, and reflection on the plight of the immigrant in America, and, in particular, Georgia. Through the efforts of Koinonian Sanders Thornburgh and Alterna Community’s Anton Flores, Koinonia hosted the December weekend gathering. Events included a screening of the film, “The Visitor,” a movie that offers a rare glimpse of those immigrants at risk of detention and deportation. Participants also visited Stewart Detention Center, a local, for-profit prison that currently detains nearly 1,900 men. As we enter this new year, thank you for continually praying for these immigrants, and their families who are in the struggle with them.

With products season coming to a close, we want to thank all of you who ordered from us and all our visitors, neighbors and seasonal employees who helped us harvest, process, bake, and ship the nuts out of Georgia! We encourage you to seek more opportunities to enjoy Koinonia treats and goodies throughout the year. Perhaps our Nut of the Month project might whet your appetite? Receive a different goody from Koinonia every month and sample the wide variety of our products. Or if you’re already familiar with our selection, choose your own schedule of goodies to enjoy! If you’re interested in signing up for Nut of the Month, e-mail products@koinoniapartners.org or call us at 229.924.0391. If you didn’t receive a catalog this year, you haven’t missed your chance. Send us an e-mail and we’ll be sure to mail you one and add your name to next year’s catalog list.

Koinonia novice Kurt Morrow is always looking for occasions to celebrate. There’s the 100 days to Christmas celebration, 84 days after Halloween celebration, and the second annual Musical Chairs tournament. The winner of this tournament receives a hand-made chair as a trophy. Last year, Koinonia kid Adrian Navarro won the tournament. This year, the trophy went to British visitor Fiona, a "WWOOFer" who spent a week working with us. (WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.) Congratulations, Fiona! The last round got pretty intense, with Fiona and Koinonia intern Dan Truesdale landing in the seat at the same time. It was Dan’s friendly but forceful push that landed Fiona on the ground and him out of the winner’s circle. Afterall, Koinonia works for non-violent solutions and believes non-violence is the true winner. Below, Koinonia novice Kurt Morrow sets up for the tournament.

The visitors keep pouring in and the fun keeps going! It was great to have J. Reilly and Ann Karp back with us for a while. Ann was very helpful to Jo in her Christmas window painting, and J. worked steadily on the renovation of the Green House. Our long-time friends Andy Holm and Victoria Higham came back for a visit, too. Victoria was an excellent help in shipping! Owen and Betty Miller spent Thanksgiving and the following week with us, and were a tremendous help in the sorting room. Kathleen Monts is always appreciative of the extra hands to help sort our pecans. We also hosted a group of 18 middle-school students from Kingfisher Academy, two WWOOFers from England, and a graduate student from London who poured over our archives as he worked on a dissertation focusing primarily on the local community and the Civil Rights Movement. We’re always happy to host visitors. If you’d like to come spend some time with us, just let us know.

As part of the continual effort to nourish our spirits and deepen our life as a community, in observance of Advent, we added a Taizé-style worship service to our evening prayer schedule. Koinonia novice Elizabeth Dede constructed a beautiful altar candleholder and provided the music for these services. We gather in silence, quiet song, and prayer, in awe and wonder of our Creator who calls us and sustains us as a koinonia. If you’d like to learn more about Taizé, their music, or the ecumenical work they’ve accomplished, visit their Web site, www.taize.fr. Below is a photo of our hand-made candle alter.

Coming Soon

It’s that time again, time to say goodbye to the interns and to begin preparing for the new group. The next intern session starts in February. To apply or to find out more, visit our intern page.

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. For more information, send us an e-mail.

We hope you enjoy Koinonia Briefly and share it with your friends. You receive these monthly updates by request, because you placed an order from Koinonia, or because one of our community members added your name. If you have suggestions for improvements, please let us know at .

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