Hello Wonderful
Friends and Family!
What a strange time
to transition back to the US after 4 years in South Africa. With so much else
important going on, we still want to connect with you and let you know we miss
you. We will have a time of virtual sharing about our time in SA, including a
silent auction of some of the beautiful fair-trade artisan items we brought
back. Join
us July 25, 4pm PST. See below for more details and link to the
auction.
First of all… Thank
you once again for your generosity in supporting us and the peacework in South
Africa. On our return, there was a significant budget shortfall. But so many of
you responded to that need we finished in the black! It means very much to us
personally and is greatly appreciated by Mennonite
Mission Network. We simply can’t thank you enough!
Unless you’ve seen it
on Facebook, you may be wondering what we’re doing. We had a full January speaking
in Seattle, participating with our communities here and moving into my parents’
townhouse while our house continues to be rented. February was itinerating in
Kansas and Iowa, sharing our reflections and sermons. To read one of those,
click here. We are so thankful (especially now)
that we had a week with Dan’s family in Iowa during Jacob’s break. We met a new
niece, helped Dan’s mom with her house, and enjoyed reconnecting. Shortly after
returning to Seattle, everything shut down with the pandemic. Jacob was just
getting into the new school’s routine and Claire had completed one graphic arts
course at community college. They’ve both continued with online classes, and
Claire has started working for Seattle Mennonite as a morning outdoor janitor
for their homeless ministry.
We were fortunate to
find work. Kathryn’s new job is keeping her connected with Africa! She is the
new Community Engagement Manager for Path
From Poverty, a women-based organization working in water equity, partnering with
women’s groups in Kenya providing water tanks and solar panels. Dan started a
part-time Office Manager position with Northminster Presbyterian, helping us
stay connected with a beloved community here, and he also just accepted
full-time work with Seattle Housing Authority. God is good.
You may remember
Kathryn prepared a large musical project to support SADRA before we left. The
concert project, called Yet I
Will Rejoice after Kathryn’s composition from the Habakkuk text, was an interesting
challenge, and a great success. Nearly 500 people attended the 3 performances,
which included a great variety of vocal and instrumental contributors. She used
her personal story to explore music as transformation. A good friend
professionally recorded it, and we will share more about the project and how to
hear it at our presentation, besides the two copies being auctioned off.
Though our service
term officially ended in February, we had planned a larger gathering in Seattle
- now shifted to an online event on 25 July, meaning you can join us from
wherever you are in the world! We will be telling stories from our time in
South Africa, sharing photos, fielding Q&A, and attempting to contextualize
what we learned there with the current human rights crisis here in the US.
To add a bit of fun,
we’re including a “Christmas in July -
Africa Edition”online auction, you can see the items already, and bidding starts July 17, concluding
the night of the presentation. It includes over 70 items we hand-picked in
Africa; most bought fair-trade and direct from the artisans. There will be good
wine, jewelry, art, wood crafts and more - enough to find something for almost
everyone - and you get a little Christmas shopping in early while
supporting a good cause. All proceeds will be split between SADRA
Conflict Transformation and the Social Justice Fund Northwest. This is a new partner for
us, but they are supporting some innovative and very needed initiatives. We
will find safe ways to deliver items locally; we’ll need you to help pay for
shipping if that’s needed for afar.
We’re greatly looking
forward to spending a little virtual time with you. Please register
here for the July 25 event. Save the date!
With hope for peace
and love to reign,
Dan & Kathryn
(and kids)
