Dear Friends,

It has been a busy week for many of us.  I know there was a lot in your last newsletter as far as opportunities for service. I hope you found a way to have your presence felt and voice heard.

Joe and I decided to travel to Eugene Friends Church last Friday to be a part of the “Gaza Today and What We Are Called to Do in 2026”.  The speakers were Jennifer Bing, the national Director of Palestine Activism  Program of American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and Zoe Jannuzi, Coordinator for the Activism Program for Palestine for AFSC.  Both have contact with the AFSC workers who are working in Gaza and the West Bank.  The AFSC has been in the area of Palestine long before the current war. They came in 1949 as an answer to the United Nation’s call to provide relief for Palestinian refugees who were displaced by Israel into Gaza. AFSC set up hospitals, a tent village that looks very much like the tent villages of this war, a midwifery program and continuation of other Quaker programs that had been established in 1869 including a school called Ramallah Friends School.  The speakers were able to show the similarities between the war and displacement of Palestinians in the past and now in the present day.  They reported on the number of current war casualties (70,700) and injuries (171, 200) including health care workers (1700) and journalists (256).  All of the hospitals and universities have been damaged or destroyed with almost 90% of the water and sanitation systems damaged.  Since the “ceasefire”, there have been many airstrikes that continue to kill dozens a week, and aid is being held up by Israel so that there are still deaths due to starvation and disease from poor water quality.  Jennifer and Zoe showed many slides that gave visuals to the above statistics.  If you want to know more and be a part of the ongoing conversation around this atrocity, there is an opportunity every Friday morning at 9 AM PT.  There is a zoom call named “Action Hour” with AFSC people in Gaza who need your support and encouragement.  You can access it by going to this link and calling into the zoom meeting at 9:00 AM PT — https://afsc.org/events/action-hour-palestine.

Thank you to everyone who helped with the dinner feeding at the Thrive Warming Center last Wednesday.  That chicken multiplied like the five loaves and two fish, and 30 people were fed not counting the staff.  There was a lot of laughter and smiles in the group, and we sincerely enjoyed it and want to do it again.  The residents of the facility enjoyed themselves as well.  As well as awesome pies and ice cream.

This evening at 6:00 PM there will be a candlelight vigil at Sugarman’s Corner in Klamath Falls.  It is organized by Community Action Coalition (CAC) which includes our church and members from the church.  Join with us even if you are not a member any longer.  The vigil is in remembrance of those who have been killed in ICE custody recently.  We know of the two protestors who were killed in Minnesota, and we will be honoring their memory.   But there have been seven others who we will remember as well.  Come stand in silence with us and others from Klamath Falls.

CAC is doing something else with us on February 14 as we have a love-focused rally at the corner of Washburn and South Sixth Streets here in town from noon to 2 PM.  We will provide more information as we get closer to that date.

Something else here in town is an art show called “A Slice of Life” featuring the work of Tony Swan, Sue Graves, and Jeff Risher.  There will be an opening this Sunday, February 1 at noon to four.  The exhibition will be at the Klamath Art Gallery from February 1-22, shown Thursdays through Sundays of each week.  Please come support our Friends.

On February 8 at 11:00 we will have a Listening Circle here at Klamath Friends Church.  We are listening to each other about the direction we really want to take and the church we really want to be.  The guidelines are attached to this newsletter and listed below, but in general, it is a time to speak from your heart and be heard without any judgement or without worrying what someone is going to say in return.  We will be getting the guidelines out again next Friday with Friends, but they are important to know.  Hold us all in prayer as we work through questions about direction and honest monologue in a group. This is not a discussion or a debate. We are not trying to solve an issue or arrive at some particular outcome, or resolution. The exercise is simply meant to help us listen more deeply to each other.  Here are the rules below.

• Try to listen attentively to the heartfelt expressions of those in this circle without judgment and without the distraction of your own beliefs and opinions.
• Each person speaks only once, at least until every member has had an opportunity to share.
• Speak in response to the questions, not in response to another person’s comments, whether you agree with what has been said, or not.
• Everything said in the group is held in confidence. This contributes to an environment of safety and trust.

It is hoped that all will feel free to share, but there is no pressure to do so.  Bernie as clerk will go over the instructions and Leigh will facilitate on Sunday.  Please come and be a part of listening to one another.

Attached you will find a copy of the business meeting minutes from last week.  It was a long meeting for business, but much was decided as well.

May you all have a beautiful weekend, and I hope to see you on Sunday.

Sincerely,

Leigh