Financial statements often list an organization’s assets without really giving a statement of the organization’s value. If the perception of the current state of Friends United Meeting is based on its financial struggles and the constant debate over a theological center, then we are missing the bigger picture. The assets of Friends United Meeting include thousands of dedicated people who work to spread the Word and Love of God as taught by Jesus, tenacious commitments to mission work in far away parts of the world, and a Quaker heritage that provides a foundation for us to live and teach the testimonies. The investments people make in the ministry of this organization are difficult to measure, and the resulting influence that has spread across the globe is beyond our calculations. There are many who believe the value of Friends United Meeting makes it worth our renewed commitment for the future.

At the June board meeting, a day and a half was set aside to begin the process to develop a three to five- year action plan for Friends United Meeting. Members of the board had received a set of questions prior to the meeting and our facilitators, theTompkins Group from North Carolina, had compiled the responses for a starting base. We discussed mission, vision, and strategies that would help determine our direction as an organization. The discussion was candid and the facilitators kept us to the task. We agreed the next step of designing the plan must be taken to get wider input. The questions will be made available to everyone in FUM. The responses will be considered at the October board meeting. After some more processing, it is hoped that the action plan can be ready for approval at next February’s board meeting.

The board approved setting up “advisory committees” for each mission field. Five to eight people will be promptly invited to act as a support team to our field staff. They will become “experts” on the issues, challenges, needs, and situations in which our staff work. They will act as advocates for the work and help raise support when it’s needed. They will be a sounding board to the staff on the field and in the Richmond office that will help when decisions have to be made. This idea will be reviewed next June to evaluate its effectiveness.

While he was in the USA to take classes at Earlham School of Religion, many of you were privileged to know John Muhanji and hear him speak of his work through the African Ministries Office. He, along with Eden and James Grace, has made great strides in the coordination of the sixteen yearly meetings in Kenya (and one in Uganda). One of their desires is to start a newsletter that will go to all the 2000 monthly meetings. It is hoped that after a one-time start up investment of about $5500, the Africans will see its value and subscribe. The newsletter will be produced in the Africa office, though articles in Quaker Life will be made included when appropriate. James Grace has been involved in the much needed oversight of work at the hospitals at Lugulu and Kaimosi.

There are currently 66 students at the Friends Theological College in Kaimosi, Kenya. Patrick Nugent reports that the new meetinghouse is underway, thanks to a generous donor, and that there is a vision for a new administration building and a larger library. Patrick will be in the USA this fall and would like invitations to your meetings. However, Mary Kay must stay in Kenya to continue her schooling

Enrollment at Boys School in Belize was down this year, due to diminished recruitment efforts. However, things are looking up for next year. Andy & Lisa Stout are now home at Wabash, IN after Andy had to have back surgery. He is doing well, though, and hopes to return to mission work at a later date. Meanwhile he is employed by Whites Residential & Family Services. Mike and Kay Cain will also be home this summer and plan visits in California and Colorado. FUM is still looking for a person to start a church in Belize City and/or La Democracia and looks toward the building of a much needed high school in the next few years.

Eighty-two students graduated from the Ramallah Friends School on May 28. All of them have plans to attend college and about 1/3 of them will come to US schools which include Harvard, MIT, Boston College, Earlham, Guilford, and others. We credit the good counseling work of John Hishmeh for many of those connections. Director Joyce Ajlouny planned a special ceremony for the 100th graduation that included graduates representing the past eight decades “passing the torch” through the current graduates and on to representatives of the future. Those who lit the torch for the next centennial included the FUM general secretary, symbolizing the future commitment of Friends United Meeting.

Quaker Life issues are now being printed six times annually. They contain a removable color center section that can be used for teaching about the FUM mission work. The Friends United Press is now able to “print books on demand” and is using that capability to publish books that have been out of print for several years.

The annual fund campaign of last year resulted in increased giving by individuals, yet fell short of the goal by about half. This year’s campaign efforts will tell the whole story of the work of Friends United Meeting, spelling out opportunities for support in all areas of mission including the administrative needs. A power point presentation is available to help present the images Kathy Sawyer has been telling people about. It is hoped that church groups and meetings everywhere will have Kathy come tell the FUM story.

With hearts sympathetic to the financial needs of Friends United Meeting, the FUM board approved travel in Kenya in February of 2007 to meet with members of the board in Africa and to visit the sites of the field work. Money from a trust fund designated for missions and/or mission education will help pay for this trip. This trip is to strengthen the relationship between the Africans and the rest of FUM as well as demonstrate our commitment to keep connected to the work there.

One of the urgent concerns of Friends United Meeting is the condition of the Kaimosi Hospital. Earlier this year, the deed of the hospital was transferred back to FUM from the yearly meeting that has held it for several years. The hospital is in great need of refurbishing, including a new roof ASAP. Some funds have already come forth for this purpose. We will be requesting a grant from USAid/ASHA but those funds will be long in coming.

The greatest need for FUM presently is financial support for our field staff and general fund. Somehow there seems to be good support for projects, yet every field staff budget is under funded. Please pray for this need and invest whatever you can to support our workers. We must take good care of our assets.

Sylvia Graves
Interim General Secretary

The Friends United Meeting General Board met three times in 2004. It faced four issues: dealing with the Baltimore Yearly Meeting concern in a way that did not fracture FUM, starting an office in Africa, returning to financial viability, and implementing the vision adopted last year. For a brief history of FUM, consult the FUM Representatives Report in the 2004 Yearbook.

To process the BYM concern about its personnel policy, the Executive Committee of the Board is handling the issue. At each General Board Meeting, the Executive Committee met with Baltimore Yearly Meeting General Board members. (All three BYM Board members attended the three Board meetings.) The Executive Committee has endorsed our Yearly Meeting's intervisitation plan and suggested that other Yearly Meetings welcome BYM members to their sessions and exchange visitors with other Yearly Meetings. New England Yearly Meeting approved a Minute of Exercise last year; they should consider a final version this year. Both Southeastern and Canadian Yearly Meetings have protested FUM's personnel policy.

FUM now has an African office; given that more members of FUM live in East Africa than in North America, it is vital that there be an office in Africa. In December, John Muhanji (Nairobi Yearly Meeting) was appointed FUM Representative. He will be assisted by James and Eden Grace (New England Yearly Meeting). A location in Kisumu has been selected.

FUM has been spending more on a current basis than it has been receiving. It does have its financial processes in order, but getting the costs in line with the income remains a challenge. Because of this, FUM's unrestricted reserves have been reduced to $200,000. It does have significant Board restricted and temporarily restricted funds, but FUM does not have a large endowment. Progress toward financial viability has been frustratingly slow, but there has been progress.

At its February 2004 meeting, the General Board approved a four-part vision statement; the difficult October 2003 meeting on this concern was discussed in last year's report. There are four components, Evangelism/Outreach, Leadership training, Global partnerships, and communication.

• Evangelism: "We invite people everywhere to know the joy and power of life in Christ. Through publications and the Internet, we support the outreach work of our member Yearly Meetings and we connect inquirers to existing Meetings for Worship. We encourage the formation of new worship groups with a program of communications and mentoring. We support local Friends in discerning God's call to new mission outreach."
• Leadership training: "For Friends, leadership is always understood in the context of the gathered community that comes together in unity to discern the will of God. Leadership, therefore, requires both servanthood and bold obedience to Jesus, our living Teacher and Lord. Friends United Meeting brings leadership groups together to learn from each other and for training. In projects around the world Friends United Meeting equips children, youth, and adults with skills for leadership, discernment of good and evil, and the spiritual depth to speak to the condition of people with compassion and truth. FUM encourages and trains Christian leaders to work with love, integrity, and accountability for the Kingdom of God."
• Global partnership: "Friends from the United States began overseas missionary work over a hundred years ago. They are now outnumbered by Friends in East Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. As a faithful international community, we seek to model the body of Christ. We recognize that we are dependent on each other and need to receive each other's gifts. We work together to celebrate the Kingdom of God among us in genuine global partnership."

  The General Board is genuinely interested in making Friends in Africa equal partners. One problem is that neither North Americans nor Africans are wealthy enough to travel to the other continent for three General Board meetings a year. There is a seven-or-eight-hour time difference, so remote conferencing is also difficult. Improving partnership continues to be a concern. The General Board approaches this by asking Friends outside of the United States how they want to partner. Another aspect of the problem is the greater wealth of North American Friends.

• Communication: Outreach, leadership training, and global partnerships require a program of effective communication. Friends United Meeting is committed to:
  • Proclaim Friends' vision to seekers and connect those who respond to the community of faith by professional, inspired use of the media including the Internet.
  • Present the discipleship implications of our faith; mentor strong faith communities by publishing books, pamphlets, and curricula.
  • Promote global partnership by creating international versions of our periodicals and providing accessible and cost-effective materials for leadership training.
• Other items: FUM joined a new ecumenical group, Christian Churches Together in the USA. To some extent, this organization bridges the National Council of Churches of Christ, National Association of Evangelicals gap. The website of this group is http://www.christianchurchestogether.org.

Senior FUM staff have three-year appointments that coincide with the Triennium (2004-08). The General Board re-called Retha McCutchen as General Secretary, Colin South as Global Ministries Director, and Paul Smith as Financial Services Director. Ben Richmond will retire from FUM at the end of this (2002-05) Triennium.

Friends United Meeting is a program of Friends - a cooperative program of twenty-six Friends Yearly Meetings in Canada, Cuba, Jamaica, Kenya, and the United States. The 27th Yearly Meeting, Uganda Yearly Meeting, will be received at the 2005 Triennial in July. Friends United Meeting is committed to energize and equip Friends through the power of the Holy Spirit to gather people into fellowships where Jesus Christ is known, loved and obeyed as Teacher and Lord. Our priorities are evangelism, leadership training, global partnership, and communication.

The past year was focused on living into the above four priorities adopted in 2004. There are several items of note.

1. The Africa Ministries Office, located in Kisumu, Kenya was officially opened on 21 March 2005 with a day of celebration and dedication. Prior to that date, the Africa Ministries staff (John Muhanji, Africa Ministries Rep from Nairobi YM, and James and Eden Grace, field staff from NEYM) had accompanied FUM's US-based leadership (Brent McKinney, Retha McCutchen, and Colin South) in a series of visits with Yearly Meetings in Kenya and Uganda. At those visits, Kenyan Friends expressed appreciation for the creation of the Africa Ministries Office, and shared the ways that they envisioned partnering with FUM to enhance the ministries of Friends. The fruits of these discussions in the form of provisional short, medium and long-term plans for the work of FUM Africa Ministries can be read at http://www.fum.org//worldmissions/blog/2005/03/africa-ministries-office-powerpoint.html
2. The Christian Faith of Friends, a pamphlet written by Ben Richmond, is available and widely used by Churches/Meetings with Friends United Meeting. These are available by calling FUM at 765/962-7573.
3. A task group met to evaluate Quaker Hill Bookstore in view of the priorities of evangelism, leadership training, global partnership and communication. The group identified increased mail order and Internet sales as essential to meet the needs of the Friends market.
4. New beginnings…
   1. The General Board, meeting in Richmond, Indiana and Kaimosi, Kenya approved a three-year study of the Kaimosi Hospital with the view toward future acceptance as an FUM project.
   2. General Board/Richmond sent Johan Maurer (former FUM general secretary) and Colin South (Director of Global Ministries) to study feasibility of opening a new FUM work in Russia.
   3. A catalog of Quaker titles available through Quaker Hill Bookstore distributed to Friends Churches/Meetings.
   4. Two Friends from Kenya will serve as FUM field staff at Ramallah Friends Schools in the 2005-06 school year - Joshua Lilande as teacher and Henry Mukwanja as Friend in Residence.
5. Books, Engaging Scripture by Michael Birckell and Signs of Salvation by Benjamin Richmond were published. These books are available at www.quakerhillbooks.org.
6. As the official publication of Friends United Meeting, Quaker Life is published ten times a year with articles "to inform and equip you to know Jesus Christ." The web site continues to be a great outreach tool that brings requests by Friends and non-Friends for sample copies and new subscriptions. To read Quaker Life articles and to subscribe go to http://www.fum.org/QL/index.html
7. FUM received the resignation of Ben Richmond effective July 2005. A search is in place to fill the North American Ministries Representative's position.
8. Updated financial software for a nonprofit was installed and data transferred. This change reflects the new organizational structure to include departments of Global Ministries and Communication and enable FUM to monitor budget in light of priorities.