UCOH Love in Action

Grateful in Peru.

2010-03-03T16:49:00.000-08:00

A new day. Truly deep goodness gifts itself to everything in this world. Everything.

The day began with beautiful sun reflecting off the green sea of grass in the morning. I found myself riding on the back of a motorcycle inhaling black exhaust with little boys calling me Barbie on the streets. Walking the streets today in between meetings, I simply watched people. People are beautiful. Everyone of us has deep connected lit up roots to something amazing, and you can see it on every human, if that is the projection you want to see in the world.

The kindness of people here in Cajamarca amazes me. Today Nora and I had amazing conversations and confidence building with our partners here, creating even more new routes to add in more amplified business, leadership, and health training in our development curriculum. So much occurred in the spaces of the day filled with meetings, but TRUST is the overriding feeling I have in my heart. I adore the transparency of our partners here and the willingness to work absolutely hard to make this project a systematic collective change opportunity for women who want to be involved. I am looking forward to DHF including all of this awesome information in the development of our Microcredit Toolkit…essentially a manual that answers the question HOW DO I DO THIS in (any) country. We are in process of putting together the first stages of this A-Z compilation so that people can benefit from the model and knowledge of this work. We have a dedicated team of 12 interns in the USA compiling the data around their research pieces for this project. All together exciting stuff going on, all made possible by the effort, love, and desire of so many beautiful folks.

A reminder of the gifts in life came in a conversation with wonderful longtime friends of mine here, Wally and his wife Miriam. Over a full Spanish conversation and some pisco sours, I listened to Miriam tell me about birthing her second daughter two months ago and a day later her child dying. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the pain she was feeling, and I knew my job was just to listen. Her strength was incredible. This little girl had a heart defect and there was only one surgeon in the country that could perform this heart surgery to save her life. They were in Cajamarca, and this surgeon was in Lima, 20 hours by bus or 1.5 plane ride. They called this doctor and asked him to perform this surgery and he said he had 15 other children in line for a similar procedure and he couldn´t do it. Little Alexandra died after 18 hours. I couldn´t help but pain inside, thinking that if she had access to modern medical help, she would have had an amazing chance at living. Miriam told me after all of this, that she just wanted to tell me one message: to be Grateful for what we have when we have it. I just felt this ruminating in my soul on the way home and wanted to share that.

I am blessed with you all in my life.
Maggie

maggie in the mountains

2010-03-03T12:28:00.000-08:00

Dear UCOH Family,

Back in the Andes for another round of exploration on my annual trip to our microcredit plus site here in Cajamarca Peru. The smell of dust and mountain air remains the same after five years since I once lived here…the familiar sound of horns honking and colorful campesina women walking the streets with plants on their backs and children at their breasts. We are surrounded by a sea of green mountains that engulf the “caja” (box) that is this town of Cajamarca sitting high in the Northern Andes.

It is always wonderful to get back to the field. I think at heart I have always felt akin to program field work, as this is how the DHF roots began when I had the awesome chance to work with the humble people of this place back in 2004 as a pilot project. I remember the pulse of everything close to my heart as I see the faces of women who are grateful to us for giving them opportunities on the streets with their children. I can feel the excitement of women as our 2010 entrepreneurial trainings are set to begin in the new and improved Hope House women’s development center. DiscoverHope and Nora are deeply loved in this community and that makes my heart soar, especially thinking back to days in 2004 when I sat in an old beat up velour red chair someone gave to me for my simple apartment…reading about the power of creating what we desire and wondering why I had given up my life in San Diego and what the heck I was doing in the mountains of Cajamarca, doubting. Those journeys always show us the way and what is meant by their existence in our lives…I am learning little by little to be patient as they show the path.

And now, years later, DHF is supported by more than 30 volunteers. The team of people that lift the work daily continues to amaze me, in the US and Peru. I attribute it to all of the amazing souls who are attracted to DHF feeling our utmost value…that we all deserve to wake up each day and give our greatest to the world via our passions. When we do this, we shine, individually and collectively. We hope this transfers into our work and all those that work with us. The greatness of all this I am breathing in today in the crisp mountain air, and simply Grateful.
I arrived to Caja yesterday after a 20 hour journey and an all nighter at the Lima airport. Nora picked me up graciously at 6:30am from the airport and brought me to her home. Nora is now married to her Peruvian love, Hugo and they are generously hosting me for the week I am here; they live in an amazing campo (countryside) home that belongs to Hugo´s family. I love the picture here of the trek with my suitcase full o goodies …you can see the house in the distance. Eventually two small children under 8 years old came down the long path to greet us with a wheel barrow and to push my luggage up the hill! The giving of people here has always warmed my heart and the willingness to do things simply because they want to give what they can to you.

Our work schedule is jam packed with newness. Nora begins her third year in the field with DHF and when we have moments to ourselves, we are building out her program goals for the year and how the DHF team can support those program goals on the US side. We established a relationship with a new microcredit partner (the folks who help dole out our microcredit money here in Cajamarca). MULTICREDIT, an NGO of Peru and a local agency who provides microcredit to for small business, is our new partner for this side of our work. We met with them all morning and they are incredible. The level of integrity, work quality, and professionalism is absolutely exciting for us as we grow up as an organization. We started brokering a contract with MUTLICREDIT back in the early fall as we sought to find partnership with an organization that could grow our microcredit programming into sustainability with their skills, connections, ideas, etc. Today I met with Oswaldo, the Founder, and Elizabeth the promotora (bank officer). We had an awesome discussion around the quality of the microcredit process and the importance of letting women direct the formation of their village banks so that the ownership and responsibility is engrained in the system of microlending. We opened our first new banks of 2010 in February (Las Triunfadoras and Las Progresistas) and we are set to dole out 100 new loans this year. Exciting stuff! We will spend much of the rest of this week with MULTICREDIT and making sure all expectations about process, reporting, etc are understood. This is going to be an incredible year for DHF.

Nora is back at leading the helm for our second goal of microcredit plus, which is to provide women with entrepreneurial training after they receive their loans. All trainings are based on what women say they want to compliment their lives as entrepreneurs, mothers and women. Nora is beginning to meet with all the new banks to assess their class desires, and setting up the monthly training schedule for March based on what our older clients asked for. We expect to do more than 300 trainings this year for women. If you are in Austin and want to come join us at our first event of the year, Spring Into Hope, our entire goal of the evening is to raise support for 300 classes at $25 a class at HopeHouse. See the details at http://www.springintohope.eventbrite.com/.

As you might have read, we moved into the new HopeHouse development center. Some folks have asked me WHY we moved from our old location? Essentially, we found an incredible space with much more space for less money. We developed a partnership with local St. Vincent de Paul sisters who opened their doors to much of their unused space, including a computer room (picture to the left), a sewing machine room, an auditorium, classroom, childcare room etc. The space is clean, light, and gorgeous. Another new great beginning for our women.

It will be an exciting week filled with meetings, field work with banks and women, HopeHouse activities, and 2010 programming. I will write as much as I can while I am here. So many good thought crossing my mind as we move into 2010 and a year of exciting work for DHF: site vetting in Mexico for our 2nd site, anywhere from 2 to 7 interns who will be working at our Peru site this summer, launching our new website and branding soon…we are growing up! In the meantime, know I am breathing your life into all that we are doing here and into the future. We are the collective of every person who is connected to us and one thing I know, is I never want to lose that.

Sending love from the Andes,Maggie

Haiti in our Hearts

2010-01-21T06:23:00.000-08:00

At Unity Church of the Hills in Austin, TX, we responded to the Earthquake in Haiti with an immediate donation to Save the Children. We established a prayer for our Prayer Team to focus on and then broadcast emailed that prayer to our email list sharing in that message that we would be receiving a special offering after each service on Sunday, January 17. The response was amazing with over $8,600.00 being given. Those funds were divided between Mercy Corps and Partners in Health. Our International Outreach Team Leader was instrumental in researching organizations with an excellent BBB rating and accreditation from Charity Navigator. So we know 93% or more of the funds given are going to the field. We collectively ministered as a congregation with our Word and with our Hearts and we will continue in that focus. We are ever grateful for the great uprising of generosity of hands, minds and hearts here and and with all of you! Rev. Steve Bolen
Steve Bolen

Shoes Across America, Number 2!

2009-10-09T22:09:00.000-07:00

Hello again UCOH!

We have succesfully completed our mission! The oodles of shoes were delivered to the Las Vegas Soles4Souls warehouse, and are in que to be treated, sorted, sized, and shipped off to their destination countries within a couple of months. Just think - the wonderful, loving energy from Unity Church of the Hills will travel around the world connected us to so many other beautiful souls in our world!

When we arrived at the Soles4Souls warehouse, our load was so large that we were re-directed to a dock several warehouses over where Joe Page, the warehouse manager, met us with a forklift. He was very excited and grateful to see our sizeable contribution of shoes! Since we had not been able to get a count, we relied on Joe's expertise and experience in giving us an estimate. There was a total of 59 large bags and 9 boxes, and by Joe's estimation, our final count of shoes was approximately 1,600 pair! Realizing the difference these shoes would make in the lives of 1600 people made every second of the 22 hours of driving well worth it!

We are so grateful and thankful to everyone who had a part in this huge success...from the Association of Unity Churches International whose partnership with the Soles4Souls organization spawned the Shoes4Unity campaign...to Maggie Miller, the leader of the International Outreach Team, who coordinated the UCOH effort...to each and everyone of you who contributed both shoes and dollars to the cause...to the volunteers and staff who helped bag, box, store and then load the donations onto the truck...to the GPS that Ellen's daughter, Courtney, lent us for the trip and kept us on the right streets and highways...to the Livingston's who housed us overnight and made us feel so welcome...to all who texted, called, prayed, and sent their loving energy to us on this wonderful journey. You are all blessings to this cause, this Church and this world!

Shoes Across America!

2009-10-07T18:59:00.001-07:00

Good evening Austin!

First of all, thanks to everyone who contributed to the Shoes4Unity Campaign. Several volunteers showed up Tuesday night to help load the 40+ bags and boxes of shoes that are going to make their ways onto the feet of people all around the world. Every pair that was donated is going to make a person half way around the world smile, and they will be eternally grateful. Again, thank you!

The 12' truck was loaded last night swiftly and efficiently by a wonderful group of volunteers. The shoes are now on their way to the Soles4Souls Collection Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

We just made it into Albuquerque, New Mexico, and are settled in at the home of Mark and Ayesha Livingston, pictured with us above at the Route 66 Diner where we all went to dinner. Mark and Ayesha are the sponsors of the YOU of Unity Spiritual Center here in Albuquerque.

We left Austin at about 6:00 am and trekked through the land of cows and wind turbines, and into the Land of Enchantment. We are safe and well, and greatly appreciate all of your prayers and support.

We would like to give special thanks to Maggie Miller for all of her hard work and dedication to this excellent cause. The energy that she has poured into this campaign has been fantastic; we are very blessed to have her as our International Outreach Team Leader. Thank you Maggie, for everything.

And, thanks to Rev. Steve and the UCOH Staff for all their support!

We will have another update up tomorrow when we arrive in Fabulous Las Vegas!

Blessings,

Ellen Fannin and Dillon Zavala

Mali Africa Kori-Maounde elementary school cafeteria project

2009-09-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

UCOH recently sent a tithe to support the creation of an elementary school cafeteria project led by The Tandana Foundation of Ohio who is supporting development projects in Mali Africa.

Tina Williamson of our UCOH spiritual community and Founder of Women Worldwide, a portal for people to come to and find opportunities around the world to help women and children in need, helped usher forward this abundance through her previous experiences working on projects in Mali with the Tandana Foundation. Below is Tina’s story about her visit to Mali and the blessings of the school cafeteria for the beautiful young lives in Mali:

Mali, January 2009. On that trip, our service project was to donate and plant 85 trees to a school garden in Kori-Maounde, Mali (West Africa). Mali is the 3rd poorest country on the planet, and schools are typically only found in the larger towns, not outlying villages. I found the Tandana Foundation, based out of Ohio, and worked with Anna Taft to develop the project. Anna has been going to the Dogon Country in Mali for several years, and developed a relationship with several villages and NGOs in the area. She speaks French (the business language of Mali), and ours was the first group trip she organized for Mali. She does this in Ecuador, also. She’s an amazing, dedicated young woman. We had the opportunity to work with community centers and some building projects, but the one that spoke to my heart was helping the school in Kori-Maounde.
Because there are no school buses, and no villagers own cars or motorized vehicles, the children were unable to get to school in Bandiagara, 30km away. A French couple donated school buildings, and an Italian foundation donated some (limited!!) school supplies. Daniel, the school director, looked for a way to buy more school supplies, and came up with the idea of a school garden. He got some agricultural training and started the first garden. Anna’s church donated the fence around the garden. The children care for the fruit & vegetables, sell the produce at market, then use the money to buy some more school supplies. They are very organized, with a treasurer and everything! The school started with Grades 1 & 2, then added Grades 3 & 4. Daniel hopes to add Grades 5 & 6 soon.

For our project, we donated 85 fruit trees, and helped the children and villagers dig holes and plant them in their school garden. We also helped the villagers dig a trench, lay a pipe, and create a watering basin, so that the children can water the trees more easily. One volunteer taught the kids how to play Frisbee, another taught them "head, shoulders, knees, and toes," and we lead them with call-and-response to a water hole to bring water for the trees. In the evenings, we gave English lessons to middle school students at a dormitory in Bandiagara.

When there, Daniel told us he dreamed of building a cafeteria. About half of the children walk from surrounding villages. The lunch break is from 12n-3pm, then they return for the afternoon session from 3-5pm. Some of the children walk 1.5 hours one way, so they often don’t return for the afternoon sessions. Traditionally meals are hot – one pot for carbohydrates (rice, millet, etc.) and one pot for the “sauce” (water, spices, vegetables, meat if there is any). Therefore, it’s traditional for kids to go home for lunch. The outlying villages like Kori-Maounde aren’t familiar with the concept of packing a lunch for their children. And if they did, it would be pretty hard to pack and keep (much less heat) these kinds of meals. There are no refrigerators; no electricity; no Tupperware; no sandwiches. So, a cafeteria and food service would help keep these children in school.

That’s the project that UCOH is helping. The villagers will build the school. They make their own bricks out of mud and water in the fields. There is no electricity or running water, so it will be a fairly simple building. Food is cooked on pots over a wood fire, so no “kitchen” like we’re used to. A mason will create the bricks and build the building with the villagers help. The UCOH contribution will help towards buying the cooking utensils, and other things needed to set up the cafeteria. Tandana will work with Daniel directly and report back to us as the project proceeds.

Global Grace Photos

2009-08-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

Maura shared some of her wonderful photos from her inspiring journey to South Africa! Pictured here (top to bottom) are the following:

St. George's Girl's School (Orphanage) during our knitting/crochet lessons.
Clearing the path to school on former President Mandela's 91st birthday! (2 photos)
The quilting/craft supplies arrived!
Thank you to UCOH community for spreading their global grace!

Global Grace III from South Africa

2009-07-27T09:57:00.000-07:00

from our beautiful sister Maura Rehfuss, spreading our Light in South Africa...

Today, Monday, July 20th is Curtis and my 30th wedding anniversary. Hallmark lists the 30th Anniversary gift as ‘pearl’. And it brings to mind the story in the bible of the one who sells all he has to purchase ‘a pearl of great price’. The pearl of great price, for me, is a deepening awareness of Spirit. God moving in the midst of every circumstance and as every one who crosses my path. Thank you Curtis. I could not ask for a better husband or a better gift.

This week will be another busy one. We are back in the garden preparing the space for a gardening workshop on site this coming Friday morning. Our friends from the Novalis Ubuntu Institute will be bringing 7 bags of compost and will train participants in rotating crops and year-round gardening. We went to the local grain elevator this afternoon, gathered empty grain bags and filled them with dried grass clippings from the B & B where we are staying. We will use these in the garden as well. The neighborhood boys were back in full force to help with clearing the space to ready it for Friday’s workshop. Fence post and barbed wire has been purchased to enclose the yard to keep the many dogs in the neighborhood out.

This evening John and and his mom, Leitie, have prepared a traditional African dinner for us in their home. It includes chicken, sausage, fish, sweet and white potatoes, vegetable pie and homemade bread. On Thursday evening we will return the favor with a traditional American dinner of meatloaf, corn on the cob, salad, sweet and white potatoes. Apple tarts and vanilla ice cream.

A group of interns from the Foundation for Contemporary Research drove from Capetown to RSE to meet with John and members of the RSE community to discuss effective fundraising for the Community Center Project. Robin and I attended and it was a very interesting morning as we had an opportunity to break into small groups and hear the citizens’ visions.

One of Leitie’s nieces invited us to the neighborhood Clinic. Theolene (Lena) works there and she was eager to show us the facility and introduce us to the staff. Each day of the week a different segment of the population is seen. On Monday the chronically ill are treated. On Tuesday pregnant women are seen. Today, Wednesday, is children’s day.

I brought some of the friendship bracelets for the children, the adults who accompany them and for the staff. It is difficult to adequately describe the difference this tiny, pink walled, space and these few angels are making in the lives of this community. There is a high incidence of TB here and often the initial blood work-up is the first indication that the patient is HIV positive as well. Treating both diseases in a patient is a very complicated issue. And once TB has been diagnosed its highly contagious nature requires that each member of the household be treated. The high incidence of alcohol/drug addiction further compromises the health of those being treated. HIV infected patients receive a 30 day supply of antiretroviral drugs at one time. The youngest HIV infected patient treated at the clinic is 8 months old.

Robin and I met wit a small group of women at the Community Hall this morning to teach/practice Light Touch. The grandmothers (GoGo’s) share it with each other and their grandchildren, some of whom are HIV infected. The women are also experiencing stress reduction while treating themselves. We spent a wonderful few hours together and when we left they blew us kisses as they walked back to their homes in the settlement.

We are heading over to Robben Island today with two of the young women who are being supported by The Light Center since leaving the orphanage system. They have never seen the place where Nelson Mandela spent many of his 27 years of imprisonment and I know it will be an emotional time for all.

Yesterday we left RSE to return to Capetown and Novalis. The women of the community presented us with a crocheted gift and a handwritten prayer in English. We burst into tears and so did they. These strong resourceful women have profoundly toughed my heart and I am changed forever.

We will be returning to America in a two days and I look forward to being with each of you. Know that your ongoing support of UCOH’s Inreach and Outreach Programs, including Robin Goff and The Light Center, is making a profound impact in the neighborhood and around the world.

Robin has been asked to do the Sunday morning service for Agape South Africa tomorrow morning and I will be participating. What a wonderful opportunity to share UCOH’s message of unconditional love and reconciliation.

Sending love and light,
(I am the mirror/reflection of yours)
Maura

Global Grace II from South Africa

2009-07-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

writing by Maura Rehfuss, on her visit to South Africa...
link to photos from the field: http://picasaweb.google.com/NovalisUbuntu/SobonfuCapeTownVisitJuly2009?feat=email#

I am learning to ‘save’ this file after every couple of sentences since power surges are the norm and I have spent some minutes typing the same sentence multiple times. Ha.
We are also not finding online opportunities as easily as hoped. I will write this and leave it in a Word Doc until I can send it off.

We are spending 9 days in Reviersonderend (RSE) population 5500, a rural community 160km (2hours) outside of Capetown. It is here that we will be gifting a group of grandmothers with our beautiful quilting supplies knitting and crocheting needles and yarn…

The matriarch of this community is named Leitie. She is a strong grandmother and it is clear why she is a force for good in these parts. She is another one of my heroes.

We are sitting on Leitie’s porch. Each of us is working our ‘knitting sticks’ to produce leg warmers for the sick and elderly. Because there is no way to warm the homes everyone wears winter attire (coats and hats) inside and these leg warmers (worn between the ankle and knee) will provide another layer of warmth. Everyone who passes by says, “Good Mora”, or “Kyweir Mora” which means, “Good Morning” in Afrikan. They speak it with a beautiful lilt and I think they are saying “Good Maura” to me. J

Our needles are clicking and we are listening to the details of the incredibly hard lives these grandmothers (GoGo’s) are living. Leitie’s husband of 45 years died last month and tears well up as she remembers how much he did for her and how much she loved him, loves him still. She shows me a photo taken during happier times.

They raised 9 grown children and she has a houseful of children now who call her ‘Oma’. They stay because they do not have parents who can care for them anymore due to HIV/AIDS, alcohol or other drug addictions. 52% of the adult population is unemployed and the entire community experiences depression and desperation.

Leitie’s son, John, has returned to his hometown to build a community center. He has received all of the permits necessary (it has taken years) and is now meeting with the architect and others who will play pivotal roles in the construction (sandbag) and vision for a center including a theatre, restaurant and cooking school. He wants this project to be a model in green building for the area and has found people at the University, two hours away, who have some wonderful ideas and are excited to assist. He is hoping that people will come great distances to see what he has done in RSE. He is interviewing folks proficient in fundraising. John is very well respected in the area and when we are with him in the street people come to say how much they love him. Many volunteers will be required to finance, build, and maintain the vision and Robin is hoping we will send special ones from America to assist. The Light Center is committed to helping in any way we can.

Leitie’s neighbor, across the street, is named Sari and she is very old now but was an avid gardener much of her life. She can no longer garden but has offered her yard to Leitie to be used as a garden for the neighborhood. Robin and I spent yesterday with several of the young (ages7-10) neighborhood kids clearing a small space in the left corner behind Sari’s house so she can have a raised bed to plant her own seeds and harvest her own vegetables. It will be a surprise for her. We are mindful to gingerly remove barbed wire remnants, the preferred fencing material around the houses in the neighborhood. John will need to fence in Sari’s yard to keep the dogs out of the garden. We are also removing trash as we go. The weeds which cover her entire yard are actually shamrocks (oxalis) so I am working in a sea of clover, with beautiful yellow blossoms, as we make way for the garden. We crafted the raised bed in a U shape and purchased a plastic garden chair Sari can sit on. From the chair she can reach all the way around…The soil is rich river bottom soil but it contains hundreds of rocks. The rocks hold their own beauty and we pile them as the border of the U shape with the children excited to see what they are accomplishing.

We have had John tell them in Afrikan that the larger garden area will be for the neighborhood and he will need their help to maintain it. They are learning English in school and speak it to us when they can. We ask them what they would hope to plant in the garden. They say the first thing they want to plant is a tree that will provide shade for Sari. Then they want to plant…cucumbers, carrots, chard, radishes, melons and tomatoes…They are all speaking at once and their faces light up as they can already taste their fresh produce. Children here never turn down anything to eat. They have their favorite foods, mostly sweet of course, but since many of them can not be sure where they will find their next meal they are happy to clean any plate set before them.

When they speak to each other they use their Afrikan dialect but as we work we are hearing Michael Jackson’s voice, coming from a radio, wafting through the open window from one of the adjacent houses. And the boys begin to sing in English with Michael, “Billy Jean that’s my lover” and “It doesn’t matter if your black or white”. The sun beats down now and Robin and I are shedding the layers of sweaters that have been leant to us by friends in Capetown to keep us warm during the frigid morning temps experienced since climate change.

One of the small boys, Clayton, age 7, suddenly is next to me. Leitie has sent him to the garden with oranges, rolled in the hem of his t-shirt, for the volunteers. He offers me the biggest one. He notices that my borrowed, oversized gardening gloves have pulled away from my wrists and he pulls them back up to keep my $5 watch out of harm’s way. My time here is filled with hundreds of similarly sweet moments and I cannot adequately describe the loving spirit that is so evident in everyone I meet.

The hours pass quickly. Robin bought, cooked and cut into pieces, a large butternut squash from an organic farmer’s market in Capetown and brought it with us to Leitie’s house. One of Leities’s sisters prepares a wonderful soup for lunch.

On July 18th the country celebrated the 91st birthday of Nelson Mandela. The citizens were asked to spend 67 minutes doing something to honor the 67 years he has been politically involved in the struggle for equality (freedom) for all people. John has organized a day of celebration with us. We gather the neighborhood kids and head over to the overgrown path the children use everyday to walk to school. We spent the day clearing the path. We stack the cuttings high and as we do the children begin to climb under the large leafy branches to hide. I will never forget the sound of their laughter as they piled branch upon branch and then dove under the pile only to pop their heads out, to surprise me, as I came past with more cuttings.

We have been told that the older children use this same area to drink alcohol, smoke pot or sniff glue and I am wanting to surround the space with a loving intention that all who use this path will find comfort, support and courage that allows them to know the gifts they have been given to bless this community and the world.

John brought a large cast iron three-legged pot with lid and filled it with potatoes, carrots, onions, peppers and chicken. The children brought dry wood and kept the fire burning as the delicious stew cooked. After many hours the path was clear and we feasted in the open air. It was the perfect way to honor former President Mandela (TaTa Mandiba) and to mirror the point of love he is in the world.

My time here continues to be ‘blessing upon blessing’ for me. Know how keenly your presence is felt. There is only ONE of us here.

Love and Light to all,
Maura

Global Grace from Maura

2009-07-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

From our beautiful Maura Rehfuss in South Africa, shining our Light...

Finally able to send this message…and wanting you to know how keenly your presence is felt. The 34 hour trip to South Africa was filled with synchronistic moments. Many people came to our aid in ways we could not have imagined and that feeling of ‘being carried’ has continued.

We traveled last week with Sobonfu Some’ (www.Sobonfu.com) and the experience has been indescribable but I will try to find words. Gabriel Gonsalves from Agape Church in South Africa is placing photos of our time together in an online catalog that I will send when able.

Our first day in Capetown we visited a settlement (inner city) school in Gugulathu. The teenagers had prepared a welcome for Sobonfu and it included singing, dancing and poetry. (These children have been brutalized by the experiences that accompany the AIDS/TB/Cholera pandemic (i.e. loss of a cohesive family system, addictions to alcohol and other drugs, rape, and high crime).

We sat in a circle and each one shared their name, age, and what their dream was for their future. Many wished to be actors or accountants. One young man, with arms folded tight across his chest, said he had no dream. When my turn came I said that I was from America and I came to see the faces of members of my global family. I told them there was a community of people in Austin Texas who held them closely in their hearts and who shared their passion for their dreams. I told them my dream was that they would come to know the power they had to use their gifts and talents to be a positive force in their world.

During Sobonfu’s presentation she shared that in her village in Berkina Faso the children (and the community) know what their gifts are, and why they have been given them, before they are born. The community supports their individual expression and their names reflect their life’s assignment. She said that each of us is given specific gifts and talents and our community, and the world, is depending on our courage to express them. She said that we are here to support each other in living to our highest vision.

The afternoon sharing brought us to a place of deeper understanding and connection. These ones will remain in my heart forever and I hope this will be the first of many opportunities to support their dreams. Hope the group photo will reflect the hundred hugs that marked our departure. The caretaker at the school, a very wise and spiritual man, came to Robin and myself, hugged us heartily, and said he felt as if he was meeting people from the moon! He said he has never seen people that ‘looked’ like us before in Gugulathu and never heard a more powerful message. He said that something in him had been ‘healed’. I told him that from now on when he sees the moon he can imagine that there are people from America lovingly looking back.

That evening we spent in Langa, another settlement. We had dinner at a restaurant owned by a husband and wife who met in 1976 during the student uprising and subsequent strikes that marked a significant challenge to apartheid. He had been imprisoned for 3 years…Some of the men from the neighborhood formed a band and provided live entertainment and we feasted and danced-an amazing first day in Capetown.

The following day we were at the Novalis Ubuntu Institute (www.Novalis.org.za) where 38 grandmothers gathered who have lost daughters to the AIDS pandemic are now raising their grandchildren, some who are HIV infected from birth and some who are now teenagers on drugs. These women, thanks to Robin Goff and the Light Center, have formed a supportive system. We had an amazing time together which included the gifting of aprons (with affirmative prayers in the pocket from UCOH’s YOUers), knitted items in rainbow colors from Unity in North Atlanta Georgia, and lunch. After the festivities we gathered in a room and Sobonfu lead a beautiful grief ritual used in her community. It was a most powerfully emotional time and hopefully provided some relief for these angels in the world. I felt your presence (my UCOH family) in the room with us. The unconditional love was palpable. Know the difference you are making in South Africa. I would never be able to move through these days without the awareness of your love carrying me.

That evening another grief ritual was performed. It was attended by many white professionals who are stepping up to be part of the reconciliation process in South Africa. It had been scheduled from 7-10:00pm but we didn’t get back to the International Police Academy, where we are staying, until after midnight. The evening was transformative…My second day in Capetown and I am having full days! I realize I am using words like profound and transformative a lot, but that is the experience.

Driving has been beyond amazing. Robin drives and sits on the opposite side of the car and drives on the opposite side of the road. We have had some harrowing experiences already. The angels clearly protect us and the drivers on the road with us! Ha! When teenagers are learning to drive a large red ‘L’ is placed in the back window to warn other drivers. We need to find one of those signs and place it in our car!

I will likely be writing in a scattered manner until I am able to catch up on sleep. Today we went back to Langa. The settlement is a series of ‘no name’ streets and the torrential rains and bitter cold have left rain soaked dwellings, inside and out. Men are finding small amounts of wood, some are tearing down an abandoned shack to build fires in the area to try to warm themselves. The sun is shining now but the winter temps are in place. We soon are lost and stop the rental car to take a look at the map which is of no help without names on the roads. Suddenly a car sweeps past us then returns to us. Three men are in the car and the driver asks if he can help. We have been told to be wary of people who may want to take advantage of us by offering to assist us. But as the man is speaking to Robin I look over his car and notice that we have stopped directly in front of a makeshift church. A wooden cross similar to the one that hangs in our sanctuary is peeping over the fence. The driver does not understand our American English when we are asking for Ndileka and her childcare center but he says he can take us to a lady who will be able to help us. We decide to follow him through a maze of alleys. It has begun to rain. And suddenly are escort stops and we realize he has taken us to Ndileka’s to find Ndileka! She runs through the fence to hug me hard. We had had such a healing time together at Novalis a few days before. It feels as if we have known each other for a very long time. She lives in a small home and is raising 26 children that she has adopted. She also feeds more than 150 each day after school. It is the only hot meal they get. She is one of my heroes. We took the beautiful friendship bracelets, toothpaste and toothbrushes (from a dentist in Kansas), coloring books and colored pencils and crayons for the smaller children. Hoping the photos will convey the joy that your generosity of Spirit has brought to that space.

The Sunday morning service at Agape was awesome! Rev. Beckwith’s presence was felt and Rikki’s music was used. WOW! Gabriel Gonsalves is a charismatic and inspired Being who is in his perfect place to be a point of love.

Today, July 14th, we were at St. George’s Orphanage. It is Robin’s birthday and she shares a birthday with one of the girls at the center. We took knitting and crocheting supplies, oranges, granola bars, more friendship bracelets and a bouquet of flowers.
Robin and I gave knitting/crocheting lessons. Robin has been doing this for a number of years and the children remember her even though it has been a year since she was here.

We had a wonderful celebration and a couple of the girls were especially interested in touching my hair, first with their hands and then on the side of their faces. I then did the same with theirs. It provided a very sweet moment for me as we ‘bonded’ a bit in this way.

I will sign off for now. Know that this time for me is fulfilling and I know now why I had the deep desire to be here. I miss Curtis more than I can say and could not have traveled without his full support. He has been my rock for almost 30 years and I am grateful beyond words for him always. (Hope you won’t mind that personal note. Ha!)

Sending love and light to all,
Be Awake,
Be Hope,
Maura

Rev. Steve blogs on "International Sunday"

2009-06-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

The venerated Tibetan Buddhist monk, Khen Rinpoche Geshe Kachen Labzang Tsetan, head abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Exile visited Unity Church of the Hills on Sunday, June 14. It was a day we had designated as “International Sunday.” We focused on our international outreach programs including formally introducing Maggie Miller to the congregation as our Team Leader of the International Outreach. And Maura Rehfuss who will soon leave for South Africa for several weeks of service to children orphaned by aids. In the second service that morning, the Rinpoche blessed some three hundred bracelets that Maura will take to give to these precious children.

The evening before that Sunday morning, Mary and I had been invited to a reception at the home of Gaea Logan, the host of Khen Rinpoche. His beautiful heart was instantly apparent as was his ease with being with a variety of personalities and backgrounds. After a time, we all gathered into Gaea’s living room to listen to Rinpoche and watch brief DVDs on the monastery and the Siddhartha School that he has been a part of since founding it in the 90s.

What was apparent to us is his deep love for those children and for the monks in training in the monastery and their love and respect for him. We saw and felt that on Sunday at the church as well. And now we are, as a congregation in that circle of love and kindness and compassion. And he is in ours along with the new friends that Mary and I made, some of whom have blessed us with their presence at the church. To know that his love accompanies Maura on her way to South Africa, that it blesses Maggie in her work and that it is active in our hearts is a true gift from Spirit.

In Love and Peace,
Rev. Steve Bolen

Blessed With Love on the way to South Africa

2009-06-16T08:12:00.000-07:00

Hundreds of people came together during the UCOH services on Sunday, June 14th to infuse 250 hand-woven friendship bracelets with the healing vibration of love.

Rev. Steve Bolen bestowed a special blessing on the bracelets during the first service, and reminded us of the global responsibility we all have for loving one another. We were treated to an absolutely amazing moment in the second service when the bracelets were blessed by our beautiful visitor, Khen Rinpoche Geshe Kachen Lobzang Tseta, the head Abbot of the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in exile in southern India. Khen was appointed to this position by His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Khen’s and Steve’s blessings wrapped light into every thread of the bracelets!

These friendship bracelets will be distributed to some of the precious AIDS orphans in South Africa connected to the LoveLight project we seek to lift with our hands and our hearts. UCOH member, Maura Rehfuss, pictured here holding these blessed symbols of our connection, will visit South Africa in July with Robin Goff, Executive Director of the project. The bracelets indeed will serve as a reminder to these beautiful children of the light that surrounds them, the love that enfolds them, the power that protects them, and the presence that watches over them. As these youth find ways to express their specific gifts and talents, the world will be transformed as they are aligned with that power and presence which invites each of us to be a fuller, freer expression of the miraculous...

Hands On Housing - Spring 2009

2009-05-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

An incredible event took place on May 2^nd in East Austin! UCOH took part in its 2^nd Hands on Housing event. Over 100 UCOH volunteers came out to roll up their sleeves and pour an incredible amount of love and sweat into home improvements for Barbara Mireles and Janie Tello, and it was a site to behold!! Together we painted their homes, did carpentry repairs, created landscape beds, trimmed trees, built a paver stone patio, improved energy efficiency in both homes, helped organize and build new shelves, and more. It was a beautiful expression of how Unity Church of the Hills puts Love in action. Our homeowners were very pleased! It was a wonderful opportunity to meet new people within our church community, enjoy fellowship with one another, and have lots of laughs too. It was a privilege to take part in such a wonderful community event, and I’m certain Barbara and Janie were feeling the love!

I was having a conversation with Janie Tello at the end of the evening, and she was sitting in a chair next to her home when she said with the biggest smile on her face, “You all have made my house so beautiful!” It was such a sweet moment, and each of you were part of giving her that beautiful gift.

Barbara Mireles was thrilled as well, she sent me an email and said, “I feel so blessed, I had only expected to get my house painted, but the love and effort from the volunteers was amazing and inspiring. Thank you!”

Thank you, Steve Bolen, for the inspiring words and the prayer you shared with us all as we gathered for lunch and fellowship. And a special thanks to Daniel Kaulfus for bringing this transformative Outreach project to Unity Church of the Hills.

So many volunteers came together contributing their time, talent, treasure, and collective heart to make this event a huge success – “Thank you” to you all!

Meet Maggie-UCOH's International Outreach Director

2009-05-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

Maggie Miller is UCOH’s new volunteer “International Outreach” Director. Maggie has been attending UCOH since March 2008 and is passionate about international development work that creates opportunities for people to contribute fully to their life transformation.

Maggie has 10+ years of work experience in the nonprofit field, specializing in program management and evaluation. She is Founder and Executive Director of DiscoverHope Fund, an international development nonprofit promoting abundance for women and their families living in economic poverty through microcredit and sustainable support training and education.

DiscoverHope Fund began in 2004 as a volunteer grassroots pilot project called “HopeBank” in Cajamarca, Northern Peru, where Maggie resided for two years. HopeBank grew out of the voices of women in poverty sharing with Maggie that they wanted a “hand up,” not a hand out—they wanted income, jobs, and credit to grow businesses to help create sustainable lives for their families. The HopeBank project lasted approximately 1½ years and implemented successful microcredit concepts from other well-respected microcredit institutions such as Grameen Foundation USA. After nearly two years of living in Cajamarca, Maggie was chosen as a research fellow for FINCA and FriendshipBridge to conduct grassroots research on poverty and the power of microcredit with indigenous communities in Panajachel, Guatemala. The HopeBank project became DiscoverHope Fund in the USA in Feb 2007, upon receiving the IRS 501c3 public charity exemption.

Previously, Maggie worked for six years as a Program Director in San Diego, focusing on program design and evaluation for youth development programs for peace after completing her MA in Communication. Maggie has her certificate in Nonprofit Leadership & Management through Texas Associations of Nonprofit Organizations.

LoveLight and UCOH beaming in South Africa

2009-05-08T13:41:00.000-07:00

UCOH has an ongoing partnership with LoveLight, a project of the Light Center in Baldwin, KS committed to serving AIDS orphans in South Africa. As such, UCOH sends a monthly tithe to support ongoing and simple needs of the children in orphanages.

LoveLight has been at work dispersing UCOH funds in South Africa. Some of the UCOH funds were gifted to Ndeleka at the Siyaphambili orphan care project. She feeds enormous numbers of children with a hot meal after school each day. UCOH funds were used to purchase badly needed chairs for the main dining area which is used for craft activities and homework.

Bryan Mitchell, a UCOH member, visited the South African project with Robin Goff, Director of the Light Center who runs the LoveLight project. Robin reported the absolute excitement in children to have something as simple as chairs. She wrote to UCOH, “you never saw children so excited to have chairs! Finally a spot to sit down to eat their one hot meal of the day served after school. For many this is the only the nutritious meal they get in a day. Ndeleka has close to 200 children on her list of children needing meals after school.”

We are blessed to be part of this ministry of using gifts to help co-create a unified global family. In years to come, UCOH hopes to partner in sending groups of volunteers to South Africa to help lift the families there. In the meantime, several volunteers will make an initial trip to set this foundation in July 2009. There will be an informational meeting on LoveLight travel to South Africa on May 22 at 7pm. For those interested, you may contact Maura Reyhfuss, project leader, at M302@suddenlink.net or simply come to the meeting at UCOH.

Welcome to Love in Action!

2009-05-05T15:44:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Unity Church of the Hill’s “Love in Action” blog! This is a place where we collectively celebrate our work as a Spiritual community and affirm that we are part of the larger beacon of light that reflects the true and wonderful nature of our potential. Our outreach begins with the knowing that each person to whom we minister is whole and complete; they are filled with resourcefulness, intelligence, and Light. While our programs and projects help meet needs and provide opportunities for life transformation, the greatest gift we give is honoring the Christ that is each person. We honor you for opening your loving and generous heart to join us!