Chinese Choir
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Sunday, December 11, 2016
English Ministry News and Notes 2016-12-11
- Live Hope, Peace, and Joy....By Picking It Up - Let's work together to make our neighborhood beautiful. Today, 12:30 - 2:00 p.m.
- Prayer Invite - Please remember the final (for the 2016 year) Adventures in Faith chapel this Wednesday, Dec. 14th! Great thanks to the faithful team of faithful grace-sharers and love-bearers we have (Adrienne, Becky, Donna, Katty, Pastor Moon, Richard, Steve, and our Homework Club Team.)
- Meet Our New Bishop! A reception will be held at Epworth UMC (1953 Hopkins St., Berkeley) on Tuesday, Dec. 13th at 7:00 p.m. to meet and greet Bishop Minerva Carcaño. You are welcome!
- Let's Go Caroling - Drivers are needed for our Christmas Caroling from noon til 4pm on Dec. 19th. Bring joy to others by sharing your voice!
- Calling All Bakers - Get out the mixers and sifters: your delicious treats are invited for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day refreshments! Thank you!
- Christmas Eve Candlelight Service will be Saturday, Dec. 24th 7pm. Joint Christmas Day Worship on Dec. 25 at 10:00am
Joy: Music Transforms
This is a story about young people. They use music to bring
joy.
At Christmas we sing carols in church. We hear Christmas
songs on the street. Or singers might come to our door. Music reminds us that
this is a special time of year. Music brings us joy.
There was a boy named Ramzi. Music changed his life. Ramzi
Aburedwan was born in Bethlehem. He lived with his grandparents in a refugee
camp. A refugee is someone who has been forced to leave their home.
Ramzi’s family dreamed that one day they could return to
their home. It isn’t easy to grow up in a refugee camp. Palestinian people want
their freedom. But the Israeli government controls what they can do and where
they can go. And Ramzi wanted to be free.
When Ramzi was 17 years old, he learned about a new kind of
music. Music teachers came to the refugee camp. They taught the children to
play instruments. Ramzi learned the viola. (That’s like a big violin.)
He loved the sound of the viola. He loved it even more when
all the instruments played together. Ramzi got better and better at playing
music. As he grew older, Ramzi’s dream was to teach music to children in
Palestine. And his dream came true. He started a school where many refugee
children learn music.
One day, Ramzi and a group of young musicians got onto a
bus. They went to a checkpoint. Palestinians have to pass through these places
to get from one city to another. They need permission to travel to get to work,
school, or a hospital, or to visit family. They need a special paper. And
Israeli soldiers check their bags.
People have to line up inside cages. It is crowded. People
often get tired and angry. They have to wait a long time. And sometimes the
soldiers don’t let people through.
The musicians came with their instruments. They knew that
music can bring joy to a joyless place. Ramzi told them to keep playing, even
if the soldiers told them to leave. The young people were very brave. They
started to play music for everyone at the checkpoint.
The soldiers didn’t know what to do. The people who were
waiting in line stayed to listen to the music. Ramzi and the young musicians
brought a gift of joy. They showed the world that even in a difficult
situation, they can share a message of freedom, life, and peace.
I wonder how we can share joy with those around us? Where
can we bring the gift of joy?
The blog of former World Council of Church’s Ecumenical
Accompanier and United Church member Patricia Mercer includes pictures of what
a checkpoint is like. Visit: https://patriciainpalestine.wordpress.com
Sunday, December 4, 2016
English Ministry News and Notes 2016-12-4
- Circuit Charge Conference, Today! Please gather at Twin Tower UMC at 2:00 p.m. Address: 1411 Oak St., Alameda. There is plenty of street parking on Oak or Central as well as a free city parking garage (entrance on Oak, btwn CVS and Cinema Grill).
- Christmas Poinsettias - Today is the last day to sign up with Peggy if you’d like to donate a plant for our sanctuary.
- Pitch In and Pick It Up - Next Sunday, Dec. 11th, we'll join with others to care for our neighborhood by picking up trash, sweeping, and generally beautifying our streets. This is one way we can "show up" and make a difference for Chinatown. Please sign up today! Great thanks to Richard for anchoring this month.
- Let's Go Caroling - Drivers are needed for our Christmas Caroling from noon til 4pm on Dec. 19th. Bring joy to others by sharing your voice!
- Christmas Eve Candlelight Service will be Saturday, Dec. 24th 7pm. Joint Christmas Day Worship on Dec. 25 at 10:00am.
Peace: Learning about Where We Live
This
is a story about a young woman who learned something about her home. My name is
Niva. I’m a Jewish person born in the south of Israel. I grew up in a small
community that was surrounded by desert. As a child, I didn’t get to know my
neighbors very well. We didn’t speak the same language, and we didn’t go to the
same places. I was told that the people who lived on this land before us—the
Bedouin people of Palestine—just left.
One day, my father took part in a protest. Our army had hurt and killed a lot of people in the country next to us, Lebanon. Some people from our own country attacked the group my father was with. He was killed. The people who attacked him were angry. They didn’t think that we should speak for peace and justice, or question our leaders. Losing my father when I was very young changed how I see the world.
One day, my father took part in a protest. Our army had hurt and killed a lot of people in the country next to us, Lebanon. Some people from our own country attacked the group my father was with. He was killed. The people who attacked him were angry. They didn’t think that we should speak for peace and justice, or question our leaders. Losing my father when I was very young changed how I see the world.
When
I finished school, I had to join the Israeli army. It is the rule. I wished I didn’t
have to join. When I finished my service after two years, I thought about leaving
Israel. Life here isn’t easy. We live in fear and there is a lot of fighting. One
day, I was walking along the seashore with my friend, Amaya. She told me about
what happened 60 years ago when our country, Israel, was formed.
She
said that there were other people living here, Palestinian people. Many of them
were forced to leave their homes and their towns, because our people wanted to
live here instead. I was shocked by what she told me. This isn’t something we
learn a lot about in school. I started to feel scared and sad. I had so many
questions.
This
is where I live. How come I didn’t know about this before? If my country is the
reason Palestinian people had to leave their homes, what can we do about it? I
wondered if I should leave Israel. Maybe life would be better somewhere else
with no war and no fighting. But I was born here. I love the people, the food,
the language, and the land. I decided I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to do
something about what Amaya told me. I knew it would be hard, but I wanted to
learn more and work for change.
I started to work for a group called Zochrot. (The word means “remembering” in the Hebrew language, in the feminine form.) I volunteered to create a tour of four Palestinian villages that used to exist in the south of Israel. I didn’t know much about these places growing up, so I used the knowledge that Zochrot had about them. Today parts of these villages are covered with trees, but you can still find old buildings, like schools and houses where people lived. We at Zochrot lead tours to teach Israeli Jewish people about what happened here. People were forced to leave their homes so that we could live here. It is not easy to do this work. There are people in my country who don’t want us to talk about these things.
My hope is that one day we will live together in this land, Palestinians and Israeli Jews as equals. Then the Palestinian people could return to their homes. There is a lot of fear, hatred, and fighting between people. But we need to learn how to live together. I believe most people want happiness, health, and a good life. They want to live in peace with no wars. I don’t want other people to suffer because of what I do, or what my people did and still do today.
Things are difficult, but I believe they can change.
I started to work for a group called Zochrot. (The word means “remembering” in the Hebrew language, in the feminine form.) I volunteered to create a tour of four Palestinian villages that used to exist in the south of Israel. I didn’t know much about these places growing up, so I used the knowledge that Zochrot had about them. Today parts of these villages are covered with trees, but you can still find old buildings, like schools and houses where people lived. We at Zochrot lead tours to teach Israeli Jewish people about what happened here. People were forced to leave their homes so that we could live here. It is not easy to do this work. There are people in my country who don’t want us to talk about these things.
My hope is that one day we will live together in this land, Palestinians and Israeli Jews as equals. Then the Palestinian people could return to their homes. There is a lot of fear, hatred, and fighting between people. But we need to learn how to live together. I believe most people want happiness, health, and a good life. They want to live in peace with no wars. I don’t want other people to suffer because of what I do, or what my people did and still do today.
Things are difficult, but I believe they can change.
Thank
you to Niva Grunzwieg from Zochrot (http://zochrot.org) for sharing her story.
Sunday, November 27, 2016
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