FOCUS North America Partner Ministry E-Newsletter August 2009 Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! FOCUS North America is excited to launch its monthly Partner Ministry e-newsletter. The purpose of this newsletter is to encourage each other and foster a sense of commun ity between our growing list of partner ministries. This newsletter allows partner ministries to give updates and share prayer requests and praise reports.& nbsp; Every month we will have a feature article from one of our partner ministries and updates from the other partner ministries. In the coming week, we will be launching our online partner ministry page and private partner’s discussion forum where we can all connect. Stay tuned and thanks for all you do! - Fr. Justin Historical Exhibition as a Means to Address Ethnic Unity
 Recently an article was written up in the Kansas City Pitch about Fr. Paisius Altschul, director of Reconciliation Services describing a historical exhibit entitled “200 years on Troost” that Reconciliation Services created to educate the local people about the history of Troost Ave, historically the racia l dividing line in Kansas City, Missouri.Fr. Paisius first started delving into=2 0the history of Troost Avenue in 1985 and after returning to college in 2001 to pursue a Masters Degree in Social Work wrote a 69 page thesis about community building on Troost Ave. The Troost area used to be hunting grounds for the Osage Native American tribe. It was also a slave plantation. Ironically, in 1951 the richest man in Kansas City lived on Troost Ave which was a thriving business district at the time. Eventually Troost Ave. became a dividing line between the white and black population of Kansas City. One of the goals of Reconciliation Services is to promote community healing. Fr. Paisius says, "We can't create a new sense of village if we've not faced the traumas of the past.” And this is what this exhibit is trying to do. The exhibit details the traumas of the past but also the history of the area when it was an influential commercial community. Fr. Paisius further says, “Though fascinating in its own right, it is meant to be a catalyst for further dialogue.” The exhibit will be the stage for several presentations over the next few months called “Transformative Conversations” that will highlight the Osage Nation and the Jewish and Greek communities to name a few. St. John the Compassionate Mission (Toronto, Ontario) Fr. Roberto Ubertino “The summer is a very busy time for us. This year we held two youth week long camps at our out of the city refuge. These kids were from mixed backgrounds, including some Muslim children who have adopted the missions as their second home. Through the summer we held sessions for the kids in our St. John Academy Program and also in our “Days of Fun and Games.” We have had several visitors this summer. This included Former OCF March Breakers from the USA. Also several youth from the Ukrainian, Carpatho-Russian, and Greek Churches came from the USA. They helped at our different sites to finish projects like painting and blazing trails through the forest. Prayer Request: On Thursday August 20, a mentally challenged couple who used to come to the mission twenty years ago and whom we haven’t seen for the last ten years since they moved to another city walked into the mission and told us that they planned to have an abortion on Friday August2021. After talking to us, they agreed to see a prolife organization that will hopefully help them carry the baby to full term. The prolife organization is next door to the abortion clinic. Pray that this couple will make the Godly decision to not abort the baby. Stay tuned for the outcome.” Abba Moses Medical Clinic (Anniston, AL) Dr. Carla Thomas “A woman came to the Abba Moses Free Clinic for left hand numbness. While I was examining her, I noticed that she was very advanced in calligraphy. We diagnosed her as having carpal tunnel syndrome. By cushion splinting and adding glucosamine, we obtained some relief. We asked her to do a 'donation' calligraphy sign for our new Greek candle stand. Not only did she consent to do the work, she came to the St Luke Mission to see it. Thus, she was welcomed=2 0into the arms of the Orthodox Church.” Treeh ouse (Witchita, KS) Renee Croitoru Prayer Request: “The Treehouse would like to ask for prayers with regard to our volunteer recruitment. We would also like to share a summer success story: This summer we made a BIG decision to offer Wednesday mom’s fellowship classes. We have classes during the rest of the year but always take a break during the summer months because of the school age children participating in the program when moms are in class and we are always scrambling in the summer anyway. This year we had two Christian women approach us to offer classes for our moms. We hesitantly agreed as it can be very chaotic with additional children attending. We had a fantastic response from our moms, though, and they sincerely appreciated the continuation of classes with the support that is offered. The moms bonded very well with each o ther and new healthy friendships were formed. One of the moms specifically was touched as she is struggling in an extremely abusive relationship, not yet 21 years of age and pregnant with her fourth child. The situation is terrible and just last week she had the strength to finally enter a shelter for help. She has many obstacles ahead but is thankful for the support she has received from The Treehouse, and we are looking forward to the positive changes that she will be making in the months ahead. The kids had a wonderful time as well and spent every week in a vacation bible school type setting that is certain to plant spiritual seeds for the future. The Son surely shined on us this summer!!!!” Raphael House (San Francisco, CA) Fr. David Lowell “Raphael House of San Francisco is looking for a new Executive Director. Fr David Lowell will be retiring after 25 years at Raphael House, the first shelter for homeless families in Northern California. The target date to have a permanent director in place is 2011. The new executive director will need institutional advancement skills, experience in managing a strong community based board, and an inspiring leadership presence. If you are interested or for more information, contact Amber Weeks (aweeks@raphaelhouse.org). Raphael House is also looking for an Orthodox Christian chaplain to live at the shelter and to help lead the Orthodox live-in community. This past year Raphael House sheltered 101 families in the residential program and 526 stably housed former resident families came back for children’s program outings, tutoring and presents at Christmas and on birthdays. In addition to 40 full time staff, Raphael House also had the help of 14 live-in volunteers in the course of the past year. Raphael House would love to hear from you!” Philoxenia House (Rochester, MN) Cindy Forrer “The Holy Anargyroi Greek Orthodox Church of Rochester, Minnesota opened its first Philoxenia house in July of 2004. The Philoxenia house is located next to our Church, walking distance to the Mayo Clinic. Its purpose is to house - free of charge - Orthodox visitors to Mayo Clinic with financial need. We have been blessed to now have opened a second guest house. In its 50 year history, philoxenia, or being a “friend to the stranger,” has been central to the mission of the church. The relationships that members have developed with patients at Mayo Clinic have given them a first- hand knowledge of the many difficulties these individuals and families face.
The house provides amenities such as:
- Full=2 0kitchen equipped with cooking, dining, microwave and cooking capabilities
- Living room with hide-a-beds
- TV service with Greek channel programming as well as US channels
- Phone service - local o nly
Admission is provided on a first come, first serve basis and depending on availability.
For more information, contact:
Admissions - Yanni: 507-358-7260 Please visit our website at to see photographs and to view a short video of our mission.” Philoxenia House
725 West Center St., Rochester MN 55902
Phone (downstairs): 507-292-1533
Phone (upstairs): 507-292-1534
St. Iakovos House
729 West Center St., Rochester, MN 55902
Phone: 507-292-1535
St. Brigid Fellowship (Isla Vista, CA) Jill Wallerstedt “As we speak, 8 homeless men and women are doing yoga on our church's patio. The teacher, Ami, is donating her time once a week for 10 weeks and a local yoga studio donated mats. One of our deacons, Dn. Rico Paul, comes by once a week to teach Greek and Bible Study. Both of these initiatives were arranged by Kerry San Chirico, a member of church who works at St. Brigid part time. This week we also had a housewarming for our friend, Alan, who has his first apartment after 20 years on the street. His name finally made it to the top of the Section 8 waiting list after eight years, and he was able to get a studio apartment in a local neighborhood. We are very happy for him. Prayer Request: Please pray for us that God would send some good staff members. Kerry San Chirico and his family are moving to India for one year while he does his doctoral research on a Fulbright scholarship (please pray for them). We will miss him terribly. We also need another part-time caseworker and the funding for that position, as we have so many homeless people coming here who are ready to make big changes in their lives, but need one-on-one help in an intensive way to achieve their goals. Thank you for your prayers.” Brotherhood of St. Moses the Black (Ash Grove, MO) Fr. Moses Berry “The Brotherhood of St. Moses the Black exists to build and strengthen the relationship of African Americans with Holy Orthodoxy. One of the ways we do this is through the Ozarks Afro-American Heritage Museum (oaahm.org). As funding is always limited, the Museum greatly benefitted from a grant we received from FOCUS, which enable us to keep our doors open for the summer. More than a collection of artifacts, the Museum has a powerful effect on visitors, as evidenced by the remarks of one young African American man, a convert to Orthodoxy, who was one of the attendees at a recent Conference on Ancient Christianity sponsored by the Brotherhood. When he came into the Museum and saw the fruits of the labors of generations of families - the result of strong faith in God's mercy and a love and respect for His creation - this y oung man said that he felt, for the first time, honored and proud to be African American. This is the kind of reconciliation we seek to foster - with one's own history, with the endowment of one's ancestry, and with the fulfillment of that history in the Church.” Please send feature story ideas and updates to faithb@focusna.org | 
We are most pleased and honored that His Beatitude Metropolitan JONAH, Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of All America and Canada and Primate of the Orthodox Church in America has informed us that he will join us for our 2010 Conference in Anniston, Alabama.
