Letter from Clare
Sometimes a phone call can change the pattern of your life instantly, the phone rang one Friday in July at the Rectory, around 4.00pm, interrupting one of those rare moments, when I had just sat down for a few moments to catch my thoughts, before gearing up to get a meal ready. A lady with a very pronounced Spanish accent spoke, I had to listen very carefully to catch all that she was saying. She was ringing from a charity called AFS, (American Field Service) and was asking if we could give hospitality to two young lads aged 17 for a week during the summer holidays! This wasn’t totally out of the blue, as I had been an AFS student when I was 18, and in my case had lived with a family in America for a year, not just a week, and I’d gone to high school there too, one of the highlights of my youth really.
AFS had begun in 1947, at the end of the war. It was founded by a group of young men, who had been volunteer ambulance drivers during the war, evacuating the wounded from the battlefield. When they returned home, they vowed to continue the spirit of international co-operation and founded a movement to promote peace through international high school exchange. The programme has grown and grown, over 300,000 young people from across the world have taken part; it has become one of the largest international volunteer organisations in the world, present in over 50 countries with over 100,000 volunteers worldwide. It is the only youth organisation to have received a citation from the U.N.; each year 10,000 exchanges take place worldwide.
So it was that Matt from Milwaukee in Wisconsin and David (his English name) from Taiwan, but currently living in San Francisco came to live with us. They have been a delight, we’ve learnt a lot, shared food, laughed and played together, and even learnt to count in Mandarin Chinese! Tom, although only 7 years old has already had an experience of world encounters with our trip to New Zealand last year, but his experience has been further widened and deepened through our visitors. America is now on his list of places to visit!
This month we will again remember 9/11, a moment when the world experienced terror, fracture, devastation. An event which brought home to so many of us how small and vulnerable our world is, and how much in need of peace, dialogue and understanding. I am grateful to be able to play a very small part in the process of creating a more understanding world through my involvement with AFS. AFS are always on the lookout for host families, so if you want to know more, do get in touch with me, or direct on 0113 242 6136 or at www.afsuk.org. If anyone is looking for a gap year activity, AFS might also be able to help. I can thoroughly recommend it.
Prayer God our Father, you reveal that those who work for peace will be called your children. Help us to work without ceasing for that justice which brings true and lasting peace. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen
Clare