HEARTFELT SHARING AND GIVING ARKANSAS WFWP CHRISTMAS DINNER

Fellowship of the heart and humanitarian aid for refugees - WFWP Arkansas combined both at a Christmas dinner on December 17th, 2018. My wife hosted our intimate circle of close WFWP supporters at her Mt Fuji Japanese Restaurant in Little Rock for a meaningful and joyful Christmas celebration.

We had seven guests in attendance: Sharl Hill, who helped us with our Bridge of Peace event a year ago, Valdean Bailey, Peggy Egan, Dee Dee Moore and her husband Scott, and Rev. Steve Copley (Chair of Interfaith Arkansas) and his wife.

All our guests enjoyed delicious varieties of Japanese food and in the spirit of the season, everyone received a small Christmas gift.

This evening presented a unique chance to connect our guests to the heart of WFWP founder Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon. I gave the couples and the three other women printed programs of the Global Women's Peace Network USA program in New York, "Women as the Turning Point for Peace" and shared briefly about the formation of GWPN and its goals. They wanted to know more about the recent event at the Nassau Coliseum in New York, where Mother Moon spoke to a crowd of 20,000 people. I enthusiastically shared about the event and the founder’s message, as well as her subsequent rallies in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Nepal.

Everyone was deeply amazed at what Mother Moon is doing and the kind of impact she has had all over the world for the cause of peace. When I shared how many churches attended the rally at Nassau Coliseum, they were impressed that we could bring that many churches together.

Another purpose for this gathering was to raise money for the Wisdom House Project, which includes a school for orphaned and displaced children as well as a women’s center in Idlib, Syria. Managed by the nonprofit Syrian Emergency Task Force, the women’s center serves widows who were displaced by the war and teaches them new skills to enable them to support their families.

At the dinner we raised $160 for the Wisdom House Project, and a few days later on December 22nd we held a related event for young people. We invited Wisdom House Outreach Director Natalie Larrison to share about the Letters of Hope campaign and lead our youth in writing positive and encouraging messages to the orphaned children at the school in Syria. WFWP first connected to Wisdom House at a youth summit during Arkansas Peace Week, and we are happy to support their humanitarian work in whatever way we can.