Guidelines - Book Submissions

Guidelines & Information:

·       From one to 500 words

·       Initially, three items can be submitted at any time before the deadline.  Mark them 1, 2 and 3 indicating your preference in case not all can be published.

·       Use a popular typeface, double space & one inch margins

·       Or handwritten copy that is clearly written (we will type it)

·       Copy MUST use appropriate language for general readership

·       No controversial topics, ie. political issues

·       Submissions limited to members and friends who attend

·       Artwork must be reproducible and reducible to booklet size with high contrast

·       Possible upcoming writers workshop for children & youth also one for adults

·       Tentative deadline June 2017

Voices Among Us - Monday, November 28

“As we recover from the bruises from this year’s Presidential election, perhaps a different perspective on citizenship will speed the healing. “Ken Mandile

Other voices and visions offer ideas that help guide us throughout our lives. Their messages can suggest direction and meaning. Come for the potluck at 6 PM and/or the program from 7-8 PM in the Chapel.

Ken Mandile will discuss some views on what it means to be a good citizen, with particular focus on Teddy Roosevelt’s “Citizenship in a Republic” speech.  An excerpt, “Man in the Arena” quote (“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood…”). 

There was a more important point of Roosevelt’s speech that was lost in the focus on this one powerful quote.  It is not the hero that will determine the success of a republic, “… success or failure will be conditioned upon the way in which the average man, the average woman, does his or her duty, first in the ordinary, every-day affairs of life”.  

Upcoming presenters: January 23, Jay Lavelle; February 27, Steve Knox; March 27, Lee Bona

A "Must-see" CD Release Party

A"Must-see" CD Release Party November 19th

The John Henry’s Hammer Coffeehouse (JHH) concert series is pleased to announce

that on Saturday, November 19, 2016, 7:30-9:30pm, we will host a special CD Release Party for Claudia Schmidt and Sally Rogers featuring their latest collaboration entitled We are Welcome.  Schmidt, who performed at JHH last year expressly promised to return bringing Rogers for this special event. Attendees of last year's concert are still talking about how Claudia touched us by expressing in spoken word and song what we profess in our Seven Principles.

The new CD comprises of seven original tunes by Schmidt, three by Rogers and four more by other songwriters. The two nationally known singer/songwriters have toured and written songs together over a span of thirty-something years even though they’ve lived in different states for the past few decades.  There is a natural chemistry about these two women that makes singing together a very dynamic experience.

Michigan native Schmidt has spent years traveling from across North America to European venues ranging from small clubs to 4,000 seat theaters, and festival stages in front of 25,000 rapt listeners. Having recorded nineteen albums comprising of original songs, exploring folk, blues, and, more currently, jazz idioms, she is known for featuring her acclaimed 12-string guitar and mountain dulcimer performance skills.

Rogers, a nationally renowned recording artist with numerous awards, has fourteen recordings and a music video to her credit.  Her songs have been published in hymnals and national school music textbooks.  She has also composed folk operas, cantatas and has written a children’s picture book published by E.P. Dutton.

JHH is thrilled to have these two powerful performers grace our stage, and hope Worcesterites and more will come out to enjoy what promises to be a highly entertaining evening.  Don't miss it!  Spread the word!

Concert Info:  The doors open at 6:30pm, with a light dinner available; show runs from 7:30-9:30pm. 

Tickets:  $20/door.  Online:   www.brownpapertickets.com

UU Sisterhood Monthly Potluck Dinner and Program

Please join us for the next UU Sisterhood Monthly Potluck Dinner and Program  Friday, October 21.

We will start the evening with our usual potluck dinner starting at 6:00.
All women of the church are encouraged to attend, please bring a dish and drink to share. 

Our own Lorna Pezanelli will bring us a program that she has developed.  She describes it in more detail below.

   

Presentation

Title: "Women of the 18th Century in Colonial America." This past summer, on a full scholarship, I attended a fascinating 5-day George Washington Teacher Institute at Mt. Vernon, VA on this topic. We studied women from the lower-mid classes to the upper classes.We also studied Native American women and female slaves. I will have a slide presentation. handouts, and information for further research. 

Lorna’s Bio

I teach Art in Millbury to grade 4-6 students. I'm creator/coordinator of the annual "Art in the Valley" art show, which features over 400 works of students in grades K-8 throughout the Blackstone Valley schools, both public and private. The show had ~1,500 attendees last year. This April will be the 11th year of the show.

I also work at the Worcester Public Library Foundation. In my spare time, I paint, create fabric art, cook, bake, and read (esp. Colonial American History)  

I was lead vocalist in a band for 30+ years. My 2 grandsons are a joy! As many of you know, after a 50 year hiatus, I'm thrilled to say that I've taken up horseback riding again and have not fallen off . . . yet.

Refugee Circle Update

It was a busy summer for the Refugee Circle!  In July, eight-year old Vanessa had surgery for a cochlear implant, which went well. The Circle is now working with Olive to get her placed in an appropriate educational environment.  We are hoping, with the help of an evaluation from the Boston Children’s Hospital, to have her transferred to the Framingham Learning Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.   Vanessa now has an advocate from the Mass Commission for the Deaf for Vanessa, and we all continue to navigate the various social systems for additional support and resources. Other news: Olive has been working part-time at FedEx, Jordy is now in pre-school, and Angela is still in day care.

Over the summer we realized a need to revisit our goals and role in Olive’s life. Through that process we created a mission statement for ourselves: “We are committing to assisting Olive to meet her own goals, for herself and her family, in a relationship of mutual respect, openness, and honesty, and with an ethic of caring and compassion.”

We have a new member of our team, Stacey Hill, who has signed on through Ascentria Care Alliance, the agency we are working with. We have had so many people from our church community respond and help with time and/or donations. It has truly been remarkable.

How you can help: Olive and the children have enjoyed attending church on the Sundays that we can provide them with transportation.  We would love a few more volunteers to sign up so that we could create a Sunday driving schedule.   You will need to fill out a volunteer form from Ascentria to serve as a driver.

Other needs: winter gear!  We would like to provide the family with winter shoes, boots, and coats. Please contact Lynn Simmons to get information about sizes and to prevent duplicate donations: 774-262-5120, lsimmons@me.com.

 Additional needs: 

- Boys clothing for Jordy, Size 4-5T

- Wet wipes, Kleenex, paper towels,

- Diapers: Size 4 (day and night), Size 5 night

- Mousetraps

- 6-8 volunteers to drive Olive and the children to church

- Volunteers for outings with the children to area parks, playgrounds, etc.

- Saturday morning transportation to ACE starting in mid-October

- Transportation to laundry, groceries

Please bring donated items to church on Sunday and leave them by the welcome table during coffee hour. Again, for winter coats, shoes, and boots please contact Lynn Simmons to get information about sizes before donating.

Thank you and many blessings to all,

Ellen Foley, Stacey Hill, Danna Peterson, Peter Haroutian, and Lynn Simmons (774-262-5120, lsimmons@me.com.)

Pete Seeger Songfest

Pete Seeger Songfest - Jim Scott Remembers Pete in Song

7:00 PM, Sunday November 6

First Unitarian Church, 90 Main St. in Worcester

At 7:00 PM Sunday November 6, in the sanctuary of the First Unitarian Church, folk singer Jim Scott will hold a Pete Seeger Songfest as a benefit concert for the Center for Nonviolent Solutions.  Suggested donation for the concert is $20 for adults and $10 for students.

The Center for Nonviolent Solutions is a non-profit organization that provides education and resources to help people in the Worcester area to understand nonviolence and peacemaking as a way of life and to reject the use of violence in resolving conflict.  The center teaches middle school and high school students how to resolve conflicts peacefully through mutual respect, empathy cultivation, active listening and peer mediation.  The center also provides training in peacebuilding skills to teachers and youth workers, and provides instruction in the history of successful nonviolent movements in the modern world.

Join us on November 6 to celebrate Pete Seeger by singing many of his well-loved songs such as If I Had a Hammer, Turn, Turn, Turn, Where Have All the Flowers Gone and many others.  Led by composer/guitarist Jim Scott, who knew Pete well and collaborated on many projects with the folk legend, we'll raise our voices for the causes Pete championed and remember the great contributions to peace and to our American heritage Pete made in his 94 years of life. 

Jim Scott brings a warmth, and authenticity that turns any size audience into an intimate gathering. His lyrical melodies, well-crafted words, guitar mastery and humorous surprises moved Pete Seeger to call him “Some kind of a magician.”  Known to many as guitarist with the Paul Winter Consort and co-composer of their celebrated "Missa Gaia / Earth Mass," Jim is a prolific composer in his own right.  

He has also become a student of the movement for peace and justice in song, compiling and arranging the "Earth and Spirit Songbook," a collection of over 110 songs of earth and peace by many contemporary composers, including Pete Seeger.  

A life-long Unitarian Universalist, Jim has visited more than 700 UU churches over three decades of travels.  His much loved "Gather the Spirit" and other songs are in the UU hymnbooks.  He was one of the creators of the Green Sanctuary program for churches to become more sustainable.  

For more information see:  www.JimScottMusic.com, call 508-755-0995, or email Jim@JimScottMusic.com

50/50 Offering to Benefit LGBT Asylum Support Task Force

“Remmy was a lawyer in Uganda who arrived in the U.S. in January. She attempted to flee to Kenya after her sexuality was discovered by her husband, but he tracked her down and brought her back to Uganda. She managed to make her way to the U.S., but in March her partner who had fled to Ghana was caught and imprisoned by old neighbors. Remmy received numerous threats that if she didn't return to Uganda they would kill her partner.

Hoping it was a bluff, she stayed put. The mob set fire to her partner's home and burned her alive.”                                (Metro West Daily News, May 2, 2016)

This is the kind of horrific threat that many LGBT people around the world live with every day.  More than 80 countries have criminalized homosexuality.  In many countries, mobs harass, threaten, and even murder people for their sexual preference or gender identity. 

            The LGBT Asylum Support Task Force, based at the Hadwen Park Church in Worcester, has offered safe havens and financial assistance to more than 130 people from 16 countries over the past 8 years.  First Unitarian has supported the Task Force though its 50/50 offertory in the past and will do so once again on Sunday, September 25.  We hope that First U members will continue the generosity that they have previously shown to this important organization. 

            In June, the Old South Church honored Task Force co-founder Pastor Judy Hanlon with their Open Door Award (along with Senator Elizabeth Warren).  “I have kind of what you might call a huge crush on you,” the Rev. Anthony Livolsi told the women, “in the way you two go toe-to-toe with evil, the way you square off against injustice.” (Boston Globe, June 11, 2016)  The Open Door Award is presented annually to a person or persons who have worked to kick or pry or elbow doors open for members of the LGBTQ community.

Pastor Judy said, "It's presented to someone who kicks or pries or elbows the door open, but I don't feel like I've done that.  I've just been on the other side of the door. People who have kicked open the door are the asylum seekers themselves. They've experienced things I could never imagine”.

We are all on the other side of that door.  We have the blessings and the resources to help the asylum seekers who have made it through that door, escaping the terror of their home countries.

           The principles of our faith call on us to recognize the inherent worth and dignity of every person, to seek justice, equity and compassion in human relations, to affirm the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.  Your generous financial support of the Task Force and the LGBT asylum seekers they serve is a wonderful way to live out these values.   Please be generous when we ask for your support of the 50/50 offertory on Sunday, September 25.

            For more information on the Task Force, please visit their website at http://www.lgbtasylum.org/ .

                                                Ken Mandile

Art Exhibit - Reflections of Italy

Wiogora Wants Your Help to Make "Mystery: The Order of Phoenix

The Wiogora Council of First U and Headmistress Veralyce Gibbons are excited offer you opportunities to help Wiogora's Summer program.  Being held July 25th to August 5th, our year's them is "Mystery: The Order of the Phoenix."  

·       Loan or donate FANS, 5 gallon water jugs/coolers, and fake trees or garland.  If you want your item back, you must put your name on it!  Anything without a name might be considered a donation (and gratefully accepted)!

·       Attend the Wiogora summer church service on July 31st, to be held in the Sanctuary and presented entirely by the wonder and wisdom of Wiogorans.

·       Sign up to be a Wiogora Guide through our website www.wiogora.org.  You must be age 18+.  You must be able to guide our scholars up and down stairs from class to class, able to get involved, able to use your imagination ,and able to get silly and have fun!  Previous experience not required.  Hours M-F 9am-2pm, with a stipend $100 per week.

·       Contribute to and participate in this year's Wiogora Service Project - Laundry Love!  This is a local Worcester outreach providing free laundry service and childcare once a month.  Sounds simple, right?  Your kids - our scholars - will be able to explain the mystery of why simple is profound.

Yard Sale - Saturday, September 10

We need LOTS of gently-used stuff!  Pick up a box this Sunday at Church and bring it back full of smaller stuff.  And bring in bigger stuff, too.  We're collecting treasures now, and will store them until the yard sale. (You may also drop items off at the church during the week, just call ahead to make sure someone is at the church.)

Toys, sports equipment, dishes, pots and pans, lamps, mirrors, vases, tools, easily-moved furniture such as chairs, bureaus, occasional tables, lawn furniture are all welcome, as well as books (not textbooks or encyclopedias) and clean clothing, particularly children's clothing.  No mattresses or upholstered furniture.  No TVs or computers.

We'll also need volunteers to sort and price the donations, and to staff the sale in shifts.  

Questions about what is appropriate for the yard sale?  Need help to bring things to the Church?  Ideas for the Yard Sale?  Let us know!

John Mirick - jmirick@mirickoconnell.com

Michelle Przekop  -  mbprzekop@gmail.com

Summer 2016 Weekly Events

Church Office Hours:

Monday - Thursday, 9:30  a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Closed on Fridays

Please call the church office in advance
if you need access to the building.
Staff takes vacation during this time. 

Every Monday throughout the summer: 

5:30 p.m. Meditation Group will continue to meet throughout the summer in the Chapel.  

On Wednesdays throughout the summer: 

7:00 p.m. Tibetan Teachings 

In the Bancroft Room.

7:00 p.m. Private Rental
In the Landers Room.

On Thursdays throughout the summer: 

6:30 p.m. Kundalini Yoga

In the Chapel.

7:00 p.m. Court Hill Singers Rehearsal
In the Bancroft Room

Sundays throughout the summer:

9:00 a.m. Court Hill Singers Rehearsal

In the Bancroft Room.

10:30 a.m. Worship

In the Bancroft Room

Summer 2016 Garden Tours

Summer 2016 Garden Tours

Sunday tours of church members' and friends' gardens are back! This year the Garden Tours begin on May 22. The tours will be 4 to 6 pm, when gardens aren't quite too wilted, should be really lovely and a nice chance for community. They'll occur any week it isn't storming. Questions? Email Mary McAlister at

maryalmc@gmail.com

Sunday June 26 - James and Linda Tartaglia, 6 Old Colony Road, Worcester. From church, turn right onto State St. then turn right onto Harvard St. Continue onto Tuckerman St. and turn left onto Salisbury St. Old Colony Road is a right off Salisbury St. (heading west) about 3 blocks BEFORE Flagg Street. 

Sunday, July 3- HOLIDAY Weekend.- no Garden Tour.

Sunday, July 10 - Diane and John Mirick, 160 Mirick Rd, Princeton. From church get to Lincoln Sq. and take 290 East briefly to 190 North. Take exit 5 and turn left onto Rt. 140. Follow winding country road to blinking light and turn left onto Rt. 62 and later right into Rt. 130 (before Princeton Ctr.)  Go past Merriam Rd. to 2nd left onto Mirick. Go approx. 1.5 miles, past Beaman Rd. and uphill to house with big red barn on left. Park by barn.

Sunday, July 17 – Huck and Jo Truesdell, 19 Wheeler Ave. Worcester. From church parking lot take right onto State St. then right onto Harvard St. Continue onto Tuckerman St. Turn left onto Salisbury St. Follow Salisbury Street across Park Avenue and bear right on Forest Street after cresting the hill;  turn right on Wheeler Avenue at the crosswalk sign. 19 Wheeler is the first house on the right, at the bottom of the hill.

Sunday, July 24 - Sunday, July 24 - Roselle Patton, 20 Stockholm Street. Get on I-290W from Main St. and Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. Continue on I-290W then take exit 12 to 146S then another exit 12, go right, take left onto Blackstone and then a right onto Whipple St., then third left onto Stockholm St. and 20 Stockholm is on the corner of Cornhill and Stockholm Streets. Please bring a folding lawn chair.

Sunday July 31 - Pre-Rain Date: Saturday, July 30, 1 to 4pm

Garden Tour with freshly picked melodies every half hour

Sherwood-Bershad Residence, Sterling
www.SherwoodPhoto.com/gardens Freewill donation for 1st U Encore Fund & WorcAGO Scholarship Fund RSVP  (See above web page)
RSVP is needed to alert if Pre-Rain Date
 (directions by return email)

Sunday August 7th - Sten and Liz Gustavson, 82 Uncatena Ave., Worcester.  From Church take Lincoln St. and onto Burncoat where it forks to left. Cross 290, pass Burncoat schools to light by convenience store: turn right. Uncatena will be a left a little way downhill, #82 is on left just after you turn.

Sunday, August 14 - CANCELLED

Sunday, August 21 – Rudy Cepko and Alesia Tringale, 33 Lenox St., Worcester.  From church turn right onto Main St., through downtown to right onto Pleasant St. before City Hall.  Go up & downhill, cross Park Ave., through Newton Sq. rotary, Turn right onto Lenox and find #33 near end of block on left.

Sunday, August 28 - Margery Connelly, #30 Sherbrook Ave., Worcester.  From church take Belmont St. up and down hill to just before bridge: turn right onto Lake Ave.  Take second right onto Sherbrook, cross Lake View and find #30 (4th house on right.)

Living in the Tension

LIVING IN THE TENSION
the quest for a spiritualized racial justice

Shelly Tochluk
Shelly is the author of Witnessing Whiteness: The Need to Talk About Race and How to Do It & Chair of the Education Department at Mount Saint Mary's University - Los Angeles. She has been part of the leadership team for AWARE-LA (Alliance of White Anti-Racists Everywhere-Los Angeles) for the last 10 years & co-produces their Unmasking Whiteness Summer Institute
.
About LIVING IN THE TENSION
Connections between spirituality and activism are evident within many social justice movements. Often unconsidered, however, is how race plays a role in our beliefs, actions, and collaborations.
What happens when our spirituality results in a failure to notice racial dynamics? Conversely, what happens when we focus only on race? What tensions arise when we pay attention to race and spirituality simultaneously?

Join us for a book reading and discussion

Thursday, June 23, 2016, 6:30-8:30pm

at the

Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester

90 Holden St, Worcester

This event is co-sponsored by the Witnessing Whiteness study group, the Worcester Partnership for Racial and Ethnic Health Equity. the YWCA Racial Justice Task Force, Abby’s House and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.

Light refreshments at 6:30; talk begins at 7:00

Soular Jazz Festival

The 2nd annual the Soular Jazz Festival will be held on Saturday, June, 18. From 10 AM to 7:30 PM. We will share music, green technology information, demonstrations, food and fun.

Along with music from five fantastic, world-traveling bands, and three top-notch high school bands, there will also be a school solar cooking contest, a kids Sun Fun Parade and a raffle for a ride in a Tesla.

Our goal is to spread the promise of a better future through music and sharing ideas that preserve our planet for future generations. 

The Soular Jazz Festival is free so that anyone can join us.

Anyone who would like to support the amazing musicians who will be playing can make a tax-deductible donation here. These donations make the music possible!

Open Door Award

Put it on your calendars!  June 11th during the Pride Morning Worship at Old South Church in Boston, the prestigious "Open Door Award" will be presented to Senator Elizabeth Warren and Pastor Judy Hanlon, Hadwen Park Congregational Church.

Many of you are familiar with the LGBT Asylum Support Task Force founded by Pastor Judy in 2008 to provide vital housing, food, legal support and other services to our persecuted brothers and sisters who have fled to the US from 16 countries where they are subjected to prison, torture and even death.  As many asylum seekers arrive with nothing but the clothes on their backs and most aren't allowed to work during the legal process, the support Pastor Judy has garnered for them is life saving.  

First Unitarian has held a 50-50 offering and individual congregants regularly support this mission.  Please join in celebrating this well deserved honor to Pastor Judy who courageously emulates Jesus, "a social justice warrior". Round trip bus transportation will be available from Hadwen Park church for only $20.  Please contact Gini Johnson for further information: ginijo@aol.com.

Spring 2016 Garden Tours
May through June

Sunday tours of church members' and friends' gardens are back! This year the Garden Tours begin on May 22. The tours will be 4 to 6 pm, when gardens aren't quite too wilted, should be really lovely and a nice chance for community. They'll occur any week it isn't storming. Questions? Email Mary McAlister at

maryalmc@gmail.com

Sunday, May 22 - Peter Haroutian, 676 Pleasant St., Worcester. From church turn right uphill on State St., another right to lights and left onto Highland St. Left at next light onto Harvard/Lynden, up and downhill through several lights, and turn right at lights by All Saints Church onto Pleasant St. Cross Park Ave., to tennis courts and house with enormous tree opposite last court. Park in large driveway and enter back yard.

Sunday, May 29 HOLIDAY Weekend – no Garden Tour.

Sunday, June 5 - The Riggs, 337 Salisbury St., Holden. From church take Salisbury St.. towards Holden, past Salisbury Green on right. Approx. 2 miles later see #337 on left.

Sunday, June 12 – The Mandiles, 779 School St., Webster. From church take Rt. 290 West onto Rt. 395 to exit 1. Go through light at exit and 1 mile to left onto School St. by stop sign. 779 is just after nursing home on left with parking along driveway just before 779, a pink colonial house with red barn.

Sunday, June 19 - TBA

Sunday June 26 - James and Linda Tartaglia, 6 Old Colony Road, Worcester. From church, turn right onto State St. then turn right onto Harvard St. Continue onto Tuckerman St. and turn left onto Salisbury  St.. Old Colony Road is a right off Salisbury St. (heading west) about 3 blocks BEFORE Flagg Street. 

The Story of an Asylum Seeker

This month’s 50/50 offertory will benefit the LGBT Asylum Task Force.  This agency helps LGBT asylum seekers who have fled their home countries because of threats of violence and death based on their sexual orientation or sexual identity.  All donations will go to providing housing, food, and spending money for asylum seekers in Worcester.  

On Sunday, we heard from an LGBT asylum seeker from Uganda.  Because his friends and family in Uganda could be at risk if his name appeared online, we are using his alias, “John”.

My name is John. I am 29 years old.  My mother died shortly after my birth.  My dad died when I was 12. I was raised by my mother’s brothers and sisters.  I came to realize I was gay at 17, but it is illegal to be gay in Uganda, so I claimed that I was shy and studied all the time.  I was pressured to find a wife.  

My uncle called me and asked me if I was gay.  Boldly, I said “YES!”, in hopes of having his support.  Instead, my honesty only brought me two unending scars, one on my head, and one on my forehead.  It also cost me the love of my uncle and a place to live.  He did promise not to repeat my truth, which was a favor, as families in Uganda who do not turn in their gay children could go to prison for 14 years.  He told me to go far away and get help or I would be imprisoned.,

After years of struggling and hiding, I was no longer a homeless teen, but a self-sufficient man. I got a good job and fulfilled my dream of being a TV producer. All that time, I had witnessed LGBT community members being harassed, killed, raped, and imprisoned. The lucky ones managed to flee the country.

In 2014, I met an old friend of mine who was a music director and a member of the gay community.  We wanted to make a documentary film on the LGBT struggle in Uganda.  We did, even though creating mob scenes in hiding took a lot of money and risks. We decided it would be safer to submit the film to festivals around the world. We won two awards in America and I came to accept the award in Baltimore Maryland.  During that time, someone told me about the LGBT Asylum Task Force in Worcester.  I contacted Pastor Judy and we stayed in touch by email.  I returned to Uganda, determined to take the message to my people.

Bravely, we decided to put our film in Ugandan theaters.   My life was never the same. The police came to my work place with video clips and accused me of recruiting youth to be gay.  I was fired.  After that, theaters would not buy our movie. 

I was arrested and thrown into prison, starved and beaten.  They tortured me to give the names of my friends.   I did not.  They tortured me to tell them where I got the funds to produce the movie. 

The torture increased, so I pretended to be ill so that I would not be killed.   I fainted, begged for medicine, and they sent me to a hospital for a checkup, wishing to keep me alive for more information.   That night, I escaped from the hospital.

I was so committed to bringing human rights to Uganda, that I agreed to help in one last film shooting at a hospital in Kampala, Uganda.  I should have known!  We were arrested and the torture resumed.   A man in prison traded my escape for my camera.  It broke my heart to give it away, but I wanted to live.

I planned to go to Kenya for a while until the situation calmed down. Then, I heard that the co-producer who was running to Kenya had been chased like an animal and beaten to death.   I faced my darkest night. This was my friend, with the same dreams of freedom that I had. 

I had to leave.  My visa to the United States had not expired, so I sold all that I had and booked my flight.  I got in contact with Pastor Judy. Sadly, she said, the Task Force did not have the money to take me in.   I tried everywhere.  No one answered.  As I travelled the United States looking for help, I spent my nights sleeping in train stations.  Pastor Judy kept emailing me to see if I was okay. 

On Sunday, February the 7th of 2016, I got on a bus and came to worship at Hadwen Park Church.  I figured I would just live in a homeless shelter and be close to the church and the Task Force.  I had $50 left in my pocket.  Pastor Judy sent an email to the church and two women offered me a spare room and a mattress.   I am still there, as the Task Force has not raised the money to find me my own place.

Maybe you, in this church, can help to financially support me.   It costs the Task Force $7,000 a month to keep 12 asylum seekers housed and fed.  The Task Force only supports us during the time we are not allowed to work, usually about 9 months.  Then, we move on to self-sufficiency and employment and another asylum seeker takes our place.

No matter what, since I found Worcester and the Task Force and all of you, I know that I will survive.   It is still my desire to tell the story of Uganda’s abuse against LGBT people.  

Thank you for listening and may God bless you as God has blessed me.  

“John”