Spirit in Action

A visit with the founder of The Hope Fund, a project to help connect promising, but poor, young people from the Palestinian refugee camps with special college scholarships here in the USA. Fahim Qubain, himself raised in the Middle East, found his way up via the education he received at the Ramallah Friends School in, at that time, Palestine, graduating in 1942. He labors on, diligently and remark...

We visit with 3 congregationally-based organizers about JONAH (Joining Our Neighbors Advancing Hope), MICAH (Milwaukee Interfaith Congregations Allied for Hope) and WISDOM. Jonah is a new Chippewa Valley effort to link congregations working together progressively for the good of all.

Rabbi Mel Glazer is author of a new book And God Created Hope, Finding Your Way Through Grief with Lessons from Early Biblical Stories which helps people do the work that heals grief and leads to a resolution.

There is a lot of energy for the newly formed chapter of the Network of Spiritual Progressives in Eau Claire, and I visited with the members of the just-formed steering committee about what called them to this work, and what their plans are for the local chapter.

Paul Kaldjian is the living product of a rainbow of cultural & religious heritages, Finnish and Armenian, diverse religious groups, all combining to create a person who has a passion for creating personal-international connection. He's a Mennonite, a geography professor at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, and a board member of the Refuser Solidarity Network, a group that seeks to suppo...

Dan and Cassie Green, and Cassie's sister, Gina Casillas, had a great idea to help enrich and transform Eau Claire - a place where people can share their abundance, freely - their material wealth as well as their wealth of talent.

Arthur Thexton is active with the Wisconsin Coalition Against the Death Penalty as they oppose the upcoming state referendum. Arthur speaks not only as a religious individual, but as a former District Attorney and Deputy Sheriff.

Virginia Wolf is active in the effort of  FairWisconsin  to defeat the proposed constitutional amendment to narrowly define marital status and rights in Wisconsin. Virginia is a  Unitarian Universalist  minister in Eau Claire, and about 30 years into her partnership and marriage with another woman.

Sarah Harder is the President of the National Peace Foundation, and Olga Bessolova is a Russian-born, Soviet-raised activist with the organization. They "Build Foundations for Peace" through a number of programs in Russia, the Middle East, Africa, the USA and elsewhere.

Cathy Sultan  is the author of 2 books about Lebanon and the Middle East. She moved to Beirut with her Lebanese husband in 1969, at the age of 26. Her 14 years there included the first 8 years of the Lebanese civil war. Her first-hand experience with and love of the Middle East, with the Muslims, Jews and Christians of that ravaged land and of the US make her an invaluable resource and inspir...

Michelle Balas has served for about 10 years with an organization here, in the Chippewa Valley, called Northern Thunder, an environmental and social activist organization, serving on their board for the last 6 years, in addition to years spent as co-producer of TV Notion for the local public access cable channel, and years working on the issue of urban sprawl.

Maralene Strom is many things - a writer, speaker, caregiver, healer, storyteller, photographer - and more. Sharing from her own experiences of growth and loss, she finds ways to help others forward on their journey. She writes a column called "Adventures In Living" for the Dunn County News and is in the midst of writing three books, the earliest expected for this fall.

Patti See is an ordinary person who took an extraordinary "leap of faith" by becoming a Good Samaritan kidney donor last year. Growing up Catholic, but attending church infrequently at present, she has nonetheless nurtured a deep spiritual life.

A visit with the 3 primary organizers for the 2006  Earth Day  Celebration in Owen Park.

Steve Wagener had a history of political activism, but he had to be jarred out of a period of dormant passions by the combination of his son's unwilling role in the military and Steve's reaction to the manipulations leading up to our invasion of Iraq. His early Catholic foundation serves him well as he has stepped to the front lines of anti-war activism in the Chippewa Valley.

Gaylord Oppegard served in the military from 1962-1965. But it was not until 2004 and after 30 years as a Methodist, that he took part in his first action opposing war and standing for peace.

J.E. McNeil, of the  Center on Conscience & War  describes the message and work of that organization, helping those seeking conscientious objector status, and those in the military seeking to get out, whatever the reason, and the spiritual roots that led her to this work.

Jill Sternberg was the first graduate of UW-Milwaukee's Peace Studies Program she is the Sept/Oct 2005 Gamaliel Chair in Peace & Justice. She has established a peace center in East Timor, training men and women in non-violence. Jill self-designed the first Peace Studies Major at UW-Milwaukee and has established herself as a gifted and creative leader.

Our guest is Sandra Lyons of the Bernardine Franciscan Sisters . Sandra shares the roots and fruits of her life, including her years as a nurse midwife and her current passion as the director of Justice, Peace and Earthcare for her congregation.

2 members of Southern California War Tax Resistance, Frances Schneider Liau & Cathy Deppe, speak of WTR, witness, community, and the SCWTR alternative fund.

Paula Tibbs is a member of  Eau Claire's First Presbyterian Church  clearly open to the direction of the Spirit. Her passionate concern for the people of the Congo and experiece as Elder for Mission for her church has led her to head toward seminary this coming year.

Chuck Fager has been the director of  Quaker House  in Fayetteville, NC, for 4 years now, advocating for peace and providing information and advocacy to those attempting to avoid or get out of the military, in one of the most concentrated military environments of the USA. Chuck is the author of more than 14 books and many more stories, articles and publications. He was a member of Dr. Ma...

Marty Webb has spent the last 6 months in Sri Lanka with his wife, Rita, where she's been serving the Nonviolent Peaceforce since 2003. Marty, raised Catholic, was refused CO status during the Vietnam War, and ended up convicted for refusing induction.

Will Williams was born in central Mississippi on 9/11/1943 and joined the military as a way past the limitations of his race and environment. He did 2 tours in Vietnam, suffered major PTSD, fully emerging from it after 9/11/2001 as he found his voice to speak out against war with the Veterans for Peace .

Bethany Jacobson's older son joined the marines when he turned 18 and was deployed to Iraq in 2004, at which point Bethany, with the encouragement of her son, began to speak out against the war in Iraq "for the boys", as part of Military Families Speak Out .