It is finally here! After five years of planning, in a few short weeks Illinois Yearly Meeting is sending four representatives to a once-in-a-generation, global gathering of Quakers: the Sixth World Conference of Friends, to be held in Nakuru, Kenya starting April 17th.

The last World Conference was in 1991, and there hasn’t been a conference of this size since 1967!

We urge you to unite in spirit with our representatives, Adrian Nelson, Rose Dennis, Mark Amos and Dawn Rubbert, as they cross the oceans and continents to worship and seek the Spirit with 1,000 Quakers from Africa, Asia, the West Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. Every kind of Quaker worship style will be practiced, and every kind of Quaker way of living will be witnessed. I can affirm that the spiritual fire of George Fox himself can be experienced in a gathering like this.

A large percentage of the delegates are young adults, so this promises to inspire the next generation of Quakers to bring their share of Truth and vitality to the Religious Society of Friends and the Quaker Church.

You and your meeting can stay involved by using the study booklet at
http://www.saltandlight2012.org/materials, and by watching the official conference site, the FWCC Section of the Americas site, or the ongoing Global Change Initiative site where you are likely to find live blogs, transcripts, reports, minutes and other forms of Friends’ witness.

Many of you have contributed to help ensure the diversity of this gathering, and it is not too late to chip in to the world travel fund. You can do it online at http://saltandlight2012.org/donate.html.

Please hold all the world’s Friends in the Light and in your prayers during this blessed time.

Dawn Amos
past ILYM representative to Friends World Committee for Consultation