North Pacific Yearly Meeting

August 24, 2004
Epistles from Children, Central Friends, Junior Friends and Young Friends

Greetings from Preschool and Infant/Toddlers Children's program.

We made princess hats.
We dressed up and did a bird dance, a butterfly dance and a Koala dance. We drew chalk pictures outside and met the bigger kids. Some of us played in the pool and sprinkler. We made a tie dye and glue picture.

We played games and made music. At the theater, we saw the big backstage. We built a community together that had a bakery and a pharmacy and a farm and apartments and a train.

Dear Friends,

We are the not quite youngest Friends-- in other words, the third through fifth graders. We talked about Life from the center. We put on a play about our theme. We played lots of games that had to do with circles and centers. To play amoeba we chose one nucleus to be the brain and the rest of us held hands in a circle around the nucleus and we went up and down the stairs and elevator.

We also played snake pit and telephone. We did yoga asanas called palm tree and blooming flower. We made mandalas and thought about how to make them unique and personal. Some of us are also making god's eyes.

We went on two field trips to the children's theater and the amazing carousel. It was so, so fun, and one of us got the golden ring.

From NPYM 3rd-5th graders.

Dear Friends around the world,

The 2004 NPYM met in Missoula Montana, ready to have some fun. In our yearly meeting Central Friends are the children in 6th, 7th and 8th grades.

We started out the weekend by discussing in depth the rules for capture the flag. This gave us an opportunity for consensus building.

Friday we left for our inner tubing trip. But before we left we went to the Missoula Children's Theater. We got to sit on a bench that had been in the green room for the Ed Sullivan show. We then took the tour of the theater and played improve games on the stage. Once we left we went to the Blackfoot River and floated down it. We saw two water snakes, and a few of the people wouldn't get back in the water. Most of us got pretty banged up from the rapids and the big rocks.

The next morning we did worship discussions. Our query was: "How do you support your friends in a peaceful way?"

For lunch that day we had a simple meal (beans and rice). A few of us were not too thrilled, but we decided it was for a good cause which is Right Sharing of World Resources. Almost all of us did service projects Saturday afternoon. We did prairie restoration, community gardening, and worked at the homeless shelter folding clothes.

Sunday we did worship walking. We will be leaving for camp this afternoon. We had a good time and hope that others had a good experience at their annual sessions also.

Dear Friends--

We gathered this year for our summer camp in 2004. We enjoyed a gigantic campsite in Farragut State Park. There we enjoyed the theme of our camp this year, friends with a little "f". We spent our time socializing, swimming, hanging out around the campfire, and in worship sharing. We also had two brief business meetings in preparation for annual session. Despite the intrusions of animals into our programs, such as the yellow jackets, squirrels, and a ground squirrel named digger. It was a fun time for all.

We closed with a worship campfire and closing circle.

At yearly we were troubled by the breakdown of one of the Junior Friend's vehicles. Fortunately, they were able to get to Missoula no less than 5 hours late. Continuing in our theme we played games of Frisbee folf, cards, and hung out a lot more. Due to the excellent job of our clerks, we finished a large amount of business quickly. Our most notable accomplishment was the finished minute of an honor board, the result of several years work. To help pay for a rented van and to help our friends get back home, we raised money by selling t-shirts and shaving people's heads for cash.

We managed to raise about $1,000 from our t-shirts and $125 from haircuts to send Junior Friends home. We were very appreciative of the greater meeting's support monetarily. On Saturday afternoon we scattered in groups and in spirit for intergenerational service projects in the Missoula area. After the service projects some of us hosted an interest group on conscientious objection. We finished off Saturday night with a skit for community night and a costume party. We will conclude our gathering with a closing circle on Sunday morning.

With love,
NPYM Junior Friends

Dear Friends,

We experienced a rewarding weekend that saw the continuation of the birth of the Young Friends group that we all seek. We undertook a visioning process to help define what we would like the Young Friends to be, and felt a new sense of legitimacy while sitting through hours and hours of business meetings aimed at creating a framework for Young Friends in the future.

We mixed in the fun of course, taking a trip to the Blackfoot River, and hiking up the M Saturday night en route to a mountainside worship sharing. We still have a lot of work to do towards our ideal group, but one focus we have agreed that the group needs is to develop a stronger relationship with the adult meeting. We are excited for the future of Young Friends and the possibility of gatherings outside of yearly meeting.

Thank you,
The NPYM Young Friends