Dear Friends,         This has been a year filled with troubling changes. Because I haven’t known how it would all work out, the update has been delayed many times.   Dallas HOPES        You may remember that we have been working on a plan with Dr. Paulk of Parkland Palliative Care, hospice providers and foundations to bring relief to patients suffering from terminal and/or catastrophic illness. Dallas HOPES would have provided hospice care, assistance with rent, utilities, food, and in some cases financial assistance for burial. Jennifer Smalling, a part-time employee with us for two years, would have been our full-time coordinator for this program.        Those plans collapsed early in the summer. Jennifer has moved to New York and taken a new job working with troubled teens. Jennifer brought a freshness and energy to our work that is missed terribly, not only by us, but especially by those who called on us for assistance.   Bob Striler        Bob has always worked beyond what seemed possible to bring aid to others. His most recent problems have finally stopped him. He is now recovering from back surgery.   Office/Warehouse Moving        We will be moving to Plano by the end of the month. Our new address is: 901 Tenth Street, Plano, TX 75074. All other information remains the same.   Peter Takahashi has a daughter         You may remember Peter Takahashi, a palliative patient who died last year. (See July 2002 Update on website).         I recently received an email from a young woman who, by chance, checked our website and was wondering if our Peter Takahashi might be her father. After comparing information, it seems he was her father. We continue to correspond with her as she works through her loss.   War or Peace        A recent conversation on the subject of crusades and jihad caused me to reflect anew on my journeys to Bosnia during the war. Those efforts were primarily on behalf of Muslims while working with the cooperation of Muslim organizations. When I returned to Bosnia in 1998 for a five-day driving trip, the last stop was the Srebrenica refugee camp. In 1995, that city was “a UN protected safe zone” but when the Serbs attacked, the UN peacekeepers pulled out allowing the worst massacre of the war – 8,500 men killed in one day. Those left behind were the people we were now, three years later, about to address. I was the last to speak.        I began by sharing my own experiences in Dallas with families from Srebrenica we have been assisting. I talked about their tragic losses on that fateful day. Then I explained our attempts to respond to the Sarajevo mayor when he said, “The world has forgotten us.”

“I came to Sarajevo in October 1993,” I told them, “in order to seek ways of helping those suffering in Bosnia. One evening, the woman I was traveling with and I met with the directors of a Muslim organization. There was no electricity or heat. We talked by candlelight of possibilities and listened to tragic stories of people who came to their organization seeking help. At the end, one of the men, an Arabic Muslim, said to me, ‘truly you are my sister’.” I then related my sadness over the nature of this war, which has caused us to dishonor the God we all share. I told them of the letters I had sent to the U.S. President and members of congress upon my return. Each of my letters ended with a voice of total frustration, “I’m leaving this place ashamed to be a Christian; because of our lack of response to this holocaust, I am ashamed to be an American; in fact, I am ashamed to be a human being.”      I ended my talk straight from my heart, “Truly you are my sisters and my brothers.” When I finished addressing this group, a man stood up and walked straight to me. “I teach religion here,” he said, “and if I don’t meet you again, I expect to see you in Heaven.”        This encounter with angry Muslims on the heels of genocide against Muslims by Christians was a sobering realization. Who of us hasn’t heard of the power of love, but to see it on this occasion was life-changing.        There’s much talk about the craziness of a faith that talks peace and practices jihad. How could 9-11 have happened by men who claim a faith in this God of peace? How is it that Christians support war with such fervor with the words of Christ on their lips: “Love your neighbor as yourself, love your enemies,  . . . resist not evil?”        In the film dramatization of Detrick Bonhoeffer’s life, a young man in the cell next to him awaited his own execution. Detrick could hear him crying every night. He asked the boy to put his hands on the wall where his were as if their hands were touching. He then recited a poem he had written: Lord it’s dark in me - in you is day, I am alone - but you will stay, I am afraid - you never cease, I am at war - in you is peace. The next day, according to the guard, the boy went to his death in peace.       We will never bring peace to our world until we, Christians, Muslims, people of all faith or no faith, face the war within and choose peace.   Conclusion        This work has always been about caring for others with whatever resources are available to us and in the way that seems appropriate. And so we will continue in the coming year. Thank you for every gift of caring. May you be blessed a thousand times over in the New Year.   Thank you for your continued involvement,   Rae England