(Paul Edwards is chair of Vancouver)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Capri Hall Vancouver

It is my happy assignment to give you some very big news. Thanks to all your hard work and commitment for the last long 34 years, our last Mortgage payment on our Fraser Hall was made on August 15th. Of course we still have all of our other commitments that need our support, but this is wonderful news indeed!!!  The current Board of Directors have decided to host a celebration party for this very important event. I will update you on the details as they develop, but we wanted to let you know!

On other happy news, five (yes, I said 5) new members have all been opened recently.  They are:

Blair Goodwill, Mustafa Subroto, Adena Von Hahn, Casey Von Hahn, Davida Paul. All of these new members are under 40! We welcome you all with open arms!

And one more tid bit….  we will have a second World Congress sharing at the Sunday Social on September 14th…. please mark your calendars! Anyone from Bellingham or further south is welcome to join us. Latihan quiet time starts at 10:00 am; the social part usually gets going after 11:00 am.

Rachman Cantrell at it again

On August 24 after latihan, those who have recently returned from Puebla, Mexico will share their World Congress experiences and we will honor the new Subud USA Chair, local member Daniel Stralberg.

The Congress ended Saturday night and Subud Greater Seattle had a large presence at the Congress. Hopefully Rachman Cantrell can show some of his photos, new foundation Chair Marston Gregory will discuss his plans for the Muhammed Subuh Foundation and Oswald Norton will discuss potential SUSA collaborations.

Oswald, Liza & Haris in Puebla

Haris Wolfgang, Liza Ramey and I were invited into the delegate session during the My Community Day to work with the delegates on the concept of helping their own local communities flourish. Here is a summary of what happened in the first session: “Subud is a like a tree.  Its roots are our local Subud communities.  Its roots need to be nurtured for the tree to be truly healthy.” ~ from our new WSA Chair Elias Dumit We went through a process of identifying and sharing our needs and hopes for our communities in a safe and inclusive space is a starting point for learning conflict resolution, creating consensus and intention  toward building healthy, vibrant  communities. What we learned from Friday’s experience: We shared a small piece of the beginning of the community building process. Even though very abbreviated, each sister and brother were able to share, listen and acknowledge their hopes for their community.  We also learned that we share many of the same hopes. (see attached PowerPoint for a summary of themes)  How can we see these hopes realized? Next steps:

• Using the common themes identified, we will go through a process of choosing one theme that resonates with the group through consensus building
• Groups will  create a strategy to carry out that theme through activities and projects.

What we have witnessed with groups going through this process is that members become engaged working toward a shared vision they have had a part in creating. When we nourish the roots of the tree, we invite members that are empowered to  create thriving communities making the tree grow and flourish.