Report of the International Fellowship Committee

June – 2000

At the dawn of the new millennium international interest in The Urantia Book grows at a fast pace. The greatest stimulus for interest has been through contact with our website. Interest has also been generated through book fairs, individual missionary efforts, and by those who live and work in the field. It is the challenge of the IFC to foster, encourage, and support these activities.

IC99 ended with a renewed interest in international activities. The IFC held a weekend retreat in Chicago during September to regroup and refocus our efforts. With so many activities occurring in so many places around the world, we felt the committee should have a more communication and coordination than a hands on function. We decided on several initiatives:

·        Support focused international visits

·        A book distribution program

·        Timely communication and appropriate handling of inquiries

·        Technical and translation support

·        Each committee member would be knowledgeable regarding activities in one part of the world

These initiatives are now in various phases of implementation.

There have been several international visits during the past year. David Kantor and Augustin Arellano attended a meeting of readers in Brazil where they made presentations. Charles Olivea and Dr. Paul Premsagar attended The Delhi Book Fair during February in New Delhi, India. Christilyn Biek and Marvin Gawryn attended the World Parliament of Religions in Capetown, South Africa during December. Fellowship members worked side by side with IUA and Foundation representatives in these last two events.

Our website provides virtual access to the Fellowship, but not as many international readers are on line. Therefore, we have decided to provide key international readers with laptop computers as a portal for networking, communication, and to download educational materials. Thus far we have presented laptops to Prince John in Ghana, Jose Manuel in Columbia, and Augustin in Mexico. I also paid a visit to Mexico recently and gave Augustin a HP laserjet printer so that study aids and secondary works can be available to readers throughout Mexico.

The remainder of this report will be devoted to our Latin American involvement. During the seven years since the publication of Il Libro de Urantia, the growth of the Urantia Revelation in Latin America has been dramatic. The Fellowship has supported this phenomenal growth in ways previously mentioned but too often on an uncoordinated, ad hoc, and individual basis. Our challenge at this time is to transform these individual acts of generosity into a sustained professional effort.

At the April meeting, the Executive Committee voted to dedicate the proceeds from the next fund raising drive to the current needs in our Latin American outreach. We chose the following four initiatives as the best way we can serve our Latin American readers:

·        Employ a bilingual reader to coordinate Spanish and International reader services.

·        Support book fair participation and book distribution

·        Provide internet and technical support

·        Sponsor travel-work-study scholarships

These initiatives will serve to build an infrastructure of support to serve as a model as we constructively engage other world cultures.

Latin America offers to the greatest potential for the near future growth of the Urantia Revelation. This arena of activity has generated strong grass roots support amongst our members and societies. Through our outreach activities we have developed deep and abiding relationships. Augustin applied and was accepted as a member at large during the last meeting of the executive committee. Soon we will be extending the hand of friendship and membership to many others. In essence, our Latin American friends will soon become a more close knit and integral part of our reader family. And we will be challenged to become a fully bilingual and bicultural organization. It seems that on the road to internationalization, our first major step is to become The Urantia Book Fellowship of the Americas.

Respectfully submitted,

John Lange, Chair

For the committee,

Lila Dogim

Douglas Fraser

Susan Ransbottom

Stephanie Shafer

Adrienne Jarnagin