Connect Magazine 2018 ENG

OUR SUBUD WORLD
Subud Indonesia’s 70th Anniversary
CONNECT MAGAZINE 2018
8
IH NEWS
International
Helpers:
Westward
Bound
There are 18 International helpers
who work in three Zones. Area 3 covers
the Americas.
The area three international
helpers began 2018 with a
beautiful outward and inward
experience by visiting groups
in the Pacific Northwest of the
United States.
We are very grateful for the
hospitality and care we have
received. It is very inspiring to
do latihan with many members
some of whom have been
doing latihan regularly for 40 to
50 years. When we receive to
do so, we often offer general
testing after latihan and the test
questions arise to fit the group
we are visiting. Afterwards,
we talk, hear the questions
and concerns in each group
and share something of our
experiences traveling as IHs
and information about the world
congress.
In general, we find that latihans
are very strong and our visits
draw people to come who have
been away from group latihan.
They express an appreciation
for a renewed experience
of strong receiving. Some
common themes and questions
that come up during discussion
time are: How are we living the
gifts we have received from
the latihan in our lives? How
can we talk about Subud in
a natural way when we are
asked about it? Concerns
about attending group latihans
when busy lives, heavy traffic,
and aging bodies make it
very challenging to get there.
Concerns about how to improve
communication between men
and women and between
helpers and committees so
that planning and decision
making are coordinated. How to
support newly opened people,
so they feel welcomed and
cared about. How to create
a welcoming atmosphere for
younger and newer members so
that they will feel comfortable to
bring their friends who enquire
about Subud.
Subud
Spaces
We were impressed with the
good condition of most of the
Subud houses we visited. We
feel we in Subud are learning
to run center enterprises using
the houses to bring in income.
There are many challenges
in maintaining and operating
houses that create a context in
which groups are learning and
growing. Committee members
play such an important role in
providing spaces for latihan
and managing finances. We feel
great admiration and gratitude
for the generous ways in which
people give of their time and
talents. In several groups we
see new and younger people
coming to do the latihan. And
we feel very hopeful about the
future of Subud.
“ We feel we in
Subud are learning
to run center
enterprises using the
houses to bring in
income.”
From the
ashes
Often when meeting with
Subud members stories are
shared of times the latihan
touched others or awakened
something inside. We would
like to share one such story.
Several years ago, during one
of the wild fires that strike
California the beautiful home
of a Subud family was burned
to the ground. As they looked
through the rubble hoping to
find anything that might have
survived, they came across a
burned down wall. They lifted
A Gathering
up the rubble and saw one
Like
remaining
No
sculpture
Other
turned
over on its back. They flipped
it over, and there was the face
of our dear Bapak looking up
at them, undamaged except for
the paint having burned away.
The sculpture was created by
Liana Kelley, a long time Subud
member and very gifted artist.
This gift created from hands
guided by God of our dear
Bapak was the only surviving
object in the whole house.
Going through the rubble and
coming across this face must
have felt like Bapak coming
down from above, saying it will
be ok. God is with you always. g
IH AREA 3
Mahmud Nestman, Sjarifuddin
Harris, Suzanne Renna and Myriam
Ramsey
3 international helpers in California
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