Page B4 November 10, 1999 dhv |>1nrtlauò Observer ni /Religion ortlanò 1 NAACP mourns death of Daisy Bates Civil rights pioneer leaves legacy of courage behind The General Officers o f the Church O f G od In Christ join with their Presiding B is h o p , T h e M o s t R e v e re n d C h a n d le r D a v id O w e n s , in announcing the 92nd Session o f the International Holy Convocation. The m eeting will be held in M em phis, Tennessee at the H istoric M ason Tem ple Church O fG o d In Christ and the Cook Convention Center, now thru N ovem ber 16, 1999. M ore than 40,000 delegates are expected to attend from the fifty states o f the U nited States and m any o f the fifty- six countries in w hich the church has e s ta b lish e d m in istrie s . C la sse s, sem inars, w orkshops and W orship C elebrations are open to the public. Presiding Bishop O w ens will deliver h is a n n u a l a d d re s s S u n d a y , November 14,1999 at 10:00 AM in the M em phis Cook Convention Center. The closing W orship C elebration is th e H o ly C o m m u n io n W o rsh ip Service which includes the cerem ony fo r th e c o n s e c ra tio n o f n e w ly appointed bishops. Formorc information: (901) 947-9338 or947-9339,Elder A.Z. Hall, Jr.,C hief CONTRIBUTED STORY for T he P ortland O bserver Kweisi mftune. President & CEO , the N a tio n a l A s s o c ia tio n fo r th e A dvancem ent o f C olored People (NAACP), said Daisy Bates, who died last week, “was a true A merican hero. She was a model for all o f us then and now .” Bates, who was formerly president o f the Little Rock NAACP branch and p resid en t o f the A rkansas S tate Conference o f the NAACP branches, is fam ous for co o rd in atin g the successful efforts to integrate Little R o c k ’s public sch o o ls afte r the Suprem e Court outlaw ed segregated schools in 1954. She led the first nine African American students, the “Little Rock N ine,” who w ere adm itted to Little Rock’s Central High School for the 1957-58 school year. “In the face o f great physical danger to h erself and to her family, Daisy Bates rem ained steady as a rock and the student’s leading advocate as they braved mobs daily ju st to get an education to which they were entitled the N A A C P extends its sorrow to her family and friends,” said Mfume. Julian Bond, Chairman o f the NAACP B oard ofT rustees said " D aisy Bates was a heroine. She was a surrogate m other and protector o f the Little Rock Nine. She went face to face with a governor and a president, and she backed them down. She show ed a generation that civil rights w ork w as w omen's w ork too." W ith assistance from the N A ACP national headquarters. Bates began taking A frican A m erican children to be enrolled in all w hite schools in 1955. W hen the ch ild ren w ere den ied admission, each incident was recorded and reported in the local newspapers. U nder incresing pressure from black p a r e n ts a n d th e N A A C P , th e s u p e rin te n d e n t of s c h o o ls announced a plan to desegragate Central H igh Scool in 1957. » National Christian Jazz performs free concert CONTRIBUTED STORY for T he P ortland O bserver Mt. O livet B aptist C hurch w ill host a Christian concert this month featuring The Most Reverend Chandler David Owens renow ned Christian jazz artist Ben Tankard. A dm ission is free. The concert is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 13 at Mt. Olivet Baptist C h u rc h , lo c a te d at 8501 N . C h au ta u q u a B lvd. A rriv e early. Seating is limited. A lth o u g h th e c o n c e r t is fre e , a tte n d e e s a re a s k e d to p le a s e consider an offering. Operating Officer. Spirituality is at the heart of recovery u a rte s The Hazelden Foundation provides treat­ ment for chemically dependent people, using the spiritual program of Alcoholics Anonymous as its core and building a mul­ tidisciplinary program around it. Spirituality is at the heart of what Hazelden does, but what is spirituality? “Spirituality consists of the quality of our relationships in three dimensions: with a Higher Power or God, with ourselves, and w ith other p eople," said John Mac Dougall. supervisor of Spiritual Care at Hazelden in Center City. “These three sets of relationships are interrelated. It is not possible to love God, be at peace with ourselves, and treat everybody else badly. Any improvement in one set of relation­ ships lifts the others, and any deterioration in one set pulls the others down.” For example, if we go home and have an ugly argum ent w ith som eone we usually love and dig deep for every nasty thing to say that we can think of, by the end of the day our relationship with that person is damaged. However, we are probably not in conscious contact with our H igher Pow er either, because of embarrassment over our tacky behavior SJn fouinty m em o ry of A licia S tro n g Sunrise February 1,1962 Sunset O ctober 27,1999 A licia Strong passed aw ay on O ctober 27,1999 o f cancer. She was 37. A memorial service was held Novem ber 6,1999. Ms Strong was born February 1,1962, in Portland, Or. She attended C h ief Sealth High School in Seattle and Lincoln High School in Portland. She also attended Linn-Benton Com m unity College in Albany. Among her jobs, she w orked for the State o f W ashington in the early 1980s arranging interpreters for w elfare recipients who d idn’t speak English; m ost recently she w orked for M ultnom ah County Aging and D isability Services from m id -1996 unti 1 the spring o f 1999 as a receptionist. She w as a m em ber o f Bethel A.M .E. Church. Surviving her; her son D ew ey Taylor III; daughter Ebony Strong; brothers Charles and Earl; sister Patricia; m other EleanorG regory; grandchildren Zhaelchel, Sterlasha, Adrionna. Disposition was by crem ation. R em ains are interred at Lincoln M em orial Cemetery. iCkrt sttanxorrr liite I fra HAZELDEN ■ “It is not possible to love God, be at peace with ourselves, and treat everybody else badly. Any improvement in one set o f relationships lifts the others, and any deteri­ oration in one set pulls the others down.” — John Mac Dougall, Hazelden Center City and because we are not feeling very good about ourselves. Our relationships with our Higher Power, ourselves and others are damaged, even though we are fighting only with others. “If, more positively, we would like to improve our spirituality right away, all we need to do is treat every single human being we meet as if they were a beloved child of God or their Higher Power,” said Mac Dougall. “We don’t have to person­ ally love them. In some cases, that might be a bit of a stretch Just imagine that they have a Higher Power, that it isn’t us, and that their Higher Power loves them. If we can reimagine them in this way, then we will begin to treat them with the dignity and respect that belongs to children of God. Our relationships with them will improve, our self-respect will improve, and we will grow closer to our Higher Power ” The spirituality of recovery allows for a variety of religious experiences and beliefs, Mac Dougall adds. “We choose a name and image of our Higher Power that is the best for inviting us into loving and caring relationships. AA comes to us and pro­ poses to share experience, strength and hope in order to solve common problems, and much of this is our shared spiritual experience. There is no insistence in any particular religious doctrine in AA or in Hazelden’s programs, but we do believe that a spiritual awakening is essential to recovery.” This spirituality of recovery is a differ­ ent way of life, characterized by letting go of control and accepting the guidance of a Higher Power, peers in recovery, and Twelve Step Programs. These programs offer a process of spiritual growth that goes far beyond the mere cessation of drinking and drug use. “In this new way o f life," said Mac Dougall, “we learn honesty, openness, willingness, trust, community, respect, serenity, courage and wisdom. In recovery, we do much more than ’dry out.' We come back to life.” Alive A Free is a chemical health column provided by Hazelden, a nonprofit agency that offers a wide range o f information and services relating to addiction and recovery. Address questions to Alive A Free Editor, BC 10, P.O. Box 11, Center City, MN 55012-0011. For more resources on substance abuse, call Hazelden at 1- 800-328-9000 (ask fo r Hazel) or check its web site at www.hazelden.org. )4>ur O n lln « C h rlitU n M *rli«tpl*c« t b e lie v e I r in t /\*> s « n in: C h ris tia n Iarentlng Today M a r r ia g e lartn e n h lp C h ris tia n Reader G o d ly Business W o rn .in C h ris tia n ity O n lin e Today s C h ris tia n W o m a n C h ris tia n ity Today V r t ue M a g a z in e Get ready for Hanukkah at The Festival of Lights Hanukkah Fair CONTRIBUTED STORY_________________ _______________ _____________________ ________ for T he 'where ton o wider variety i k n o w w r t k a t m a tte r s ’ I r in t of Christian and A s seen in: Bible centered entertainm ent products that reflect what we A m m m m i C h ris tia n ity O n lin e New M an C h ris tia n ity Today C h ris tia n I llstory kcltCVC “os busy ns rtw let|«t iät»«»«»« »I Chris»»« pafctft •> lh« • *wM * X it's an invaluable tool. It's nice to tC krtstlan.com know there’s a relevant Christian resource that offers more of w hat matters0™ and my fam ily ' ( found o great Christian website with all the coolest music and stuff that I'm interested in. And their forums and online Bible studies | a The 1999 Festival ofLights H anukkah Fair will be held on Sunday, N ovem ber 21 from 10:00 A M to 5:00 PM at the M ittlem an Jewish C om m unity Center. The fair offers buyers and browsers gifts, books, fine art, jewelry, gourmet foods, toys, children’s clothing, specialty items, Hanukkah supplies and m ore.O ver 40 vendors w ill be represented. C hildren can do their w on shopping in the beginner shopper area w here all gifts are $5 and under. Hadassah volunteers will help the kids shop and wrap their purchases for free. All proceeds from the fair w ill benefit H adassah projects. r i a t t i iMMecref lr»«* <«torM w + fbefrtaa F»*"* » *• • MrW i t a v e f a ith A im nfn fri n t , lC k r ts t la n .c o m C C M ’L.OUmCk— M.w.. C«iagj.Lil« ä u , b r im 7-BJI” Image R ad io kjnntng in « Im age O u t d o o r kuanM^ln 9 mart» 6389 form ore information. Parent Mentor program receives $10,000 CONTRIBUTED STORY_____________________________________ ___________ _____________ for T he to Harney Helping Organization for Personal Emergencies in B um s, Oregon, so a m entor program can be established P ortland O bserver The H oover Fam ily Foundation has aw arded Ecum enical M inistries o f O regon’s Parent M entor Program a $ 10,000 grant. The funding, along w ith support from the The Collins Foundation, w ill enable the program to continue m atching mentors w ith m others w ho graduate from the Letty O w ings C enter for drug and alcohol treatm ent, and to respond to a growing need for m entors locally and really strengthened r l a i t l i r P ortland O bserver find n n nnn m p m bers, lv r c H adassah a d a ss a h is the largest larges W ith over i 300,000 m em w om en’s organization in the United States. Five main threads run through H adassah’s m any program s and p ro je c ts: h e a lth , Je w ish g ro w th an d c o n tin u ity , partnerships with Israel, social action and advocacy, and life skills. Some o f the projects that H adassah fund raising makes possible are: T he H adassah M edical Com plexes in Israel, jo b counseling and technical training for new imm igrants to Israel, the rescue o f children from w ar-tom countries with the Y outh A liyah program , breast cancer aw areness projects, and m uch more. The M ittlem an Jew ish Com m unity C enter is located at 56651SW Capitol Hwy. In Portland, Call 244-0111 o r 244- statewide. N ow in its third year, the Parent M entor Program has provided mentors to about 85 w om en w ith responsibility for approxim ately 165 children. Parent M entor Program M anager Sylvia H art-Landsberg is currently developing a process form atching her program ’s mentors with women assisted by other P ortland-area drug recovery programs and w om en’s shelters. O ne m entor has already been successfully m atched with form er resident o f Raphael H ouse, a shelter for women struggling w ith dom estic abuse. Plans are underw ay to m atch m entors with w om en served by the Salvation A rm y’s W hite Shield Center, helping teen parents, and the D e Paul Treatm ent Centers for low-incom e women. In _ j j :*; h a s nfYYviH^H t e c h n i c a l assistance there. After com pleting treatm ent for substance abuse o r after leaving a shelter, a m other usually sets up a new household independent from family members who might not prom ote a safe environm ent for her children. D uring the transition, a m entor can offer practical advice and a sym pathetic ear, and can model helpful parenting skills Practical help may inc lude helping a mother organize a cupboard or a calendar, shopping w ith her to find career clothes in a resale shop, or taking the kids to the C hildren’s M useum. M entoring also allows a m other, w ho m ay not have been given nurturing and support as a child, an opportunity to develop a relationship with a caring adult. “A relationship w ith a m entor increases the probability that a w om an can leam to nurture herselfand her children,” said Hart-Landsberg. The Parent M entor Program, located at 2545 NE Flanders, is one o f EM O ’s com m unity ministry program s dedicated to meeting basic hum an needs. EM O is an association o f 15 Christian denominations including Protestant, Orthodox and Rom an Catholic religious bodies that w ork together to respond as a people o f faith to the needs o f Oregonians. For m ore inform ation about the Parent M entor Program, . .A n i . r i Q v lv ia H a r t - 1 andsbers at (503) 231-3571.