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c/o Jorge Domingues, 475 Riverside Drive, Room 1340, New York, NY 10115 Advent 2003 Dear Friends, It was a pleasure and an inspiration to host the WSCF Executive Committee here in New York the last week in October. Students and staff from more than twenty countries gathered for a week to worship, pray, and strategize about the future of the WSCF. I wish you all could have been here to experience their energy and dedication. SCMs in Eastern Europe have reawakened and expanded so rapidly that the regional office will move to Budapest in 2004. The Middle East Region is building links with Christian students in Iraq, successfully conducting two groundbreaking visits in 2001/2002 and arranging for Iraqi students, including women, to attend regional leadership training workshops. The Africa region is challenging Africa's ecumenical movement to respond to HIV/AIDS. The Asia-Pacific region continues to lead the WSCF in developing women's leadership for churches, the ecumenical movement and society. The WSCF, like all progressive ecumenical organizations, has been struggling with declining funding from supporting churches in Europe and North America. Yet WSCF activities on the national and regional level are vibrant and growing. Over and over again members of the Executive Committee expressed their gratitude to their "Senior Friends" in the US who continue to provide essential financial and moral support. Many of you did join us for "A Passion for Justice: An Evening Celebrating Ruth Harris" November 1. What an amazing gathering of 120 people committed to peace and justice, students, women and ecumenism. Ruth has been one of our leading lights in the US SCM and the WSCF for nearly 60 years. What a wonderful opportunity to celebrate her life and witness, her passion for justice. And to receive her blessing. In Ruth's honor, the WSCF Trustees have established the Ruth Harris Endowment Fund for Women's Leadership. 126 gifts and pledges for $16,970 have been received to date. Thank you to all who have contributed! Also that night we celebrated the launching of Journeys That Opened Up the World: Women, Student Christian Movements, and Social Justice, 1955-1975, published by Rutgers University Press. (1-800-446-9323) This volume, edited by Sara Evans, contains inspiring memoirs from sixteen women whose experience in the SCMs fostered their activity in the civil rights movement, anti-war campaigns, and the rise of feminism. Authors include Ruth Harris, Charlotte Bunch, Jan Griesinger, Alice Hageman, Jill Hultin, Tamela Hultman, Frances Kendall, Renetia Martin, Sheila McCurdy, Eleanor Scott Meyers, elmira Nazombe, Rebecca Owen, Jeanne Audrey Powers, Nancy Richardson, Valerie Russell and Margarita Mendoza de Sugiyama. Many, many thanks to Ruth Harris and these contributors whose efforts have made sure that what they have called "letters to our daughters" are added to the history of the SCM in the US and available as inspiration to all of us. You will all want a copy of this book! I invite you to join us again in supporting the ecumenical student movement in the US and around the world through the WSCF. It is an expression both of gratitude for the gifts we have received through the SCM and of hope for the future of the ecumenical movement. All gifts to the WSCF are tax deductible to the full extent of the law. Annual Appeal Your gifts in response to this annual appeal letter provide support for the ongoing administrative and programmatic work of the WSCF in more than 90 countries. The WSCF continues to be a key avenue for ecumenical leadership formation, progressive Christian social action, and international solidarity work. Please join us in supporting this important work. Targeted Endowed Funds The WSCF Trustees, USA, Inc. have established three targeted endowment funds to support program initiatives within the WSCF. The Ruth Harris Endowment Fund for Women's Leadership honors Ruth's passion for justice, her dedication to student Christian movements and her work for the advancement of women in church and society. Income from the fund will support women's leadership and programming in the WSCF. Off to a fantastic start, our fund goal is $100,000! The Newton Thurber Memorial Endowment Fund and the Luther Tucker Memorial Endowment Fund honor the lives of two of the WSCF's saints. Newt served as General Secretary of the Student Volunteer Movement in the 1950's, and was a true ecumenical leader through the Presbyterian Church, the National Council of Churches and as President of the WSCF Trustees, USA. Luther served the WSCF on the international Executive Committee, as WSCF Treasurer, and as chair of the successful WSCF Centennial Campaign in the US. Income from these funds will support international opportunities for US student Christians. Planned Giving The WSCF Trustees have launched The Second Century Campaign to financially undergird the work of the WSCF for its second century. We encourage you to consider naming the WSCF in your will or making a charitable gift annuity or other life income gift. We are most grateful for two new gift annuities made in 2003 through the Presbyterian Foundation, one by Connie Thurber and family for the Thurber Memorial Fund, and one by Dodie Younger for the Second Century Campaign. Altogether the WSCF has been named the beneficiary of five gift annuities totaling $63,000. For more information please contact me at kenguest @ earthlink.net or 212-662-4938. As Ruth said to us on November 1, "Never have we needed each other more. Never has a national and international movement for peace and justice been more critical and necessary. All of our world's people, in one way or another, are fighting for our lives." I believe the WSCF is a critical component to building that movement for peace and justice. And it needs us now, more than ever. Thank you for your continuing support of the WSCF! May God bless you in this Christmas season. Ken Guest President, WSCF Trustees
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