by Pat Murnin
NUA President

Lately, we in the Urantia movement have had the privilege to not only witness, but to actually participate in the reunification efforts bet

ween the Fellowship and the Urantia Foundation. These efforts have been made with the highest intentions, and they are steps in the right direction. We have prayed and worked very hard to bring about unity in our movement, but there is one ingredient missing. We will not see true unity in the Urantia movement until we have learned to trust each other without reservation. This however, is a lot to expect from evolutionary freewill creatures. Are we evolved enough?

I think that we are. We hold the ideals given to us by Jesus, very close to our hearts, and we all are dedicated to do the will of the Father. Jesus told us to love each other, even as he loves us. How can we do that without trust?

Love, trust, mercy, forgiveness, loyalty, and faithfulness, all are intertwined together in a way that they are all elements of each other. We can’t have one without the others.

If we are to love each other as Jesus asked us to, we must trust each other, extend mercy and forgiveness to each other, and show each other the respect and loyalty that we would expect to be shown by our brothers and sisters in Christ. It does no good to believe it, talk about it, and expect of others if we can’t live it.

Jesus told the apostles before his ascension, "As the Father sent me into the world, so do I send you. And I wish that you would love and trust one another. Judas is no more with you because his love grew cold, and because he refused to trust you, his loyal brethren. (p. 2055)

If we cannot love, show forgiveess and mercy toward, and have loyalty to our fellow Agondonters, then we must take a look at our faithfulness, if we want to live our faith, and do the Father’s will.

With all this in mind, I would like to say that in the future, if we have a problem with one of our brothers or sisters over some thing they said or did, etc. please have the common decency to go to them personally, rather than blasting, slandering, and otherwise publicly berating them on the Internet. This practice is counterproductive in that it only seems to amplify the problem at hand, and completely breaks any bonds of trust that might have existed between not only two people in question, but anyone else in the world that reads our opinion, and feels the need to pick a side.

When we break a trust, and lose unity, we lose credibility with the very people that we have dedicated ourselves to disseminate our beloved revelation, too. As we all know from our study, every major mess up that has happened on this planet, always starts with a broken trust.

It takes a pretty evolved spirit to build a trust where one has been broken. Have we evolved enough to love enough? Can we show enough mercy and forgiveness, to build a trust that can unify all readers of The URANTIA Book? Can we live our faith, and thereby demonstrate our faithfulness in a way that shows the Fathers will to the hungry souls on Urantia?

The ball is in our court, and every one of us has just stepped up to the foul line. Are we going to drop the ball? It’s been dropped before. Are we going to make the shot?

We can accomplish so much if we work together.

Nothin’ but net!

One God.
One Book.
One Brotherhood.

The Finnish Experience

by Janet Nilsen
Lebanon, Oregon

The highlight of this busy summer was attending the IUA Conference in Helsinki. Over 160 attendees from seventeen countries gathered between August 6–10 at the magnificent Unitas Congress Centre, just outside of Helsinki. The former estate and bankers' training retreat was complete with U.N.-style assembly hall, and huge sauna, all located on wooded, coastal acreage beside the gorgeous Gulf of Finland.

Our incomparable Finnish IUA hosts welcomed us in their warm, straightforward manner to their rugged yet very progressive country. Electronics and communications are important here. More Finns per capita read The URANTIA Book, use cellphones, and are online than in any other country. A thumbnail sketch of Helsinki— a clean and mostly modern city full of handsome fair-haired people striding along its streets fully engaged in earnest cell-phone conversations using a totally unique—and to me unintelligible—language. Thank God most Finns speak excellent English and they accepted my few mangled Finnish phrases with tolerant good humor.

The program, exploring ‘Facts, Meanings, and Values’ was excellent throughout, but the opening address by Foundation Trustee, Georges Michelson-DuPont was exceptional, even epochal, as he explained to us, the history, and responsibilities of URANTIA Foundation as mandated by the Revelators. He also defined and delineated a strong course of action for the long term project of protecting and disseminating the revelation, with policies designed to appeal to the broadest segment of readers. His reasonable yet irrefutable appeal for a unity among readers based on ethics and principles evoked a renewed sense of committment in all listeners, who responded with a heartfelt standing ovation.

Newly elected IUA Chairman, Seppo Kanerva, dazzled us with his translating abilities and his marvelous address on 'Facts, Meanings, and Values'. His tireless efforts were evident in every facet of the conference. Other discourses by such diverse presenters as Neinke Brugman-Begemann, Kalevi Eklof, Kathleen Swadling, Peep Sober, Cathy Jones, Chris Mosely, Vitali Kondratyev, Andrei Reznikov, Francois Dupont, Dorothy Elder, Jeff Wattles, Timo Myllykangas, and Antero Huovinen were extremely fascinating, informative and inspiring. Transcripts of all discourses were presented in English, Finnish, French, Russian and Spanish. Kudos to the translation team for their immense efforts!

Memorable moments ran from the ridiculous–A game of charades with Georges M-DuPont as Lazarus arising and Trevor Swadling as Jesus cleansing the Temple, to the sublime–Neinke Brugman-Begemann's touching account of her young uncle's spiritual intrepidity during WWII, Dorothy Elder's slide presentation of the values of Jesus' bestowal mandate as illustrated in works of art, and a moving and uplifting Remembrance Supper.

Numerous small study groups provided an arena for personal contacts while exploring the meanings and values of spiritual attributes. Overcoming language barriers was a bit of a challenge, but spiritual unity, pantomime, good humor and the desire for understanding removed most obstacles.

An open question and answer session was lead by Foundation Trustees Georges Michelson-DuPont, Gard Jamison and Executive Director Tonia Baney. They discussed Foundation goals, the importance of quality translations and the need for principled cooperation among reader groups.

On Monday, Trustee Gard Jamison made strong closing remarks in regards to the responsibility of all readers to disseminate the Book according to the Revelator's plan while maintaining the inviobility of the copyright and the text. He also addressed the need for the formation of thousands of study groups before the copyright expires in 2030. His talk received an enthusiastic standing ovation.

The personal highlight of my trip was a brisk, after-sauna dip in the Gulf of Finland with a rainbow hanging motionless above the horizon, and later being welcomed into a group of northern Finnish readers. They asked me all manner of questions about "The States" and ended up warmly serenading me with Finnish folk-tunes. Greetings to my new friends from near the Arctic Circle.

The folks I met seemed to be absolute realists—very capable, pragmatic, and above all—honest. Maybe it's all those saunas, or getting through the long winters or fighting centuries for freedom. They are tolerant yet keen observers of human nature. A Norwegian who had spent time in the U.S. commented on many Americans "smiling on the outside, but not on the inside." "We don't smile if there's nothing to smile about!" he declared with a grin. Or a Finnish reply, "I would like to say ‘yes’, but I must be honest, and say ‘no’." You've got to love these people—totally candid, impeccably courteous, staunchly loyal and completely refreshing. They politely state the truth as they see it and encourage their guests to do the same. The truth, not 'political correctness,' is the custom. It may be naive or even provincial, for U.S. readers to assume that we are the vanguard of the Revelation simply because we live in the States. One Finn likened the self absorption of U.S. reader factions to American sports teams competing against each other in the States, calling such an event "The World Cup'! Another Finn expressed wonderment that USUA groups are spending so much effort trying to placate detractors. The Finns overwhelmingly chose to support the Foundation in 1989, and seem puzzled by our continued confusion in the U.S.

Comments such as these lead me to believe that our international colleagues are not too charmed by self-indulgent American readers with personal agendas for the dissemination of The URANTIA Book. It was pointed out to me that loyal and capable leaders have emerged from the general international readership—and the world is waiting!

I am sure that all other attendees left Helsinki with an enlarged perspective, an enhanced sense of hope, a refined sense of direction and purpose. My renewed sense of committment springs primarily from knowing that our global IUA colleagues are of such high calibre and strong character. The ball is in their court, and The Revelation is in their good hands.

My only regret was that I was not able to continue on to Estonia for their wonderful conference. Kittos, to our clearsighted, warmhearted IUA friends in Finland and Estonia. You have set a new world standard for loyalty and service.

Quotes from Helsinki
Excerpts from Conference Addresses

—GEORGES MICHELSON-DUPONT

• "We are here to be loyalty tested."

• "There is much, very much, that readers and groups can do to disseminate the teachings, without the need to infringe on the copyright and trademarks."

• "Urantia Foundation will continue the programs that have been implemented to fulfill its trust and duties."

• " No human work, as good as it good as it can be, can replace the spiritual chemistry that takes place in the arena of the human mind when the spiritually starving soul tries to grasp the reality of spiritual values within The URANTIA Book."

• "Genuine, justifiable and durable unity can be built only on the acceptance of wise cooperation and recognition of the revelators' plan for the revelation. Unity must be principled."

• "All Urantia Foundation is asking of readers is to recognize the law and conduct their dissemination activites within that law."

• "Therefore and once again, Urantia Foundation is willing to cooperate with all individuals and service oriented groups all over the world who realize the importance of such a project, who understand the necessity for friendly cooperation and loyalty to the revelator's plan, and to establish a solid and stable foundation for the time to come when the teachings will be accepted on a broader scale."

—GARD JAMESON

• "I would like to suggest that we who believe this revelation are all trustees.There are essentially two functions provided for in the Declaration of Trust:
          1. Dissemination of the Fifth Epochal Revelation, and
          2. Providing for the integrity of the inviolate text.
  It is clear that these two functions were requested by the revelatory commission. Do we truly recognize, acknowledge and affirm these instructions?"

• "There are those who, in a spirit of impatience, would violate the integrity of the text by splitting it up."

• "The revelatory commission put a massive picture together in an exceedingly artistic and careful way. That picture should be respected by all of us as we go about disseminating the truths of the Book."

• "Maybe in this instance, with the Fifth Epochal Revelation, we might consider, that if we err, we might wish to err in the direction of patience."

• "Do we have the courage to move past our uncooperative behaviors and continue to bring resolution to our lack of unity?"

(The complete transcripts of the Trustees’ addresses may be found on the website of URANTIA Foundation at http://www.urantia.org/flash.htm.)

Reflections on Finland and Estonia

by Travis Binion

Seppo Kanerva has already posted an excellent summary of the essence of the Helsinki meeting’s official program. So I shall not try to repeat that aspect. The conference site located on the edge of a Gulf of Finland estuary was harmoniously landscaped. I spent a couple of hours photographing its natural beauty. The conference conduct was flawless. If there were any hitches, they were not apparent. All of the papers but one had been translated into Finnish or English and the text was projected onto a screen simultaneously while the author presented the work. The one exception was a paper by Timo Myllykangas who extemporaneously presented his paper alternately, paragraph by paragraph, in both English and Finnish–a remarkable performance. The conference team certainly deserve and received the thanks of all who attended.

It was such a pleasure to personally get to know many Urantia Book readers from the 15 countries represented at the conference. I am at a loss for words to convey the feelings of unity of belief, unity of dedication, unity of spirit and sister/brotherhood that pervaded the conference. It was a beautiful, emotional experience developing friendships with such culturally diverse individuals. It is really difficult to be contentious when sitting stark naked in a sauna with the temperature hovering around 200 F, no matter what the differences of the participants. While the Europeans are certainly aware of the difficulties in the US, they seem firm in their support of the Foundation. Overtures by the Fellowship have been received for the most part with polite disdain (is that an oxymoron? - probably not).

From the IUA standpoint, a long standing dream was realized. Cathy Jones and I, acting in our CC capacity, inaugurated the IUA Council of National Presidents. The CNP consists of the Presidents and Vice-Presidents of all National IUAs and serves as the IUA administrative/coordination body for international functions. The CNP is not an overseer organization. It has no authority over any national association, just as a national association has no authority over a local association. Representatives from Australia, Columbia, Finland, France, Peru and the US participated. A representative from Canada, probably the next national IUA, observed the proceeding. They adopted a set of rules to guide the conduct of their affairs, elected Seppo Kanerva (Finland) as their Chairman, and elected Kathleen Swadling (Australia) as their Recorder. It was most fitting that this international coordinating body was inaugurated in Finland, home of the very first IUA.

Twenty to 30 of the participants in the Helsinki conference crossed the Gulf of Finland, spent a day in Tallinn, and motored to a children’s camp for the second Estonian conference of Urantia Book readers. As one might expect, the site was somewhat more primitive than in Helsinki, but adequate for the conference purposes. Many got to recall their childhood experiences at summer camp. It was also an uplifting and moving experience. For me, the most poignant point was listening in one of the study groups to the story of Estonian struggle for independence from one who participated in that struggle. In 1940 Soviet Union occupied Estonia and the most gloomy years of sufferings and sorrow began. Many thousands of intelligent people were sent as animals to Siberia and very few came back. His description of a human chain linking hands in August 1991 from the Estonian-Russian border through Latvia to the southern Lithuanian border, a distance of several hundred kilometers, as a show of solidarity of the Baltic states followed a few days latter by a third of the 1 million strong Estonian population gathering outside of Tallinn and singing for independence. These peaceful, yet defiant acts, so softened the Russian General’s heart that he turned his tanks around and returned to his base. It was a time of great spiritual awaking for the Estonian people. My throat still chokes just thinking about it.

Today Estonia is the most quickly developing country in Europe: economic growth last year was 11% and the same rate is being sustained this year. But, the inflation rate is also high—12% per year, and although the average monthly income is increasing, is still quite low, about $250 US. Many readers and translation supporters could not come to the conference (cost $60 US) for economic reasons. They haven’t enough money even for travelling in Estonia. Nevertheless, their spirit and enthusiasm for The Urantia Book is high (200-300 readers). Even though the Estonia translation is not complete (perhaps 75% of the first draft), there appears to be enough readers who have completed reading the book in English to form a local IUA which will be done as soon as the details can be completed.

The Estonian conference was conducted in English and Estonian by using two English speaking readers. They did a remarkable job translating from one language to the other. Those who have not experienced such an environment can have little appreciation for the difficulty and the rewards of such an interaction. As the Urantia movement becomes more worldwide, that difficulty will increase. However, the rewards of doing the patient work to be able to understand your siblings from different backgrounds is well worth the effort. On the bus returning to the airport, I spoke, through an interpreter, with an elderly couple (maybe early 70s) who were enthusiastically struggling to understand a rather poor Estonian translation of the first half of the book. Recalling how difficult it is for me to understand the book in English, my native tongue, I could not help but admire their dedicated effort to find God. They didn’t speak during the conference, but were thrilled with just being there and listening to the translated dialogue between the participants. It is the opportunity to serve people like them that places such urgency on the effort to complete as many quality translations as quickly as possible.

I have a lot of cherished memories from the two conferences. Too many to convey in this context. I made many wonderful new friends, renewed other friendships, and had several memorable adventures along the way. Shared experience is one of the mechanisms for creating love. There was a lot of love in both settings. Sorry you couldn’t attend.

Walk With Christ

by Jeannette Schafer
Corvallis, Oregon

You can have a relationship with Christ Michael that can bring a feeling and knowingness within of a love beyond any love you’ve ever experienced.

To come to this point in time takes commitment, a desire to be with Christ Michael, a decision to have him become an active part of your life.

Talk to him frequently and seek his direction, let him know your desire to transcend where you currently are in your spiritual growth for higher levels of attainment. Once you proactively start working with him, he’ll become more active in your life. You’ll be able to notice results such as; feeling more love for others, compassion, tolerance, forgiveness, the list will go on. More importantly, you’ll notice an increased love, devotion and commitment for our beloved Savior from the knowing of his wondrous love.

In prayer, when truly aligned with divine law (His will), "what a true son desires and God wills IS." Prayers can be answered instantaneously. When this level of wholeness is attained—evil influence is not a threat. One becomes more impervious to sin— there is simply no temptation or desire to walk that path for such a devotion and loyalty to Christ has developed, one which makes that kind of betrayal impossible.

Just as it takes time to develop a truly close relationship with a fellow mortal, it will require devotion to develop a personal relationship with Christ and the gain will exceed your fondest hopes and dreams. Christ Michael is a personal savior, afford yourself the opportunity to know the wonder of him. There are no limitations to exploring his infinity, he’ll take you as far as you are willing to receive him. Know for yourself the comfort of knowing how truly close he is to you (his omnipresence) and the resulting peace ("my peace I bring to you") and wholeness will be yours.

There is no separation between you and Christ - it is only an illusion of temporal existence. Calibrate yourself to him. Feelings of uneasiness with self, or low levels of love within should be a barometer reading to go to Christ Michael for course correction. He loves to work with us—he will respond.

It is only then, when you are walking with him, that you’ll understand this mighty power in your life.

Thinking of Eternity

by David Glass
Portland, Oregon

Think of the Eternity of God.
Before the galaxies were formed.
Before life and energy came forth from
The Primal Father: I AM, WAS, and WILL BE
Already "IS," and was doing just fine—
WAS having a truly great Non-Time.
The Pre-Father’s glory was magnificent, brilliant,
All-encompassing, Summative and Circumferiential,
And yet not-yet Cycled in the Circles of sub-Eternity.

Revolving within it’s own pre-motion-Oneness,
All was One and One was ALL.

Nevertheless, the Deity-derived Gods,
The Universal Father, the Eterna

l Son, and
The Infinite Spirit, and central Paradise,
ARE-and-WILL BE, Already, (eternally) WERE.
Whatever could have possessed them to begin Creation?
And to Create us—maximally lowly as we are?

Havona IS Perfect, Central, and Eternal,
Yet Derived—Sourced. Finite evolution is
Derived, but progressing toward
Perfecti

on, Havona-like Centrality, and Eternity.
The Perfect, Perfecting, and Perfected are
Intertwined—progressing toward Oneness,
And we perfecting sons and daughters of God
Shall, therefore, successful, also, BE
In achieving Perfection, Thought-Adjuster-
Centeredness, and ever-living Eternity.

All is ultimately Eternal:
The Eternal and the Eternalizing and the Eternalized.
Only in Origin is Reality
Differentiated: (1) The Never-Beginning,
(2) The Time-Space Begun, and
(3) The Transcendentally Eventuated.
On into Supremacy, Ultimacy, and Absoluteness
Shall we advance, led by our
Nuclear, Infinity-Self-Fragment,
And eventuatively shall we be Trinitized into
The Infinity Reality of the Trinity-of-Trinities.

There will always BE more:
Something interesting to do; something
Intriguing to learn; s

omeone loving to Embrace;
Something transcendental to intuit; something
New to experience; someone else to serve;
Something more of God to worship; and some
New Personalities to Love.

Even in the reflectivity of Truth, Beauty and Goodness,
Shall we always discover MORE.

Defecting from Never-Never Land,
The fact-illusion of Death,
We shall participate in the Manifestation,
The Education, the Perfection, and the Finalization of MUCH,
Having emigrated to Always-Always Land,
The truth of immortality.

Indeed, our Thought-Adjuster, "Better-Half,"
In Oneness with our Evolutionary Soul,
Will lead us increasingly to Feel
That we have Always-Always BEEN
In ITs Eternity and in God’s Eternity.

In Eternity all is, and ALL IS "in" Eternity.

Why Have a USUA?

by Kathleen Swadling
Chicago, Illinois

For those of you who are U.S. citizens, consider yourselves for a moment to be on the governing board of one of the other, non U.S. National Associations. I’ll speak from experience because for several years I was the secretary of ANZURA (Australia–New Zealand) and twice represented ANZURA at the meetings for International Representatives of IUA at Nashville.

IUA is an international body made up of national bodies. For international business to be conducted, you must have 1 or 2 representatives of each National Association present. Before USUA was formed the U.S. had no voice on the international board. If ANZURA or the Finnish Association needed to consult with the USA on international matters such as the IUA Journal or an international conference, who were we to contact? Who would speak for the U.S.? Were we to contact 20 different local association presidents? At the LEAST USUA is necessary for any meaningful cohesiveness on the international scene.

Apart from international affairs, USUA’s job also is to coordinate local association activities within the USA. Without USUA, how would the local associations communicate with one another? Who would arrange the annual national conferences? Who would arrange for a newsletter to keep communications channels open? USUA is the glue that binds the local associations together.

Because there is another level of officers does not mean organizational top-heaviness. Organizations are created and designed for efficiency and effectiveness—to get things done. I see the framework of IUA as being very simple and very effective if the people in leadership positions know the basic rules for running organizations. It all becomes burdensome and confusing when people do not know the basic ground rules and when communication is not clear or timely. Don’t blame the structure for the confusion. Rather, we should help one another to understand how to make the structure work to achieve the goals of the organization.

On another track, I’d just like to say something about keeping associations alive. Leadership in any organization is crucial. If leaders are not encouraging their members to participate, or if they are not providing interesting, stimulating, or exciting activities for people to make the effort to travel to meet with one another, then the associations will fold due to lack of interest. If interaction amongst readers is our goal in order to facilitate and encourage the development of study groups, and if our members are widely spread, then the local leaders need to ensure that local activities have something worthwhile to offer to make it worth people’s while to come together—such as retreat weekends where a variety of activities can be arranged— socializing, having fun together, studying together, walks or swimming, and worshiping together. When people experience these kinds of activities, it’s surprising how they look forward to the next one, or vow to get a study group going in their home town.

Take note of the latest Northwestern Urantia Association newsletter—they’re organizing a camping weekend—they always seem to be actively organizing some kind of social event and I bet the local readers have a ball and look forward to the next one. It’s all about getting to know one another and bonding on friendship levels. The positive influence we can have on one another, the powerful force of personality contact, can have tremendous effects on the fostering of the in depth study of The UB and disseminating the teachings, because people become enthusiastic about the goals and want to be a part of it.

Missouri-Kansas URANTIA Association

by Cathy Jones
IUA Administrator

The licensing weekend in Kansas City began on Saturday, July 11th, being welcomed at the airport by Mike Wood and one of his sons, Chris, who was holding a URANTIA Book. Actually, Chris was an important link in the development of the new association. He had visited the Foundation while I was working there in May. I was in process of developing the Missouri association, but in talking with Chris, and delving further, I discovered that his mother and father had been founding members of their society in Kansas City, and now were unafilliated. Of course, this led to my getting his dad’s telephone number and calling him that night. The eldest of the 6 Wood boys, Seth, informed me his dad was out of town, but would give me his hotel telephone number. Mike was surprised but overjoyed at being asked to be a part of the IUA.

Jerry and Carrie Prentice, and Jerry’s sister Lynn, had already stepped up as leaders in Missouri. In talking with Mike, I recognized the power potential by combining the two states, Missouri and Kansas. That led to the next step of putting the organization together. A licensing date was set and a membership invitational letter, an application letter, along with a copy of the IUA Charter and Bylaws and Delcaration of Trust was sent out to people in the two states who had indicated some interest in the work of the Foundation. Responses came back. After conducting telephone interviews-explaning the organization and answering questions relative to the two documents, and discussing their experience in reading the URANTIA book, 22 people were set for the chartering.

Trustee Richard Keeler’s arrival was just minutes after mine. It was interesting to Mike and Richard that they knew so many of the same people in the URANTIA community since the 70’s but their paths had not crossed. As in all URANTIA meetings, the bonds of brotherhood were instantaneous.

After checking in at the Holiday Inn, the three Prentices, Rhonda Sorter and Ellen Richardson from Missouri, and Seth Wood, joined the four of us for the afternoon and into the late evening, just enjoying the "URANTIA experience." Being a nurse, Cindy, Mike’s wife, was pulling a night shift.

The scene for Sunday, the 12th, was set in a lovely 100-plus year-old refurbished farm house, the home of Mike and Cindy and sons. At 11:00 am brunch was laid out in the charming kitchen, the family gathering place. The replica of an old-fashioned wood stove (now gas), the master-crafted cabinets, and oak wood floors gave one the feeling of stepping back in history. Had no idea bagles and cheese and sweet rolls came in so many varieties.

People trickled in, some driving long distances. Hoite Caston, former trustee, drove in from Independence, Kansas, three hours away.

The licensing program started at 1:00 pm. After Mike’s welcome and a moment of quiet reflection, I extended greetings from the Coordinating Committee and congratulations and love from the IUAs world-wide. With the flag-symbol hanging in the background, I explained the reason for the IUA. As partners with the URANTIA Foundation, our mission is to disseminate the teachings of the URANTIA Book. Our simple organization is just a scaffolding for this dissemination. We are messengers. We are accepting the responsibility of living the teachings and helping to make the book available in all languages, to all corners of the world.

Hoite Caston spoke inspiringly about his introduction to the URANTIA Book and shared some of the experiences of his trusteeship.

Trustee President, Richard Keeler, then gave a glowing account of the many completed translations and awesome number now in progress. He expressed gratitude to the people who have stood by the Foundation through the previous tulmultuous years and gave assurance that the Foundation is on course as to fulfilling its obligations to the Declaration of Trust.

The legal documents were then signed by the Foundation President, IUA Administrator, President and Secretary of Missouri-Kansas URANTIA Association. This document gives the association permission to use the copywrited word and symbol on its stationary and newsletters, plus a tax-exempt affliation with the URANTIA Foundation.

As each member present signed the charter, they introduced themselves and briefly related how the book came to them and the impact on their lives. Five Fellowship members were guests, also being invited to speak, if they desired, which they did. I extended the invitation of IUA membership, if after reading the two documents, I would be happy to meet with them privately and discuss their intent. Husband and wife, Alan and Lynn Borchert, asked for membership and signed the charter, bringing the total to 24 new members.

A beautiful buffet lunch was served, and the getting-to-know-you and "let’s-get-together" sessions continued.

The day was spiritually fulfilling. One of the most impressive moments for me was when Mike and Cindy Wood and their two oldest sons signed the charter. In relating their experience with the book Seth and Chris said the book was never forced on them. Their mom and dad manifested the values taught in the URANTIA Book. There was always a book around and a study group every week. When the boys were old enough they just drifted into the group. As we were leaving, Matthew, the 7-year old was curled up on the couch reading about what Jesus was doing when he was 7. My salute to this family and all those who are giving the world the next generation of leaders.

President—Mike Wood (913) 381-8605, Overkabd Park, Kansas
Vice-President—Jerry Prentice (573) 294-7350, Chamois, Missouri
Secretary/Treasurer—Cindy Wood (913) 381-8605, Overkabd Park, Kansas

Het URANTIA Boek

The Dutch Translation

URANTIA Foundation is pleased to announce the publication of Het URANTIA Boek, the Dutch translation of The URANTIA Book. The translation was begun in the early 1970s by Henry Begemann, a Dutch URANTIA Book reader in The Netherlands, who discovered The URANTIA Book in a bookstore in Amsterdam. After his second reading of the book, Henry decided to translate it so that it could be shared with his fellow countrymen.

Henry made several trips to the Foundation in Chicago and, after some time, he and his wife, Bauk, started a study group. In time they fostered several study groups and made contacts with readers throughout Europe. Members of the study groups assisted with the translation by reviewing Henry’s work and suggesting changes.

During the twenty-three years that The URANTIA Book was being translated into Dutch, seven readers served on the translation team, including Henry’s daughter, Nienke Begemann-Brugman, who joined the team in 1989.

When Henry passed away in January 1990, about three quarters of the book had been translated. The remaining quarter comprised the more difficult parts such as Papers on Universal Unity, Deity and Reality, and God the Supreme. At that time, Nienke became the chief translator, and with the help of the other dedicated and committed team members, managed to finish the translation.

Nienke told the story of the Dutch translation at a gathering of readers in November at the Dewes Mansion in Chicago, where Het URANTIA Boek was presented for the first time. In a moving speech that revealed the difficulties, the joys, the loyalty and commitment, and the satisfaction experienced by all involved in the translation effort, Nienke said, "The URANTIA Book is a really wonderful teaching tool, and translations are channels of growth both for readers of those translations and for the teams that produce them. We all know that everything in time and space is relative and the Dutch team is certainly very much aware of the relativity of their interpretation. Nevertheless, the work is finished, at least for the time being, and the Foundation Trustees and members of the Dutch translation team are happy to present Het URANTIA Boek to the world."

—From the Spring 1998 Volume 17, Issue 1 of Urantian News, published by URANTIA Foundation.

Treasurer's Report

by Anne James

Hello friends,

Let me take a few minutes and let you know what NUA has been doing over this long summer.

• In July we met under the beautiful canopy of sun-laced evergreen firs and hosted our annual picnic and campout.

• We sent a $50 donation to the Foundation to help with translations, and sent $50 to the USUA.

• We received dues from several members and some donations from reader friends.

• The summer newsletter was produced, thanks to Mario and all our writers and poets. Janet Nilsen is our new newsletter editor.

• And finally, in preparation for our Fall Conference we have sent out postcards and rented space at the Paulist Center.

Our current balance is $208.00.

We hope to see many new and familiar readers for an enlightening group study of the Father's will at the Conference. Through our study groups and gatherings we benefit tremendously, thus encouraging one another in friendship to be better human beings. Rodan of Alexandria spoke about the spiritual power of friendships:

"... One of the crowning glories of human friendship is this power and possibility of the mutual stimulation of the imagination. Great spiritual power is inherent in the consciousness of wholehearted devotion to a common cause, mutual loyalty to a cosmic Deity." P. 1776.

Finally, do any of the libraries in your community need Urantia Books placed in them? I've got a letter and the form from the Foundation ready to be sent to them. Let me know. My E-mail is Anjames@aol.com. God Bless.

Secretary's Report

by Janet Nilsen

Our summer business meeting and picnic was held on July 18 at Oregon's Cascadia State Park. Blessed with great weather, over thirty readers gathered for a potluck lunch amid the towering firs along the lovely South Santiam.

The meeting agenda was intentionally brief, but David Glass proposed that our group sponsor an event at Portland's Paulist Centre in October with various speakers, which was approved .(See announcement) The rest of the afternoon was spent in conversation and good fellowship. Camping was available, but most folks were unableto stay over. Our apologies to any guests who attended Sunday and missed us! We hope to see you all in October.