Dinner in support of
SUFFERING CHRISTIANS WORLDWIDE
Saturday 2nd April 2016
Guest Speaker Diane Foley
Mother of James Foley executed by ISIS
NOTE: as of Tuesday 29 March tickets to Saturday night fundraiser are limited.
If you want to attend this event text DINNER to 021729963 and you will receive a follow up text.
Please be patient if you don’t receive an immediate reply, there is a lot of interest in this Dinner
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If you are reading this consider it your invitation to attend a dinner in support of suffering Christians worldwide.
We only have to watch the news any day of the week now-a-days to know that the values we hold true are under attack. Make a decision to come to this dinner to support Diane to show her that Kiwis care.
This dinner is open to anyone who wants to come but I must tell you that if you want to come don’t delay because seats are limited and once our cap is reached the event will be closed.
Already we have had enthusiastic interest from people of all Christian denominations. Among others I was contacted by Reverend Mark Whitfield, Bishop of the Lutheran Church of New Zealand. Bishop Whitfield would have attended himself but because of a previous engagement has nominated Pastor Joe Kummerow to represent him at the dinner giving the Lutheran denomination an official representation at the dinner. I am confident other christian churches will follow suit given the interest we have experienced to date; the common denominator being “suffering Christians”.
The following story from Independent Catholic News published April 2015 says a lot about Diane, I invite you to read it then buy your tickets for the dinner to hear from this most courageous woman in person:
‘If we want peace in the world, we must find ways to forgive’ DIANE FOLEY:
The mother of the first Western hostage killed by Islamic State, journalist James Foley, reflects on hope, grief, and a faith that conquers hatred and death.
In August 2014, freelance journalist James Foley became the first Western hostage to be publicly beheaded by ‘Jihadi John’. The atrocity ended nearly two years of captivity at the hands of Islamic State in Syria.
In an in-depth interview on Friday 3rd April 2015 to mark the first Good Friday since Jim’s killing, his mother Diane explains how she has been able to forgive her son’s unrepentant killer.
“I find him a tragic figure”, she says. “He is filled with an unbelievable amount of hate. If we ever want peace in this world, we must find ways to forgive one another. If we continue hating one another, it’s one atrocity after another. So at some point, we must forgive if we want any peace”.
The interview was recorded for Things Unseen, a free online radio programme. In conversation with Mark Dowd, Diane reflects on how, in the absence of any direct communication, it was prayer that kept her connection with her son alive after he was kidnapped in 2012.
“When I prayed, that’s when I felt closest to Jim”, she says, “and the freed hostages said that Jim said the same thing: that when he prayed, he also felt very close to his family. So that was our connection throughout those years.” Reports that Jim converted to Islam in captivity, she says, never worried her. She believes he merely used Muslim prayer times to commune with God in his own way.
“All I do know for sure is that he was very close to God. Because Jim had a tremendous amount of courage and compassion to all the other hostages, and that could only have happened if he had been close to God. Only God knows where his heart was at the end”.
“The anguish I experienced during the years of Jim’s captivity”, Diane says, “helped me understand Mary’s anguish under the cross in a new and much deeper way”.
“Knowing that God was suffering with me”, she explains, “that when I cried, God was crying with me, has been a huge strength to me. And my challenge is to keep walking in faith like Mary did, even though I don’t have all the answers”.
The dinner will be held at AMI Netball Centre, 44 Northcote Road, Takapuna, Auckland on Saturday 2nd April 2016 at 7.30pm. Tickets are $65 each for a Buffet style dinner provided by Fernz Catering. There will be a cash bar operating for patrons to buy whatever drinks they like from the onsite bar.
If you are coming fill out and send back the registration form below without delay. Once maximum numbers are reached sales will close.
John Porteous
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AMI Netball Centre
44 Northcote Road
Takapuna
Auckland 0627
7.30pm Saturday 2nd April 2016
Info John Porteous: 021-729-963
REGISTRATION FOR TICKETS
NOTE: Tickets are not guaranteed unless receipted by our office
Registrations in the mail once capacity reached cannot be ticketed
If you want to come fill out and send off today – tomorrow may be too late
NAME:____________________________________________________
ADDRESS:_________________________________________________
PHONE:______________________ EMAIL: _______________________
Tickets are $65/head plus Cash Bar
NUMBER OF TICKETS:___________ TOTAL $ ENCLOSED:______________
MAKE CHEQUES OUT TO: Eucharistic Convention
MAIL TO: Box 4523, Shortland St, Auckland 1140
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If you prefer to do online transfer send email to [email protected] giving name and address details plus number of tickets needed. You will be sent back a code and our account details to use for the transfer. Once funds seen in our account your tickets are secure and will be sent to you. This option is the best one to use to ensure your registration is locked in before cap cut off.
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