Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane

So how DO you build a relationship when you don’t speak the same language, have the same culture, can’t see each other, the mail and phone are unreliable and there’s no email?  Slowly and Patiently.  At least we shared religious roots and the principle of free inquiry.

At first sending money seemed like the important thing to do.  It still plays a role, but we strive to find out what the needs are in the village and lend our support to specific projects.  They treasure their historic church building – our dollars have helped restore it inside and out over several years.  The farm equipment from the communist cooperative was sold off by the government – our first project was to raise money so they could buy a tractor and implements.  It showed them that we were serious about the partnership.  The present guesthouse project and our scholarship program are other examples.  The community assessment process we sponsored in 2005 provided organizational tools, which can be used repeatedly to prioritize, build consensus and solve problems.