By LORETTA FULTON Four McMurry University students wrapped up Better Together Week Friday, April 13, by sharing their beliefs through a program called Interfaith Story Telling. Events during the week included an international game night, diaper drive to benefit refugees resettled in Abilene through the International Rescue Committee, and an interfaith prayer and meditation session. Sharing their beliefs were
Read morePulitzer Prize-winning poet Tyehimba Jess was guest speaker for the Lawrence Clayton Poets and Writers Speaker Series April 6 at Hardin-Simmons University. Photos courtesy of Larry Fink By LORETTA FULTON A Pulitzer Prize winning poet didn’t experience the discrimination against African-Americans that his parents did and can only imagine what freed slaves experienced at the end of the Civil War.
Read moreBy LORETTA FULTON The title of an exhibit that runs through May 19 at the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature is “Our Voice: Celebrating the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards.” But on the evening of Feb. 12, the NCCIL became “Our Voice: Celebrating the Life of the Rev. Dr. Leo Scott.” Choirs from local African-American congregations
Read moreBy Loretta Fulton Jewish immigrants were more than welcomed in West Texas during the late 19th and early 20th centuries–even if their religion was a mystery to most. A story in the Ballinger Ledger in 1911 explained, sort of, why a store in town would be closing on a Saturday. The real reason was that the owner was Jewish and
Read moreBy Loretta Fulton Irena Bytyqi didn’t believe in the resurrection until she experienced it. Her husband, Burim Bytyqi, found it hard to deny God, although he said he was an atheist. They took different paths, but both ended up in the same place, as Christian missionaries, thanks to meeting during a training session for Youth With a
Read moreFor more information on Compassion International and Youth Arise Africa, go to the following websites: http://www.compassioninternational.org http://www.youthariseafrica.org By Loretta Fulton The message projected on the screen was bleak. “Poverty is not a lack of material wealth; it’s lack of hope.” The speaker behind the PowerPoint presentation was David Kirika, 27, a native of Kenya who knows all too well what
Read moreBy Loretta Fulton “Let me tell you a story.” It’s the way Eboo Patel beings a speech. And, it’s the perfect beginning for a talk by Patel, a gifted storyteller. He proved that the evening of Oct. 11 when he presented a talk at McMurry University that was attended by members of the Abilene Interfaith Council and other Abilene residents.
Read moreBy Loretta Fulton At precisely 8:40 p.m., Anas and Hannah Daghmoumi sat down at a small serving table to break the Ramadan fast with a guest in their home. Two children, ages 3 and a half and 5, had their own “break-fast” at the kitchen table. The adults enjoyed dates shipped from California, clustered nuts, hot tea, and Hannah’s homemade
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Monsignor Frederick G. Nawarskas, right, prepares for a special Mass on May 19 at Holy Family Catholic Church in honor of the 50th anniversary of “Father Fred’s” ordination to the priesthood. The Most Rev. Michael Sis, bishop of the Diocese of San Angelo, presided over the Mass, which was attended by about 500 people. “Father Fred” has been at Holy
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Spirit Of Abilene 