Search The Fig Tree site for stories of people and communities making a difference in the Inland Northwest:

December 2005

• Suffering fosters bonds between Rosalia and Guatemala
• Attorney promotes civil discourse for Christians
• People of faith need each other
• Nonprofits help people facing daily disasters
• AHANA helps minorities attain dream
• Used cars support community agencies
• Local people make carts for landmine victims
• Musicians plan Gospel Extravaganza
• Manager finds fair trade more than just a job
• Leader ignites passion for civil rights
• Hospice chaplains guide spiritual journey
• Patience keeps therapist working with troubled teens
• Christmas photo op forms live nativity
• Student finds niche in tsunami recovery
• Woman of the cloth stitches fabric art
• THANKSGIVING 2005 "Harvest of Hope," address by Bishop Martin Wells of the Eastern Washington Idaho Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

November 2005

• Reality is half a mile away
• Disasters build ties, stream of donations, action
• Japanese churches act to draw Methodist relief
• Thirty-four churches temporarily house families
• Interfaith Hospitality Network ties churches after split
• 'Developmental' approach includes more in diversity education
• Truth Commission heard victims and perpetrators
• District leader plants seeds for healthy churches
• Priest believes people are healthy if they are more than one ideology
• Muslims in Spokane share meal, value fasting
• Pullman and Moscow faith groups make friends around dinner tables

October 2005

• Community assists after headlines fade
• Salvation Army reports record disaster giving
• Richland pastor offers preparedness training
• Catholic Charities resettles evacuees
• Church World Service fills gaps in assistance
• Pastor connects with church in Baton Rouge
• Pastors connect volunteer organizations
• Churches promote Convoy of Hope
• Futures and fortunesof nations intertwine
• Humor, music, faith mix in call to end war
• Religion and politics are dinner discussion topics
• More volunteers make more people homeowners
• Stewardship is more than a method: It's life!
• Project asks churches to promote health care access

September 2005

• Yakima teacher plants poems - helps students write poetry collections
• Taizé chants enrich people around the world and in region
• Taizé influence outlives its founder
• South African experience challenges Americans
• Media repressed in South Africa and USA
• Psalm 23 releases women from abuse
• Action is Franciscan focus

June 2005

• Anuak genocide toll rises in Ethiopia
• Gardens start community
• God surprises Bishop William Skylstad
• Monument is reminder of need to remember Holocaust
• Changing faces of Quincy change ministry
• Missed response teaches pastor in Haiti
• Donna Hansen shares insights from work with Catholic Charities
• What did Donna Hanson say to Pope John Paul II?
• Human rights educator emposers people for action

May 2005

• Fasting sharpens sense
• Grandmother reconnects to her Jewish heritage and faith
• South African Peter Storey challenges Americans
• Health for All offers options
• Faiths agree on caring for earth
• Young adult steps out of mainstream
• Campus minister introduces Taizé
• Holy Names sisters educate on trafficking women

April 2005

• Defining domestic violence opens eyes of faith leaders
• Mother questions use of PBDEs
• Six uban churches study and act together, strengthening race relations
• Half-time ministry is really full-time for pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church
• Construction skills complement ministry of the Yakama Mission
• Endicott and St. John churches form one youth group
• Environmental groups unite and reach out to churches
• Jesuit reflects on illogical logic of war and how listening overcomes assumptions
• The Rev. Tom Soeldner learned to ask questions and listen to people in ministries in South Africa, Namibia and Spokane.

March 2005

• Community keeps elders
• Association focuses on prophetic role
• Professor instills commitment to truth
• Youth build homes in Mexico
• Mission inspires simple living
• Senator reviews role of women in politics
• Groups focus on Darfur
• Faiths called to be conscience of nation
• Benton City youth hold 30-hour famine

February 2005

• Hospital heals both Arabs and Jews
• Young businessman faces disparities
• Relief networks link people globally
• Volunteer chaplains serve rural hospital
• Traditions teach caring and justice
• Preschool teacher seeds buds of awe

January 2005

• Children spread love
• Rural church learns about boundaries
• Green building fosters sustainability
• Coeur d'Alene vet cares about Iraqi Christians
• Miracle gift inspires community
• Who's afraid of a living wage?