What is Friendship Force?
Friendship Force is a non-profit international organization that promotes cultural understanding through personal contact. The Friendship Force of Knoxville utilizes travel as a means to meet people from different cultures and places rather than emphasizing the place itself. By being a guest in other people's homes and by inviting them to be a guest in our homes, we believe we can break barriers that divide us.
Change the way you see the world!
- Make friends around the world
- Stay in homes of people around the world
- Host in your home people from around the world
- Foster International good will
- Enhance cross-cultural understanding
For More Information About Friendship Force International, please visit their website at https://www.thefriendshipforce.org/
Note From the President
November is the month of gratitude and thanksgiving. It is by far my favorite month of the year and an appropriate month to express my gratitude to Friendship Force Knoxville as I complete my year as president. It was an honor to serve as president and work with the board as we attempted to navigate 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. I continue to be impressed with their dedication and hard work to keep this club vibrant. Their work is evident in the newsletter reports of board members. I ask all of you to attend the general meeting on November 24th as we elect the officers for next year and review some bylaw changes.
The pandemic only served to strengthen my belief in the purpose of Friendship Force and what it adds to understanding and compassion in the world. One of the gifts the pandemic gave me was a deeper appreciation for the gifts of friendship and being with those we love. I deeply miss sharing music, worshiping together, and travel. 2021 offers great hope for hosting and travel with Friendship Force. Each of these events will be sweeter and more precious than they were before. I ask each member to identify the gifts that came from this year of the pandemic. Whatever the gifts, may they bring us closer together and remind us of the fragility, the wonder, and the resiliency of life.
I leave you with the words written by Dolly Parton this year “When Life is Good Again”
We’ll all be forever changed
I’ll sail my boat and fly my kite
Walk in the park, go out at night
And hold my loved ones extra tight
When everything is on the mend
I’ll even drink with my old friends
Sing and play mandolin
We’ll make it through this long dark night
Darkness fades when faced with the light
And everything’s gonna be alright
When life is good again. Dolly Parton
Blessings, Kaye Bultemeier,