TOS in-touch.online
In this  issue:
  • Kinship & Community
  • The Destruction of Humanity’s Cultural Heritage
  • Homelessness in the USA
  • Food Distribution in Kenya
  • TOS Latest News
  • TOS Around the World: USA, Tanzania & India
  • SAVE THE DATE!  4th International TOS Conference
  • Do We Have Your Group’s Updated Contact Info?
in-touch.online
Theosophical Order of Service International e-Newsletter
EN 44 - June 2017
Dear TS and TOS members and friends,

This month marks an important change for the Theosophical Order of Service. Our International Secretary (pending the approval of her work visa) will be moving to Adyar as a volunteer. Per our "Principles of Organisation", the TOS is headquartered in India but may have administrative offices wherever necessary. Therefore, the actual administration of the TOS has been conducted from the country in which the International Secretary resides. This is necessary because, as the TOS has no other staff, it's just easier for the IS to conduct business from his/her home country. This rule has not changed, but with the International Secretary's change in residence the physical location of the TOS's administration will change as well. TOS administration will now be conducted from Adyar, its actual headquarters. Our new address is:
Ms Nancy Secrest
Theosophical Society, for the TOS
Mangala Vilas
Adyar, Chennai 600 020
India

This June 2017 edition of TOS intouch.online also heralds the arrival of our new editor, David Sztain. We welcome David onto our newsletter team and thank him, oh so much, for joining us.

We want to remind you of the upcoming TOS International Conference, which will be held directly after the TS World Congress in August 2018. We are so pleased that having the two events at the same time and place will give participants one airfare to pay and one place to stay. See more information below and save the date!

Are you a young TOS worker? Is there a young TOS worker in your midst or a student you sponsor or work with whom you'd like to recognise? In up-coming editions of our e-newsletter we plan to launch a new feature: a TOS youth profile. In a few past editions we have printed items written by young TOS workers that told something of what they were doing or what life has brought them thus far. We want to make that a regular addition each quarter. Please send us such items written by or about a younger person in your group or with whom your group works. Remember to include their picture.

As always, we want to know what you and your groups are doing. Please send information about your activities with good quality photos, to:
nancy.tosinternational@gmail.com. 

Yours in service,

The TOS in-touch.online team:
  • David Sztain, Editor
  • Nancy Secrest, International Secretary/Editing
  • Rozi Ulics, Webmaster/Editing
  • Vicki Jerome, Proofreader
 “Spirituality is not disconnected from physical or psychological experiences. The spiritual life is not separate from the worldly life. When there is weakness in one facet, it affects the other.”

Vic Hao Chin (The Process of Self-Transformation, p. 21)
  Diana Dunningham-Chapotin  
Kinship & Community
By Diana Dunningham-Chapotin  
When I was young, I thought of Theosophists as being a pretty serious, studious bunch of people, who didn’t have the time to get very far away from their books and Lodge meetings.

But as I gradually came to know hundreds of members throughout the world, I realised many are deeply involved with hands-on service as a part of their spiritual practice. 
Palmyra - Renewed Dangers
By Rene Wadlow
Leadership must come from non-governmental organisations and the cultural sector to prevent the wanton destruction of humanity’s cultural heritage. Today, there is world-wide demand for the protection of the city of Palmyra in Syria, called the ‘Venice of the Sands’. ...  Read more here
 
Palmyra, Syria
Homelessness in the USA
By Nancy Secrest
When you think of the homeless, whom do you see?  Depending on your culture, you might visualise a street beggar, war zone refugees, scavengers in shanty towns, victims of earthquake, people in cardboard or mud huts – the ... Read more here
Food Distribution in Kenya
By Usha Shah
We arrived at the venue and were given a tumultuous welcome by women singing and dancing. Brought tears to my eyes. Then the children were lined up and received biscuits and squash, the girls received teddies knitted by TOS ladies from France and the boys received friendship bracelets. To put into words the awesome pleasure shown by these children is impossible! 
 
Kenyan food distribution
TOS Latest News
  Historic TOS Uganda Launch. From left to right: Ushaben (Kenya TOS), Aruna (Uganda TOS), Deepa (Tanzania TOS), Dubal Bhai (AGS Tanzania), Osmond (in lieu of Ebrony Peteli – Zambia TOS), Vicente Hao Chin (Philippines TOS)
  
TOS Uganda launched in April 2017 at the 48th East and Central African Convention
By Deepa Kapur
Ms Deepa invited all the East and Central African countries delegates onto the stage... deliberately keeping one chair empty.

And then... she said: “we can no longer have an empty chair in the middle of the stage.” ... Read more here

TOS Around the World
USA passing the baton

The baton has been passed in the TOS-USA from Nancy Secrest, who has been its president for the last six years, to Ananya Sri Ram Rajan. 

Ananya has been a member of the Theosophical Society for over ...  Read more here
 
Ananya Sri Ram Rajan
  Tanzania TOS Youth Group hosts a Christmas party for Chanika Orphanage kids   
Tanzania TOS Report
By Deepa Kapur
“Find purpose; the means will follow.”

This may well be the underlying secret to the resounding success of TOS Tanzania! Armed with a vision to serve humanity, our vivacious, energetic, spirited and compassionate TOS Youth Group, led by the brilliant and enterprising Youth Group President Chandni Mehta, along with our large hearted TOS/TS members, including our AGS Bro. Dubal, Sis. Lila Chohan and the Ladies Group ...  Read more here
Bridge school for girls in Hyderabad
From a report submitted by Mr K. Sivaprasad
M. V. Foundation is enabling hundreds of girls to become educated, self-reliant graduates and post-graduates, rather than spending their lives as uneducated labourers.

As they say on their website, they “Give wings to their dreams.”

Bridge school for girls in Hyderabad
  TOS International Conference -  SAVE THE DATE!

The  Fourth TOS International Conference will take place 9-11 August, 2018 in Singapore. The TOS Conference immediately follows the Theosophical Society World Congress which runs from 4-9 August. The specific venue has yet to be determined. Both events will be located at the same venue. This is a working conference for those who are active in TOS work. We will review our accomplishments since our last conference in 2013 and make plans for the next five years. All active TOS workers are welcome, whether or not they are members of the TOS. As an unexpected extra, 9 August is a National Holiday in Singapore, complete with parades and fireworks.
Sentosa Island, Singapore
Singapore skyline at night
  Do We Have Your Group’s Updated Contact Info?

Please check your country's TOS information on our website here. You'll find it in the yellow, right-hand column on the home page. Click on your country's name and if the info is not correct, let us know. We want to make sure that your TOS group's  information is up-to-date for our new website which is being designed.
 
“May I be a bridge for everyone who wants to cross the water. May I be a lamp for everyone who is afraid of the dark and a comfy bed for everyone who needs a nap. May I be a fire for everyone who feels cold and a cool drink for those who are hot and thirsty. May I be a magic tree that never stops growing everyone’s favorite fruit. Like a blind beggar who has stumbled upon a priceless jewel, I have found this wonderful way of thinking. It is like a bottomless treasure chest.”

Shantideva, How to Wake up a Hero, pp. 15 & 17, Adapted by Dominique Townsend, Illustrated by Tenzin Norbu