In-touch.online
Theosophical Order of Service International e-Newsletter
EN 53 - January 2020
In this issue:
  • Unity of Life
  • TOS International Annual Report
  • International Youth Conference - 2019
  • TOS Around the World: Colombia, Hungary and New Zealand
  • TED Talk: 7 Beliefs that can silence women - Deepa Narayan
  • Do We Have Your Group’s Updated Contact Info?
Dear TS and TOS members and friends,

Thanks to everyone for their annual reports. We ended up hearing from 75% of our TOS countries which is pretty good according to people who study such things. We are aiming for 100% next year though. So expect to hear more from us, especially if you did not respond to the request for reports. Along that line p lease tell us how we can better serve you by voicing your questions and concerns. We are here to help. Write to: nancy.tosinternational@gmail.com

This past year ended in a flurry of activity, and the new year began the same way. International Secretary, Nancy Secrest, attended the Indo-Pacific Conference in November where she gave a presentation of TOS activity around the world entitled "TOS: Turning Darkness into Light". (Much of it gleaned from your reports. Thank you for that.)
After the presentation, TS/TOS President, Tim Boyd, asked "Where did you get all of those pictures?" And the reply was, of course, "from our members." Nancy also received the usual comment. "I had no idea the TOS is doing so much." This is the reason for giving such presentations. How will others know about the work of the TOS if we don't tell them? And, with a "picture being worth 1,000 words," as is commonly said. A PowerPoint presentation is a good way to introduce others to our work, and even let each other know what we are doing in our separate groups and countries. I invite you to try it in your own country when you visit individual groups or perhaps plan an event for the public.

In December and early January, the TOS was well represented at the TS's annual Convention, held this year in Varanasi, India. During the TOS Session, two speakers spoke about aspects of spreading theosophical thought as a part of service work, and Nancy gave a partial presentation of her annual report to the President.

Currently, while at the annual Convention in New Zealand, Nancy will give a presentation of TOS work around the world entitled, "Annie Besant in the 21st Century". If Annie Besant were fast forwarded to today's world what would she think of how our work has progressed? How would she feel about the issues we face today? Have they changed? Has our approach changed? We would really be interested to know what you think about this.

One approach that we are working on adding is the idea of being an NGO connected with the United Nations. This idea has been presented in the past, and for various reasons was not acted upon. Several interested members have come forward recently to work on this possibility. We would be interested in what you think about this and why. Do you have any expertise to add to this endeavour? Contact Nancy at nancy.tosinternational@ gmail.com.

Yours in service ,

T he TOS in-touch.online tea m:
  • David Sztain, Editor
  • Nancy Secrest, International Secretary/Editing
  • Rozi Ulics, Webmaster/Editing
  • Vicki Jerome, Proofreader
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. - Mark Twain
Unity of Life
By John Vorstermans
New Zealand's National President of the
Theosophical Society, John Vorstermans, reflects on the unifying aims of the Society in the light of recent extremist terrorism and includes a message from International President, Tim Boyd.

This article is reprinted, with permission, from Theosophia, the magazine of the New Zealand Theosophical Society.
John Vorstermans, New Zealand's National President of the Theosophical Society
TOS International Logo
TOS International Annual Report
By Nancy Secrest
The Theosophical Order of Service (TOS) is present in 36 of the 59 countries where the TS is active. The TOS is headed by its ex-officio President, Tim Boyd, the President of the ...
TOS Youth
International Youth Conference - 2019
The 3-day International Youth Conference, from 27th Dec to 29th Dec, was successfully completed, with a total of 35 participants from different parts of India and the world. The main topics covered in the session related to Human Re-generation and Meditation, which ...
Group Photo from the Conference
TOS Around the World
Members of TOS Colombia's Chorus
TOS Colombia
Annual Report
The Cinema Forums were held on the second and fourth Saturday of each month, (from February 23rd to the present), from 10:00 AM until 12:30 PM.
In total, 15 films were presented, of which the following stand out: "Paul, Apostle of Christ", "Person", "Momo" and ...
TOS Hungary
Annual Report
Our activities focused on maintaining and further extending the previously established good relationship with the local Gipsy Community Council (RÖK) in Tápiobicske village and strengthened our ties with the CÉL Association of Pilis town. In autumn, the RÖK leaders established a new ...
TOS Hungary Members at a Garden Party
TOS New Zealand’s child sponsorship programme organised by Vicki Jerome, sponsors 45 children in total (partially supported by TOS New Zealand)
TOS New Zealand
Annual Report
The TOS in New Zealand is doing very well and the majority of TS branches around New Zealand do some form of TOS activity; either sponsoring a child and/or supporting various projects and raising funds either locally or nationally.

We continue to have strong support from the Section in NZ and high visibility in the National Section’s magazine TheoSophia.
TED Talk: 7 Beliefs that can silence women
By Deepa Narayan
Women’s Empowerment is one of the TOS’ foremost causes, hence we are highly honoured to feature Deepa's Ted Talk on our Newsletter.

Of interest to TS/TOS members would be that Deepa is the daughter of former TS Vice President Surendra Narayan, and her mother was a former TOS India Director.

Deepa Narayan is an international advisor on poverty, gender and development with more than 25 years of experience working at the World Bank, the UN and NGOs.
Deepa Narayan's book, available for purchase online
  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.
In the end, the number of prayers we say may contribute to human happiness, but the number of prayers we answer may be of even greater importance. - Dieter F. Uchtdorf