Please Help Our Local Convent!
Donation protected
See the King 5 News story featured 8/31/16 here.
What They Need: Extensive work to their convent building to remediate mold throughout their chapel, kitchen and living quarters, as well as insulate the space under their home. The dollar amount includes remediating mold in the attic and possibly having to replace the roof in the process.
Who They Are:
Mother Maria Chisholm, who goes by the name of Mother Mary to those in the community that know her, is the bookkeeper at the Convent of the Meeting of the Lord and will be the person directly receiving any donations on behalf of the convent (under the guidance of the Abbess.)
The Convent of the Meeting of the Lord is a small Orthodox Christian convent that has been a part of the Stanwood and surrounding communities for the past 17 years. The sisters are known throughout the area for their genuine, committed lifestyle and hard work, and can always be recognized by their traditional nun's habits. Attending their annual Christmas open house, which is held at their candle shop on the convent grounds, has become a beloved tradition for many people.
Why Should You Help?:
Regardless of your religious beliefs, the annual activities at the convent's open house during the Christmas season provides families an opportunity to see how beeswax candles are made and to shop in a peaceful atmosphere like our grandparents used to do. It is a way to show support for a unique member of the StanCam community and give back to the sisters who've been supporting and praying for our community for many years.
The Convent of the Meeting of the Lord:
Almost two decades ago, a small group of nuns were sent from their home convent in Boston to start a life of service to God and their community in rural Washington State. With Boston being the only home they had known, life out in rural Stanwood was quite an adjustment for the sisters! Because of the kindness of the local community residents, it didn't take long for the sisters to develop a love for this area and now consider it their home.
Every year, the sisters look forward to opening their gift shop doors to the community during the holidays to spend time teaching the art of candle-making and meeting with old friends, while making new ones. Visiting the Quiet Light Candles shop on the convent grounds during the holidays has become a local tradition for many area families. Every year, children get the opportunity to make their own beeswax candles, while parents look for gifts and visit with the sisters working in the shop. It has always been a very popular event for the community and provides families with an alternative to crowded chain stores during the holiday shopping season.
For the past 17 years, children from surrounding communities have enjoyed visiting the little candle shop on the convent grounds during the Christmas season. Free home-made cookies for all who come are an added bonus!
In a hectic world of crowded chain stores, the convent's Quiet Light Candles shop is a pleasant and peaceful shopping experience for people of all ages.
Making your own beeswax candle has been a fun experience for children and adults while visiting the convent's candle shop.
Every year, the sisters at the convent open their doors to spend time with those that share the community they call "home."
Visiting the convent each year is becoming a family tradition for many families.
Each year, people of all faiths visit the convent's candle shop to enjoy the peaceful environment while shopping for beeswax candles.
Quiet Light Candles is located in one of the buildings on the convent grounds and its true purpose is to support the sisters in their life of prayer. The convent survives solely by the work of their own hands through online candle sales and from unsolicited donations. Making money is never a goal for the sisters, as their focus is on serving the Lord and offering up prayers for others. Their days are spent in worship in the chapel, pouring beeswax candles, working with the community, and answering the many prayer requests they receive on a daily basis.
The sisters create pure beeswax candles in order to support themselves and to provide the community with a clean, environmentally healthy candle option.
Humans aren't the only ones who enjoy visiting with the sisters.
As a volunteer for Quiet Light Candles , I recently found out that the Abbess received bad news regarding their convent when inspections revealed that the building had some serious mold issues, which has also been affecting their health. Since the mold is in the attic and multiple other unseen locations throughout the convent, it went undetected for many years. It was only after the sisters were forced to address ongoing chronic health issues that they discovered that wide-spread mold issues were the root cause.
According to the National Capital Poison Control Center, living in a building infected with mold causes a number of respiratory and other health problems as occupants unknowingly breathe in mold spores. Here is the link to the National Poison Control to learn more about the dangers of mold in your homes, schools, offices etc.
http://www.poison.org/articles/2011-oct/mold-101-effects-on-human-health
The large amount of mold in the convent requires professional remediation to make the building safe for occupation, and this work is very costly. The sisters at the Convent of the Meeting of the Lord do not have the kinds of funds necessary to remove the mold, or another place to live, and have been praying for God’s help in this matter. By making a donation to this GoFundMe site, we can be the answer to those humble prayers! Right now, the sisters have had to split up and cannot occupy the convent building itself, until the mold is removed throughout the building. With our help, we can replace the convent’s mold-infested attic and crawl space, along with several other areas, to make it safe for the sisters to return to their life of prayer and various labors.
Throughout the years, many types of animals have also enjoyed life at the convent. The chickens provides eggs for the sisters and in return, the chickens get to live a peaceful and free-range life on the convent grounds. Sometimes, they even wander into the convent to say hello!
The candle workshop is a busy place, especially in preparation for the holiday season. Not only do the sisters sell candles to the public, but they provide candles to other churches as well.
It takes so little from each one of us to accomplish a big thing! With all the recent acts of violence towards others throughout the world, we can prove that gestures of love, kindness and generosity are still more plentiful than acts of hate. It doesn’t matter what your religious or spiritual beliefs are, if you’ve taken the time to read this page, you’ve already shown you have a good heart and you can make a difference. Let’s get the Sisters back to their convent so they can continue their prayers for the world.
The Sisters are eager to get back to their daily worship at their chapel in the convent. We can make that happen!
Though the Sisters do not solicit donations, they are aware of this GoFundMe page on their behalf and know that they will receive 100% of the funds donated here. You will know that your donations have made a difference when the convent is once again being used for prayer and filled with voices giving praise to God. I will post pictures of the work your donations have made possible so you can see that one person's generosity can make a difference in the lives of others. Follow the Sisters' journey back to their convent on this page as updates will be posted regularly.
You can also visit the convent’s online candle shop if you would like to purchase hand-made, 100% pure beeswax candles. All proceeds from purchases will go to help the convent as well. Please share the candle shop link with friends and family too!
http://www.quietlightcandles.com/
The Sisters have spent decades perfecting the art of creating pure beeswax candles. They began to learn their craft when they were at their original convent in Boston, and between them have over 75 years of experience in beeswax candle making.
The Small Convent with Big Dreams
The sisters currently combine their chapel, along with living quarters, under one roof that is too small to hold them all. They also use a room within the pole barn as one of the sisters living quarters, as well as a small RV on the property. Though modest by society's standards, the sisters' ultimate dream would be to find a place on which they could build several small, energy-efficient cabins, with a chapel and workshop on the grounds. Quiet, purity and simplicity are at the heart of all they do.
When I spoke with the Abbess about their dream, she replied, "If God were to open the door to be able to start fresh, utilizing all we have learned over the years regarding healthy building decisions, it would be our hope that then other like-minded women, seeking a life of quiet prayer and living simply, would be able to join us."
For their sake, and that of their community, I hope that day comes. In the meantime, given the reality of their present circumstances, let's do our best to help them get re-settled and back to their prayer life!
My name is Karin Lien and I have been foturnate to volunteer with the Sisters at the Convent of the Meeting of the Lord in Stanwood, WA for over a year now. Seeing their spiritual devotion and their connection to their community, I felt compelled to start this GoFundMe page on their behalf, as they wouldn't even know about this possibility or ask for it for themselves. They spend their energies praying and helping others and it would be great if we can do the same for them. Because they are a small convent, endeavoring to support themselves by hard work and their handicrafts--according to Orthodox monastic tradition--it is a blessing to have this opportunity to help them. I have watched their daily struggles as medical bills grew ever larger, and now the extensive work on the mold remediation is way beyond what they can earn from candle sales alone. Despite all these health and financial challenges, their faith in God is unshakable. I'm hoping that we can show the Sisters of the Convent of the Meeting of the Lord that there are good, caring people out in the world of all faiths and backgrounds and that we are willing to help.
Thank you for any amount you can afford to share!
What They Need: Extensive work to their convent building to remediate mold throughout their chapel, kitchen and living quarters, as well as insulate the space under their home. The dollar amount includes remediating mold in the attic and possibly having to replace the roof in the process.
Who They Are:
Mother Maria Chisholm, who goes by the name of Mother Mary to those in the community that know her, is the bookkeeper at the Convent of the Meeting of the Lord and will be the person directly receiving any donations on behalf of the convent (under the guidance of the Abbess.)
The Convent of the Meeting of the Lord is a small Orthodox Christian convent that has been a part of the Stanwood and surrounding communities for the past 17 years. The sisters are known throughout the area for their genuine, committed lifestyle and hard work, and can always be recognized by their traditional nun's habits. Attending their annual Christmas open house, which is held at their candle shop on the convent grounds, has become a beloved tradition for many people.
Why Should You Help?:
Regardless of your religious beliefs, the annual activities at the convent's open house during the Christmas season provides families an opportunity to see how beeswax candles are made and to shop in a peaceful atmosphere like our grandparents used to do. It is a way to show support for a unique member of the StanCam community and give back to the sisters who've been supporting and praying for our community for many years.
The Convent of the Meeting of the Lord:
Almost two decades ago, a small group of nuns were sent from their home convent in Boston to start a life of service to God and their community in rural Washington State. With Boston being the only home they had known, life out in rural Stanwood was quite an adjustment for the sisters! Because of the kindness of the local community residents, it didn't take long for the sisters to develop a love for this area and now consider it their home.
Every year, the sisters look forward to opening their gift shop doors to the community during the holidays to spend time teaching the art of candle-making and meeting with old friends, while making new ones. Visiting the Quiet Light Candles shop on the convent grounds during the holidays has become a local tradition for many area families. Every year, children get the opportunity to make their own beeswax candles, while parents look for gifts and visit with the sisters working in the shop. It has always been a very popular event for the community and provides families with an alternative to crowded chain stores during the holiday shopping season.
For the past 17 years, children from surrounding communities have enjoyed visiting the little candle shop on the convent grounds during the Christmas season. Free home-made cookies for all who come are an added bonus!In a hectic world of crowded chain stores, the convent's Quiet Light Candles shop is a pleasant and peaceful shopping experience for people of all ages.Making your own beeswax candle has been a fun experience for children and adults while visiting the convent's candle shop. Every year, the sisters at the convent open their doors to spend time with those that share the community they call "home."Visiting the convent each year is becoming a family tradition for many families. Each year, people of all faiths visit the convent's candle shop to enjoy the peaceful environment while shopping for beeswax candles. Quiet Light Candles is located in one of the buildings on the convent grounds and its true purpose is to support the sisters in their life of prayer. The convent survives solely by the work of their own hands through online candle sales and from unsolicited donations. Making money is never a goal for the sisters, as their focus is on serving the Lord and offering up prayers for others. Their days are spent in worship in the chapel, pouring beeswax candles, working with the community, and answering the many prayer requests they receive on a daily basis.
The sisters create pure beeswax candles in order to support themselves and to provide the community with a clean, environmentally healthy candle option. Humans aren't the only ones who enjoy visiting with the sisters. As a volunteer for Quiet Light Candles , I recently found out that the Abbess received bad news regarding their convent when inspections revealed that the building had some serious mold issues, which has also been affecting their health. Since the mold is in the attic and multiple other unseen locations throughout the convent, it went undetected for many years. It was only after the sisters were forced to address ongoing chronic health issues that they discovered that wide-spread mold issues were the root cause.
According to the National Capital Poison Control Center, living in a building infected with mold causes a number of respiratory and other health problems as occupants unknowingly breathe in mold spores. Here is the link to the National Poison Control to learn more about the dangers of mold in your homes, schools, offices etc.
http://www.poison.org/articles/2011-oct/mold-101-effects-on-human-health
The large amount of mold in the convent requires professional remediation to make the building safe for occupation, and this work is very costly. The sisters at the Convent of the Meeting of the Lord do not have the kinds of funds necessary to remove the mold, or another place to live, and have been praying for God’s help in this matter. By making a donation to this GoFundMe site, we can be the answer to those humble prayers! Right now, the sisters have had to split up and cannot occupy the convent building itself, until the mold is removed throughout the building. With our help, we can replace the convent’s mold-infested attic and crawl space, along with several other areas, to make it safe for the sisters to return to their life of prayer and various labors.
Throughout the years, many types of animals have also enjoyed life at the convent. The chickens provides eggs for the sisters and in return, the chickens get to live a peaceful and free-range life on the convent grounds. Sometimes, they even wander into the convent to say hello! The candle workshop is a busy place, especially in preparation for the holiday season. Not only do the sisters sell candles to the public, but they provide candles to other churches as well.It takes so little from each one of us to accomplish a big thing! With all the recent acts of violence towards others throughout the world, we can prove that gestures of love, kindness and generosity are still more plentiful than acts of hate. It doesn’t matter what your religious or spiritual beliefs are, if you’ve taken the time to read this page, you’ve already shown you have a good heart and you can make a difference. Let’s get the Sisters back to their convent so they can continue their prayers for the world.
The Sisters are eager to get back to their daily worship at their chapel in the convent. We can make that happen!Though the Sisters do not solicit donations, they are aware of this GoFundMe page on their behalf and know that they will receive 100% of the funds donated here. You will know that your donations have made a difference when the convent is once again being used for prayer and filled with voices giving praise to God. I will post pictures of the work your donations have made possible so you can see that one person's generosity can make a difference in the lives of others. Follow the Sisters' journey back to their convent on this page as updates will be posted regularly.
You can also visit the convent’s online candle shop if you would like to purchase hand-made, 100% pure beeswax candles. All proceeds from purchases will go to help the convent as well. Please share the candle shop link with friends and family too!
http://www.quietlightcandles.com/
The Sisters have spent decades perfecting the art of creating pure beeswax candles. They began to learn their craft when they were at their original convent in Boston, and between them have over 75 years of experience in beeswax candle making. The Small Convent with Big Dreams
The sisters currently combine their chapel, along with living quarters, under one roof that is too small to hold them all. They also use a room within the pole barn as one of the sisters living quarters, as well as a small RV on the property. Though modest by society's standards, the sisters' ultimate dream would be to find a place on which they could build several small, energy-efficient cabins, with a chapel and workshop on the grounds. Quiet, purity and simplicity are at the heart of all they do.
When I spoke with the Abbess about their dream, she replied, "If God were to open the door to be able to start fresh, utilizing all we have learned over the years regarding healthy building decisions, it would be our hope that then other like-minded women, seeking a life of quiet prayer and living simply, would be able to join us."
For their sake, and that of their community, I hope that day comes. In the meantime, given the reality of their present circumstances, let's do our best to help them get re-settled and back to their prayer life!
My name is Karin Lien and I have been foturnate to volunteer with the Sisters at the Convent of the Meeting of the Lord in Stanwood, WA for over a year now. Seeing their spiritual devotion and their connection to their community, I felt compelled to start this GoFundMe page on their behalf, as they wouldn't even know about this possibility or ask for it for themselves. They spend their energies praying and helping others and it would be great if we can do the same for them. Because they are a small convent, endeavoring to support themselves by hard work and their handicrafts--according to Orthodox monastic tradition--it is a blessing to have this opportunity to help them. I have watched their daily struggles as medical bills grew ever larger, and now the extensive work on the mold remediation is way beyond what they can earn from candle sales alone. Despite all these health and financial challenges, their faith in God is unshakable. I'm hoping that we can show the Sisters of the Convent of the Meeting of the Lord that there are good, caring people out in the world of all faiths and backgrounds and that we are willing to help. Thank you for any amount you can afford to share!
Organizer and beneficiary
Karin Lien
Organizer
Stanwood, WA
Mother Maria Chisholm
Beneficiary