Massachusetts Conference Edition
Return
to main page
Read
National Edition
Read the UC News Spotlight E-Newsletter
Return
to main page
Read
National Edition
Read the UC News Spotlight E-Newsletter
January/February 2005
“Kira is bravely exploring a non-Christian part of the world while being in the presence of Christ. She has found the people of Thailand gentle, warm, vibrant within their culture, and welcoming,” said Peggy Coonley, mother of 21-year old daughter Kira Coonley. “She feels close to the people and doesn't want their needs forgotten now or in the future.”
Kira Coonley is an anthropology student in her junior year at Mt. Allison University in New Brunswick, Canada. She grew up in Rockport, Massachusetts, where her mother and father John attend the The First Congregational Church, UCC, of Rockport. Peggy and John explain that they are a “volunteer family” and encouraged their daughter's interest in outreach work. “I have always been fascinated with different countries and traveling, learning about different people, cultures, ways of life, and customs,” says Kira.
While in high school, Kira was given the opportunity by the MACUCC to travel to the Dominican Republic on a trip co-sponsored with Heifer. She loved the experience so much that when she was offered a Heifer field placement in Thailand by her University, she applied, was accepted, and joined the hill tribes of the northern region of Thailand for the year.
Heifer International is a mission program that has a unique and successful approach to ending hunger and poverty. Since 1944, Heifer has provided food- and income-producing animals and training to millions of resource-poor families in 115 countries. Kira has helped buildrabbit huts and deliver animals to natives living in brutally harsh conditions. “I have seen how just a few animals can make a difference in the health of people's lives and the sustainability of their livelihoods,” explains Kira. “A couple of rabbits could mean the difference between survival or eradication of a community.”
Kira was an integral part of the long-term health of the community in Thailand, but while recently on a Christmas break vacation in the southern province of Krabi Thailand, she was witness to the largest natural disaster in history and the most pressing need for aid. Kira was on the beach when she saw the sea empty out and a foreboding darkness on the horizon and sensed something
wrong. She and others ran to higher ground. Her bungalow and all her belongings as well as all those on the western side of the beach were destroyed and washed away by the tsunami. More devastating, she also was an eyewitness to the horror of lost lives.
Kira urges people to continue to help and contribute. “The need is still so great. We have to realize that we have so much, and they have so little, we need to come together and give.”
Kira is back in North America now to heal, rest, and recover in the presence of those she loves; but she vows to quickly return to help the people of Thailand. “I am grateful for the miracle of my life, but right now I need to reflect on God's place for me and to learn how God is Still Speaking to me.”