Friends Journal

The Friendship Train begins with a question: “How can I help?” The Quaker journalist Drew Pearson asked this of himself when he learned of the hunger in Europe at the end of World War II. Farms had been destroyed; farmers had been busy fighting; and winter was coming.

Pearson took the question to his readers, and the idea of filling a train with food for European families was hatched.

REVIEWED: The Friendship Train: A True Story of Helping and Healing after World War II Readers of all ages will be inspired by this story and these important questions: “How can I help?” and “How can I show my gratitude?”

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

For Quakers, Galatians 3:28 is not an abstract truth but a lived testimony of what we call the Inner Light, a principle that shapes community life, mission, and relationships with others. Living the gospel is not merely about bearing the Christian label or emphasizing a particular religion but about reflecting the character of Christ through consistency between what is professed and what is practiced in daily life, treating our neighbors with dignity, without racial distinction.

The Gospel That Unites Cultures Quaker spirituality is a living tradition.