Special Friends of CFU–Aprilhelen

Special Friends of CFU – A Visit With Aprilhelen

From time to time, we like to feature someone who has contributed their time or resources to our projects, and who have other interests our readers might enjoy learning about... this month we bring attention to a valuable member of our team, and great contributor to our completed and ongoing projects – Aprilhelen.

When asked about her involvement with The Center For Unity, Aprilhelen shared the following:

Bio and Testimonial

Some lives unfold in one place. Others unfold across landscapes — and through decades of spiritual reflection.

Aprilhelen’s story began even before her birth — with what she describes as a celestial placement in Oklahoma City, a vibrant starting point for her personality to unfold. She was raised in an interfaith family and a thriving Urantia Book community in the Bible Belt.

From as early as six years old, she remembers contemplating two ideas that would shape her entire life: the teachings about the Probationary Nursery and the reality of planetary overpopulation.

“I remember thinking,” she says gently, “that if there are children who leave this world before reaching adulthood and are cared for beyond this plane, and if Urantia is already strained by numbers, perhaps my contribution wasn’t to bring more children here — but to care for the ones already born. I continue to be excited that one day, after the Resurrection Halls, I will continue that service.”

It was not a rebellious or self-seeking decision. It was a peaceful knowing.

She chose not to have biological children, yet she always sensed she would serve children in some capacity. That conviction has ripened over time in ways she long sensed would unfold.

Today, she serves as the Western Hemisphere’s Director of Vine of Hope in Uganda, partnering with Isabirye “Isa” Taliki. What began in 2018 as a developing vision has steadily matured. Twenty children are now receiving home support and medical care while also attending public school. Four acres of land have been purchased — currently used for farming while plans move forward to build a permanent “forever home.” The current capital campaign is working toward a $310K goal, for those who may feel inspired to support.

“When I walk with these children,” she shares, “I feel a quiet confirmation. Family reaches beyond the biological to be real.”

Her cosmic heart — nurtured by interfaith family roots, an international wellness network, and the global Urantia Book community — has simply widened with time.

“We were taught to see humanity as one family and encouraged to explore our personal relationship with our Creator. The Supreme Being was — and still is — the aspect of God I most relate to: the God we participate in actualizing through our values-based decisions.”

That early foundation carried her through seasons of change. Her childhood and adult years included moves between Oklahoma, Missouri, Hawai‘i, the Ozarks of Northwest Arkansas, and Louisiana. Adaptability became second nature.

Another of her guiding pillars reflects this lived experience:

Challenge is the path.

“Facing life’s inevitable challenges with grace has been a foundational growth point for me.” While her upbringing included many rich experiences, it was also shaped by the separation of her parents — contributing to frequent moves and continual adaptation. She recognizes how consecrating to God’s will has provided the experiential wisdom needed for the work she carries today.

In her younger years, creative expression defined her world. Dance, theater, and music — both instrumental and vocal — were her first languages. Then a serious car accident redirected her path. Chronic pain and several health challenges turned her inward.

“I had to learn how to heal,” she says. “And that journey changed everything.”

Her recovery led to a 30-year career as a yoga therapist, integrating many healing modalities. What began as survival became vocation. Today she runs her wellness-based enterprise, Art of Living Reprogramming, helping others restore alignment in body, mind, and spirit. This includes a passion for helping individuals identify their best vocational fit — especially those who feel called to serve humanity more fully.

One of her most repeated principles emerged from that chapter:

Self-care is altruistic.

“If we are depleted or dysregulated,” she explains, “our service becomes strained. Caring for ourselves increases the quality of what we give — and how we live.”

Her spiritual compass remains anchored in revelation. One passage continues to guide her understanding of integrity:

“Service—purposeful service, not slavery—is productive of the highest satisfaction and is expressive of the divinest dignity. Service—more service, increased service, difficult service, adventurous service, and at last divine and perfect service—is the goal of time and the destination of space.” 28:6.17

She emphasizes the words purposeful and adventurous. Service, for her, is not martyrdom. It is intelligent participation in evolutionary progress.

Through Urantia University Institute, she produced and facilitated multiple courses — including those connected to the Progress Project — and began developing structured leadership frameworks grounded in revelation.

Out of that work grew the Urantia-based School of Service and the Art of Universal Language (AoUL), which later expanded into Emergent Humanity and the S.P.I.R.I.T. network (Service Progress, Intentional Relationships, Integral Transformation), serving both Urantia Book students and a broader audience of spiritually curious individuals.

Another recent emergence is the Urmia Institute — a collaborative initiative co-founded by Urantia Book community members interested in global policy and civic engagement, and social leadership. Its purpose is to educate and actively participate in the growing movement of organizations and individuals seeking to bring the era of Light and Life into present reality, particularly within the political sphere. An online gathering is anticipated in the near future.

She often reflects on another passage:

“In influencing the expanding evolutionary mind, the power of an idea lies not in its reality or reasonableness but rather in its vividness and the universality of its ready and simple application.” 87:4.3

“Revelation must become usable,” she says. “If we cannot apply it in the integrity of our communication, our governance, and our relationships — it remains theoretical.”

Today, as Executive Director of Concentric Circles, a nonprofit she co-founded with fellow Urantia Book students, she fiscally sponsors and mentors service initiatives across borders — strengthening systems so that loving intentions can become sustainable structures.

Listeners of The Divine Within podcast recognize her ability to bridge mystical ideals with grounded implementation. CFU has been a steady spiritual home in recent years.

“CFU feels like extended family,” she says warmly. “It’s a place where ideas breathe.”

Breathing is central to her rhythm of life:

Breathe. Love. Smile. Serve.

Through global partnerships, civic education labs, and the ongoing development of Vine of Hope’s permanent home, she continues to trust the long arc of growth.

She does not romanticize the work. Fundraising is real. Administration is real. Challenges are real. And Aprilhelen embraces it all with grounded optimism.

“Integrity and altruism are the highest forms of love,” she says. “If we build with integrity now, future generations inherit stability.”

As a Special Friend of The Center for Unity, Aprilhelen looks forward to continued collaboration — through podcast dialogue, gatherings, and shared exploration of how revelation can be lived more fully. She is currently scheming with Santiago Kneeland on another exciting project, so watch out!

For those who feel stirred to participate in service — whether through mentoring, administrative support, communications, contributing financially, or global partnership — she offers a simple invitation:

“There is room. If your heart longs to participate in planetary uplift, there are meaningful ways to engage.”

Her life reminds us that family is global, healing is activated through service, and ideas can become action.

And in every season, we can choose to…

Breathe. Love. Smile. Serve.

Serve:

Vine of Hope: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/peer-to-peer/vine-of-hope-forever-home

Sites:

https://aprilhelen.com

https://concentriccircles.world

https://emergenthumanity.world

https://spiritservice.network

http://artofuniversallanguage.com