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Showing posts from 2012

Planting Seeds of Hope

Dear friend  Planting Seeds of Hope                                               Sat, May 19, 2012  "You brought us to see a peace work that we were completely unaware of going on in our Colombia, thank you so much for coming to help to give your life from USA to work for peace in our country. Your sharing gives us hope for peace." remarked Pastor Oswaldo. I shared in the 1st Baptist church of Bucaramango sunday school, they had many good questions. Pastor Oswaldo and others said afterwards "We will be praying for peace and justice." I also shared in a school in a poor neigberhood where his wife, Graciela teaches. Several of the sudents had to leave were their homes because of threats of the armed groups in their communties. There I gave 6 presetations back to back with just a small break in between. It was the 1st time to do so many sharings so close together. I was wore out afterwards.  While there my friends I stayed with back in Barranca called to
Dear friends, Surprises in Colombia May 5, 2012 "When can you come again and teach us more about peace?" asked a youth after my sharing in the Bogota Baptist church. Another youth, Angie, remarked, "You must come and share in my public high school." On Monday I was in her school making arrangements for me to share there. Their interest and work to see this happen is very encouraging. I also visited La Mesa, which has a very pleasant temperate climate; this was a nice change from the humid cold 40 degrees of Bogota. There they grow lots of beautiful flowers. The photo below was taken in La Mesa. I am speaking in one of two sessions at the Mennonite school which included all 250 of their sixth through eleventh grade students. Because of all their questions each session lasted one and a half hours instead of the usual 40 minutes. This resulted in my sharing many more aspects of my vision for the way God wants to use students to br
Tea Party Sharing Dear Friends, After I spoke at a church, the pastor shared with me: “There are several people in our church who are of the somewhat militaristic and of tea party persuasions, so I was a bit anxious about what response you would get when you talk about peace. I was glad to see how well you were received. I did not hear one complaint. I felt you opened our eyes to a new world; you gently but deeply challenged us in good ways.” After my presentation at the Nazarene Church in Princeton, IL, Laura Root, the pastor, spent a good five minutes telling the congregation how much she appreciated my talk. I than received many sincere comments of thanks and over $100 from individuals to support my work. At another talk, one of the attendees, a college professor, told me: “I really debated whether I should come to your presentation tonight because one of my students, who is involved in CPT, accused me and other teachers of being off the wall because of our political views. He eve

Creación de la Paz en mi iglesia.

Hola, amigo, 6 de febrero 2012 Creación de la Paz En la Tierra en mi iglesia. Henry: Realmente aprecio la forma en que hace bienvenido a la gente aquí en la iglesia Agua Viva de la Comunidad Menonita. Su ejemplo y la práctica es una parte muy importante y bueno de nuestra iglesia. Hemos sido mejores amigos desde hace mucho tiempo. Henry continúa: Pero yo sólo quiero hacerte saber que cuando hablé con usted acerca de cambiar comidas de la iglesia a dos veces al mes me sentí realmente no me toman en serio. Me sentí despedido, y que realmente me ofende. He estado cociendo en esto desde que pasó más de 2 años. Creo que se ha roto la bondad de la estrecha relación que Dios nos había dado. Judy (parafraseando de nuevo): ¿De verdad se sintió herido cuando me habló sobre el cambio de las comidas. Usted sentía que se despidió y no te toman en serio. Usted ha sido guisar sobre esto durante años. Le duele perder nuestra cercanía. Lo siento mucho. Henry: Yo creo

Revenge and Forgiveness-- A Word of Hope

Revenge and Forgiveness A Real Word of Hope Here's what Bud Welch said, whose daughter died in the Oklahoma City bombing ,made prior to the 2001 execution of Timothy McVeigh, the terrorist responsible for the bombing. “The first month after the bombing, I didn't even want Tim McVeigh and Terry McNichols to even have trials. I simply wanted them fried. And then I finally came to realize that the reason that [my daughter] and 167 others were dead is because of vengeance and rage. And when we take him out of his cage to kill him, it's going to be the same thing. We will keep the circle of violence going. Number 169 dead is not going to help the family members of the first 168.” If you look at the story of Bud Welch, you find he had a lot of help along the way. And if you look at the story very carefully, you can actually learn a lot about how the human mind evolved to forgive and what kind of conditions activate that instinct in human minds, There were events that he actually

Creating On Earth Peace in my church

Hello, Friend February 15, 2012 Creating On Earth Peace in my church. Henry: I really appreciate the way you reach out to people here at Living Water Mennonite Community church. Your example and practice is a very important and good part of our church. We have been best friends for a long time. Henry continuing: But I just want to let you know that when I talked to you about changing Pot Lucks to two times a month I really felt you didn’t take me seriously. I felt dismissed, and that really offended me. I’ve been stewing over this ever since that happened over 2 years ago. I feel it has broken the goodness of the close relationship that God had given us. Judy (paraphrasing back): You really felt hurt when you talked to me about changing the Pot Lucks. You felt I dismissed you and did not take you seriously. You have been stewing over this for years now. It hurt you to lose our closeness. I am really sorry. Henry: I think that sums it up prett

A Fresh Overview

Hello Friends, A Fresh Overview of Jim’s Peacemaking January 17, 2012 Before I get to the overview I would like to tell you a story: When I was in Colombia last year I shared with some farmers that were forced to leave their farms by paramilitaries who accused them of helping another paramilitary group. I told them a story of how another village responded to the paramilitaries when they were accused of supporting the guerrillas. They said, “We are not going to leave our farm as usually happens. We would rather die than kill guerrillas.” The leader in the audience responded, “Maybe we were cowards?” I feel this planted seeds for the farmers to consider standing up to bring peace to their village. This inspiring people to act for peace is one of the main purposes for my trips to Colombia. Now for the overview. My mission is to Grow Peace internationally and locally by Instilling Hope through: • Raising awareness of God’s actions for justice and peace through CPT. •

A Fresh Overview of Jim’s Peacemaking

Hello Friends, A Fresh Overview of Jim’s Peacemaking January 17, 2012 Before I get to the overview I would like to tell you a story: When I was in Colombia last year I shared with some farmers that were forced to leave their farms by paramilitaries who accused them of helping another paramilitary group. I told them a story of how another village responded to the paramilitaries when they were accused of supporting the guerrillas. They said, “We are not going to leave our farm as usually happens. We would rather die than kill guerrillas.” The leader in the audience responded, “Maybe we were cowards?” I feel this planted seeds for the farmers to consider standing up to bring peace to their village. This inspiring people to act for peace is one of the main purposes for my trips to Colombia. Now for the overview. My mission is to Grow Peace internationally and locally by Instilling Hope through: • Raising awareness of God’s actions for justice and peace through CPT. •