baptist peacemaker - Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America

Transcription

April-June 2015
Baptist
Peacemaker
The Journal of BPFNA ~ Bautistas por la Paz Vol 35 No 2
Above: Participants in a BPFNA Friendship Tour
to Tijuana, MX, share communion through the
US/Mexico border fence.
Photo by Nathan Watts.
For he is our peace; in his flesh he
has made both groups into one and
has broken down the dividing wall,
that is, the hostility between us….
—Ephesians 2:14
Witnessing to God’s peace rooted in justice ~ working together until it comes.
Testificando sobre la paz de Dios enraizada en justicia ~ Trabajando hasta que llegue.
In This Issue
The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America
is an independent, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
Funding comes primarily from membership dues and
contributions.
Staff:
Katie Cook, Editor, Baptist Peacemaker
Evelyn Hanneman, Finance Manager
& Summer Conference Manager
Scott Hayes, Office Manager
Allison Paksoy, Communications Manager
LeDayne McLeese Polaski, Executive Director
BPFNA membership—Annual dues for 2015 are:
• Household - $40
• Student or low income - $20
• Institution/church - $50
• Library subscription - $60
Contributions and membership dues are taxdeductible in the United States. (Canadians may
make tax-deductible contributions through Canadian
Baptist Ministries.) Checks or money orders should be
made in US or Canadian dollars, if possible.
Crossing Borders in 2015
by LeDayne McLeese Polaski
4
BPFNA Welcomes New Office Manager
6
Unsettled by Truth: A Border Awareness Experience
by Allison Paksoy
8
What Nagaland Needs: Report from a Conflict Transformation Training
by Lee McKenna
10
Songs of Victory in Uganda:
12
It Was a Large Day: Reflections on Report from a Conflict Transformation Training
by Lancelot Muteyo
the US-Cuba Policy Change Announcement
by Stan Dotson
My Vocation as a Peacemaker
Board of Directors 2015
President: Amaury Tañós-Santos, Edison, NJ
Secretary: Sandi John, Chico, CA
Treasurer: Judson Day, Sacramento, CA
14
Other members: Alison Amyx, New York City,
NY; Fela Barrueto, Norristown, PA; Peter Carman,
Schenectady, NY; Kadia Edwards, Nashville,
TN; Katy Friggle-Norton, Haverton, PA; Adalia
Gutiérrez-Lee, Tijuana, MX; Rick Harris, Wayne,
PA; Monty Kearse, Charlotte, NC; Mayra Picos Lee,
Wayne, PA; Viola Mayol, Evanston, IL: Ben Sanders,
Aurora, CO; Cody Sanders, Sacramento, CA; Karen
Turner, Toronto, ON; Ximena Ulloa Montemayor,
Mexico City, MX; Michael Ware, Rochester, NY;
Nathan Watts, Tucson, AZ.
16
Christians & Commitment to Truth & Justice: How Churches Baptist Peacemaker, published quarterly, is sent to BPFNA
members and depends on donations from its readers.
To receive a trial subscription, simply send us your
name and address.
The paper used in the production of Baptist
Peacemaker is acid-free and contains recycled
content.
BPFNA Central Office: 300 Hawthorne, Suite 205,
Charlotte, NC 28204; phone: 704/521-6051; fax:
704/521-6053; email: [email protected]; web: www.
bpfna.org.
Baptist Peacemaker editorial office: c/o Seeds of Hope
Publishers, 602 James Ave., Waco, TX 76706;
254/755-7745; [email protected]. Special
thanks go to Deborah Harris for extra labors of love
on this issue.
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3
Baptist Peacemaker
APR-JUN 2015
by Joao Matwawana
Are Responding to the Ayotzinapa Kidnapping
by Hortensia Azucena Picos Lee
17
Report from the SOA Watch Vigil
18
BPFNA World Peace Network to Fund Five African Peace Projects
19
In the Land of the Willing: A Review of Ken Sehested’s New Book
by Katie Cook
20
Prayer&politiks: A Review of Ken Sehested’s Online Journal
by Dale Roberts
22-25 Resources & Opportunities
26
2014 BPFNA Highlights
27-31 Contributors
32
Rags of Weariness
by David Sparenberg
From The Board & Staff
Crossing Borders in 2015
by LeDayne McLeese Polaski
I
felt an electric shock as our hands almost touched. Gathered
for the weekly communion service held at Friendship Park on
the US-Mexico border between San Diego and Tijuana, we were
separated by the fence that now cuts through the once-lovely space.
Even as we drank and ate to celebrate being one in Christ,
we were no more than blurry shapes to one another as she stood
inside the US and I stood in Mexico.
Still, as our hands met at the fence, there was a spark that I
could not deny, a pulse of energy that shot through my body. It
was a crossing of borders, even as we each remained on “our”
side of the fence.
It was a powerful moment and a painful one. It was powerful
because the connection was real, despite everything between us,
and it was painful because all around us stood people who were
obviously family members divided by the border.
I was particularly struck by a young boy and his mother
speaking to a man I took to be his father. If being so close and yet
so far from a stranger sent a shock wave through my body, what
must it feel like to have your flesh and blood on the other side?
Such encounters, in all their beauty and agony, are the heart
of our new five-year theme “No Longer Strangers: Crossing
Borders for Peacemaking.”
Throughout the next five years, we’ll be addressing borders of
all types. Certainly that will include the physical divides between
our four nations, but it will also include language, culture, race,
religion, nationality, generation, class, sexual orientation and, no
doubt, borders we have yet to acknowledge.
The work has already begun. Early in the year,
we published a discussion guide for the movie Selma,
written by board member Kadia Edwards. Shared
with all of our Partner Congregations, the guide
has been helping church members come together
in deep ways to share their experiences of the film
and the realities it portrays.
In these pages, you’ll read Communication
Manager Allison Paksoy’s beautiful and challenging
reflection on the just-completed “Justice on the
Border” Friendship Tour to El Paso/Ciudad Juárez.
When we gather for Summer Conference in
July, the participants from that trip will share their
insights and encourage and equip us to become
involved in the issues they’ve experienced. Through a
series of workshops and an afternoon plenary, they’ll
help us to consider these issues:
• The levels of violence associated with the process of migration
(political, gang-related, state-sanctioned, family separation);
• NAFTA and other free-trade agreements that have affected
international migration patterns; and
• Border militarization, immigrant detention, criminalization
of people of color and the prison industrial complex as a whole.
“Throughout the next five years, BPFNA
~ Bautistas por la Paz will be addressing
borders of all types.”
They’ll also lead us in a popular, education-based interactive
experience encompassing some aspects of the migrant
experience—such as attempting crossing, Border Patrol
apprehension, sentencing, detention and deportation.
Seminarians from all of our member countries (Canada,
the US, Mexico and Puerto Rico), as well as Cuba, will join us
at Summer Conference. These students will gather for a week of
intensive and experiential education that will equip and mobilize
them to return to their schools/communities inspired and able to
serve as progressive religious leaders and agents of social change.
Please see “Crossing Borders” on page 4.
Right: Participants in a Friendship Tour in Tijuana talk to
friends on the other side of the border fence in Friendship Park.
Photo by Nathan Watts.
APR-JUN 2015
Baptist Peacemaker
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From The Board & Staff
BPFNA ~ Bautistas por la Paz
Welomes New Office Manager
LeDayne added, “We’ll soon be hiring a Spanish Language
Resource Manager, and when that hire is complete, we’ll have
everyone in place for the new staffing plan articulated in our
2015-2019 Strategic Plan. There is great energy as we complete
our team and move forward with our shared work.” n
Crossing Borders
continued from page 3
T
he BPFNA staff is very pleased to announce that Scott Hayes
has agreed to become our new half-time Office Manager.
He started on February 23.
Scott comes to us from the Rochester area of New
York State, where he’s been serving two BPFNA Partner
Congregations. He’s been Pastor of Parma Baptist Church
and also Assistant Pastor of Greece Baptist, a congregation
he previously served as office manager.
In addition to that, he has served as a supply pastor and
intern at the First Baptist Church of Rochester, another Partner
Congregation. Plus, he has attended our annual Summer
Conference (aka “Peace Camp”). In other words, he already knows
us very well!
Before and during seminary, Scott served in a wide variety
of administrative jobs, so he also knows office management
very well.
Executive Director LeDayne McLeese Polaski said of Scott,
“We are thrilled to welcome Scott to our team. When we began
this search, we had no idea we’d be able to find someone with
such a deep connection to the Baptist world in which we live and
work—as well as such rich experience in administration. He’s
going to be a great asset.”
Scott hails from the southern US and is excited to be returning.
He says that taking this job will be a double homecoming of
sorts. “I most appreciate the sense of community throughout the
BPFNA family,” he said. “My first Peace Camp was in 2002, and
my second in 2014. Though there were 12 years between, when
I returned in 2014, it felt like I had come to a family reunion.”
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In April, we will debut a new online publication series called
The Borders I Cross, featuring BPFNA ~ Bautistas por la Paz friends
and members reflecting on their own personal work of crossing
borders to create peace. I’ve been editing early submissions, and
I can tell you that these stories are great! (If you have a story to
share, email me at [email protected].)
Later in the summer, we’ll team up with Dan and Sharon
Buttry to offer a Training of Conflict Transformation Trainers
at the International Hope Center in Hamtramck, MI (near
Detroit). This intensive and extensive training will focus on
conflict analysis, conflict resolution, personal conflict styles,
dealing with diversity in conflict, power issues, nonviolent struggle,
strategizing for campaigns, trauma, reconciliation, practical issues
for peacemaking over the long-haul and experiential education
methodologies and practices.
Past participants in this training of trainers have gone on to
do amazing work in helping communities heal the destructive
divisions (borders) created by conflict.
Several other projects are in the works for this year and will
be announced soon. All this work planned for 2015 is in addition
to our “regular” work of programming, projects and publications.
It is challenging, stretching work to be sure, but we are encouraged
by the knowledge that we do not do it alone:
For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one
and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between
us…. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are
citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ
Jesus himself as the cornerstone. (Ephesians 2: 14, 19-20, NRSV)
—LeDayne McLeese Polaski is the executive director of BPFNA ~ Bautistas
por la Paz. n
R
eg
N ist
o
w eR
!
Summer Conference
No LoNger StraNgerS:
CroSSiNg BorderS for PeaCemakiNg
A Conference for Peacemakers
JuLy 6-11, 2015 i HarriSoNBurg, Va uSa i
eaSterN meNNoNite uNiVerSity
www.bpfna.org/gather/summer-conference
2015 ConferenCe Leadership announCed!
reV. dr. Jamie
WaSHiNgtoN
Keynote Speaker
Conference Preacher
reV. dr. doriS
garCia
reV. oSagyefo
uHuru Sekou
SteVe gretz &
LeSLie Lee
reV. JaVier uLLoa
Bible Study Leader
Musicians
BPfNa
reV. dr. rHoNda
BrittoN
Conference Preacher
Conference Preacher
Bautistas por la Paz
APR-JUN 2015
Baptist Peacemaker
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Friendship Tours
Unsettled by Truth:
A Border Awareness Experience
by Allison Paksoy
T
he summer before my senior year of college, my parents
adopted a cat. When they found him, he was covered in dirt
and matted fur. He hung his head low and did not purr. When
you ran your hand over him, he was skin-and-bone to the touch.
Then my parents took him to the vet, where he was groomed.
They took him into a home where he received nourishment and
love. Day by day, he became more confident and started to reveal
more of his personality. He began to purr. He was like a brand
new cat.
Some weeks later, my step-dad brought up this transformation.
Speaking to the condition in which he was originally found, my
step-dad said, “If being in those conditions does that to a cat,
imagine what it does to a human being.”
I thought about that interaction while sitting in a courtroom
in El Paso, TX, watching as 10 young men and one young woman
stood in front of the judge in shackles and blue jump suits. All
were first time offenders and none had a criminal history.
“We shackle them in case they get violent,” the judge said
when we were able to speak with him after the sentencing. “I don’t
even see the shackles anymore. It’s a good thing. It helps me to
not see them as criminals.”
But I can’t forget the shackles. I don’t want to forget.
What does it do to a human being to be treated like a criminal
when s/he is not one? What does it do to a human being to have
to apologize for “crimes committed against God and the United
States” when s/he was only trying to make a better life for him or
herself ? What does it do to a human being to be seen as invalid
by other human beings?
“It’s important to come to the border. To come here is to be unsettled
by truth.”
These were the words spoken to us by Ruben Garcia, one of
the founders and the current executive director of Annunciation
House, our host for the week in El Paso. Being unsettled by truth
was the unofficial theme during the “Justicia en la Frontera/Justice
at the Border” Friendship Tour.
We were unsettled by truth as we gathered at the border fence.
Some children on the other side ran up to see the approaching
foreigners. Their mother kept a watchful eye on them from a
distance. Despite the fence that indicated and assumed arbitrary
differences between “us” and “them,” and despite border patrol
agents watching our every move, we met with them.
Like all children, they wanted to know if we had candy.
They wanted to laugh with us. They wanted to show
us their puppy. Yet the fence between us made contact
and relationships limited.
“These are people I’ll never know,” said one of our
group members. “How can I get to know them through
a fence?”
As we were leaving, one of the little girls dropped
the fork she had been playing with onto the US side of
the fence. As I stooped down to pick it up I thought,
“isn’t it interesting that this piece of plastic has more of
a ‘right’ to be here than she does.” I slid the fork back
through the fence to her, wondering what border patrol
might be thinking.
We were unsettled by truth as we learned about US
policies and practices and their harmful effects. Policies
such as the Merida Initiative, an agreement passed into
law in 2008, between the US and Mexico, to stop arms
and drugs from being trafficked across the border. This
resulted in highly militarized police forces in Juarez and
other cities throughout Mexico.
Left: Children on the Mexico side of the Juarez/El Paso
border fence interact with visitors on the US side.
Photo by Allison Paksoy.
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Friendship Tours
Father Peter, a Catholic Priest who has lived in Juarez for
almost 20 years, said, “Militarization distorts the role of the
police. The idea of the military is to ‘fight against enemies,’” so
a militarized police force creates a rift and distrust between the
people and the police.
Or the Secure Communities Program (also begun in 2008),
where local police are put in charge of enforcing immigration
policies and identifying “criminal aliens” in their communities.
Or the Bracero Program that brought 5 million Mexican migrant
workers to the US between 1942 and 1964, to take over rural farm
areas when the majority of Americans were moving to the cities.
When the program ended (due to technological advancements
in farm machinery and the fact that farm owners could hire
undocumented workers more cheaply) industrialized agriculture
became the norm. The current food industry is propelled by greed,
profit, racism, classism and indifference from society.
Only 10 corporations control US food production and
distribution, and food producers care more about making
a profit than caring for actual nutritional value, humanity
or the environment. Carlos, the director of the Farm Labor
Union (Centro de los Trabajadores Fronterizos), dreams of an
Oppression-Free Food movement—oppression-free for both the
worker and the environment.
We were unsettled by truth as we met with Carman, the
Annunciation House volunteer who informed us of the realities
she experiences daily. Guests (those living at Annunciation House)
being stopped at gas stations and asked to show papers. Families
divided as some members are separated, detained or deported
while others are allowed to stay. The US denying people asylum
because we do not see their fear as credible. The fact that the
detainment centers and prisons are owned by private companies
and the “need to fill beds.”
We were unsettled by truth from the border patrol agents who
said that, yes, they will teargas people they catch actively cutting
the fence. From Shalini at Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services
who said, regarding legal immigration, that we can’t realistically
expect people to wait in that line, as it will take some 150 years
or more to get their application processed.
From Mary,1 an Annunciation House guest and former small
business owner who shared her heartbreaking story of asking the
US for asylum after being threatened and extorted by the drug
cartels. From Luis who introduced us to the term Unaccompanied
Alien Children, the official term used to describe the thousands
of unaccompanied minors coming into the US.
But, despite the often painful topics and emotional encounters,
I saw God.
God was there when we met with Christina, who runs a
children’s library in Anapra, Juarez, and provides scholarships to
help families with their school fees.
God was present in the passionate and feisty spirit of Lorena,
the coordinator for Centro Mayapan, who spoke about the
organization’s focus of creating leadership roles and encouraging
women to advocate for policies that support economic
development, workers’ rights and food justice for themselves and
their community.
God was present in the welcoming community and friendly
smiles from the volunteers and guests at Annunciation House. And
God was there when Mary, despite everything she’s been through,
said, “I don’t hate those people. I feel sorry for them and hope
that God will touch their hearts so all of this will end.”
“As we were leaving, one of the little
girls dropped the fork she had been
playing with onto the US side of the
fence. As I stooped down to pick it up
I thought, ‘isn’t it interesting that this
piece of plastic has more of a ‘right’ to
be here than she does.’”
I want to close with an excerpt from a poem shared on the
Friendship Tour:
I guess at first, there were the people who invented
the borders
And then the borders began to invent people.
They invented border police, armies and border guards.
While borders are still standing, we are all in prehistory.
The real story begins when all borders are gone.
…
Supongo que al principio, fuera la gente que inventó
las fronteras
Y entonces las fronteras comenzaron a inventar a la gente.
Era las fronteras que inventaron a la policía,
Los ejércitos y los guardias de la frontera.
Mientras las fronteras todavía están de pie
Estamos todos en prehistoria
La historia real comenzará cuando todas las fronteras ya se
habrán ido.
—Yevgeny Yevtushenko
—Allison Paksoy is the Communications Manager for BPFNA ~ Bautistas
por la Paz. Read more “Justice at the Border” experiences at http://www.
bpfna.org/gather/frontera-border. n
Endnote
1. The name has been changed.
APR-JUN 2015
Baptist Peacemaker
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Conflict Transformation
What Nagaland Needs:
Report from a Conflict Transformation Training
by Lee McKenna
“D
o you know what Nagaland needs more than anything?”
he asked me, earnestly. I mentally began a long list, a
list that had emerged from weeks of training with mostly young
women and men: an end to corruption and nepotism, an end to
disparities in public spending that privilege some tribal groups
over others, a release of those who struggle within the constraints
of cultural norms that silence and sideline them, the creation of
local peace commissions inclusively designed to build community
resilience…that sort of thing.
His response surprised me: “Solid biblical hermeneutics!”
But perhaps I should not have been surprised. “We have tried
a number of things in our attempts to bring peace to the North
East—and they haven’t worked,” he said. “We continue in a state
of constant internecine violence.”
In a part of the country where a million Baptist Christians
show up in 7,000 churches most Sunday mornings, he says, “We
have preached a message that has permitted, within individuals
and organisations, the co-existence of prayerful piety and
militarised violence. We need to start over again.”
While peace negotiations between insurgency movements
and the central government and Delhi are nearing what most
believe to be a conclusion, there is fear that the result will unleash
untrammelled passions amongst those tribal groups whose
perspectives and dreams are not reaching the negotiation table.
A year earlier, this seminary professor, who will remain
nameless, attended, with a colleague from a sister seminary in
Assam, a training in Conflict Transformation. The 40 male
participants were members of five tribal communities embroiled
in three different and seemingly intractable situations of intercommunal—and, in one case, inter-religious—violence.
They were astonished by a methodology that was entirely
new to them—experiential, popular, elicitive, play-based. They
noticed how the partisan guest lecturers reminded them of their
mutual hostility, how the play broke down barriers to seeing their
common humanity and common yearnings for peace.
They noticed how effective was the learning about gender
as half of the room was asked to dress up as women and to
channel the views, passions and anger of women in a unique
“gender fishbowl.”
Returning to their respective institutions, one oversaw the
creation of a unique-in-India Master’s Programme in Peace
Studies, while the other will launch later this year a Master’s
Programme in Church & Society. The former went one better:
he talked with his students about how he and they could build on
the inspiration he brought home with him following the training.
The result was a Bike Tour for Peace—with remarkable
results in 10 communities in four states of the North East! And
they are already organising for a second, greatly expanded, Bike
Tour that, this time, will include
women and involve 50 bikers, visiting
communities in all seven states in the
North East.
This is an exciting project which
we will be supporting with training
in nonviolent direct action in May.
But that’s another story!
Over two weeks, 76 students
participated in trainings on Biblical
Peacemaking—in which we asked
two over-arching questions: “How
do we read the Bible? What does it
mean to say that this is the Word of
God?” And “Does the Bible reveal a
Left: Lee McKenna leads a “Gender
Fishbowl” training exercise in Nagaland,
North East India.
Photo courtesy of Lee McKenna.
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violent or a nonviolent God?” The second one has a sub-question:
“Does it matter? What are the implications for the life of faith?”
In the course of these two weeks, we examined 14 provocative
propositions. We tested them out with the use of role-play, debate,
“fishbowls,” interviews, human sculpture and other classic
methods of Conflict Transformation. We probed into both the
familiar and the not-so-familiar corners of the Bible, some of
them dark and disturbing.
“In the end, we are, with Jesus’ audience,
pulled into the question that flummoxes
the lawyer: Who is my neighbour?”
We worked on reading the text, first of all, sociologically—
attempting to disable, at least for a time, the theological and
ideological frames that have constrained our reading since before
we can remember. We looked at some of those ways in which
scholars and translators and preachers—including those who
set the Lectionary, which sets the scriptures most churches in the
world follow each Sunday—have avoided or sanded off some of
the sharper edges of our sacred text.
Why do we skip over the horrible parts of Psalm 137? Why
does Jeremiah lament the fact that mothers have been driven to
boil their children for dinner (Lam. 4.9, 10) but not question the
God said to be responsible for such devastation? And what about
Matt. 5:38-48?
How did “Do not resist by evil means…” (surely Matthew’s
intent) get turned into the passivity of the doormat, the silenced,
the malleable-nice before the economic, social, political, cultural
and religious evils that Jesus meant to expose? And how did
it become rendered, almost universally since the King James
translation, as “Do not resist evil/an evil person”?
The resulting reading leaves the passage contradictory: an
exhortation to NOT resist, followed by “and now here are three
ways to RESIST,” two of which have passed into the vernacular
as the actions of the wussy-nice.
How come we’ve never heard of Rizpah, Tamar and Dinah?
How did the story of Lot’s visitors get turned into a battering ram
turned against LGBTQ people? How in the world do we account
for the pathological violence attributed to God as “utter devotion”
in the Old Testament, the binary violence of good and evil that
continues into the New?
How do we know what we read is exhortative or not,
descriptive or prescriptive—a story of a people looking for God
and sometimes getting it right and often getting it wrong, or
advice/narrative of timeless meaning and application? All of us
are selective about what we read, model, preach, avoid and leave
out. What are the criteria by which we determine our selectivity?
The familiar story of the Good Samaritan is poked and
prodded for its primordial meaning, played out in order to hear
it again and afresh. We remind ourselves of the purity laws
that informed the responses of the road-crossing clerics, of the
profound loathing accorded the traitorous Samaritan tribe by
Jesus’ Jewish hearers.
We talk about the shock with which they would have heard
our modern, oxymoronic rubric: the “Good Samaritan.” We
wonder at the term, helpfully provided by the translators of the
Good News Bible, now re-rendered in our news stories as “the
nice guy who stopped to help me with my flat tire.”
In the end, we are, with Jesus’ audience, pulled into the
question that flummoxes the lawyer: Who is my neighbour? With
ourselves cast in the role of the beaten-up man, we fill in the blank:
Who, for me, is that person in front of whom I would least want
to find myself vulnerable, from whom I would be most appalled
to receive help?
The question begins to make its way around the circle of
participants. One pauses, tears welling up in his eyes. A Kuki
in a room of mostly Nagas, he says, almost inaudibly, “The
Good…Naga.”
A tremor passes almost imperceptibly through the room;
a sigh; and then the question continues its slow walk around
the circle. “The Good….” The passage delivers its message,
its parabolic meaning comes alive in a new context, collapsing
centuries of separation. “The Good…Enemy” provocatively
proposed as Beloved.
—Lee McKenna, a former BPFNA board member and staff member, is
a Conflict Transformation specialist living on a farm in Ontario. Watch
in upcoming issues of Baptist Peacemaker for more about her trainings
in North East India. (For more information about Lee’s work, go to www.
partera.ca.) n
Nagaland
Indian
states
APR-JUN 2015
Baptist Peacemaker
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Songs of Victory in Uganda
Report from a Conflict Transformation Training
by Lancelot Muteyo
U
ganda has seen dozens upon dozens of rebel groups in the
last three decades. These groups have not spared lives—even
of unarmed women and children. Many children and young
men have either been killed or forcibly enlisted in the different
rebel armies.
Most of these atrocities were based on greed, hate, ethnic
prejudice and many other evil forces. The government was not
immune. It had its own share of atrocities perpetrated on rebels
or those depicted as assisting rebels.
It was a vicious aggressor-oppressor cycle. It reminds me of
the assertion made by one of Africa’s champions, Stephen Bantu
Biko, when he said, ”The greatest oppressor is the one who has
been oppressed.”
The largest rebel group in Uganda was known as the Lord’s
Resistance Army (LRA), led by the charismatic (and often depicted
as “evil”) Joseph Kony. The LRA fought against the government
army and several other rebel groups, mainly in Northern Uganda,
for many years.
Many inhumane deeds were done during these sad moments
in Uganda’s history. These included rape, kidnappings, torture,
abductions and the forcing of young girls and boys to join
the army.
I recently received an invitation from an American NGO
called Children of the Nations Uganda to facilitate a Conflict
Transformation training, for trainers and teachers of orphaned
children. In my mind’s eye, I thought I was going to see the
sorrowful, helpless faces of children. What I saw was breathtaking
and therapeutic!
Each night after the training, I met with children around a
village bonfire. In just three days, I heard stories of children who
had escaped from the bush, where they had been captured by
rebels. I sang songs with children who had their lips cut off with
machetes. I told them stories from famous African folklore, poetry
and proverbs, as they listened attentively, though some of their
ears had been cut off during the war.
It was moving to see how they sang from their hearts. Their
mouths could not sing, their ears could not hear, but the melody of
their heartbeats was enough to connect with their broken mouths
and fractured eardrums.
In Africa, we say if you can talk, then you can sing, and
if you can walk, then you can
dance. Here, I saw children with
broken limbs dancing to songs
of joy. They had last witnessed
the war just three years ago in
some parts of that small village
in Lira, and, they were truly
suffering from post-traumaticstress disorders. But unless you
heard about their experiences,
you would never notice it in
their social behaviour.
Their will to survive could not
be taken from them. It seemed as
if they had been twice betrayed
and seven times crucified, yet
they survived. Their smiles were
worth a huge fortune.
Left: Lance Muteyo leads an
empowerment exercise with
Ugandan children.
Photo courtesy of Lancelot Muteyo.
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APR-JUN 2015
I felt so humbled by children who were standing for justice
against injustice, for truth against lies, for life against death. This
reminds me of another speaker who said, “Life is not determined
by the breath we take but by the moments that take our breath
away.” My life was made precious by these little angels.
At night I was with kids and, during the day, I facilitated
three days of Conflict Transformation with the adults. They,
like the children, had stories of the ugliest side of the civil war.
“They had seen the war and could not
believe that three days could change
attitudes that had been cultivated
by more than three decades of war. I
didn’t believe it, either!”
Uganda
Unfortunately, their hope was slim. These war-weary
adults did not believe in Conflict Transformation. Their
hearts and minds were full of revenge and aggression, which
seemed very normal to me. They had seen the war and could
not believe that three days could change attitudes that had
been cultivated by more than three decades of war. I didn’t
believe it, either!
Fortunately, the Lord transformed their behaviours
and attitudes. I was just an instrument in the majestic
hand of God. After the last day, I realised that I had truly
been used by the Lord to help these people to begin to
heal their hearts and transform
their various vulnerabilities into
a sustainable community.
—Lance Muteyo is a Zimbabwean
social scientist and independent peace
trainer. He is the volunteer Director
of Training and Advocacy for the Pan
African Peace Network (PAP-NET),
an interfaith movement for peace .and
justice in Africa. PAP-NET is one of
five African peace organizations that
will receive funding from the BPFNA in
2015. You can contact Lance at lance.
[email protected]. n
Right: Ugandan adults plant a “tree
of peace”at the end of a Conflict
Transformation training.
Photo courtesy of Lancelot Muteyo.
APR-JUN 2015
Baptist Peacemaker
11
Stories of Peacemakers
It Was a Large Day:
Reflections on the US-Cuba Policy-Change
Announcement
by Stan Dotson
E
ditor’s note: Last July, Stan Dotson and his wife, Kim Christman,
began a 10-month sojourn in Cuba. They began traveling to Cuba in
the 1990s, and have made many good friends over the years. “This trip,” they
wrote in July, “will enable us to deepen those friendships.”
Last fall, they taught in the Ecumenical Seminary in Matanzas,
with Kim teaching English and Drama, and Stan teaching Leadership
and Teambuilding. This spring they are leading workshops and retreats,
dividing their time between the Kairos Center in Matanzas, Molina Verde in
Guanabacoa, and visits with churches across the island.
The following is from a blog posted by Stan in February.
B
eing in Cuba on December 17, 2014, was a highlight of
our year here. To say that this was a big day for Cubans is
a vast understatement. Several events converged to confirm the
historicity of the date.
To begin with, this was San Lazaro Day on the Catholic
calendar of saints, commemorating the brother of Mary and
Martha whom Jesus brought back to life in the gospel of John. For
practitioners of Santeria (a syncretism of African religions and
Catholicism that is highly popular in Cuba), San Lazaro Day is
their biggest feast day of the year.
Unlike the Catholics, though, the figure venerated by the
Santeria faithful is a melding of the African spirit-god of healing,
Babalú-Ayé (made famous in US culture by Ricky Ricardo’s
nightclub songs on I Love Lucy) with another biblical Lazarus, the
diseased beggar denied help at the gate of the rich man in the
gospel of Luke.
“The Cuban Christians I know across
the island represent a wide diversity
of political views…. Across this
spectrum, the initial reaction to the
announced changes was the same:
euphoria and thanksgiving.”
December 17 was also a big day for the churches here in
Matanzas. Members of various denominations filled the Teatro Atenas
for the third annual ecumenical Advent celebration of music, dance,
and preaching. This one focused on
the theme of the Prince of Peace.
The two Lazaros, Babalú-Ayé and
the Prince of Peace each received
various degrees of credit, then,
for the day’s earth-shattering news
from Presidents Obama and Castro,
announcing the opening of renewed
diplomatic relations between our
countries and the freeing of the
five Cuban heroes who had been
imprisoned for 15 years.
Left: Stan Dotson poses with students
during a teambuilding exercise at the
Ecumenical Seminary in Matanzas,
Molina Verde. Photo courtesy of Stan
Dotson and Kim Christman.
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Interestingly, Pope Francis’ role in the negotiations was
downplayed by some folks here. The credit the pope received
was cast as something of a late-in-the-game, over-publicized act,
while 50 years of faithful bridge-building work by folks in the
trenches—including many who went to their grave without seeing
the fruit of their labors—got zero recognition in the news.
I have traveled a good bit in the weeks following the surprise
announcement, visiting with Cuban friends in seven of the
country’s provinces. The news of December 17 is still the talk of
every town.
The Cuban Christians I know across the island represent
a wide diversity of political views, ranging from revolutionaries
fiercely loyal to Fidel Castro to dissenters who long for a regime
change and a system change. In between are moderates who may
not have any strong ideological commitment one way or another,
but have learned how to play the system to get things done.
Across this spectrum, the initial reaction to the announced
changes was the same: euphoria and thanksgiving. I remember first
hearing the news from a teenage girl who is generally disinterested
and cynical about anything political. She shed all her cynicism,
though, and was beaming from ear to ear as she enthusiastically
relayed early reports of the prisoner exchange.
Her reaction was typical; I have yet to meet a single Cuban
who sounds remotely like the Obama-bashers in Miami and in
Congress who try to paint this as a mistaken capitulation to a
totalitarian communist devil. That agenda simply does not make
sense to the Cuban people I know, no matter their level of fidelity
or lack of fidelity toward Fidel.
For loyalists, they see the news as an opportunity for Cuba’s
economy, which has miraculously survived five decades of
superpower sabotage, to finally thrive and for the Cuban people
to enjoy a decent standard of living.
The dissenting voices wonder what new excuse the
government might fabricate for a crumbling infrastructure and
restraints on liberty, once the economic embargo (portrayed
here as an act of war that breaks all variety of international
laws) is lifted.
For these dissenters, Obama’s overture is not the problem;
it is the five-decade-long farce of a failed policy that has been
the prime crutch propping up the Castro brothers’ power and
popularity. Without the blockade, they forecast, there will no
longer be a convenient scapegoat to distract attention from
internal system failure.
While people are still hopeful all these weeks later, the early
euphoria has been tempered by caution and worry. Some worry
about political obstacles in Washington that could continue to
prevent full freedom for Cuba to host tourists from the States at
its resort beaches and to sell its rum and cigars in the lucrative
US market.
Some worry about the realistic difficulties Cuba will have in
transitioning to a truly productive and self-sustaining economy
instead of falling prey once again to dependency on a foreign power.
Still others worry about the Americanization of their culture,
a rising tide that has been growing in impact over the past 20
years. This trend is especially evident in the cities, with growing
individualism and demands of consumerism; it is also seen in
some of the larger churches across the island, where US-style
praise music and a superficial theology of prosperity has all but
erased traditional Cuban culture. Open relations threaten to turn
this rising tide of Americanization into a tsunami.
“There is genuine esperanza for
reconciliation, not only between
countries, but also between Cuban
families long divided by 90 miles of
water in the ideological tug-of-war
pitting communitarian equality against
individual liberty.”
Despite these worries, followers of the Prince of Peace
continue to hold out Advent-like hope. There is genuine
esperanza for reconciliation, not only between countries, but also
between Cuban families long divided by 90 miles of water in the
ideological tug-of-war pitting communitarian equality against
individual liberty.
Church partnerships have been building bridges of hope
across these troubled waters for many years. The Fraternity
of Baptists has longstanding relationships with the Alliance of
Baptists and the BPFNA, along with faith leaders such as those
in Pastors for Peace.
The Lazarus story in John’s gospel provides resurrection hope;
it also reminds us that if the rock-like economic blockade is indeed
removed from the tomb, and a revived Cuba does emerge, there
will still be work to do, loosening and unbinding all the restrictions
that have hindered its movements for these five decades.
And the Gospel of Luke’s account of the Lazarus story,
central to the Santeria faith, provides a great utopian hope that
the impoverished and dis-eased island might soon be rocking its
soul in the bosom of Abraham, with Havana transformed into
paradise city.
Luke’s story paints a not-so-hopeful picture, though, for
the rich nation that for 55 years has denied help to its wounded
neighbor at the gate.
(Where are the hell-fire and brimstone preachers when you
need them?)
—Stan Dotson and Kim Christman are longtime BPFNA supporters and
have been Peace Camp leaders many times. Their home is in Black Mountain,
NC. For more stories, check out their blog: www.travelblog.org/bloggers/
kimandstanincuba. n
APR-JUN 2015
Baptist Peacemaker
13
My Vocation as a Peacemaker
by Joao Samuel Matwawana
I
compare my vocation as a peacemaker to the call of the prophet
Jeremiah (Jer. 1: 4-10). My journey of peacemaking led, in
many stages of my life, to Angola, Congo, India, Britain, Canada,
Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia and other countries. It seems
that I have been called upon to make peace everywhere I have
lived. I didn’t go around looking for conflicts, but they found me,
and people asked me for advice or a word of wisdom.
I grew up in a Bakongo Tribe mega-village in Angola, in
southern Africa. The Portuguese colonial power required a
mega-village of more than 1,000 people to have designated local
officials, including a village chief and a peace council made up
of members from several clans.
A chief or council member was to be a wise, honest, neutral,
big hearted and godly man. Clan chiefs avoided bringing small
conflicts to the village council in order to protect the reputation
of their clan. In the same way, mega-villages avoided calling the
police so as to protect the reputation of their village.
My grandpa was a trusted village chief who acted as a judge
and mediated conflicts among the people (youth, couples, clans,
etc). When a conflict was identified or a crime was committed in
the village (there was no police system), the council dealt with the
issue until an acceptable solution was found.
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Baptist Peacemaker
APR-JUN 2015
I left the village at the age of 13 to enter the British Baptist
Boarding School, but during my childhood I observed the
proceedings of this village court almost every week. During my
boarding-school years, my British teachers told me that I showed
leadership. They presumed that it was the result of their program.
But deep in my heart I believed that I learned those peacemaking
qualities from my grandpa.
As a young teacher, I faced the challenges of mediating
conflicts between students in the rural primary schools, where
I worked with a local school council composed of parents from
different tribes. These older people said I was wise for someone
in my twenties, but I knew where it came from. Later I became
an advocate for these parents when they faced injustices from the
local administrator. We were able to approach these conflicts in a
peaceful way.
I worked as a refugee leader and a hospital chaplain and
Assistant Coordinator in relief services for over 60,000 Angolan
refugees. In this capacity, I acted as a mediator between the
Congolese and the Angolans and between nurses and doctors.
Above all, I advocated for the voiceless 50 percent of Angolan
refugee patients in that hospital. It was hard for me to be part of
the staff, but I felt that it was my duty to advocate for their respect
and fair treatment and restoration of their dignity.
When I became the General Secretary for the Angolan
Christian Churches in exile, my peacemaking role moved to
another level. We had seven different denominations among the
refugees. To put them under one umbrella was not easy. Conflicts
broke out over food, money and other commodities almost every
week, even among Christians. (I felt like Moses with the Israelites
in the desert.)
Later, in Canada, I pastored two small Baptist congregations
that didn’t get along for many years. I was able to mediate
between them and, finally, I persuaded them to work together.
This resulted in the growth of both churches, and also in unity,
love, peace and harmony.
After retirement, I joined a church closer to my home, but
when that congregation split in front of my eyes, I was involved
in mediation again. The lesson I learned then was that it was
easier to reconcile the non-Christian tribal chiefs in the jungles
of Africa than those who call themselves Christian brothers and
sisters in North America.
The reason for that was simple. Both sides thought, and think,
they are right, perfect, more spiritual than others, and they have
Bible verses to justify their unforgiving spirits.
The second component of my peacemaking in Canada was
during my time as a prison chaplain. It didn’t take long to discover
that there was hatred between inmates and guards, and between
black and white inmates, and sometimes between guards of
different schedules. I felt like I was back at the war-front in Africa.
But, by God’s grace, I was glad to hear inmates and guards
say that my presence there brought peace. As a matter of fact,
during that time I conducted research on the subject of Conflict
Transformation, which helped me to deal with internal prison
conflicts. I spent much time reading essays and books that helped
my vision of peacemaking to extend beyond the prison walls to
the community and the world.
“My journey of peacemaking led, in
many stages of my life, to Angola,
Congo, India, Britain, Canada, Kenya,
Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia and other
countries. It seems that I have been
called upon to make peace everywhere
I have lived.”
Also, while I was a chaplain, I drafted my first official
peacemaking project, which I presented to both the Angolan
government and rebels in the middle of the war, the so-called
“National Fellowship for the Reconciliation of Angola.” After 10
years of waiting, the Lord opened the door for me to return to my
homeland and put into practice what I wrote in that document.
However, God writes straight, but in crooked lines. During
that waiting period I was appointed by Canadian Baptist
Ministries to work as a missionary in the East Congo. As a result,
many lessons I prepared for Angola were first used in the Congo,
Rwanda and Kenya.
This was followed by ministry in the refugee camps in Goma
after the genocide in Rwanda. The success of this peacemaking
ministry was due to our planning and God’s guidance. First, we
trained the pastors we found in the refugee camps. They knew
the language and the culture of their people. Then we trained
the refugee leaders themselves.
The news of our ministry of peace and reconciliation reached
inside the country of Rwanda. As a result, we were invited to
enter that country even when the borders were officially closed.
Peacemaking in the refugee camps included the establishment of
training centers for youth. Boys were trained in carpentry and girls
in tailoring and crocheting. Products were sold to NGOs, and the
money was used to build chapels and organize schools.
On my first retirement, I was appointed Peace and
Reconciliation Consultant by Canadian Baptist Ministries. In
this capacity, I was able to visit the 40,000 Angolan refugees in
camps in Zambia. We trained their leaders in Peace-building and
Conflict Management.
With the protection of the Canadian Government and the
support of Canadian Baptists, I went to South Africa to meet
a Burundian chief rebel, and I succeeded at convincing him to
return to the UN-sponsored peace talks. The result was the end of
the Burundi civil war and the successful integration of the rebels
into the government.
My first association with the Baptist Peace Fellowship of
North America was at the Peace Camp held in 2000 at Acadia
University in Wolfville, NS. I was invited by the local committee
to lead a workshop, “Two Methods of Peacebuilding and
Reconciliation,” comparing the African approach, such as that
of the Bakongo Tribes of Angola, with the Christian approach
of forgiveness and reconciliation.
I enjoyed the experience of worship, prayers and the
fellowship with so many peace-loving brothers and sisters from
all over North America—so much that I became a member of
the BPFNA that year.
After 27 years, the civil war in Angola finally ended. I became
very active in this ministry once again. Refugees were planning
to return to their homeland after 25 years in exile. I returned to
Zambia to train and prepare them, emotionally and spiritually.
I was inside Angola three years later to meet them at the
welcoming centers. Then I made repeated visits to Angola,
teaching the people on the government side how to welcome them
back. In order to accomplish those tasks, I undertook 10 peace
missions into Angola, working with the local churches and NGOs
in civic education programs and training peace promoters.
In these undertakings I worked at a national and
trans-denominational level, contributing to the national
reconstruction of my country of birth. Here in Canada, I
still respond to invitations to lead workshops on Conflict
Transformation and peacemaking.
During my second retirement, I was invited to join the Board
of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America (now BPFNA
~ Bautistas por la Paz), where I served with joy for three years.
I was unable to continue due to the poor health of my wife, as I
became the only caregiver for her. I count it as a privilege to have
served on that board with so many peace-lovers and, in prayers,
we are still serving together in many ways in the ministry of peace
rooted in justice.
My vocation as a peacemaker has been the core of my life.
I have served in many countries over many decades, and still I
feel that the wisdom that has guided me is rooted in the lessons I
learned watching my grandpa guide our village in Angola.
—Joao Matwawana now lives in Lower Sackville, NS. He is the subject of
the biographical book Wars Are Never Enough, written by his longtime
friend, Dr. John Keith, available from Ridge Books, 2005. n
APR-JUN 2015
Baptist Peacemaker
15
Christians and Commitment to Truth
& Justice: How Churches Are Responding to
the Ayotzinapa Kidnapping
by Hortensia Azucena Picos Lee
L
ast September, the forced disappearance of 43 students in
Mexico’s southern state of Guerrero, shook and outraged
the Mexican people and provoked the solidarity of many people
around the world, all weary of the country’s escalating violence
and repression, finally and publicly exposed in that kidnapping.
[See “Kidnapping of 43 Students Leads to Outrage in Mexico” on page 9
of the January-March 2015 issue of Baptist Peacemaker.]
This story began with an attack perpetrated by the City of
Iguala’s police force on dozens of students from the local Rural
Teacher Training School of Ayotzinapa. This institution was
created in the 1930s to train elementary school teachers amidst
an impoverished and uneducated community.
The misery and discontent in the area, coupled with the
socialist philosophy that has marked this institution almost since
its inception, were the breeding ground for social movements.
Sometimes the movements were radical in their nature, with the
students seeking equality and better living conditions for their
people. These unconventional actions were considered disruptive
for the status quo and were repressed by the Mexican government.
Ayotzinapa’s students saw their public actions as a means to
enforce their demands, and as a result they were attacked by local
police. On Sept. 26, six students were
killed and 43 suddenly disappeared.
The anguish and pain, and the
claims of the victim’s families for
justice, were immediate—as well
as the wrath of a society that saw,
in the facts that became public,
the collusion of local police, the
army and one of many local groups
involved in drug trafficking.
Nothing has been sufficiently
clarified by the authorities. The
corruption and impunity that have
historically polluted all government levels
have only added to the sense of outrage
among the people. Any “official” version
offered through the media is met by a
public outcry of disbelief.
As time passes, Mexican authorities
are trying to challenge the memory of
the people, but this time the Mexican
society is seriously wounded and does
not want to forget.
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What should Christians do about this?
The church understands that being a peacemaker does not
mean being a silent witness to constant violation of fundamental
human rights. The church cannot remain indifferent to this
unspeakable massacre, committed against minorities, and their
families, who are torn by grief and uncertainty. The church is
called to be the leaven in the dough (Luke 13:21).
“The church cannot remain indifferent to
this unspeakable massacre, committed
against minorities, and their families, who
are torn by grief and uncertainty.”
The church must guide, build and announce the
Kingdom of God—and, in so doing, denounce injustice. The
church is called to care for the salvation of human beings in all
dimensions of life: physical, spiritual, intellectual and social. Many Christian churches and
o rg a n i z ati o n s i n M ex i c o h ave
responded to this calling. They have
expressed their demand for justice and
peace in different ways. Although the
Mexican government does not like to
hear dissident voices, Christians have
shown courage and commitment to
active participation, recognizing that
we are all part of the solution to build
a nation in which the life, dignity and
rights of every individual are valued.
Believers of various faith traditions,
Christian denominations and churches
have sympathized with the families
of the missing youth and have
demanded publicly that the students
be returned alive. From a wide range of
geographical locations, church groups
have demanded that the Mexican
government ensure conditions that do
not allow the violation of human rights
such as those in Iguala last September.
These are some of the actions that the Christian community
in Mexico has taken to protest peacefully:
• On November 2, members of the social organization “Land
and Liberty” and a number of evangelical Christians
marched in Iguala, demanding tranquility for the municipality and the safe return of the 43 missing of Ayotzinapa.
Before their departure, participants performed a prayer for
peace in the town.
• On November 5, organizations of different religious denominations joined in the Ecumenical Day of Solidarity with
Ayotzinapa with 43 hours of fasting and prayer for the 43,
held in Zócalo, the capital city’s main square.
• On December 16, members of religious organizations
representing Catholic, Evangelical and Baptist churches
organized a “Tree of Truth, Justice and Peace for Ayotzinapa” at the Juárez Chamber. They demanded that the 42
remaining students be returned alive. They also demanded
justice for Alexander Mora, whose death had been confirmed by that time.1
several religious organizations began 43 hours of fasting in
Zócalo. In the “Ecumenical Day of Solidarity, Prayer and
Fasting with Ayotzinapa 43 × 43,” the names of the missing
were called at every hour. Other activities involved the general population.
Various churches and religious organizations have also
issued statements condemning the alarming increase of violence
in Mexico. The case of Ayotzinapa is considered the tip of the
iceberg of a failed Mexican state consumed in its own lawlessness.
Mexican Christians are awakening and realizing that they
have a commitment to truth and that they cannot remain unmoved
by the devastating reality that surrounds them. Where there is
injustice, silence is the voice of complicity. Isaiah 61: 1 says:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed
me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening
of the prison to those who are bound…
Please see “Ayotzinapa” on page 21.
• On November 29, dozens of families of Baptist churches in Xalapa, Veracruz, organized
a march. In an interview, Pastor Aurelio
Chavez Mancilla said the march was a silent
prayer mobilization to demand justice for
the acts of violence that occurred in recent
months across the country. Protesters carried
white balloons as a sign of peace.
• On November 29, several Catholic Churches
in Saltillo, Coahuila, celebrated an outdoor
mass as an expression of solidarity with the
parents of the students. Masses were celebrated in at least six churches, all of which
joined a silent procession of hundreds of
people from Southern Saltillo.
• On January 26, churches and individuals who
make up the Communities for Justice and
Peace (COJUPAZ) called for a celebration
at the monument known as the Pillar of
Light in Mexico City. This event consisted
of prayers and songs that recognized and
honored the victims of Ayotzinapa. In addition, relatives and friends of the 43 shared
stories. Afterwards, many took part in a
march from the Pillar of Light to Zócalo,
the Main Square.
• On February 26, the Global Action Movement “We Continue Being Ayotzinapa” organized a march at the Mexican President’s
official residence, Los Pinos, and concluded
with a meeting in Zócalo. Along with this,
BPFNA Members Attend 2014 SOA Watch Vigil
Above: Members of the BPFNA ~ Bautistas por la Paz hold crosses at the 2014
School of the Americas (SOA) Watch vigil at Fort Benning, GA. These crosses
name six of the tens of thousands of murdered and disappeared innocents
in Latin America, killed over the years by people trained at the School of the
Americas (now named WHINSEC, or Western Hemisphere Institute for Security
Cooperation). “God knows each of these people by name,” Richard Myers
wrote. Several hundred names were called during the vigil. After each name
was called, the crowd lifted their crosses and sang, “Presente!” The BPFNA
has had a presence at the annual November SOA Watch for many years. Photo
courtesy of Richard Myers. n
APR-JUN 2015
Baptist Peacemaker
17
BPFNA World Peace Network to
Fund Five African Peace Projects
A
t the February 2015 meeting of the BPFNA ~ Bautistas por la
Paz board of directors, five programs were selected to receive
funding from the Gavel Memorial World Peace Fund.
These projects are part of BPFNA’s World Peace Networks
(WPN) programming, which is designed to work through
training and transnational partnership to support and empower
peacemaking efforts beyond North America by doing the
following things:
• Increasing the capacity of our global partners to
engage in peacemaking ministries;
• Supporting and empowering grassroots peacemakers;
• Articulating a global vision of the work of the BPFNA
in the preventing, transforming or ending of conflict,
and in the healing of the wounds of conflict;
• Strengthening existing reconciliation processes; and
• Providing/encouraging training opportunities globally.
In focusing all of this year’s efforts on the African continent,
where we have the strongest concentration of connections
with active, indigenous peacemakers, we hope to maximize the
effectiveness of our grant-making.
The following groups will receive 2015 funding:
1.
Crossing Lines. The Mission of Crossing Lines Africa is to
step up positive engagement and commitment towards equality
and human rights, and to facilitate Conflict Transformation
among communities ravaged by violent conflict.
In 2015, Crossing Lines plans to offer Conflict Transformation
training for LGBT leaders and key allies in Uganda. It will
work with organizations that focus on diverse sexual minority
communities, including LGBT persons and sex workers, as well
as NGOs that focus on human trafficking and immigration.
Because of the nature of this work, some of Crossing Lines’
frequent supporters are unwilling or unable to provide funding.
The BPFNA is pleased to be able to support these courageous
and important efforts.
2.
Jitokeze Wamama Wafrika. Jitokeze Wamama Wafrika
serves the households of marginalized women and girls in
Kenya. Women and girls are the people most vulnerable to the
impacts of droughts and conflicts induced by climate change.
Jitokeze does excellent work in the interconnected areas of food
security, water security, income security and peacebuilding/
Conflict Transformation.
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3.
Kingdom of Peace and Development (KOPAD).
KOPAD works with rural communities to identify unique
resources in its localities that can be utilized sustainably to achieve
community growth, development and transformation.
They have created a truly comprehensive campaign for the
transformation of the conflict-ridden Kenyan counties of West
Pokot and Turkana. KOPAD has a very thorough plan for intense
training and peace work throughout the region. Its organizers’
efforts thus far have been remarkably effective, and BPFNA
funding will assist in expanding and continuing them.
4.
PAPNET (Pan African Peace Network). PAPNET seeks
to usher in a novel era of mutually beneficial nonviolent
Conflict Transformation synergies to transform African conflicts
while fostering social equity and community progress through
pacifism—not passivism.
PAPNET, a coalition of grassroots organizations throughout
Africa, has established itself in just a few years as a “go-to” group
for Conflict Transformation training in a wide variety of settings.
Its organizers have been invited to work with groups as diverse
as the youth of the Baptist Convention of Malawi and the chiefs
and elders of a conflicted region of Zimbabwe.
They are frequently invited to do further training and, as a
result, receive more invitations than the group is able to fund. Our
support will enable them to accept more invitations. {See page 10
for more about PAPNET’s work.]
5.
PHARP (Peacebuilding, Healing and Reconciliation
Programme). PHARP works to foster peace, healing,
reconciliation and discipleship through training in conflict
prevention, transformation and reconstruction.
Our grant will go toward PHARP’s ongoing programs
including the Peace Community Empowerment Project that
targets youth between 13-18 years.
These youth are being prepared by some community
elders for cattle rustling, a major source of ongoing conflict.
PHARP plans to equip 60 youth and 20 community elders for
Conflict Transformation, trauma healing and reconciliation.
This is an ongoing project with several facets that will continue
throughout the year.
All the work above is made possible by generous gifts to the
Gavel Memorial World Peace Fund. Gifts to this fund are muchneeded and greatly appreciated. n
Resource Reviews
In the Land of the Willing:
Litanies, Prayers, Poems & Benedictions
by Kenneth L. Sehested
reviewed by Katie Cook
K
en Sehested has had a profoundly prophetic voice ever since
I have known him, which is more than 40 years. He is quick
to grasp the truth of an international crisis or incident of injustice,
and he pours out an eloquent response before I even figure out
that something happened. In his books of liturgical writings,
Ken shares these responses with the
faithful of the world.
His newest book, In the Land
of the Willing, is a follow-up to an
earlier work, In the Land of the Living:
Prayers Personal and Public. As Walter
Brueggeman writes in the foreword
for the newer one, Ken has a knack
“for finding the right text at the
right time.”
Both of these
books, designed for
personal reflection as
well as community
wo r s h i p, i n c l u d e
the riveting use of
images from the Bible, imaginatively applied to a
contemporary context.
The writings in In the Land of the Willing are
grouped in categories: “hindrance and desert,”
mercy, transformation, praise and thanksgiving,
songs, “occasional”writings and benedictions. The
occasional writings include ordination blessings,
prayers for the liturgical year and interfaith litanies.
The book includes a blessing for Stan Dotson
and Kim Christman, just before they left for Cuba
for a year of learning and ministry [see page 12]. The
book derives its name from the name of the blessing.
Ken writes:
As Joyce Hollyday, who has served as a co-pastor with Ken
and his wife, Nancy Hastings Sehested, for some 12 years, says,
“Our aching world needs more of such stunning and eloquent
expressions of confession, conviction and celebration.”
I would also encourage you to check out Ken’s online journal,
Prayer&politiks at www.prayerandpolitiks.org [see page 20 for a
review by Dale Roberts]. In addition to serving until recently as
a co-pastor for the Circle of Mercy, a house church in Asheville,
NC, he was the founding director of the BPFNA. Before that, he
was a founding editor of Seeds, a hunger ministry out of Oakhurst
Baptist Church in Decatur, GA (a BPFNA Partner Congregation).
He has been reading, praying and writing about justice issues
for a really long time. You can find more information about
purchasing these books at www.prayerandpolitiks.org. n
This is one of those
old-fashioned, free-range,
leap-of-faith callings.
Just when you thought
our climate-controlled,
pension-secured culture
had squeezed all the
chutzpah out of the
believing community…
APR-JUN 2015
Baptist Peacemaker
19
Resource Reviews
Prayer&politiks:
A Review of Ken Sehested’s Online Journal
by Dale Roberts
T
he theologian Karl Barth exhorts Christians to read with the
Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. When you
visit prayer&politiks (www.prayerandpolitiks.org), you’ll also want
your appointment calendar open in front of you. Prayer&politiks
calls us to active prayer and stirs us to prayerful and mindful action.
Prayer&politiks is Ken Sehested’s weekly online journal of
news and opinion, a fresh admixture of voices and ideas unlike
any other journal I know of, print or electronic.
The word politiks in the title comes from the German
Realpolitik, meaning “real politics.” This is politics as practiced in
the suites and in the streets, the struggle between the powers and
principalities and the people of faith who resist them.
The subtitle is apt: “At the intersection of spiritual formation
and prophetic action.”
The blizzard of bad news in the mainstream media can
overwhelm us and push us toward despair. Prayer&politiks tells
stories missed or ignored by the commercial media—and tells
them in ways that are clear-eyed, yet hopeful.
Prayer&politics provides a faith perspective on unfolding
events—the news seen through the lens of the Good News—and
shows how scripture is a timely and timeless guide to today’s
struggle toward peace and justice.
“Signs of the Times,” on the journal’s home page, gathers
“News, Views, Notes and Quotes.” Some are tragic, some
infuriating, some frightening, some funny, some provocative, all
cogent and engaging. Some will stick in your mind like cockleburs,
prodding you to take notice, to think, to pray and to act.
“Prayer&politiks tells stories missed or
ignored by the commercial media—and
tells them in ways that are clear-eyed,
yet hopeful.”
Some news and ideas from recent issues:
• A documentary on trauma and suicide among military veterans—CRISIS HOTLINE: VETERANS PRESS 1—won an
Academy Award.
• An essay on the 100th anniversary of Thomas Merton’s birth.
• “We’re killing a lot of [ISIS fighters] …. ” said a US State
Department spokesperson, “But we cannot win this war by killing
them. We cannot kill our way out of this war.”
• The North Miami Beach police department was found to be using
mug shots of black men as targets on their firing range. A group of
Lutheran pastors sent the police department photos of themselves, in
clerical garb, with the message, “Use me instead.”
• A piece on Constance Baker Motley, a lawyer and federal judge,
one of the unsung heroes of the civil rights movement.
• Quotations from Dag Hammarskjold, from
the 14th-century Persian poet Hafez, from
Walter Wink, and from Lynda Blackmon
Lowery, the youngest person on the 1965 SelmaMontgomery march.
Prayer&politiks features essays, articles,
reviews, sermons, prayers, and poetry by the
journal’s editor and other writers, both regular
and occasional. Prayer&politiks is essential
reading for anyone seeking to connect personal
faith with public witness. Preachers will find a
wealth of timely and compelling sermon ideas.
Ken Sehested was the founding director of
the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America
and a founding co-pastor of the Circle of
Mercy Congregation in Asheville, NC.
He has written books, essays, articles,and
poems. His work with Christian Peacemaker
20
Baptist Peacemaker
APR-JUN 2015
Resources & Opportunities
Teams and other groups has taken him from
Brazil to Thailand to Iraq.
Prayer&politiks reminds us that for
people of faith, holding the right beliefs
and opinions, writing checks and signing
petitions are not enough. We are called to
move from personal faith to prayerful and
prophetic action.
As Karl Barth said, “To clasp hands
in prayer is the beginning of the uprising
against the disorder of the world.”
—Dale Roberts teaches and writes in Asheville, NC. n
BPFNA
Ayotzinapa
These words are not only to our delight; God turned them into a mission that we
are called to share here and now into a wounded world which is our field of work.
—Hortensia Azucena Picos Lee Hortensia Azucena Picos Lee, a native of Mexico, grew up in a family
with a long and rooted Baptist tradition. She has collaborated with the BPFNA on several occasions,
sharing her bilingual skills and her passion for justice.
She lives in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico. For the full article in English and Spanish, along with
sources and links, go to http://bit.ly/commitment-to-truth. n
Endnote
1. On Dec. 6, the remains of Alexander Mora Vanancio, age 19, were positively identified
by forensic specialists in Austria.
2015 Peace Breakfasts
Cooperative Baptist
Fellowship General Assembly
Dallas, Texas USA
Hyatt Regency – Cumberland A Ballroom
Thursday, June 18, 2015
7 a.m.
Cost: $35
Register at www.bpfna.org/breakfast
American Baptist Churches
Mission Summit
Kansas City, Kansas USA
Location TBD
Sunday, June 28, 2015
7 - 8:45 a.m.
Cost: $20
Register at www.americanbaptists2015.com
APR-JUN 2015
Baptist Peacemaker
21
Invite your
friends to
hear our
stories.
Please print the following information:
Name: ______________________________________
Mailing Address: _______________________________
___________________________________________
City:________________________________________
State/Province: ____ Zip/Postal Code: _______________
Country: _____________________________________
E-mail: ______________________________________
If you are reading Baptist Peacemaker, chances
are that you are a member of the Baptist
Peace Fellowship. If you are not, we invite
you to add your story to ours. Just clip this
coupon and send us your check, and you will
become a member of the BPFNA ~ Bautistas
por la Paz. If you are a BPFNA member,
please invite others to our conversation.
Home Church: ________________________________
❑ My membership check is enclosed. $40-Household;
$20-Student/Low Income; $50-Church/Institution
❑ Also enclosed is $ _________ as an additional
contribution.
Send your check and this form to: BPFNA ~
Bautistas por la Paz, 300 Hawthorne Lane, Suite 205,
Charlotte, NC 28204 USA. Visit our website at www.
bpfna.org/join to join online.
Proctor Conference Announces 2015 Justice Initiatives
E
xecutive Director LeDayne McLeese
Polaski represented BPFNA at the
February 2015 national gathering of
the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference
(SDPC) in Norfolk, VA.
SDPC represents an ecumenical crosssection of progressive African-American
faith leaders and their congregations in
the United States. Founded in 2003, the
group was called into being to continue
the rich legacy of the faith community’s
engagement in issues of social justice.
SDPC follows in the footsteps of the
late Rev. Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor, who
was Pastor Emeritus of the Abyssinian
Baptist Church of New York City and
Professor Emeritus at Rutgers University.
He served as president of Virginia Union
University in Richmond and North
Carolina A&T State University. He held
administrative positions with the Peace
Corps in Nigeria and Washington, DC,
and the National Council of Churches.
Dr. Frederick Douglass Haynes, III,
Senior Pastor of Friendship-West Baptist
Church in Dallas, TX, is one of the three
SDPC founders. Numerous Baptist leaders
serve as directors, and many Baptist pastors
and laypeople are involved.
22
Baptist Peacemaker
From its inception, the SDPC has
embodied Dr. Proctor’s vision, adopting an
organizational mission to affirm that there
is no separation between the anointing of
the Spirit of the Lord and the social justice
aspects which that same Spirit calls us to
carry out day-by-day in the communities
where we live and serve.
At the gathering, the Conference
announced its 2015 “Bearing Witness
Institute Agenda,” which will feature work
concerning the community, the church
and the academy. Community work will
involve creating public spaces in cities
across the US to address systemic racism,
militarized policing and blatant disregard
for human rights.
Those involved in the process will
face together the epidemic of killings
and its root causes, identify needs and
responsibilities of everyone affected, and
discern responses that will heal harms,
restore relationships and institutions, and
forge a new future.
The church focus features
a collaboration with Kairos USA to
empower African-American churches to
respond to the current state of Palestinian
oppression. Working together, SDPC
APR-JUN 2015
and Kairos USA have launched Kairos
Congregations, designed to increase
awareness and mobilize African-American
faith communities in solidarity with the
Palestinian justice struggle. The initiative
includes a web site (voices4peacenow.org),
information sessions, curriculum and
pilgrimages to the Holy Land.
The final emphasis will be training
youth and young adults in global and
ethical leadership. In partnership with the
American Baptist College in Nashville, TN,
SDPC will offer Bearing Witness Youth
Activist Summer Training Institutes, an
initiative geared towards cultivating and
equipping young leaders (ages 16-35)
with the skills and experiences essential
to becoming critical, engaged, ethical and
globally-conscious activists.
BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz is
currently exploring ways we might connect
to and support these vital initiatives. n
Gifts of Honor
In Honor of:
Jonathan Sledge
From: David Anderson
Judson Day & Bill Vest
From: Sara Day
Karen Turner
From: Katie Double
Evelyn Hanneman
From: Jerrie Shepard Matney
From: Millard Eiland & David Taylor
From: Ann Thompson
From: Jane & Everett Goodwin
From: Sandi John
From: Wanny & Ashley Hogewood
From: Doug Donley
From: Richard & Macie Martin
From: John Kent
From: Karen Hilliker
From: Brooke J. Rolston
From: Dr. Jane Kendrick-LITES
From: Bill & Linda Mashburn
From: Steve & Leslie Gretz
From: Kate Campbell
From: Bill & Annette Bickers
From: Sally & Kenneth Dodgson
From: Marilyn VanDyke
From: Sr. Barbara Lenniger
From: Luis G. Collazo
From: George & Mary Lou Buck
From: Thomas Conner
From: Jean Bartlett
Thomas Price
From: Caryl Price
Mary Hammond
(for her 62nd birthday)
From: Steve Hammond
Meredith Walsh
From: Tom Walsh
Roger & Mary Ruth Crook
From: Paul & Paula Dempsey
David Bartlett
From: Jean Bartlett
Robin Buck
From: George Buck (Happy
Valentine’s Day!)
Mary Lou Buck
From: George Buck
(Happy Birthday!)
Peter Yuichi Clark
From: Lakeshore Avenue Baptist
Church (Oakland, CA)
In Memory of:
Sgt. Roy Grady Brock, U.S.
Army Medic
From: Rita Nakashima Brock
Gardner & Viola Winn From: Gwenyth Lewis
Dr. Mac Bryan
From: Wanny & Ashley Hogewood
Dr. Richard E. Ice
From: Daniel Pryfogle
Howard & Claire Sorensen
From: Garth Sorensen
Charlotte Carman Foote
From: Jean & Dave Baxter
Herbert J. Murray, Jr.
From: Margorie Murray
APR-JUN 2015
Baptist Peacemaker
23
Churches,
Working
Together
for Peace.
The BPFNA ~ Bautistas por
la Paz Partner Congregation
Program
• The Partner Congregation program encourages
strategic alliances for mission between local
churches and other peacemakers.
• It also offers resources and networking for
congregations that would otherwise
be isolated in a violent and materialistic world.
Go Paperless
with Us!
Our goal for the past year has been to decrease the
amount of paper we use—and we are working to
continue that trend. Therefore, we invite you to go
paperless with us! Not only will you be helping the
environment, you’ll also be helping us cut costs. This
way we can devote more resources to the things that
really matter!
Please complete the form below and mail it back to us
at 300 Hawthorne Ln, Suite 205, Charlotte, NC
28204 to let us know your preferences. Or you can go to
www.bpfna.org/paperless to submit the form online.
If you have already responded, thanks!
1. Name ______________________________________________
2. Email ______________________________________________
3. I would like to receive the following items electronically (choose one):
The BPFNA welcomes
its newest Partner
Congregations:
Highland Park Baptist Church,
Austin, TX
The South Church
Mount Prospect, IL
Webster Baptist Church
Webster, NY
q Just Baptist Peacemaker
q I would like to go completely paperless and
receive all items electronically
q I am not interested in going paperless at this time
4. Is there anyone else in your household who would like to
receive items electronically? Please provide us with their names
and email addresses:
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
5. Additional comments:
__________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
For more information, contact LeDayne McLeese Polaski
at [email protected] or 704/521-6051.
24
Baptist Peacemaker
APR-JUN 2015
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
Waging Peace:
A Conflict Transformation
Workshop
at the ABC Biennial Mission
Summit
Kansas City, KS Thursday, June 25, 2015
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Led by LeDayne McLeese Polaski,
Executive Director,
BPFNA ~ Bautistas por la Paz
First Baptist Church McMinnville
Seeks Full-time Senior Pastor
First Baptist Church of McMinnville, OR, is a midsized,
progressive, inclusive American Baptist Church in a vibrant
college community. We are diverse, multigenerational and
committed to the principles in Matthew 25:34-40. We
are passionate about local outreach and international
missions. We seek an experienced pastor capable of
bringing scripture to life in both contemporary and
traditional services, providing pastoral care and who
has the following qualities: ability to supervise staff and
support volunteers, effective communicator, natural
leader, open-minded and collaborative. For information
contact: Search Chair, JoAnn, at search.fbcmac@gmail.
com and visit the link to our website at www.fbcmac.org/
pastoral search.
Conflict Transformation:
transforming conflict into peaceful
outcomes. Conflict Transformation
approaches differ from those of conflict
management or conflict resolution,
seeking to transform the relationships
that support violence by identifying longstanding issues and inequities.
The Baptist Peace Fellowship of
North America has used Conflict
Transformation for almost 20 years to
help people involved in ongoing wars
throughout the world move beyond a
focus on winning a battle to a focus on
transforming their understanding of what
true winning would look like. Based on
the biblical message of peace, Conflict
Transformation is not a simple solution
but a whole new way of understanding.
This special one-day training, Waging
Peace, offered at the ABCUSA Biennial
Mission Summit gives you the opportunity
to experience a taste of this transformation
while learning specific skills that will help
you address conflict in your own situation.
YOUR PURCHASE COUNTS TWICE!
when you order Fair Trade items from Equal Exchange
through the Baptist Fair Trade Project!
Not only are you supporting small farmers around the world, but a
portion of the proceeds also go to support the BPFNA’s Friendship
Tour Scholarship Program!
Visit www.equalexchange.coop/our-partners and select
“Interfaith Partners” to learn more about the BFTP.
Go to http://shop.equalexchange.coop to place an order!
The cost of $50.00 includes the one-day
workshop, all the handouts and a boxed lunch.
Register at:
http://www.americanbaptists2015.com.
APR-JUN 2015
Baptist Peacemaker
25
BPFNA Highlights
T
he BPFNA celebrated our 30th anniversary in 2014—three decades
of working with you for peace rooted in justice! We have listed below
some of the things we accomplished last year.
Seminaries
• Along with the Alliance of Baptists and Pullen Memorial Baptist
Church, we sponsored Rev. Dr. Doris J. García in teaching a course
titled Interculturality in the Old Testament: Challenge and Opportunity for
Peace and Reconciliation, as part of the annual Hispanic Summer
Program for master’s level Latino/Latina seminarians and
graduate students.
• Board President Amaury Tañón-Santos taught a course called
Christian Ethics and Peace: A Latin American Perspective at the Mayan
Intercultural Seminary (SIM) in San Cristóbal de Las Casas,
Chiapas, Mexico.
• Received a $21,000 E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter
Foundation grant through the Foundation’s program in graduate
theological education. The grant will support a gathering of
Baptist seminarians from Canada, the US, Mexico, Puerto Rico
and Cuba as part of BPFNA’s annual conference to be held July
2015. The students will come together for a week of intensive
and experiential education with the purpose of equipping and
mobilizing them to return to their schools/communities inspired
and able to serve as progressive religious leaders and agents of
social change.
• Continued to publish Baptist Peacemaker, our quarterly journal,
which again won Associated Church Press awards: one for Bob
Tiller’s “A Proposal to Christian Peacemakers about Guns” and
another for Lee McKenna’s “Rosa Parks Goes to Tutti Island.”
• Created Dando a Luz a un Nuevo Mundo, an annotated list of peace
and justice resources written in Spanish.
• Published an essay series called The Vocation of Peacemaking to
celebrate and inspire individual efforts to live a life of peace.
• Continued to publish Model Ministries, an e-newsletter for
Partner Congregations.
Partner Congregations
• Shared stories of our Partner Congregations in Model Ministries,
created a monthly update to keep them informed, and shared
resources for the annual celebration of Peace Sunday.
• Worked formally and informally to support Partner Congregations
looking to fill staff positions and pastors looking for churches.
• Shared materials for congregations to celebrate/recognize: Gun
Violence Prevention Sabbath, Earth Day, Torture Awareness
Month and the People’s Climate March—as well as materials
related to specific issues and seasons of the church year.
Companion Program
• Continued our popular companioning program pairing young
adults with more experienced peacemakers.
Gavel Memorial Peace Fund
Publications
• Opened up our social media resources to BPFNA members and
friends to share worship resources, news stories, congregational
updates and a wide variety of pieces on such topics as marriage
equality, immigration, gun violence and racism.
• Continued to promote the second edition of Rightly Dividing the
Word of Truth: A Resource for Congregations on Sexual Orientation and
Gender Identity.
• Published Ten Great Things to Give to guide people in gift-giving
that supports peace rooted in justice.
• Published What Your Church Can Do About Human Trafficking, the
latest in our series of issue monographs empowering congregations
to respond to issues of injustice.
BPFNA Financial Report
January-December 2014
INCOME
Contributions
Programs
TOTAL
Carryover
210,358.48
149,939.78
360,298.26
24,657.80
EXPENSES
Administration
Programs
TOTAL
76,968.04
307,988.02
384,956.06
• Supported the Fourth Women’s Interfaith Gathering held on
March 2014, in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
• With our help, Lancelot Muteyo of the Pan African Peace
Network (PAP-NET) was present at the Baptist Convention
of Malawi Youth Easter Conference. In the first part of the
convention, he made a presentation introducing approximately
500 youth and their leaders to the techniques of Conflict
Transformation. The second part was more intimate, with a
session in which he trained 30 youth in the skills of Conflict
Transformation. Each of Malawi’s seven provinces selected
approximately five youth to participate in the training.
• Enabled the Peacebuilding, Healing and Reconciliation
Programme (PHARP) to lead a four-day peace-building training
to strengthen the capacity of pastors, teachers and community
leaders to promote peace, forgiveness and reconciliation in Kenya.
• Sponsored ongoing Conflict Transformation trainings led by
Boaz Keibarak among the Pokot and Turkana tribes in Kenya,
areas in which where there has been violence for many years and
a series of recent killings.
• Made it possible for PAP-NET to create a Conflict Transformation
training for chiefs, sub chiefs, village heads, kraal heads, police
chiefs, council heads, pastors and the general public in Masvingo,
Zimbabwe. Thirty people were expected but 64 attended. The
paramount chief of Ndanga Clan, who is in charge of 254 villages,
extended his invitation for the group to come back again and
conduct Conflict Transformation Workshops for Members of
Parliament and Councillors.
Please see “Highlights” on page 31.
26
Baptist Peacemaker
APR-JUN 2015
Contributors
Mike Taft, Mesa, AZ; James & Jo Ann Vredenburg,
Mesa, AZ; Nathan Watts, Tucson, AZ;
he board and staff of the BPFNA ~ Bautistas por la Paz
CALIFORNIA: Joyce Bass, San Leandro, CA;
thank the following individuals, local congregations and other
Wesley & Cheryl Brown, Claremont, CA; Oscar
organizations who provided financial support in 2014.
Burdick, Walnut Creek, CA; Sandra Cope, Irvine,
The majority of our income comes from individuals and
CA; Judson Day & Bill Vest, Sacramento, CA;
Denise Dinkins, La Jolla, CA; Dale & Alice
congregations. The remainder comes from other sources,
Edmondson, San Leandro, CA; Carol Eklund &
including grants and the sale of resources. Our financial records
Kay Wellington, Concord, CA; Telfer & Carol
are audited annually.
Epp, San Clemente, CA; Meredith Guest,
The BPFNA is a people-based organization with minimal
Petaluma, CA; Adalia Gutierrez-Lee & Ray
support from institutions and denominations. We operate with the
Schellinger, San Diego, CA; Michelle Hammons,
Oakland, CA; Paul & Linda Rae Hardwick,
commitment of people who believe our vision for peace rooted in
Walnut Creek, CA; Randy Hasper, Chula Vista,
justice is important. We feel blessed to have the opportunity to do
CA; Allen & Gail Hinand, Claremont, CA; Robert
this vital work of establishing peace with justice—and of working
& Mary Hogan, Pleasant Hill, CA; Lynn &
alongside people like you.
Marilyn Hunwick, Palo Alto, CA; Richard Ice,
If your name is not listed below and it should be, please notify
Alameda, CA; Ed & Diane Irvin, Redlands, CA;
James Ella James, Oakland, CA; Sandra & Chuck
us (704/521-6051; [email protected]). We will correct our records
John, Chico, CA; Babette Kubota, Glendale, CA;
and note the omission in the next issue of Baptist Peacemaker. n
Greg & Jan Ledbetter, Pleasant Hill, CA; Sandy
Mitchell, Concord, CA; Paul Nagano, Alhambra,
CA; Wendy Neale, Clayton, CA; Virgil & Lynn
Individual Donors, Canada
Nelson, Roseville, CA; James Oliver, Seal Beach, CA; Cody
ALBERTA: John Bruneau, Camrose, AB; Betty Lou & Larry Sanders, Sacramento, CA; Stephen & Honey Scappa, Pacific
Harris, Wetaskiwin, AB; Rose Merke, Edmonton, AB; BRITISH Palisades, CA; Lenita Shumaker, Clayton, CA; Stephen Garth
COLUMBIA: Jan Constantinescu, Vancouver, BC; Robert & Sorensen, Culver City, CA; Allison Tanner, El Cerrito, CA;
Judith Doll, Burnaby, BC; Blake Gilks, Vancouver, BC; Mary William Tapscott, Santee, CA; Joan Thatcher, Oakland, CA;
Kendall & Denis Probst, Port Coquitlam, BC; MANITOBA: Robert & Peggy Wallace, Claremont, CA; Peter Yuichi Clark &
Frederick Rupert, Winnipeg, MB; NOVA SCOTIA: Ron & Norma Mathilde Roche Ttees, Alameda, CA; COLORADO:
Carol Buckley, Port Williams, NS; Roger & Sadie Cann, New Beverly Ann Gavel, Denver, CO; Glenn R Hill, Denver, CO;
Minas, NS; Dorothy Thomson, Halifax, NS; ONTARIO: Gary Beth & Gordon Kieft, Denver, CO; Betty Ruth Moseley, Ft
Caldwell, Lynden, ON; Ted & Shirley Copeland, Paris, ON; Collins, CO; Sarah Myers & Scott Semple, Boulder, CO; Ben
Paul & Nancy Dekar, Dundas, ON; Katie Double, Milton, ON; Sanders III, Aurora, CO; Daniel & Estela Schweissing, Aurora,
Laurie Dullaart, Toronto, ON; John & Judith Furry, Woodstock, CO; ; CONNECTICUT: Timothy & Deborah Bates, Noank,
ON; Ron & Barbara Getz, Campbellcroft, ON; Karen Hilliker, CT; Martha & John Bradshaw, North Stonington, CT; C Burtis
London, ON; Ken and Marina Lloyd, Burlington, ON; Duncan & Patricia Crooks, Uncasville, CT; Katherine Fagerburg &
& Isobel McGregor, Waterloo, ON; Lee McKenna, Mono Vernon Baker, New Britain, CT; Lowell & Julie Fewster, Windsor,
Township, ON; Rev & Mrs Tom Morikawa, Toronto, ON; Gary CT; Samuel Fuller, Suffield, CT; Paul & Wendy Hayes, Groton,
& Ruby Purdy, Hamilton, ON; Debbie Siertsema, Mississauga, CT; Kathleen Hexter, Canterbury, CT; Maddie Lewis, Groton,
ON; Esther Sleep, Ancaster, ON; Karen Turner & Heather CT; Franklin & Marjorie Murdock, Groton, CT; Jennifer
Steeves, Toronto, ON; George & Prue Watts, Peterborough, Sanborn & Matthew Burch, Tariffville, CT; Gregory & Cheryl
ON; Debbie Woods, Aylmer, ON; SASKATCHEWAN, Thomas, Danielson, CT; Rev Dr Byron Waterman, Watertown,
Lindsay Penn-Matheson & Paul Matheson, Saskatoon, SK; Vern CT; FLORIDA: Jean Abell, Penney Farms, FL; Raymond &
Ratzlaff, Saskatoon, SK.
June Beaver, Penney Farms, FL; William & Jill Crawford, Naples,
FL; Martha Gale & Bob Carpenter, Penney Farms, FL; Clifford
Individual Donors, Mexico
& Rosemary Gilson, Penney Farms, FL; Doris Hayes, St. Johns,
Ximena Ulloa Montemayor, Alvaro Obregon, MX.
FL; Paul & Amy Manierre, Avon Park, FL; Wes & Rebecca
Monfalcone, Casselberry, FL; James & Helen Moseley, Ormond
Individual Donors, Puerto Rico
Beach, FL; Richard Murphy, Miami, FL; Mr & Mrs William
Luis Collazo, Cayey, PR; Carlos Gomez Menendez, Guaynabo, PR. Polaski, Palm Harbor, FL; James & Carolyn Strange, Tampa,
FL; Darla D Turlington, Palm Coast, FL; Flori Young,
Individual Donors, United States
Melbourne, FL; GEORGIA: Lem Arnold, Atlanta, GA; David
ALASKA: Sarah Welton, Wasilla, AK; ALABAMA: Elna Jean & Carol Bartlett, Decatur, GA; John Blevins, Atlanta, GA; David
Bentley, Birmingham, AL; David & Dorothy Blackburn, Athens, Pat Boyle, Lafayette, GA; Carol Burgess, Decatur, GA; Carole
AL; Mary Goodhue, Huntsville, AL; Walter & Mary Lynn Collins & Leslie Lowe, Stone Mountain, GA; Jerry Gentry &
Porter, Dadeville, AL; Morgan & Peggy Sanderford Ponder, Tina Pippin, Atlanta, GA; Richard & Betty Hammonds,
Birmingham, AL; Charlotte Ward, Auburn, AL; ARKANSAS: J Avondale Estates, GA; Jim & JoEllen Holmes, Decatur, GA;
Rex & Nancy Enoch, Little Rock, AR; ARIZONA: George & Dale B Holmes Jr, Gainesville, GA; Lucas Johnson, Savannah,
Elizabeth Daniels, Oro Valley, AZ; Paul & Sybil Eppinger, GA; John Kent, Blue Ridge, GA; Walker Knight, Decatur, GA;
Phoenix, AZ; Dr Warren H Stewart Sr, Phoenix, AZ; Barbara &
T
APR-JUN 2015
Baptist Peacemaker
27
Contributors
Joseph Laguardia, Conyers, GA; Marsha & Paul Lewis, Macon,
GA; Henry Mitchell, Atlanta, GA; David & Sharon Rensberger,
Decatur, GA; T Wesley Stewart, Alpharetta, GA; Myra Tucker
& Frank Shelledy, Atlanta, GA; Bryan Whitfield, Macon, GA;
Bill & Donna Woolf, Decatur, GA; Brett & Carol Younger,
Lilburn, GA; IOWA: Thomas Kessler, Cedar Falls, IA; Bill &
Dixie Roelofs, Sioux Center, IA; Wayne & Irene Shireman,
Ames, IA; Percy Walley, Fort Dodge, IA; IDAHO: Lois & Keith
Dahlberg, Kellogg, ID; Bernard & Jeanne Yurke, Boise, ID;
ILLINOIS: Barbara Basile & Felix Lopez, Chicago, IL; Garland
& Joan Criswell, Peoria, IL; Wilma Dyck, Normal, IL; Jean
Anne & Joe Feiler, Chicago, IL; John & Sylvia Grisham,
Chatham, IL; Jon & Cynthia Hallas, Northbrook, IL; Anne
Hoflen, Paw Paw, IL; Elizabeth Jones, Chicago, IL; Lelia Marvin,
Carbondale, IL; Viola Mayol, Evanston, IL; David & Susan
McCurdy, Elmhurst, IL; Eric Ohlmann, Geneva, IL; Sam
Smith, West Chicago, IL; Willis & Esther Sutter, Eureka, IL;
Chakravarthy & Glory Zadda, Chicago, IL; ; INDIANA:
Thomas Bartley, Speedway, IN; Thomas & MaryJane Coursen,
Fort Wayne, IN; Judy & Fred Fackenthal, Indianapolis, IN; Cheri
Grizzard, Columbus, IN; Laurie Hearn & Stephen Hall, Santa
Claus, IN; Carolyn Hood, Franklin, IN; Bob & Carol Hunter,
Richmond, IN; William & Ann Jones, Columbus, IN; John &
Arleen Keele, Columbus, IN; Dean & Lucille Knudsen, West
Lafayette, IN; Richard & Macie Martin, Franklin, IN; Jim &
Marsha McDaniel, Indianapolis, IN; Albert & Mary Ellen
Meyer, Goshen, IN; Ronald & Marilyn Newsom, Fishers, IN;
Alvaro & Leslie Nieves, Spencer, IN; Kevin Rose, Indianapolis,
IN; R N & Sue Sanders, Indianapolis, IN; ; KANSAS: William
& Margaret Arnold, Lawrence, KS; John Blythe, Lawrence, KS;
Lee & Carolyn Carlson, Lawrence, KS; Stanley & Alice Jo
DeFries, Lawrence, KS; Heather Entrekin & Peter Stover,
Leawood, KS; Keith & Wanda Herron, Leawood, KS; Janice
Lee, Ottawa, KS; Richard & Mary Ann Olson, Overland Park,
KS; Kenneth Thomson, Overland Park, KS; KENTUCKY:
Darrell & Alice Adams, Louisville, KY; Ken & Martha Lu Evans,
Louisville, KY; Alan & Karen Hoskins, Bardstown, KY; Andy
Loving & Susan Taylor, Louisville, KY; Joseph & Terri Phelps,
Louisville, KY; G Kent & Julie Price, Paducah, KY; Mary Shive,
Lexington, KY; Linda Waller, Shepherdsville, KY; James & Jane
Wiest, Louisville, KY; LOUISIANA: Kenny & Shirley Crump,
Ruston, LA; Kyle & Charlene Kelley, Shreveport, LA; Frances
Kelley, Shreveport, LA; Alex Pace, Baton Rouge, LA;
MASSACHUSSETTS: Mildred Bauer, Attleboro, MA; John &
Eleanor Butler, Lexington, MA; Kenneth Downes, Shelburne
Falls, MA; John & Jean Fisk, Attleboro, MA; Kathryn House,
Jamaica Plain, MA; Sheldon & Eileen Keller, Mashpee, MA;
Claire E Loughhead, Peabody, MA; Jerrie Shepard Matney,
Chicopee, MA; Marilyn F. Raatz & Marilyn M. Spahr, North
Chatham, MA; Ken Redford, Beverly, MA; Betsy Sowers, S
Weymouth, MA; Gordon & Edith Swan, Worcester, MA;
William Turpie, Hull, MA; Ashlee Wiest-Laird & Lance Laird,
Jamaica Plain, MA; MARYLAND: John Burns & Karen
Krueger, Hyattsville, MD; Charles & Joann Davis, Severna Park,
MD; Rick Goodman & Carol Blythe, Silver Spring, MD; Edith
Holleman, Silver Spring, MD; Toni Kasko, Baltimore, MD;
Tony Langbehn, Bowie, MD; Erica Lea, Cheverly, MD; John
McWilliams, Frederick, MD; Sharon Smith, Timonium, MD;
Sandy & Nathan Tennies, Chevy Chase, MD; Robert & Elaine
Tiller, Silver Spring, MD; Rollin Van Bik, Frederick, MD;
28
Baptist Peacemaker
APR-JUN 2015
MAINE: John Carman, South Portland, ME; Doug Cruger,
Old Orchard Beach, ME; Scott & Sharon Dow, Augusta, ME;
Mary Jean & Bill Holt, Cape Elizabeth, ME; Ken & Pat Parker,
Brunswick, ME; Jon & Patti Stratton, Bowdoinham, ME;
Richard Tappan, Brunswick, ME; MICHIGAN: Daniel &
Sharon Buttry, Hamtramck, MI; Maralyn Curry, Grand Rapids,
MI; Jack & Joellyn Ellis, Saint Clair Shores, MI; Chris & Christy
Grapentine, Ypsilanti, MI; William Grapentine, Ypsilanti, MI;
Robert Lacker, Bridgman, MI; Chalmer & Alice Mastin,
Kalamazoo, MI; Kathleen Murphy, Roscommon, MI; James &
Ellen Robinson, Grand Ledge, MI; Chuck & Margaret Rose,
Saint Joseph, MI; MINNESOTA: Eugene & Ellen Allen,
Minneapolis, MN; G William & Cathy Carlson, St Paul, MN;
Robert & Lucile Carman, Golden Valley, MN; Doug & Kim
Donley, Moundsview, MN; Deborah K Donley, Minneapolis,
MN; Deidre Druk, St Paul, MN; Walter & Harriet Johnson,
Minneapolis, MN; Howard Johnson, Minneapolis, MN; Gayle
Foster Lewis, Burnsville, MN; Virginia Miller, Millville, MN;
Déadra & Joseph Moore, Minneapolis, MN; Jane Nelson,
Minneapolis, MN; Joseph Palen, Minneapolis, MN; Tai Shigaki,
St Paul, MN; Ashley & Jeff Whitaker, Mapleton, MN; Craig
Wiester & Sydney Rice, Minneapolis, MN; Vicki Wilson,
Minneapolis, MN; MISSOURI: James & Teresa Brent,
Warrenton, MO; Ben Carman, Kansas City, MO; Stephen &
Janice Jones, Kansas City, MO; Brian Kaylor, Jefferson City,
MO; Richard Lusk, St Charles, MO; Bruce & Nancy Morgan,
Kansas City, MO; Sharon Parker, Clayton, MO; Madelyn
Schnick, Strafford, MO; MISSISSIPPI: Jim Barfield, Jackson,
MS; Mary Beth Beck, Hattiesburg, MS; Robert Dalton, Houston,
MS; Mark & Rebecca Wiggs, Jackson, MS; Stan & Jennifer
Wilson, Jackson, MS; MONTANA: Clara Hodges, Bozeman,
MT; Paul Reeder, Billings, MT; NORTH CAROLINA: Cindy
Adcock & Pat McCoy, Charlotte, NC; Joe & Susan Aldrich,
Charlotte, NC; Christie Amato, Davidson, NC; David Anderson,
Raleigh, NC; Anita J Bare, Garner, NC; Ann & David Barkley,
Wilmington, NC; Buck & Betty Blankenship, Charlotte, NC;
Chrystal Bartlett & Greg Eades, Raleigh, NC; J Dean Baughn,
Rutherfordton, NC; Marjorie Bennett, Burlington, NC; Jennie
& Richard Betton, Greensboro, NC; Judy & Dan Biber,
Charlotte, NC; Richard & Helen Bowser, Durham, NC; Alan
and Tara Brittain, Charlotte, NC; Naomi Broadway, Durham,
NC; Terry & Gail Brooks, Mint Hill, NC; Robert & Loven
Bruhn, Cary, NC; Edna Bryan, Chapel Hill, NC; Tom & Martha
Bryson, Charlotte, NC; George & Mary Lou Buck, Charlotte,
NC; Nancy & Larry Bumgardner, Durham, NC; Nancy Byard,
Raleigh, NC; Jan & Myron Chartier, Davidson, NC; Jan Clark &
Janice Pope, Pittsboro, NC; Eva & Joe Clontz, Chapel Hill, NC;
Austin & Betty Connors, Raleigh, NC; Robert Cooper, Spring
Lake, NC; Roger & Mary Ruth Crook, Raleigh, NC; Carol Day,
Wake Forest, NC; Daniel & Mary Day, Holly Springs, NC; Russ
& Amy Jacks Dean, Charlotte, NC; Paul & Paula Dempsey, Mars
Hill, NC; Alan & Linda Eakes, Charlotte, NC; Hal & Marty
Edwards, Wake Forest, NC; Kadia Edwards, Durham, NC;
Velma Ferrell, Chapel Hill, NC; Ed & Lois Gibbon, Raleigh,
NC; Everett Gill, Black Mountain, NC; Tom & Judith Ginn,
Winston-Salem, NC; Everett Goodwin, Charlotte, NC; Fred &
Margaret Grissom, Youngsville, NC; Gwen & Bernie Hall,
Asheboro, NC; Donald Hamm, Chapel Hill, NC; Paul & Evelyn
Hanneman, Charlotte, NC; Lucille Harris, Winston-Salem, NC;
James & Patty Henderlite, Charlotte, NC; W L & Hilda Highfill,
Contributors
Raleigh, NC; Wanny & Ashley Hogewood, Denver, NC;
Gretchen Honnold, Charlotte, NC; Elva & Horace Hunt, Black
Mountain, NC; David & Beth Jackson Jordan, Huntersville, NC;
Monty & Martha Kearse, Charlotte, NC; John Laney & Joan
Yarborough, Asheville, NC; Fran Langstaff, Durham, NC; Jim
Lowder & Jerene Broadway, Black Mountain, NC; Gene & Beth
McLeod, Wilmington, NC; Andora McMillan, Statesville, NC;
Katherine McMillan, Statesville, NC; Mary Frances Menzies,
Charlotte, NC; Peter & Eleanor Mockridge, Brevard, NC; Lynn
& Steve Newsom, Fayetteville, NC; Robert Oberg, Charlotte,
NC; Allison Paksoy & Thomas Hughes, Charlotte, NC; James &
Susan Pike, Chapel Hill, NC; LeDayne & Tom Polaski, Charlotte,
NC; Caryl & Wayne Price, Chapel Hill, NC; Daniel Pryfogle,
Cary, NC; Jeanette Quick & Mark Sandlin, Greensboro, NC;
Robert & Sandra Joy Richardson, Charlotte, NC; Ken & Nancy
Sehested, Asheville, NC; Robert & Pearl Seymour, Chapel Hill,
NC; Alan & Jenny Sherouse, Greensboro, NC; Herbert &
Carolyn Sierk, Hendersonville, NC; Mark Siler & Kiran Sigmon,
Asheville, NC; Jonathan Sledge & Deborah Norton, Raleigh,
NC; Kenneth & Betty Stapp, Forest City, NC; Cathy Tamsberg,
Raleigh, NC; Dennis & Paula Testerman, Concord, NC; Tillie
Tice, Charlotte, NC; Richard Tucker & Carol Moore, Brevard,
NC; Eleen Uttrup, Raleigh, NC; Tonya & Jeffrey Vickery,
Cullowhee, NC; Gordon Whitaker & Robert Hellwig, Chapel
Hill, NC; Brooks Wicker & Pat Hielscher, Raleigh, NC; Ken &
Peg Nowling Williams, Durham, NC; Alan & Blanche Williams,
Durham, NC; Hugh Young, Hendersonville, NC; NEBRASKA:
James Denny, McCook, NE; Sanford & Patricia Smith, Omaha,
NE; Dean & Doris Thompson, Sutherland, NE; NEW
HAMPSHIRE: Richard & Nancy Dutton, Wilmot Flat, NH;
Sharon Happ-Nothnagle, Tamworth, NH; Luann Ketcham,
Wolfboro, NH; Charles Krajewski, New London, NH; Robin
Lunn & Shayna Appel, Milford, NH; Richard & Ruth Stuart,
Sandwich, NH; NEW JERSEY: Holly & Reathel Bean,
Montclair, NJ; Elizabeth Congdon, Red Bank, NJ; Harold &
Rachel Cooper, Mt Laurel, NJ; Richard Huber, Lafayette, NJ;
John Khanlian, Moorestown, NJ; Pamela Reed, Flemington, NJ;
Amaury Tañón-Santos, Edison, NJ; NEW MEXICO: Gwenyth
Lewis, Albuquerque, NM; NEW YORK: Deborah Allen,
Ithaca, NY; Alison Amyx, New York, NY; Jean Bartlett,
Rochester, NY; Marilyn & Bart Bisgrove, Schenectady, NY;
David Blythe, Brooklyn, NY; James & Florence Braker, Rochester,
NY; Jeffrey & Margaret Bray, Suffern, NY; Elizabeth Brown,
Ithaca, NY; Esther & Sydney Roy Cable, Rochester, NY; Peter JB
Carman & Lynn Carman-Bodden, Schenectady, NY; Sarah &
David Culp, Rochester, NY; Stephen & Arlene Davie, Fort
Edward, NY; Sara Day & Bob Baer, New York, NY; Bruce &
Nancy Dean, Spencerport, NY; John Detwyler & Sandra
George, Scotia, NY; Edward Devine, Rochester, NY; Sally &
Kenneth Dodgson, Rochester, NY; Cheryl Dudley, New York,
NY; Marge Forth, Rochester, NY; Karl Garlid & Mary Meyer,
Brooklyn, NY; Jane Grant, Rochester, NY; Steven & Leslie Gretz,
Rochester, NY; Sharon Harris-Ewing, Clarence Center, NY;
Scott Hayes, Spencerport, NY; Gail & Tom Hill, Spencerport,
NY; Neva Hoffmeier, Webster, NY; Nancy Horan, Albany, NY;
Dorothy Howland, Pultneyville, NY; Bennett & Donna Joseph,
Bath, NY; James Ketcham & Jan Curtis, Elmira, NY; Darrell
Lance, Rochester, NY; Dr & Mrs Anthony Malone, Latham, NY;
Rachel McGuire, Rochester, NY; Peter & Joan Mitchell,
Rochester, NY; Dick & Beth Myers, Scottsville, NY; Althea
Nelson, Niskayuna, NY; Alan & Gail Newton, Rochester, NY;
Leon & Rosemary Oaks-Lee, Fayetteville, NY; Dorothy
Parmelee, Horseheads, NY; Mary Passage, Corning, NY;
William & Doris Perkett, Rochester, NY; Larry & Linda Poelma,
Cuba, NY; Jimmy Reader & Joy Bergfalk, Rochester, NY; Vernon
& Eleanor Ross, Hamilton, NY; Marnette Saz, New Paltz, NY;
Karen Stewart, Rochester, NY; Mary Alice Tomlinson,
Rochester, NY; Bethene Trexel, New York, NY; Rod & Marilyn
Vane, Fairport, NY; Michael Ware & Barbara Lacker-Ware,
Rochester, NY; Rebecca Waugh, New York, NY; George & Carol
Williamson, New York, NY; Larry & Peg Witmer, Rochester, NY;
Thomas & Deborah Wood, Plattsburgh, NY; OHIO: Virginia
Lohmann Bauman & Gery Bauman, Granville, OH; Tom &
Patti Burkett, Granville, OH; Maggie Burkett, Granville, OH;
Alan & Polly Carroll, Oberlin, OH; Kerry & Maryann
Cheesman, Columbus, OH; Dwight & Kari Davidson, Granville,
OH; Virginia Douglas, Elyria, OH; Victor & Collene Eyth,
Mentor, OH; Norman Gearhart Jr, Worthington, OH; Tom
Gentry, Akron, OH; Stephen & Mary Hammond, Oberlin, OH;
James Hanson, Upper Arlington, OH; Joseph R & Lanie A
Henry, Cincinnati, OH; Marge & Charles Hoffman, Wickliffe,
OH; James LaRue, Medina, OH; Melvin Leidig, Canton, OH;
Glenn Loafmann, Oberlin, OH; Peggy Malone, LaGrange,
OH; Dave & Joy Martin, Granville, OH; Sylvia Niedner & Nitya
Maphis, Columbus, OH; Kevin & Holli Rainwater, Fresno, OH;
Jeff & Julie Reiswig, Granville, OH; Kay Rolfs Massaglia,
University Heights, OH; William & Gloria Webster, Willoughby,
OH; OKLAHOMA: Dan Hobbs, Norman, OK; OREGON:
Joan Avery, Jacksonville, OR; Wayne & Kathy Beckwith, Dayton,
OR; John Paul Bierly, McMinnville, OR; Everett Curry,
Hillsboro, OR; Miles & Muriel Dresser, Lincoln City, OR; James
& Luciata Duke, McMinnville, OR; Marvin & Betty Friesen,
Lake Oswego, OR; Mickey Howard, McMinnville, OR; David
& Tonia Hunt, Milwaukie, OR; Jean Lane, Portland, OR; Faithe
& James Ledbetter, Lake Oswego, OR; Tom & Jean Meicho,
McMinnville, OR; Bernard & Rosalind Turner, McMinnville,
OR; Martha Van Cleave, Dayton, OR; Marilyn VanDyk,
Roseburg, OR; Donald & Linda Watson, McMinnville, OR;
David & Carol Wheeler, Portland, OR; PENNSYLVANIA:
William Barr, St Davids, PA; Fela Barrueto, Valley Forge, PA;
Gloria & William Belli, Audubon, PA; Ruth & Gordon Bennett,
Coatsville, PA; Bill & Wanda Brammer, Turtle Creek, PA; Tony
& Peggy Campolo, Bryn Mawr, PA; Ruth Cramer, Kennett
Square, PA; Nancy Daniel, Wallingford, PA; Doris Dickerson,
Lititz, PA; Jocelyn Emerson, Wayne, PA; David & Amabelle
Follett, Norristown, PA; Katy Friggle-Norton & Doug Norton,
Havertown, PA; Peg George, Doylestown, PA; Van & Paula Hall,
Pittsburgh, PA; Anne & Richard Harris, King of Prussia, PA;
Steve & Marion Jacobsen, Lewisburg, PA; Lloyd & Betty Kenyon,
Dingmans Ferry, PA; Joe & Ginny Leonard Jr, Wayne, PA; Tom
& Gail Litwiler, Allison Park, PA; Joseph & Lucy Loomis, Penna
Furnace, PA; Amy Pethick & Eric Graves, Wayne, PA; Mayra
Picos-Lee, Wayne, PA; Marcus & Nancy Pomeroy, Berwyn, PA;
Dan & Sandy Bauer Prima, Wayne, PA; Leon Runner, North
Wales, PA; Karen & Alan Selig, Pottstown, PA; James & Grace
Shirk, Lancaster, PA; Cathy & Stan Slade, Royersford, PA; Andy
Smith, Devon, PA; Vergie Spiker, Kennett Square, PA; Laurie
Sweigard, Malvern, PA; John & Nancy Thayer, Garnet Valley,
PA; Olive Tiller, Cranberry Twp, PA; Reid & Janelle Trulson,
Collegeville, PA; Thomas & Carol Tupitza, Erie, PA; Carol
APR-JUN 2015
Baptist Peacemaker
29
Contributors
Vargas, Lewisburg, PA; Carol & Grant Ward, Lansdale, PA; Ben
Willeford, Lewisburg, PA; Richard Wingate, Lebanon, PA;
Roxanne Wright, Ardmore, PA; RHODE ISLAND: Natalie
Austin, Providence, RI; Virginia Bradley, Providence, RI; Janet
Davies, Cranston, RI; James C Miller, Bristol, RI; Richard &
Martha Robison, Cranston, RI; Conrad & Catherine WilcoxBrowne, Warwick, RI; SOUTH CAROLINA: Eric M Cain,
Greenville, SC; William & Marjorie George, Easley, SC; Ann
Quattlebaum, Greenville, SC; Kathy Sharp, Greenville, SC;
John & Anne Shelley, Greenville, SC; Bill & Susan Wooten III,
Clemson, SC; SOUTH DAKOTA: CC Brechtelsbauer, Sioux
Falls, SD; Harold Christensen, Sioux Falls, SD; Michael
Christensen, Sioux Falls, SD; TENNESSEE: Marian Bacon,
Memphis, TN; April Baker & Deborah Lynn, Nashville, TN;
Bill & Annette Bickers, Memphis, TN; Dr & Mrs Robert Byrd,
Nashville, TN; Kate Campbell, Nashville, TN; Thomas Conner,
Nashville, TN; Adney E Cross III, Chattanooga, TN; Kate
Fields, Nashville, TN; Frances Fox Shambaugh, Gatlinburg, TN;
Masanori & Seiko Igarashi, Memphis, TN; Diane Jordan,
Brentwood, TN; Dixie & A D Petrey, Maryville, TN; Tom &
Jean Walsh, Memphis, TN; TEXAS: Jann Aldredge-Clanton,
Dallas, TX; Patricia & Robert Ayres, Austin, TX; Anne Barker,
Fort Worth, TX; Mike Broadway, Salado, TX; Rita Nakashima
Brock, Fort Worth, TX; Casey Campbell, Fort Worth, TX;
Donnie & Diane Dillard, Duncanville, TX; Isabel Docampo &
Scott Somers, Dallas, TX; Millard Eiland & David L Taylor,
Houston, TX; Lilly Ettinger, Dallas, TX; Nancy Ferrell, Dallas,
TX; Glenda Fontenot & Pat Hardesty, Bellaire, TX; William
Hamilton & Charliene Hooker, Houston, TX; Michele Johnson,
San Antonio, TX; Linda Kemp, Austin, TX; Margie Latham,
Katy, TX; Rodney & Sarah Macias, Austin, TX; Debra McLeod,
Houston, TX; Ruth Mooney, Houston, TX; Thomas Nuckols,
Sherman, TX; Dr Nathan Porter, Waco, TX; Janette Richardson,
The Woodlands, TX; Jackie Saxon, Austin, TX; Lisa & Scott
Shirley, Dallas, TX; Julie Sorrels, Richardson, TX; Mark & Lucy
Thomas, Bryan, TX; Ann Thompson, Fort Worth, TX; Susan &
Tim Wegner, Houston, TX; Mary Wilson, Austin, TX; UTAH:
Robin Campbell, Park City, UT; VIRGINIA: Ridgeway
Addison, Falls Church, VA; Dan & Janet Bagby, Richmond, VA;
Sylvia Barrett, Staunton, VA; Aaron Brittain, Norfolk, VA; Dave
& Claire Buckle, Williamsburg, VA; Roland Byrd, Blacksburg,
VA; Katherine Cheves, Williamsburg, VA; Paul Clark,
Springfield, VA; Kaye & Carlton Cooper, Charlottesville, VA;
Mandy England Cole, Mechanicsville, VA; David Farmer,
Springfield, VA; Ray & Wilma Gingerich, Harrisonburg, VA;
Leah Grundset-Davis, Bristow, VA; David Hunter, Arlington,
VA; Deborah Loftis, Richmond, VA; Bill & Linda Mashburn,
Abingdon, VA; Henry & Barbara McLane, Williamsburg, VA; S.
Carter McNeese, Williamsburg, VA; Lydia Mercado, Springfield,
VA; Paul & Judith Montacute, Vienna, VA; Claudia Moore,
Springfield, VA; Joseph Perdue, Richmond, VA; Roger Pittard,
Henrico, VA; Glenn & Sheila Plott, Toano, VA; David & Geneva
Pope, Springfield, VA; Cheryl & Richard Wade, Hardy, VA;
Nancy Plott Williams, Richmond, VA; Ed & Emma Jean
Woodard, Roanoke, VA; Richard & Kathrin Yoneoka, Arlington,
VA; VERMONT: Lois D’Arcangelo, Shelburne, VT; Jordan
Dickinson, Dorset, VT; Martha Miller, Townsend, VT;
WASHINGTON: Richard & Arlene Birdsall, Maple Valley,
WA; John & Cora Lea Doty, Seattle, WA; Gordon & Roxana
Harper, Seattle, WA; Roy & Carole Johnson, Pullman, WA;
30
Baptist Peacemaker
APR-JUN 2015
Charlotte Keyes, Everett, WA; Virginia Nielsen, Shoreline, WA;
Brooke J Rolston, Bothell, WA; Joe & Merry Roy, East Wenatchee,
WA; Eldora Sloan, Des Moines, WA; Judge & Mrs Charles Z
Smith, Seattle, WA; E G & Margaret Tegenfeldt, Pacific Beach,
WA; WISCONSIN: Nancy & Karl Byleen, Hales Corners, WI;
Marty Carney, Sheboygan Falls, WI; Andrew & Beverly Davison,
Madison, WI; James & Edith Davison, Madison, WI; Gene &
Bea Dewey, Madison, WI; John Jones IV, Milwaukee, WI;
Bernard & Diana Long, Waunakee, WI; Vernon & Sylvia Lowell,
Mt Horeb, WI; David Moberg, Milwaukee, WI; Nancy G
Moore, Madison, WI; Patricia Ransom, Waukesha, WI; Claire
Rider, Madison, WI; Dennis & Kathleen Sampson, Pewaukee,
WI; J Manny Santiago & Ferneli Hernandez, Madison, WI;
Sister Brenda Walsh, Racine, WI; Jamie Washam, Milwaukee,
WI; WASHINGTON, DC: Edgar Palacios, Washington, DC;
UNKNOWN: Maurice Caldwell; Muriel Self (Estate
Contribution).
Individual Donors, Other
Salvatore Rapisarda, Catania, Italy.
Contributing Churches, Canada
BRITISH COLUMBIA: Fairview Baptist Church, Vancouver,
BC; ONTARIO: Aylmer Baptist Church, Aylmer, ON;
Burlington Baptist Church, Burlington, ON; MacNeill Baptist
Church, Hamilton, ON; Murray Street Baptist Church,
Petersborough, ON; Woodbine Heights Baptist Church,
Toronto, ON; NOVA SCOTIA: Wolfville Baptist Church,
Wolfville, NS.
Contributing Churches, Puerto Rico
Primera Iglesia Bautista Juncos, Juncos, PR.
Contributing Churches, United States
ALASKA: Church of the Covenant, Palmer, AK; ALABAMA:
Baptist Church of the Covenant, Birmingham, AL;
ARIZONA: First Institutional Baptist Church, Phoenix, AZ;
CALIFORNIA: Fairview Community Church, Costa Mesa,
CA; First Baptist Church, Chico, CA; First Baptist Church, Palo
Alto, CA; Kingdom Come Community Church, Buena Park,
CA; Lakeshore Ave Baptist Church, Oakland, CA; Shell Ridge
Community Church, Walnut Creek, CA; CONNECTICUT:
Central Baptist Church, Hartford, CT; Cornerstone Baptist
Church, Danielson, CT; Enfield American Baptist Church,
Enfield, CT; First Baptist Church, West Hartford, CT; Noank
Baptist Church, Noank, CT; GEORGIA: Northside Drive
Baptist Church, Atlanta, GA; Oakhurst Baptist Church,
Decatur, GA; IOWA: First Baptist Church, Iowa City, IA;
ILLINOIS: Community Baptist Church, Warrenville, IL;
Lake Street Church of Evanston, Evanston, IL; North Shore
Baptist Church, Chicago, IL; INDIANA: Congregation of
the Covenants, Indianapolis, IN; Cumberland First Baptist
Church, Indianapolis, IN; KANSAS: Prairie Baptist Church,
Prairie Village, KS; KENTUCKY: Highland Baptist Church,
Louisville, KY; Jeff St Baptist Community, Louisville, KY;
MASSACHUSETTS, First Baptist Church, Worcester, MA;
First Baptist Church, Framingham, MA; First Baptist Church,
Jamaica Plain, MA; First Baptist Church, Medford, MA;
First Baptist Church, Attleboro, MA; First Baptist Church in
Newton, Newton Centre, MA; Old Cambridge Baptist Church,
Contributors
Cambridge, MA; MARYLAND, : Lai Baptist Church, Frederick,
MD; MAINE: Williston-Immanuel United Church, Portland,
ME; MICHIGAN: First Baptist Church, Birmingham, MI;
MINNESOTA: Judson Memorial Baptist Church, Minneapolis,
MN; University Baptist Church, Minneapolis, MN; NORTH
CAROLINA: Binkley Memorial Baptist Church, Chapel Hill,
NC; Circle of Mercy, Asheville, NC; College Park Baptist
Church, Greensboro, NC; Grace Baptist Church, Statesville,
NC; Myers Park Baptist Church, Charlotte, NC; Park Road
Baptist Church, Charlotte, NC; Pullen Memorial Baptist
Church, Raleigh, NC; Sardis Baptist Church, Charlotte, NC;
St John’s Baptist Church, Charlotte, NC; Wake Forest Baptist
Church, Wake Forest, NC; Watts Street Baptist Church,
Durham, NC; NEW JERSEY: Emmanuel Baptist Church,
Ridgewood, NJ; NEW YORK: Baptist Temple, Rochester, NY;
Emmanuel Baptist Church, Albany, NY; Emmanuel Friedens
Church, Schenectady, NY; First Baptist Church, Rochester,
NY; First Baptist Church, Ithaca, NY; Greece Baptist Church,
Rochester, NY; Immanuel Baptist Church, Rochester, NY;
Judson Memorial Church, New York, NY; Lake Avenue Baptist
Church, Rochester, NY; Madison Avenue Baptist Church, New
York, NY; United Church of Fayetteville, Fayetteville, NY;
Webster Baptist Church, Webster, NY; West Henrietta Baptist
Church, West Henrietta, NY; OHIO: First Baptist Church,
Dayton, OH; First Baptist Church of Springfield, Springfield,
OH; Peace Community Church, Oberlin, OH; The United
Church of Granville, Granville, OH; University Baptist Church,
Columbus, OH; PENNSYLVANIA: Central Baptist Church,
Wayne, PA; First Baptist Church of Lewisburg, Lewisburg,
PA; University Baptist & Brethren Church, State College, PA;
RHODE ISLAND: Berean Baptist Church, Harrisville, RI;
TENNESSEE: Glendale Baptist Church, Nashville, TN;
Shady Grove Presbyterian Church, Cordova, TN; TEXAS:
Austin Heights Baptist Church, Nacogdoches, TX; Church
of the Savior, Cedar Park, TX; Covenant Church, Houston,
TX; Royal Lane Baptist Church, Dallas, TX; VIRGINIA:
Freemason Street Baptist Church, Norfolk, VA; Peakland
Baptist Church, Lynchburg, VA; Vienna Baptist Church,
Vienna, VA; Williamsburg Baptist Church, Williamsburg, VA;
WASHINGTON: Burien Community Church, Burien, WA;
Seattle First Baptist Church, Seattle, WA; University Baptist
Church, Seattle, WA; WISCONSIN: Underwood Memorial
Baptist Church, Wauwatosa, WI.
Corporate Church Bodies, Canada
Canadian Baptists of Ontario & Quebec, Etobicoke, ON.
Corporate Church Bodies, United States
CALIFORNIA: ABC of the Pacific Coast/Pacific Coast Baptist
Association, Walnut Creek, CA; CONNECTICUT: ABC of
Connecticut, West Hartford, CT; GEORGIA: Alliance of
Baptists, Atlanta, GA; NEW YORK: ABC Rochester/Genesee
Region, Rochester, NY; PENNSYLVANIA: Home Mission
Societies ABC-USA, Valley Forge, PA. n
Highlights
Partnerships
• Worked with the GI Rights Network (GIRN) to create a national
conference for people who staff the GI Rights Hotline.
• Worked with the Soul Repair Center to create local/state groups
to equip and empower churches to work with returning soldiers
struggling to overcome moral injury.
• Supported and participated in the Conferencia Inaugural de
la Indo-Afro-Latino América-Caribe de Iglesias Por la Paz (The
Inaugural Conference of the Indo-Afro-Latin American and
Caribbean Churches for Peace)
• Supported the inaugural Conferencia Bautista Latinoamericana
por la Paz (Latin American Baptist Conference for Peace).
• Celebrated a 13-percent increase of sales of fairly-traded goods
through the Baptist Fair Trade Project and had the first recipient
of a Friendship Tour scholarship through that project.
• Joined 61 other peace, security and faith groups in the US to
sign the Friends Committee on National Legislation’s letter against
Senate legislation to impose new sanctions on Iran (S. 1881).
The bill failed to find the 70 sponsors necessary to override the
promised Presidential veto.
• Signed the Interfaith Statement of Conscience Concerning
Nuclear Weapons; signed a Friends of Sabeel Open Letter to
Pope Francis (asking him to speak up on behalf of Palestinian
child prisoners); and served as co-convener for the 2014 Religious
Leaders Letter for Tobacco Farm Worker Justice.
• Supported and coordinated participation in ongoing efforts of
the People’s Climate March.
• Had a representative group at the annual SOA Watch vigil at
Fort Benning, GA.
• Provided funds for Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili, of the Georgia
Republic’s Baptist church, to visit Syrian refugees and meet with
Christian and Muslim leaders in Lebanon.
• Received a Palmer Grant from the American Baptist Foundation
for 10 scholarships for our “Justice on the Border” program. The
first part of the program was a border-awareness experience
in February 2015 at Annunciation House on the El Paso/
Ciudad Juárez border. The second will be participation in the
annual BPFNA conference at Eastern Mennonite University
in Harrisonburg, VA, in July. Participants will lead conference
attendees in planning projects that will engage communities of
faith in responding to the justice issues at the border.
• In addition to the work specifically mentioned throughout this
report, we also partnered with: ABC-USA, Alliance of Baptists,
AMOS, Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists,
The Border Consortium, Christian Peace Circles, Coffee
Connection/Project Empower, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship,
Deborah’s House, Eco-Palms, The Gathering, Jitokese, Justice &
Peacemaking Community of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship,
Kairos, Interfaith Power and Light, National Farm Worker
Ministry, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, the
Protestant Church of Morocco and Soul Repair Center.
Summer Conference
• Gathered at Brock University under the theme One Creation /
Une Seule Creatión/ Una sola creación. n
APR-JUN 2015
Baptist Peacemaker
31
It will
help us
a lot
BPFNA
300 Hawthorne Lane, Suite 205, Charlotte, NC 28204
phone 704/521-6051 • fax 704/521-6053 • www.bpfna.org
if you would
let us know if this is not
your preferred email
address.
Friend,
even if I came to you
in the rags of weariness,
the cloak of invisibility or
dust of neglect, the
web of a spider,
would you offer me
a drink of water
seeing thirst,
and help to decide
a way, at the crossroads of life?
If I look into your
hands, what will I find:
a golden thread,
the strength of beauty,
a loaf of bread?
—David Sparenberg
—David Sparenberg—a playwright, poet, storyteller, stage director, Shakespearean actor and novelist—works in Seattle. He uses his craft
to help people cope with life-threatening illness and loss. These words are from his poem, "Dressed for the Occasion."
art by Andy Loving
Please send updated contact
information to [email protected]
or call 704-521-6051.

baptist peacemaker - Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America

Transcription

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