In War-weary Colombia, Adventists Look Ahead to Post-Conflict Challenges

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On March 30 of this year, both sides of the decades-long Colombian conflict (the Colombian government and the largest rebel group known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia) “announced an agreed framework for [peace] talks aimed at ending the conflict.”

Around the same time, “A two-day peace forum held last month at the Adventist Church’s South Colombia headquarters in the capital, Bogotá”—and organized by Gabriel Villarreal, country director of Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Colombia—“brought together religious leaders, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academics, and others, to discuss strategies for supporting post-conflict reconciliation and rebuilding.” The International Religious Liberty Association and the Seventh-day Adventist Church supported the forum.

“The main goal of this forum was to develop a deeper understanding of the basic elements of the post-conflict phase in Colombia and the peace-building process,” explained Villarreal. He said the presentations focused on ways that NGOs and religious groups could contribute to peace efforts, while also helping to support vulnerable populations in Colombia. Villarreal said that, when peace comes, it is vital for the Adventist Church and ADRA Colombia to be prepared to make substantial contributions.

Read the full story from the Adventist News Network.

Adventists in Côte d’Ivoire Host Peace Summit Following Terrorist Attack

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Five days after a jihadist attack at the seaside resort of Grand-Bassam, the National Forum of the Religious Confessions of Côte d’Ivoire hosted a peace summit on March 18, “calling for a unified response to violence carried out by Islamic extremists.” Representatives from many different faith backgrounds attended the summit, which was held at the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s West-Central African headquarters in the capital city of Abidjan.

The vice president of the National Islamic Council, Imam Mahamadou Dosso, read out a prepared statement that included:

No religion should lead somebody to kill his or her fellow beings. May God help us to overcome this evil.

Read the full story on the Adventist News Network.

Walla Walla University Peacemaking Week: Civil Discourse & Civil Rights

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By Emily Muthersbaugh, Student Life Manager, Walla Walla University

This year, Walla Walla University’s sixth annual Peacemaking Weekend extended to a full week and focused on civil rights and civil discourse, promoting peaceful discussion and interaction during a politically charged time.

The week extended from January 18 to 23 and began with the national holiday celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in order to honor King’s commitment civil discourse and civil rights. Rising tension in the political landscape during this election year called for a continued discussion of issues particularly central to Dr. King’s work: civility.

Peacemaking Week began on Monday with WWU’s weekly campus-wide assembly called CommUnity. The program featured choral music, a video depicting the legacy of King, a singing of “We Shall Overcome”, and a presentation by Dr. Ricardo Graham, president of the Pacific Union Conference. Graham presented: “A King’s Dream.” Monday evening, WWU joined Whitman College and the Walla Walla community in a march to honor the life and legacy of MLK that extended from Whitman’s campus to the main plaza in downtown Walla Walla. The WWU choir performed gospel songs during the march.

On Tuesday of Peacemaking Week the Amnesty International Club served warm beverages and encouraged those passing by to take a moment and discuss a heated topic civilly with a stranger. The event “Peace Drinks” lasted three hours and received significant interest on campus. On Wednesday, the Social Work Club challenged the campus to engage in a day of intentional listening. They passed out pins with the phrase “The Future is Listening” on it and those who took the pins were asked to be more intentional about listening to others in conversation, rather than dominating discussion.

Walla Walla University’s David Bullock (chair of the Department of Communications and Languages) and Montgomery Buell (professor of history) delivered a presentation Thursday evening: “Making Peace with Uncivil Campaigns.” Bullock started the discussion by presenting about some of the least civil presidential campaigns in United States history and Buell discussed where the concept of “civil discourse” came from. There was significant interest from the audience in the topic as the current election is seen by many as more partisan than ever.

Friday evening continued the tradition of a candlelight vigil and march honoring lives lost in efforts to promote peace. The vigil began outside the University Church immediately following the vespers program and was led again by the Amnesty International Club. After a scripture reading and prayer, participants marched with candles around the perimeter of the campus, ending in the Student Activities Center where students practiced civil discourse in debate.

Saturday morning featured a panel discussion: “Making Peace with Uncivil Friends” where panelists considered how we can engage with each other more civilly every day, particularly when discussing controversial topics. Panel participants included Loren Dickenson, Brooklynn Larson, Cendra Clarke, Alden Thompson, and Emily Tillotson as moderator.

The Peacemaking Weekend Committee is now working in collaboration with the Chaplain’s Office, Martin Luther King Jr. Day Committee, and the Office of Diversity on preparations for next year’s Peacemaking Weekend, with a commitment to promoting ongoing peaceful discourse in the Walla Walla Valley.

Renewed Heart Ministries Podcast

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Pastor Herb Montgomery, through his ministry Renewed Heart Ministries, deals with many themes relevant to Adventist peacemakers. For starters, check out his recent podcast that draws on the notable work of Walter Wink -- Renouncing Rights (more podcasts).

His earlier series on nonviolence is quality as well: "The Active, Nonviolence of Jesus" – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9.

Walla Walla University—Peace Week 2016

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Walla Walla University will be hosting another peacemaking week, which will coincide with Martin Luther King Jr Day (Jan. 18-23). See the flyer below for more details (and click here to read about WWU's 2015 peace week).

Screenshot (70)

You may also download the flyer -- Peacemaking_MLK Poster (PDF).

Jackson Calls for Support of Refugees

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Pastor Dan Jackson, president of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination in North America, has released a strong statement calling for the support of refugees -- Adventists Respond to the Call to Care for Refugees (Huffington Post, 9 Dec 2015). Jackson begins by declaring, "To close the door to refugees cannot be an option."

Further down in the article, Jackson shares what the Adventist Church is doing:

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is responding and meeting the needs of refugees. The Adventist Development and Relief Agency, the humanitarian arm of the church has collected more than 25 tons of relief supplies in Macedonia for Syrian refugees. Here in the United States, our church has an established ministry that assists refugees seeking a better life for their families. Our Refugee Ministries team is ready to assist Syrian and Iraqi refugees.

Jackson's message addresses both terrorism and refugees:

Make no mistake, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America unequivocally condemns the terrorist actions of extremists that claimed innocent lives in Paris, Beirut, Iraq, Mali and other places around the world. We mourn with and pray for the families of all the victims of these senseless crimes against humanity.

Resorting to violence in the name of God or Allah is wrong.

But to deny innocent women, children, and men who are fleeing war, hunger, and disease refuge because of fear and prejudice is just as wrong.

To read the entire article on the Huffington Post, click here.

University Campaign to Counter Anti-Muslim Rhetoric

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It has been brought to our attention that the editors of Sojourners have posted a signature campaign for students -- College Students of Faith Say 'No' to Falwell's Anti-Muslim Rhetoric. The post begins:

An alarming wave of Islamophobia is sweeping our nation, and we are troubled by the participation of Christians. Just last week, the president of Liberty University called for Christian students to carry guns to "end those Muslims before they walked in" and "teach them a lesson."

The campaign asks students to pledge the following:

We pledge to challenge Islamophobia whenever and wherever it occurs, including on our own campuses — to foster relationships with Muslims based on friendship and not fear, and to serve the common good by maintaining a firm commitment to racial and religious diversity.
To read the complete campaign description, click here. Adventist students are invited to sign the pledge if they support the campaign.

AR: Politicians or the Word of God?

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Jarod Thomas has published a story in the Adventist Review that speaks to war in general and ISIS in particular--Courage to Set the Table (Nov 16). Thomas shares a striking sentence from his child's devotional: "Peace never comes through war." After recounting the story of Benhadad, Thomas turns to the present world:

It is not an easy thing to apply this story to our current predicament in the United States. With ISIS on the rise, and a multitude of refugees fleeing for stable countries, there is always concern that terror will creep in. But perhaps a greater concern is that politicians, jockeying for votes during a heated election cycle, are more influential in our thinking than the Word of God. When states in the “Bible Belt” begin closing their doors to some of the most needy and desperate people on the planet*—people who have nowhere else to turn—a greater crisis in the Western, Christian world begins to emerge. It is the grave concern of which Jesus warned us, stating that, “because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold (Matthew 24:12).” In the scope of eternity, the lack of Christ-like love in the heart of Jesus' professed followers is a greater problem than the threat of suicide bombers.

The entire article can be read here.

Sweeney Issues Statement on Cycle of Violence in the Middle East

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On December 2, Ian Sweeney, president of Seventh-day Adventist Church in the UK & Ireland released the following statement about violence in Iraq and Syria.

A CALL TO END THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE

2nd December 2015

The increasing levels of violence and numbers of displaced people resulting from atrocities in Iraq, Syria and other war torn parts of the world fill our hearts with sorrow. We stand in solidarity with those who have lost loved ones, livelihoods and homes. Our fervent prayers are with all those who suffer.

Today (2 December), the UK Parliament has voted for our armed forces to engage in air strikes in Syria. While there is full recognition that the issues surrounding the fight against terrorism are complex and nuanced, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is nevertheless committed to pursuing and exhibiting peace.

As a Church we express our grave concern about the ongoing violence in Syria which continues to bring loss of life, misery and suffering to innocent men, women and children and the displacement of some 3 million Syrians.

We call on all sides engaged in the Syrian conflict to cease military activities and resort to peaceful methods of resolving the conflict. It is our belief that dialogue and negotiations, however difficult, are preferable to violence and war.

While we understand that peace cannot be found in official statements, we will nevertheless seek to bring some measure of peace, wherever we can, to those whose lives have been touched by war.

The belief that violence should be repaid with violence is against our Christian biblical understanding and does not deliver the intended results. We endorse the sentiments of the late Dr Martin Luther King Jr when he said,

"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

SEE ALSO: 2003 Adventist World Church statement on the War in Iraq. Pray for Paris, Pray for France.

Johnsson Addresses Interfaith Dialogue at ASRS

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The theme of this year's Adventist Society for Religious Studies (ASRS) annual conference was "Adventism in the Public Square." William Johnsson, who was the first president of ASRS, gave the following sermon entitled, "Leaving the Comfort Zone: From John the Baptist to Jesus."

Dr. William Johnson's Sermon "Leaving the Comfort Zone: From John the Baptist to Jesus" at the Adventist Society for Religious Study 2015 Annual Conference in Atlanta, GA on Sabbath morning, November 21, 2015. Dr Johnson was the first President of the ASRS in 1979.

Jackson Responds to Mass Shooting in California

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Both Spectrum and Adventist Today have reported on the recent mass shooting in California. Today Dan Jackson, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America, released a statement on the shooting. The statement begins: "The Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America is heartbroken that we must once again mourn the loss of innocent lives as the result of gun violence. We extend our deepest condolences and prayers to the families of the 14 people killed, the 21 wounded, and their friends and colleagues. We also pray for the community of San Bernardino and Redlands and the heartache and anxiety they are experiencing as a result of this tragedy."

Near the end of the statement, Jackson calls for action. "Along with our heartfelt prayers, it is time that something is done to address the pandemic of gun violence. It is time that we say No to these tragic massacres that have become commonplace in the United States. It is time that we do something to find solutions to put an end to this pervasive problem."

The complete statement was posted by the Adventist News Network (ANN).

Adventists Offer Prayer and Support in Paris Tragedy (ANN)

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The Adventist News Network, the official news service of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, published the following story. The Seventh-day Adventist Church and its members worldwide offered prayers and support for Paris after a series of shootings and explosions killed scores of people.

France declared a state of emergency and closed its borders after at least 100 people were reported killed in a concert hall and others died attacks on restaurants and near a stadium on Friday night.

Mario Brito, president of the Adventist Church’s Inter-European Division, whose territory includes France, voiced “deep consternation” over the events in Paris. “We express our solidarity with all French people,” he said in an e-mailed statement.

The Inter-European Division noted in the same statement that twin suicide bombings killed at least 43 people two days earlier in Beirut, Lebanon, a possible indication that “terrorism is growing more and more uncontrollable.”

The statement says: “Human life is precious in God's eyes. When people turn away from God's directions and wisdom, they become a threat to the freedom of those who unfortunately cross paths with these agents of Satan.”

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attacks.

Ted N.C. Wilson, president of the Adventist world church, said that “our hearts go out to the people and families suffering in the tragedy unfolding in Paris.”

“Please pray for a return to safety and peace,” he said on his Facebook page, adding, “May dire situations like this awaken all to the need for God and His love to be supreme in our lives as we see prophetic events taking place which herald the Lord's soon return.”

Adventist believers around the world took to social media to express their sorrow and to lift up the people of Paris in prayer. The hashtag #PrayforParis was trending on social media.

“Prayer unites us in terrible moments!” the Newbold Church in Bracknell, Britain, said on Facebook. “Remember our friends and family in Paris. What a tragedy.”

The Adventist-owned college, located on the campus of the church’s Newbold College of Higher Education, posted a black-and-white photo of praying hands with the words, “Pray for Paris, pray for France!”

ADRA International, the church’s humanitarian and relief agency tweeted that “our prayers are in Paris tonight.” “Please join and pray for our brothers and sisters who are now victims, survivors, hostages, and their families,” it said.

“Let’s keep Paris and the families affected by the tragedies in prayer,” said the Allegheny East Conference, which oversees the work of 96 historically African-American churches with 31,000 members in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

John Bradshaw, speaker and director of It Is Written television, said he was saddened but not surprised by the events.

“For me, one very sad thing about the terrible tragedy in Paris is that I'm not surprised it happened. And that neither are you,” he said, adding in French, “Dieu ait pitié,” or “God have mercy.”

Some church members expressed concern about what impact the attacks might have on migrants. Europe is grappling with its biggest migrant crisis since World War II as hundreds of thousands of people fleeing wars in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan seek to resettle on the continent.

“[I’m] devastated just thinking of the effects this will have on refugees already facing a terrible winter and more,” said Ashley Eisele, senior content manager for ADRA International.

Christopher Holland, speaker and director of It Is Written Canada, said the attacks offered a reminder that Jesus’ return was near. “The Paris situation reminds us that Satan is the ultimate terrorist, seeking whom he can destroy because he knows his time is short,” he said.

The Inter-European Division statement also focused on the hope of Jesus’ Second Coming. “We pray that the Lord may comfort those who are experiencing this unexpected and incomprehensible pain. We pray our Lord may strengthen the faith and hope of those who are waiting for His return to establish a new world where peace and mutual respect will reign for ever.”

A Christian Response to Terrorism (Burdette)

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Matt Burdette originally wrote the following essay for the Interlocutors blog. Burdette is a graduate of La Sierra University, where he earned an undergraduate degree in religious studies and a Master of Arts in religion. He is currently a doctoral candidate in theology at the University of Aberdeen. A few days ago—before the attack on Paris—I wrote that there is no mythical demon prowling the world called “Terrorism,” which does not mean that there aren’t people who commit acts of terror. What I was denying was the reality that there is some “essence” of terrorism that, in its self-same identity, is instantiated in various places throughout the world. I stand by that denial, because I remain convinced of that we can only deal with the world honestly when we deal with things in their particularity; so, it is not that there is no connection between Al Qaeda and ISIS, but that clumping the two together as “the terrorists” obfuscates more than anything else. More than that, a war on “terrorism” is categorically endless, because, by identifying no particular object of war, those who wage the war can in principle never know when they have reached their objective. (For those who care for the just war tradition, that itself is a basic disqualifier.)

The point is to reject ideological thinking, and I am aware that the refusal to think about generalities can be just as ideological as the inability to think about particulars, and I hope to avoid that too. So, of course I was disturbed and saddened by the news of the attack in Paris on Friday, and of course I immediately wondered if ISIS was responsible. And since hearing that ISIS has claimed responsibility, I have been bracing myself for what seem to be the inevitable calls for war, and the ritual of liberal responses which attempt to differentiate Islam-the-faith from Islamist “extremism.” With France’s airstrikes on Sunday, and the explosion of articles over the whole weekend, my expectations were confirmed.

At least in this instance, I have no desire to challenge war as a response, nor do I intend to wholly reject the liberal response. What I do want to say is that those responses are of themselves not the Christian response. This can be but does not have to be competitive; a Christian response is what it is, and may find an ally or an opponent in other responses, and how this exactly looks shouldn’t be determined beforehand. I will say this about the liberal response: I generally think it is done in bad faith, not least because of the bipolarity of liberal attitudes about religious conviction generally, and the overwhelming ignorance about matters of faith that liberals expose in those attitudes. Their basic measure for what makes an “extremist” is that an extremist is a religious person who won’t accept the privatization of his or her faith when entering into the secular public square. By that measure, I and a host of other people are extremists. Additionally, I doubt very much that the deluge of liberal responders is in fact populated by people who know what they’re talking about. Most Christians that I know couldn’t explain Christianity, and even fewer nonbelievers have a decent handle on Christianity; liberals are generally liberal Christians or just secular, and if they are so ignorant of the dominant religion on the West, I have no interest in their opinions, positive or negative, about Islam.

Indeed, the entire ritual after such events can be summarized as getting across one point: Islam is peaceful, and Muslim people are not our enemies.

This isn’t wrong or right; it is useless. “Peace” is a concept that only operates within a particular logic, and so within the logic of each religion that religion is peaceful, having defined what peace in fact is. The meaning of peace is not self-evident. When people insist that Islam is peaceful, they mean that Islam accepts the definition of peace that the liberal nation-state intends; but this is patently false, just as it would be false to say that Christians or Jews accept that definition of peace. By secular standards, we “Abrahamic” faiths are not peaceful. As for Muslim people not being “our” enemies, an appropriate Christian response is first of all, “So what?” And then the second Christian response is, “And who is ‘our’ in that statement?”

Islam may or may not be the enemy of Christianity. It is meaningless to refer to practitioners. There are doubtless Muslim individuals who count themselves the enemy of Christians, and there are certainly Christians who are enemies to Muslim people. But the Christian has no investment in denying that a person or even a group is an enemy. It simply makes no difference. Those who follow Jesus are under obligation to love their neighbors, and to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. Christians do not deny that there are enemies, nor refuse to acknowledge that people hate them. So if there are a group of people claiming to be Muslim who are our enemies, Christians must still think creatively about how to love those people. For those who find this too demanding, there are a number of other lords to follow besides Jesus.

Christians must also come to call into question this notion of “our” having an enemy. It is not that Christians should not care when the nation has an enemy, but thinking through the right response has to involve a reframing of the problem. We may say, “Among the victims in Paris, some of our fellow Christians were killed. But it is France that has an enemy.” Nor is this a position of neutrality. The attack on Paris was evil, and there can be no equivocation about that. The point is that Christians cannot simply identify themselves with the state or nation. There are places in the world right now in which Muslim people are persecuting Christians; our response to those situations is not the same as our response to the attack on Paris, but this difference hinges on our insistence that we identify ourselves as Christians.

A Christian response to this is one that draws together the Christian community to act as a singular communal agent in the world to announce Christ’s reign and so his peace. The state will do what the state will do, and—not to be resigned—the church has little say in the matter. But the church may do what the church may do, and this doesn’t mean that we Christians are not implicated in the state’s actions. All this means is that we must act in the world as agents of Christ and his justice. This surely involves building relationships with Muslims, not because they are “not our enemies” or because our faiths are not all that different, but because we follow Jesus and because we must win them too to his peace. In this we do not fear death, nor do we avoid hatred. And acting in the world as Christ’s agent means also calling the nation to his justice. If the state is to go to war, the church must agitate for the war to be fought with some semblance of justice, and with a concrete end; indiscriminate air strikes and total destruction are unjust, no matter how justifiable the anger and hurt. The church must agitate to welcome refugees of war, and the church must ready itself for the hospitality that it demand. We must say to the state, “Let us welcome them.” Anything less is just sentimental talk.

Killing in the Name

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Jeff Carlson, associate pastor of the Fletcher Seventh-day Adventist Church in Hendersonville, NC, wrote the following reflection on the recent violence in Paris, France. The god in who's name people are dying in Paris tonight is not Allah, though they mistakenly use that name to describe him.

He is actually the same god in who's name the KKK and other American Christian white supremacists killed their victims. And though they invoked the name, Jesus, to describe that god, that is also not his name.

He is the same god who demanded the blood of Jews at the hands of Russians, Germans, Polish and every other European Christian who stretched out their hand against the "Christ killers" in the name of Christ. Though Christ is also not his name.

He demanded the blood of Protestants at the hands of Catholics; Protestants at the hands of other Protestants; teenage girls called witches at the hands of those who themselves had fled the death-grip of that god on their life in a distant land. Though they all did so in the name of the Trinity, this is not a three-part god. He is one.

His voice has been heeded by secularists of the guillotine; He received the blood sacrifice from the hands of Communists, and Nazis, and Fascists, though he transcends them all.

He held out his hands in the guise of Molech and the people of the ancient world sacrificed their own children to him. That, also, is not his name.

He is not the ancient serpent, or the devil, or Satan or any other name by which he is called.

He is religion; he is secularism; he is totalitarian; he is democratic freedom.

His name is "me." But he never uses that name. He always speaks of "them." And the moment I hear his voice I am least likely to know it is his voice calling for blood. Because he whispers simply that if "they" were gone, "I" would be better, or holier, or righter, or safer.

I heard his voice tonight as the news flowed out of Paris. And I heard his voice whisper in my own soul when I thought "they should just throw all the muslims out of Paris."

If Satan ceased to exist; if all religion, or beliefs of non-religion, political philosophy were erased; if all nationalistic belief was extricated from the human soul and we were left in the state of no beliefs what-so-ever fulfilling the dreams of John Lennon this god would still call out for blood.

His voice transcends all beliefs and time because so do we. And his voice is much too absurd and demanding that we would never listen to him, until we do.

May we hear the one alternate voice tonight. The one that called out on the cross "father forgive them they know not what they do." The voice that calls not for the blood of the "other" for the imagined gain of the "I" but would rather see the blood of "me" flow for the hoped gain of the "other."

Adventists Participate in Fundraiser for Syrian Refugees

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Doug Hardt, an Adventist pastor in Grand Rapids, MN, partnered with other local faith communities to raise money for Syrian refugees. Hardt shared on Facebook:

Just got back from Dairy Queen where we celebrated having a great fundraising concert for the Syrian refugees. We had the Deer River, Grand Rapids and Greenway high school choirs along with the St. Andrews Lutheran Men's Chorus and Grand Rapids Men's Chorus - along with Nicole and the Eleonora Kobzev quartet. I wanted to raise over $1000 with the concert. But we had somebody today say that they would match every gift up to $1500 - then someone who listened to the concert and liked it so much they said they would also match every gift up to $1500. We collected $1544 - which means that we raised $4544 for UNICEF and its work with the children involved in the refugee crisis. Very proud to be a resident of the Grand Rapids area.

This is not the first time Hardt has been involved with issues relating to the Middle East. We reported earlier on his efforts at Union College -- Union College Hosts Interfaith Iraq Memorial -- and he also played a part in this concert. Hardt has also been featured on 3ABN, where he shared about needs in the region (link).

Ideas for Action and Collaboration

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Occasionally, people tell me they would like to get involved with social action, but they aren't sure where to begin. I encourage people to take a first step by working with those who are already engaged. Don't start from scratch. Don't reinvent the wheel. Skip the beginners mistakes by working with professionals already active on the ground. One easy first step is to raise money for projects and organizations that you respect. In the process you will hopefully learn more about the issues involved and will be increasingly prepared to expand your efforts on a given issue. Here are four quality Seventh-day Adventist campaigns, projects and organizations that your APF Peace Chapter or Peace Church could support:

ENDITNOW CAMPAIGN. The Adventist News Network and Adventist Today recently highlighted this campaign to end violence against women and children (link), and I interviewed Heather-Dawn Small in 2010 (link). "To learn more about enditnow and its digital resources, visit www.enditnow.org. Also, to learn how to implement a campaign in a local congregation, go here."

IRAQ REFUGEES (ADRA). We all would like to end the violence in Iraq and in other parts of the region. One positive action we can take is to support ADRA's efforts to care for those displaced by the violence. Read more at Adventist Today.

Natalia López-Thismón, Associate Director for Communication at ADRA International, shared: "You can give to the Middle East Emergency Response Fund at ADRA (you just make your check out to that or call in). Alternatively, you can contact ADRA Kurdistan directly and make your contribution. The churches could hold fundraisers for these efforts. It would be very helpful."

REFUGEE MINISTRY (AFM). Adventist Frontier Missions reports: "During the summer of 2014, more than 1 million people were forced to flee their homes in northern Iraq. Most were offered a simple choice by radical Islamist fighters—convert, leave or die. Today, more than 1 million IDP have fled into Kurdistan, a region in northeast Iraq, where they have found temporary sanctuary. Many are living in schools, churches, church-yards and other public facilities. Many are Christians who were driven out simply because they bear the name of Christ. They cannot return to their homes, and they have no end destination for their journey." "We have already started to minister to the physical needs of the IDP of northern Iraq through a latrine and shower project for IDP families, but we want to combine this with ongoing ministry for the spiritual needs of the IDP and their host communities" (link).

Click here to watch Conrad Vine and Doug Hardt sharing about this project on 3ABN. While living in Lincoln, NE, Doug was active in this work; see Union College Hosts Interfaith Iraq Memorial and College View Academy Hosts Fundraiser for ISIS Victims.

KEEP GIRLS SAFE (Human trafficking; ADRA Thailand). "The girls at the Keep Girls Safe shelter are all from extremely poor families, most of them from different villages in the hills and jungles of Northern Thailand. The shelter is able to accommodate up to 40 girls, most of whom have come from difficult backgrounds caused by sickness, death, drugs, abuse, and lack of care and education. These and other factors may lead to human trafficking, which is prevalent in this area of Southeast Asia. Reports say that girls as young as 8 years old are forced into prostitution, but others are exported to developed countries in Asia, North America, and Europe, where they are forced to do menial tasks with little or no pay, work long hours, and receive no benefits or medical care" (Adventist World, 2014). Read more at ADRA International, ANN (2006), ADRA AU, and an ADRA video (2009).

There are numerous organizations you can partner with, both locally and internationally, but any of these four Adventist ministries would be a great place to start if you want to do something but just aren't sure how to begin.

ANN: Religious Liberty Experts Examine Peacemaking Power of Faith

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Adventist News Network: August 19, 2015 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | Bettina Krause and Barry Bussey

A group of scholars, lawyers and religious freedom advocates met last week to challenge a widespread belief that religion is primarily a divisive force in society, fuelling tension and violence. The 17th annual “Meeting of Experts,” organized by the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA), brought together some 20 academics at Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu, California, to consider the role of religion in current global conflicts, and to focus on ways that faith can, instead, be a powerful force for peacemaking and conflict resolution.

“We need to use faith anchored in forgiveness and reconciliation,” said Ambassador Robert A. Seiple, a former United States Ambassador at large for Religious Freedom, and current IRLA president. “We need to know our own faith, and likewise, we need to understand our neighbour’s faith and respect it.”

Ambassador Seiple, who gave the first of ten major presentations, focused on his firsthand experience with the horrific 1994 Rwandan genocide. He described visiting the country in the aftermath of the violence and standing on a bridge over a river clogged with hundreds of decaying bodies. According to Ambassador Seiple, one of the most troubling aspects of the Rwandan genocide is that it took place within a “Christianized” country—some 85 percent of the total population identified themselves as Christian. But in spite of this colossal failure on the part of churches in 1994, religious values have since played a vital role in rebuilding social stability. As Rwandans have reclaimed their country, they have shown the world the power of forgiveness, said Ambassador Seiple. He noted that many perpetrators of the genocide are today living side-by-side with their victims.

According to Dr. Ganoune Diop, Secretary General of the IRLA, each presentation during the four-day event was shaped in some way by two key questions: “How can we live with our deepest differences?” And, “How can the best of religions overcome the abysmal record of religious wars, religious ethnic cleansing, and genocides fuelled by religious discrimination?”

Although the Meeting of Experts examines these questions from a scholarly perspective, the issues that drive the work of these scholars are far from abstract. “Too many people suffer discrimination, persecution, or even martyrdom or genocide because of their religious differences,” says Dr. Diop. According to a Pew Forum study released earlier this year, some 5.5 billion people—or 77 percent of the world’s population—live in countries with “a high or very high overall level of restrictions on religion.”[1]

The meeting brought together a diverse panel of scholars who represented universities and organizations from seven countries. Presenters included Dr. David Little, Professor Emeritus of Harvard Divinity School; Reverend Canon Brian Cox, Senior Vice President of the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy; Professor Cole Durham, President of the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies based in Milan, Italy; Professor T. Jeremy Gunn, professor of International Relations at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco; and, Dr. Amal Idrissi, law professor at the University of Moulay Ismael in Meknes, Morocco.

Over the past two decades, the Meeting of Experts has aimed to bring together some of the world's foremost scholars and practitioners in the field of religious freedom to track legal and sociological trends. Papers presented at the annual meetings are published, and have produced a significant body of academic and practical resources. The papers from this year’s Meeting of Experts will be published in the 2015 edition of Fides et Libetas, which will be available later this year from the IRLA, which can be contacted through its website at www.irla.org or its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/IRLA.HQ.

The IRLA was established by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1893 and is the world's oldest religious freedom advocacy organization. It promotes freedom of belief for all people, regardless of faith, and has non-governmental organization status at the United Nations. Along with the annual Meeting of Experts, the IRLA sponsors regional religious freedom festivals and forums, and every five years organizes a world congress, which attracts an international mix of scholars, legal practitioners, government officials and human rights advocates.

[1] For the full study, visit the Pew Forum website at www.pewforum.org/2015/02/26/religious-hostilities/