Preempt with Love: A Night of Peacemaking
* Our Peace Chapter Coordinator, Marci Corea, and her sister Mandy Corea planned and hosted a meaningful evening with students and community in Hagerstown, MD. As of today (January 2, 2019) the situation in Iraq is rapidly changing. We encourage you to read about the work Preemptive Love has been doing in Iraq/Syria, and about how they’ll continue to love, come what may.
On the evening of September 30th, 2019 about 150 people from across western Maryland crowded into a church social hall to share donuts, coffee, and experience a one-of-a-kind event: Preemptive Love Coalitions's Love Anyway Tour.
Founded in 2007 by husband and wife team Jeremy and Jessica Courtney, Preemptive Love Coalition seeks to "unmake" violence through the pursuit of peace between communities in conflict. Their work stretches across the globe between Syria, Iraq, Palestine, and the US/Mexico border. In his latest book, Love Anyway, Jeremy Courtney shares his family's experience living in Iraq after the United States' invasion following the attacks on September 11, 2001. He breaks down the difficult work of loving an enemy we don't always understand, see, or agree with.
The Love Anyway event featured three "movements"; original music from The Brilliance, a short film by Preemptive Love, and a conversation hosted by Courtney himself. Throughout the evening attendees of all ages were encouraged to engage in conversation with those around them about what they heard and saw in the film. About 30 of these attendees were high school students from Highland View Academy, some of whom had never experienced such an open and honest conversation about these topics before. One young woman, an 18-year-old international student from Rwanda, shared that she never knew the history of conflict in the middle east and the crisis that millions of refugees have been forced into. Another student, the 15-year-old son of Mexican immigrants, shared that he often deals with discrimination and assumptions about his family's legal status because of their heritage.
Courtney discussed the need for long term investment in breaking down stigmas and barriers between neighbors in our own community and abroad. There isn't a "magic pill" as he said, that removes racism, hatred, and prejudice. Instead, we are all called to do the difficult and emotional work of striving to have empathy and compassion for those who may look, act, worship, or believe differently than us. And
hardest of all, even when faced with hurt, pain, or difficulty, to Love Anyway.
May it be so, now more than ever.
If your community or church is interested in being involved in the work of Preemptive Love, contact them here.