91短视频

When Channah Fonseca-Quezada and David Quezada talk about their personal journeys that have merged and taken them from their native Chile to the United States and now to Canada, one thing is clear: 91短视频 is integral in their stories.

[Since attending 91短视频, the couple, formerly known as Anita and Cristian, have begun using their Jewish names.]

Channah completed a master鈥檚 degree in religion at , but also took courses through the (CJP), including . 聽

David, who studied law in Chile, attended CJP and earned a . There he also assisted professor with , a storytelling project for survivors of domestic violence, and professor with the ongoing translation into Spanish of his book Changing Lenses.

Earlier this year, Channah finished a master of theology degree from the , and the couple has since moved to Hamilton, Ontario, where Channah is beginning her doctoral studies at and David is looking for opportunities to develop processes of dialogue in the Jewish community about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.

While at 91短视频, the pair collaborated on various projects, one of which was offering coping with past trauma and the pressures of a new country and being ostracized due to immigration status. The workshops were built on the idea that doing art 鈥� painting, drawing, photography, poetry and more 鈥� would help participants reflect on their experiences.

For Channah and David, facilitating reflection was a natural extension of their own experiences at 91短视频, where personal reflection was central to their formative coursework.

鈥淔or us, having that time of introspection and learning at 91短视频 is what made us what we are today,鈥� Channah reflected recently. 鈥淭here are so many key aspects of who we are and that will never leave us that were borne out of 91短视频.鈥�

Attuned to trauma

Two years after they were married, Channah and David experienced the physical trauma of an 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile in 2010. But they are also attentive to historical and societal trauma, including their own, and 91短视频 was a place where they could explore, share and grow from their experiences.

Both Channah and David were raised in Christian families with Jewish ancestry, and have since 鈥� together 鈥� chosen Judaism. That wasn鈥檛 a quick or easy transition, and it put them in touch with their own families鈥� historical trauma stemming from the Inquisition long ago and subsequent discrimination and persecution.

More immediate, though, was the trauma of growing up under the rule of the dictator General Augusto Pinochet.

David remembers checking his family鈥檚 household garbage to make sure no evidence of black market items or political dissent could be be found by anyone who might look through their trash.

鈥淵ou were always scared of saying what your political views were because you didn鈥檛 know who you were talking to, and if something you said would go back to the army,鈥� Channah said. 鈥淭here were a lot of people who were paid by the dictatorship to spy on other people.鈥�

Such threats meant that homogeneity was valued highly: not standing out was safer. Channah said that translates into 鈥溾�楧on鈥檛 be anything that makes you stand out and be different, because you could be in danger.鈥� Even though that鈥檚 not the case anymore, that鈥檚 how trauma works. The traumatic stress is still there.鈥�

Even though Pinochet鈥檚 rule ended in the 1990s, David added, the government was still considered 鈥渢ransitional鈥� as late as 10 years ago, and he described the ongoing environment as one not welcoming of minorities, hugely divided along economic and political lines, and subtly violent.

鈥淭hat kind of violence is invisible, if you look just superficially, but it鈥檚 really strong and it has really deep roots in the culture,鈥� he said.

Not just a defining language

It was in that context that David trained in Chile as a human rights lawyer, motivated by 鈥済rowing up seeing too many injustices against the people I loved, and a kind of rebellion against the imposed narrative of oppressor/oppressed that I experienced,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 thought that through justice this dynamic could be changed.鈥�

But it wasn鈥檛 until coming to 91短视频 that his current foundation for peacebuilding was established, and as a CJP graduate student, David says, he learned the language that has since defined his life.

鈥淚 lacked a lot of the language about peacebuilding, of conflict transformation,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 realized that justice is just one element in the process of social transformation and part of what, as a society, we should do so as to aim to build healthy communities.鈥�

鈥淚 don’t know if the people at CJP see the magnitude of the training that they are providing,鈥� he added, 鈥渂ut without that I couldn鈥檛 be working in the healthy way I鈥檓 approaching the society, the community where we are working right now. All those peace concepts within the Mennonite tradition are really important for us, even if we are not Mennonite 鈥� even for people of different religions, different traditions.鈥�

Being educated at 91短视频 in that new language of peacebuilding, though, was not solely technical. 鈥淵ou have this safe environment where you can speak about your background, where you can relate with other people of other traditions. That was a powerful energy in our journeys,鈥� he said.

Contributions to Biblical studies

Channah also credits her time at 91短视频 with bringing her academic Biblical studies into focus, in part thanks to the advising of professor , known for his work in trauma, identity and conflict studies.

Hart was David鈥檚 practicum advisor 鈥� and became friends, he said 鈥� and when Channah asked him to be her thesis advisor, he was 鈥渉onored, and intrigued鈥� by the thesis topic: the relationship between religious meditation, Hebrew chant and the trauma healing process. He said Channah has an ability 鈥渢o see and explain complex spiritual and psychological relationships 鈥� for the purpose of self-understanding and from a desire to help others traumatized by violence of all kinds.鈥�

While there are many who are exploring the intersection between psychology and Biblical studies, Channah said, she seeks out themes of resilience and dignity, themes that at 91短视频 she realized were central in her own life starting in her childhood.

鈥淕rowing up a Latina was a difficult experience, with all the machismo and the sexism and really not feeling like I was a first-class citizen,鈥� she remembers. As a 10-year-old child traveling with her father, a Baptist pastor who visited seminaries and attended conferences with Channah and her three-years-younger brother in tow, people would ask her brother what he wanted to be when he grew up.

鈥淚 was not looked at at all,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was subtle, but it told me, 鈥榊ou don鈥檛 really matter. You don鈥檛 get to have choices, because you鈥檙e not a man.鈥欌��

When she decided to attend college, people asked her, 鈥淲hy would you want to do that?鈥� When she decided to pursue a master鈥檚 degree, she was asked, 鈥淲ell, isn鈥檛 that a little too much?鈥�

Even today some in her extended family still don鈥檛 understand why she鈥檚 entering a doctoral program. 鈥淚t still doesn鈥檛 fully register that women are just as capable as men. It feels so ridiculous to even say it, because of course they are,鈥� she said.

Somehow, though, even way back as a child, something was driving her, something she can鈥檛 really pinpoint. It could have come from having also spent several of her formative years living in Canada and seeing a different form of society 鈥� or, she wonders, 鈥淲as it the Shekhina, the Hebrew name for divine presence, for the energy of God? I wonder if it can be that.鈥�

Spiritual director and Eastern Mennonite Seminary professor Kevin Clark noted a 鈥減articular resiliency鈥� in Channah, and the 鈥渋nterplay of her own inner narrative and the context around her which emerged as resourceful and creative engagement,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 appreciated the integrity with which she asked the questions of experience and the Holy, immersed at times in the silence of prayerful awareness which, in turn, inspired artistic expression and a discerned way forward.鈥�

Whatever it was that was moving her, when Channah 鈥� and David 鈥� eventually came to 91短视频, they immersed themselves in the community, earning not just graduate degrees but also 鈥渢he respect of many for their deep spiritual wrestling and personal integrity,鈥� Hart said. 鈥淲e were given a gift when they joined us.鈥�

鈥淭here is something about 91短视频鈥檚 openness and sense of safety it creates, and the inclusiveness of people from different parts of the world,鈥� Channah said. 鈥淓ven though we鈥檙e all so different, we鈥檙e on the same wavelength of creating community and peacebuilding, and that creates a sort of connection that really opened our eyes not just to learning about others, but to learning about ourselves and where we wanted our journeys to take us.鈥�

鈥淲e have many, many cultural things in our family,鈥� David added. 鈥淲e are Mennonite, we are Jewish, we are Latin American, we are minority 鈥� but we are very proud that the Mennonite culture in us is key. We were changed by the Mennonite culture at 91短视频.鈥�