The annual award recognizes “alumni who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to its mission of supporting conflict transformation, restorative justice, trauma healing, development, organizational leadership and peacebuilding efforts at all levels of society,” said , executive director of the (CJP).

Lantz-Simmons is the executive director of the (CCR) in Kansas City, Missouri, and first attended the CJP’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute in 2005. She earned a master’s degree in conflict transformation in 2009.

All of the 615 alumni who have earned master’s degrees or graduate certificates in conflict transformation or restorative justice from CJP are eligible for the award. The first was conferred on Ali Gohar MA ’02 in 2015, founder and executive director of Just Peace Initiatives in Pakistan. The 2016 recipient was Tammy Krause, MA ’99, an expert in restorative justice, and in 2017 it went to Jean Claude Nkundwa MA ’14, who works for peace in his native country of Burundi from exile in Rwanda.

Lantz-Simmons, Byler said, “has led CCR’s commitment to a workplace environment that is reflective of its mission in the community and expanded the traditional work of a mediation center by promoting a holistic mission that focuses on prevention, education and restoration.”

She has also mentored multiple students and graduates from the CJP and its programs, some of whom are now members of her staff.

A growing array of settings

Lantz-Simmons is overseeing the expansion of her organization’s presence into a growing array of settings, working with other staff members who are also CJP trained.

Debbie Bayless, set to earn her master’s degree in restorative justice in May, leads Neighborhood Accountability Boards. The program gives youth arrested for fighting in schools “a chance to be accountable for their choices and take responsibility for themselves,” said Lantz-Simmons – and creates opportunities for their families to “see a different aspect of law enforcement and community members who are there to support them.”

With support from peacebuilding institute participant Jackie Buycks, CCR is providing training and facilitation for the ongoing transition of the Kansas City Public School system toward using discipline techniques rooted in restorative justice. It’s an arm of the nonprofit that is “growing fast,” said Lantz-Simmons, who was featured in a recent about the school system’s move to restorative discipline.

And through the efforts of Greg Winship, the first graduate of the MA in restorative justice program, restorative justice and conflict resolution training work is extending into prisons. The trainings are not only for prison residents: a minimum security prison is planning to train its staff, too. Eventually, Lantz-Simmons said, the prison will offer the CCR training to both residents and staff – together.

Trainings and programs such as these are “planting seeds,” she said. “People often do what they know, even if it doesn’t work or is very uncomfortable for them. We offer a different mindset and practical skills to do conflict in a new way.”

An ongoing journey

It was at a Missouri peace colloquy featuring CJP’s as keynote speaker that Lantz-Simmons first met CCR founder Diane Kyser, a 2006 CJP graduate. Their “instant and strong connection” was affirmation of Lantz-Simmons’ trajectory toward her current work.

That journey had begun earlier, after Lantz-Simmons talked with a friend about being the go-to listener for “everyone” around her with a problem. Her friend replied, “Maybe that’s what you are supposed to do with your life.”

Now, nearly 16 years after coming to the conflict resolution field, the work continues to be “gratifying,” she said. “I’m encouraged and gain strength when I see participants in a training or a mediation have a ‘lightbulb’ moment, see something in a different way or soften their judgment toward another person. I love the phrase, ‘OK, I see what you’re saying’ coming from someone who seemed unwilling to budge a minute before.”

The comes with a free course along with travel expenses and lodging. Lantz-Simmons said she has chosen to attend “.”

A choir of African students led by Professor opened first with a hymn, “Siyakudumisa,” and then the South African freedom anthem “Thula Sizwe.”

Twenty-two graduates earned master’s degrees in conflict transformation and 15 earned graduate certificates. Of those 15, 11 were members of the Women’s Peacebuilding Leadership Program from Kenya and Somaliland who were recognized in a in January in December. Four others earned a graduate certificate in conflict transformation.

[Read about capstone presentations about practicum experiences by second-year master’s students and view photo album of the university’s undergraduate and graduate commencement ceremonies .]

Executive director ’s welcome focused on the strong development of community within the program. Each graduate, he noted, had mentioned community in reflecting on the impact of CJP on their life and work.

“Be the community you wish to see in the world,” Byler said, slightly changing Mohatmas Gandhi’s famous quote, Be the change you wish to see in the world.

“Talk is cheap,” he continued. “Building just and sustainable communities is priceless. Wherever you go, help to build a kind of community that you experienced here and you will also be part of the change you wish to see … May you continue to draw strength from the community you have built in this place as you scatter around the globe and help to recreate communities wherever you are.”

The class of 2016 included students from 14 countries – Germany, Egypt, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Somaliland, Ethiopia, Uganda, Indonesia, South Korea, Peru, Iraq, Ecuador and China  – as well as nine states and the District of Columbia in the United States.

Graduates Mikhala Lantz-Simmons, Ahmed Tarik and Jacques Mushagasha spoke on behalf of the cohort. Lantz-Simmons, who came to CJP from Missouri and Canada, led off the trio with a short humorous speech about applying the “theories of change” model to this final CJP assignment. She then showed a video of her fellow students sharing their learnings from the CJP experience.

Jacques Mushagasha, who came to the United States from war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo in 2003, is a leader in the local Congolese refugee community. “I have been able to process all the trauma I experienced during that time,” he said. “I am really thankful for the program … I promise that I will forget you for a few months to take some time to rest and then I will recollect, and then I will be back in touch.”

Ahmed Tarik, who witnessed war in his native Iraq and was also, like Mushagasha, a refugee, came to CJP “to find a way to stop such realities from happening … to graduate with a magic formula to transform the toxicity” of war and violence.

While he didn’t find that formula, he found “a group of people that are so diverse in their experiences, values and creeds but all having a similar sense of agency and responsibility to fixing the wrongs of our worlds. I came to a community that cherishes each other and cares for their relationships, a community that encourages curiosity and wrestles with the hardest of human realities. Mentors and teachers who see their role as seed-planters and their students seeds that will forever keep on growing, seeds of hope and peace.”

While semester classes have concluded, the (SPI) welcomes global participants and MA students to campus on May 9. SPI continues through June 10.

The conference is hosted by the (PJSA), dedicated to bringing together academics, K-12 teachers, and grassroots activists to explore alternatives to violence and share visions and strategies for peacebuilding, social justice and social change.

“PJSA is an important bi-national alliance for peacebuilding research, scholarship, training and activism,” says , executive director of ���ѱ�’s . “It is a great honor that so many CJP and 91����Ƶ faculty, staff and graduates will be featured in prominent conference roles this year, and allows a rare opportunity to highlight our distinctive contributions to the peacebuilding field.”

Those “distinctive contributions” include both conceptual and practical dimensions to the fields of , , , peace and justice studies pedagogy and the pedagogy of practice within the field, experiential education, reflective pedagogy and the arts and peacebuilding.

Catherine Barnes offers keynote address

Dr. Catherine Barnes, affiliate professor at CJP, will share from more than 30 years of experience working with deliberative dialogue processes in places as varied as the UN General Assembly Hall to village gathering places. Her address is titled “Engaging together: exploring deliberative dialogue as a path towards systemic transformation.”

“Deliberative dialogue” is a process that can empower participants to foster collaborative relationships and perceive the underlying mental models that maintain the status quo with the goal of fostering new approaches to complex challenges.

For the past seven years, Barnes has been working in support of transitional processes in Burma/Myanmar. She has worked and lived in more than 30 countries as a teacher, trainer, researcher, policy advocate and consultant with the focus of helping civil society activists, diplomats and politicians, and armed groups to build their capacities for preventing violence and using conflict as an opportunity for addressing the underlying causes giving rise to grievance. Barnes has worked with numerous peacebuilding and human rights organizations, including Conciliation Resources and Minority Rights Group International.

Focusing on education

���ѱ�’s on peace and justice guides its educators, many of whom are sharing their pedagogical practices and discussing ways to educate future peacebuilders in the “educator’s strand,” designed for personal and professional development of K-12 teachers, undergraduate and community educators. Themes include pedagogy, curriculum development, building a culture of peace in your classroom or school, alternative education programs, and restorative practices.

On the undergraduate level, professor , who leads the in the department of applied social sciences, leads a roundtable discussion for faculty and administrators of peace and justice studies programs.

, the with CJP’s , joins professor and graduate students in a session on mentoring student peacebuilders and the importance of those mentors being experienced practitioners themselves.

Restorative practices are highlighted by professors and in a “relational justice” workshop on how mindful teachers can prepare and prime “their best selves” in preparation for inviting students into models of restorative justice. Mullet also joins , professor of education at Bridgewater College, for a workshop on relational literacy in multicultural K-12 classrooms.

Cheree Hammond, professor of counseling, leads educators in a workshop on contemplative pedagogies and the cultivation of a just and peaceful self.

Restorative justice, trauma healing, playback theater featured

The conference offers an opportunity to highlight ���ѱ�’s unique peacebuilding initiatives. The brings together practitioners from 91����Ƶ and JMU, as well as local law enforcement. Collaborators in the initiative will speak: , co-director of the; education professor ; Harrisonburg Police Department lieutenant Kurt Boshart; , restorative justice coordinator at the ; and , director of JMU’s Office of Student Accountability and Restorative Practices.

Another definitive CJP program, (Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience), will be introduced in a workshop by professor and program director .

troupe co-founders and lead a workshop on playback theater as qualitative research. Vogel is a professor of theater; Foster instructs in the applied social sciences department and with CJP. The applied theater method invites dialogue and healing through community-building, as audience members share stories and watch as they are “played back” on the stage. Among other settings, Inside Out has performed on campus with college students returning from cross-culturals, among international peacebuilders and in workshops for and research about trauma and sexual abuse survivors.

, professor of applied social sciences, speaks about social capital networks as forms of resistance among battered undocumented Latinas, sharing just one strand of a .

, assistant professor of restorative justice and peacebuilding, leads a discussion on the film “Vision is Our Power,” a film about black youth ending violence in all its forms. The documentary was created by four young filmmakers participating in a multi-year arts and leadership Vision to Peace Project led by Turner; the film debuted in 2008 at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

And more…

, professor of English, presents on life narratives and identity issues in the Balkans with his wife Daria, a CJP graduate who teaches in the counseling department at JMU. The two lived and taught in the Balkans.

, professor of philosophy and theology, explores the recent work in philosophy and science on theory of emotion.

, a new faculty member coming to 91����Ƶ next semester after concluding his PhD research at American University, participates several panels, with a diversity of topics including transnational solidarity and police brutality and racism in the contested areas of Palestine and Ferguson, Missouri. Seidel is a board member of PJSA.

Among the alumni presenting: Vesna Hart, Sue Praill and Tom Brenneman join a panel discussion on justice and the nature of human nature. Ted Swartz presents the satire with Tim Ruebke and JMU professor of theater Ingrid DeSanctis.

View the . Registration fees will be covered for attendees from the Shenandoah Valley who are affiliated with or sponsored by Bridgewater College, James Madison University, 91����Ƶ, or Mary Baldwin College. For more information, click .

Zehr was interviewed for a ThinkProgress article [published June 23, 2015] by senior religion reporter Jack Jenkins, “.”

Stauffer joined a [aired June 24, 2015] hosted by to talk about the social impacts of high-profile acts of forgiveness. David Anderson Hooker, PhD, a instructor, was also on the panel in his role as consultant to the

“It is encouraging to see the national media recognizing the Zehr Institute as a source for restorative justice commentary in response to tragic events like the shooting in Charleston,” said , executive director of ���ѱ�’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, which houses the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice. “Howard Zehr, Carl Stauffer and David Anderson Hooker bring on-the-ground experience that inform how communities can begin the process toward healing.”

Zehr: Forgiveness is ‘hard work’

The examines both the media response to the shooting and the later televised, tearful moments when family members offered forgiveness, via satellite, to alleged gunman Dylann Roof.

A media focus on faith-based healing can be problematic, Zehr said. “It’s a mixed blessing. On the one hand, [forgiveness] does call out the best in us. But it also can obscure the justice component, and it can feel like an easy fix for people.”

Zehr also pointed out that media “can sometimes magnify this pressure [to forgive] by focusing intensely on acts of forgiveness instead of the hard work of reconciliation that follows that forgiveness.”

Panel touches on restorative practices

Stauffer and Hooker joined The Rev. Alyn E. Waller, senior pastor of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and The Rev. Susan Brooks Thistlewaite, professor of theology at Chicago Theological Seminary.

Stauffer was asked to address the question of what it means to engage in practices of forgiveness that are restorative.

“We can uphold the humanity of all people involved, but we can also hold each other accountable,” said Stauffer, referencing transitional justice processes he’s been involved with in South Africa and Sierra Leone. Stauffer also pointed out the “social significance of these expressions of forgiveness” towards breaking cycles of violence “for the sake of the community moving forward.”

Acknowledgment of structural violence is a necessary precursor to meaningful conversation, he said.

Discussing the personal and political reasons behind forgiveness, Hooker reiterated that truthtelling must take place about the educational, social, and religious systems that produce and implicitly condone such acts. “What it is that we forgive?” he asked. “If we forgive the individual, that’s fine. We should not forgive the act nor the systems that make that act possible, reasonable and even, not surprising.”

In deference to Zehr’s wishes not to be praised, a “roast” has been planned for Zehr, along with a sit-down dinner for anyone who wishes to attend – in fact, the more, the merrier, say organizers.

“If you know Howard, you know that he would not enjoy being the center of attention at a formal gala,” says , executive director of ���ѱ�’s . “We’ll honor Howard and his work in the field of restorative justice by sharing a meal and telling humorous and heartfelt stories celebrating his work and the many ways he has touched our lives.” (To attend this limited-seating event, make your reservation by emailing hzroast@emu.edu.)

When writing Changing Lenses, Zehr had no intention of altering the global framework of criminal justice. In the preface to the upcoming edition of the book, Zehr writes that his aim was to create “a book that would encourage us to identify and rethink some of the assumptions we rarely examine and that would help us to begin to dream of other possibilities.”

Changing Lenses has been translated into seven languages; a fresh edition is appearing in June, adding to the 26,000 copies circulating since 1990. Another of his books on the subject, The Little Book of Restorative Justice, has been a bestseller, exceeding 110,000 sold, with more than a dozen translations (often adapted to the local context) circulating internationally.

“His work in restorative justice is seminal,” said , dean of the (UAB) in announcing a new award for Zehr, the . “Over the course of his career he has had an international impact, changing our perception of crime and violations. His work has shifted thinking from the older perception of crime as an act against the state to a more humanistic understanding of crime as a violation of the rights of individuals.”

Australian criminologist offered these words in anticipation of the roast: “No person has done more to inspire the restorative imaginations of citizens of this planet than Howard Zehr. He has been the great teacher who has invited us to sit beside him to see what he can see through his restorative lens.”

As a teacher of restorative justice, Zehr was popular with the 600 enrollees in his CJP courses – with some of them already making plans to come to the roast. (Zehr will be a guest lecturer in the restorative justice classes scheduled for the 2015 .) In his characteristically modest manner, Zehr wrote a last year in which he asked any and all readers for their input on the direction, strengths, weaknesses, and needs of the restorative justice field. If someone sends him an email, he responds personally.

The event will begin with a silent auction and book signing at 4:30 p.m. Dinner will be served at 6 p.m., and the roast will begin at 7 p.m. Proceeds from the silent auction and donations will go toward the at CJP. “Our goal is to raise $50,000 for the Zehr Institute,” said Byler.

All are welcome to this limited-seating event. Reservations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, with a May 8 final deadline (email hzroast@emu.edu to reserve). To set the tongue-in-cheek tone, guests are encouraged to dress in “Howard Zehr-styled formal wear,” which translates as the clothing that one would wear to photograph wildflowers or rivers in the Shenandoah Valley. To donate an item to the silent auction, send information about the item to hzroast@emu.edu.

Philip Borkholder’s ’89 journey to information technology began by majoring in fields that had little to do with computer science: biology and international agricultural development.

This led to a five-year stint with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) shortly after graduation in 1989. Borkholder spent one year in Honduras and four in El Salvador, where he handled computer matters in refugee camps.

Teaching himself from books with help from a local university professor, Borkholder converted information stored in gunny sacks and written on cardboard boxes into electronic files. Through his work, food distribution and peace negotiations became more reliable.

After returning to the States, Borkholder wryly noted that “MCC ruins you” in that he didn’t want to settle into working for the typical employer. After cycling through two employee roles, he became an independent, self-employed software developer. Never foreseeing himself in this field as a young man, Borkholder says that each step along the way has opened another door towards his career.

Borkholder encourages those interested in starting a business to “just go for it!”

Supporting humanitarian programs

Like Philip Borkholder, Philip Horst ’76 – who is president and chief technology officer of Integral Design Software – has spent time with Mennonite Central Committee. He says that his “career choices have been shaped by values that are rooted in significant ways from my time at then-EMC.”

Those values include environmental stewardship, a holistic approach to spirituality, and improving others’ quality of life. Integral Design Software applies these values by serving organizations that offer international relief and development programs. For example, their program “PlanWin” manages data for humanitarian programs to better organize, communicate and fundraise.

Horst founded the company in 2008. The staff consists of himself, his son, and a few others doing contract work. The small scale of the operation means Horst does “everything and anything that needs to be done,” even when this includes new challenges and skills. “I can learn whatever I need in order to do my work,” says Horst.

Horst encourages potential entrepreneurs to have foresight: “I would say to be prepared to be always on, both in terms of responsibility and needing to get things done. Realize you probably can’t really anticipate what’s ahead. Find some key people you can trust and collaborate with, even if it is informally. And think a second time if you really want to do this – then have fun.”

Turning school experience into business

In 1986, Paul Shelly ‘89�����Ի���Kevin Baer ‘90 lived on the first floor of the Oakwood dorm. Their friends group remained close post-college, gathering for yearly golf trips. This friendship laid the groundwork for what would later become Educational Leadership Solutions.

For Shelly, information technology is his second career. His first was being a public school educator. After graduating from 91����Ƶ, he and wife Lisa Zendt Shelly (also an ’89 grad) moved to Meridian, Mississippi, where he was a public school educator for eight years.

Similarly, Baer spent his first three years after graduation working in Meridian, living in an intentional community (a shared house) with Shelly and three others. They attended Jubilee Mennonite Church, then pastored by J. Daryl Byler, now an administrator at 91����Ƶ.

Shelly and his family later moved a couple of hours north to the Tupelo Public School District, where he was named the 2003 “Administrator of the Year.”

Shelly’s education career “coincided with technology becoming part of the classroom, giving me a chance to become an ‘expert’ as technology progressed,” he explains. As an administrator, Shelly wanted to streamline curriculum planning and student assessment in a customizable way.

In the early 2000s, Shelly contacted Baer for technical advice on installing and distributing software for other school administrators. “This contact was the starting point for the living room-based endeavor that within about a year turned into ELS,” says Baer, who now functions as the company’s Chief Technology Officer. The company now has software in over 90% of Mississippi’s school districts.

Problem solving, rather than entrepreneurship, is what drove the two to start ELS. “Business never had any appeal to me while in college,” Shelly says. “If I remember correctly, I think I got a C in the only business course I ever took. But I have always enjoyed building things and figuring out shortcuts.”

While Baer had a business administration minor with his computer science major, he too did not intend to become an entrepreneur. Instead, Baer says that professionals should always be on the lookout for ways to improve their output, which could become “the seed for a service or product that some day becomes the core of a business.”

In an arena where change occurs quickly, an adaptive mind is necessary. “A business like ours seems like it is always one year away from extinction if we make the wrong guess as to what the next trend will be,” says Shelly.

In light of such a cutthroat field, Baer measures their success based on “how pleased and satisfied our customers are with how they interact with our software and services.” He is rewarded by the absence of bureaucracy, and the flexibility for developers to develop and decide software function rather than “tending to process and procedures.” On that note of creative freedom, Baer advises aspiring enterprisers to “not be afraid of trying something new when opportunities arise.”

In a conversation-style talk at tables set for an intimate lunch, Mohamud told 91����Ƶ leaders: “I’d like to officially request your help for Somalia with the tools and techniques you have here, which are very life-saving tools – not [only] life-saving at the individual level, but life-saving at a nation level.”

He commended CJP’s , which has 16 Somali-speaking women as graduates or current students: “You educate a woman, you educate a family. You educate a family, you educate a whole nation.”

He added that another important group to nurture as peacebuilders is the youth of his country, who constitute the largest segment of its population and who have spent much of their lives experiencing violence and displacement. “All of their lives [have been] unstable for a long time. They keep running, one place after another.”

The young of Somalia need trauma healing, education, and work opportunities in order not to be vulnerable to recruiting by terrorist organizations, he said.

CJP program director concurred with Mohamud’s observation, saying: “We don’t want to create a society where young men are drawn into violence because they have no prospects for a positive life, while young women are taught to be peacemakers.”

91����Ƶ’s commitment to Somali region

Docherty touched on ���ѱ�’s “long commitment to the Somali region.” She spoke of celebrating the graduation of CJP’s first cohort of Somali women in the peacebuilding leadership program in December 2013. There she felt “great hope,” but also heard the women express “the need to connect large-scale work on trauma healing with any initiatives to rebuild the country.”

Mohamud arrived in Harrisonburg in a mid-sized black car sandwiched between two other black vehicles, with accompanying members of the U.S. Secret Service.

“We are always honored when our former students return to campus, [but] to my knowledge, you are the first alumnus to return with a motorcade,” said CJP executive director in his welcoming remarks, evoking a warm smile from the Somali president.

How this president came to know 91����Ƶ

CJP’s direct connections to Somalia include alumna Khadija Ossoble Ali, who earned her in 2001. Ali then became a member of Somalia’s parliament and served in the prime minister’s cabinet. She left Somalia in the mid-2000s due to political changes and began pursuing a PhD at in Virginia. With her doctorate just completed, she recently met with Mohamud in Somalia where they spoke of new responsibilities for her. (The president conveyed her personal greetings to 91����Ƶ.)

After Ali began studying at CJP in the late 1990s, she recommended ���ѱ�’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) to Mohamud, who was then an educational leader in Somalia. (He is the founder of what has evolved into in Mogadishu, with 5,000 students.) Mohamud took three of SPI’s intensive courses in 2001, focusing on mediation, trauma healing, and how to design learner-centered trainings.

“My brothers and sisters,” he said, recalling his time at SPI, “this is another great day in coming back here after more than 10 years away.” Since Mohamud’s time at SPI, more than a dozen Somali men and women have attended SPI, plus many others who have Somali roots but enroll in SPI from Kenyan, U.S., or other addresses (SPI does not track its participants by ethnicity).

“After I left here,” Mohamud recounted, “I extensively traveled in Somalia, mediating [between] different communities and clans [which] were having conflicts for different reasons.”

Understandings, patience, helped by SPI teachings

“The tools and the instruments that I took from here helped me a lot in sitting with the people, having the patience and the endurance to listen to sometimes irrational arguments,” he said.

Fortunately, Mohamud said, his SPI training helped him to realize that the people speaking irrationally and often choosing destructive paths were burdened by psychosocial traumatic baggage as a result of their constant exposure to violent conflict.

Unfortunately, he added, Somalia remains a tinderbox. A destructive act by even one person can undermine years of efforts at peacebuilding and reconciliation and spark widespread attacks of one group against another.

Threatened by terrorists

In this environment – with Somalia’s still-weak, distrusted governmental bodies – the terrorist group Al-Shabaab has played a viciously destabilizing role in Somalia and indeed the entire region, Mohamud said. Members of this group tried to kill Mohamud in a hotel assault four days after he became president on Sept. 10, 2012, and have launched other attacks on him over the last two years, sometimes killing people around him.

On a positive note, Mohamud said Somalia is a “very, very rich country” in terms of possibilities for its people to thrive once stability is achieved. It has millions of hectares of arable land, two strongly flowing rivers, the longest coastline in Africa, and the most livestock per capita. He pointed out that Somalia is situated at one of the “most strategic locations in the world.”

The meeting was held in an area that could be easily secured by the Secret Service and local police. Twenty-six representatives of 91����Ƶ joined Mohamud and his accompanying group of eight for remarks and lunch at , a relatively secluded meeting area on the back side of Common Good Marketplace, near the southeast corner of ���ѱ�’s campus.

Mohamud singled out , a rising junior at 91����Ƶ, for special attention at the luncheon, giving her a warm hug as he departed. He praised her deceased mother, , a Somali-Muslim renowned for her peace work in East Africa, for insisting that the “cross-cutting subject” of peacebuilding be woven through the required coursework of all students at Simad University.

Fruits of interfaith work

As one of three who spoke on behalf of 91����Ƶ, Byler explicitly referred to the interfaith nature of 91����Ƶ’s work with Somali-speaking people, who are largely Muslim.

Byler quoted two passages from the Holy Quran that “whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved the lives of all humankind.” And: “Have you seen him who denies the religion? He is the one who harshly rebuffs the orphan and does not urge the feeding of the poor.” Byler offered Psalm 82:3 as having a similar message for Jews and Christians: “Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and destitute.” The Somali president nodded in affirmation as Byler spoke these words.

As a sign of CJP’s commitment to Somalia and the rest of the Horn of Africa, Byler said CJP is establishing its first “practice and learning hub” to “partner with and support our [East African] alumni as they engage in this challenging work” of addressing the deeply rooted, systemic problems that feed the cycles of violence.

91����Ƶ President presented the president of Somalia with several gifts, including training materials in the Somali language used by 91����Ƶ’s program.

It was the first in a new series of practitioner-focused consultations and conferences that will be held each year during the Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI).

“We wanted to gather the folks who have been using STAR around the world to get their feedback on who’s using it, what’s working, and why, and make adjustments as needed,” said
J. Daryl Byler, executive director of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP). “We’re trying to set up a process of learning from our alumni and to update our curriculum based on what they’re learning as they put these things into practice.”

The event also helped to strengthen the network of alumni from around the world who have been trained in STAR since it was first offered in 2001.

Doing so will benefit both the university and STAR practitioners, as CJP plans to use this alumni network to implement upcoming contract work, Byler said.

One example is a USAID contract with CJP to provide STAR training to 150 staff in Juba, South Sudan. Five STAR alumni will carry out that training, along with two 91����Ƶ professors.

Byler said CJP plans to begin three-year cycles of on-campus events around several practice areas, beginning with a consultation and followed by a practitioner conference and a writing and research conference in subsequent years.

In 2015, CJP will host a STAR conference as well as restorative justice consultation, beginning a similar three-year cycle for that field. Discussions are ongoing about other potential focus areas for these events in the future.

In addition to helping CJP to improve its academic curriculum and bolster alumni networks, Byler said the conferences and consultations will encourage more writing and research in these areas where CJP has special expertise.

Holding these new events in conjunction with SPI also will add to the learning environment there, as many participants in the consultations and conferences are expected to also enroll in SPI classes, Byler said. He credited CJP program director Jayne Docherty with the vision to launch the new series of events. — Andrew Jenner

In an on-camera interview in Byler’s office at on Feb. 4, Byler spoke about the positive influence of work by Jordanian Christians, despite their dwindling numbers.

Byler, who lived in Jordan for six years until July 2013, said Christian have had “a very major influence in the fields of education, in the medical field, operating some of the best hospitals in the country… Their institutions are there to serve other Christians but also Muslims and others in the country, so they make their services available, and they see that as their way of giving witness to the light of Christ.”

Byler was one of six people Lawton interviewed for “,” a segment of , for which Lawton is the award-winning managing editor. The segment was posted online Feb. 14, to be broadcasted thereafter by local PBS stations across the country. Byler, who formerly represented the relief agency in Jordan, was the only interview subject who was not a native of the Middle East.

Lawton made the observation that Christians in Jordan have much freedom of religion, compared to many other largely Muslim countries, and that Jordanian Christians and Muslims “have generally lived together in peace.”

Byler mainly agreed, with two caveats. Jordanian Christians are not allowed to try to convert a Muslim to Christianity, though the reverse is okay. But, yes, “they are free to meet, to worship, to provide services, run schools and hospitals.” And, secondly, Christians in Jordan “bear that burden” of being viewed as linked to the West and its churches, which tend to be perceived as anti-Muslim and supportive of wars that harm Muslims.

Lawton’s report concluded with these words from Nabil D. Haddad, a priest in the ancient Melkite Catholic Church and founding director of the :

“This region has always had the three religions. This is the birthplace of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. So it is part of the history, it’s part of the presence, and it’s the responsibility of the Christians and the Muslims to work together, to protect this history and the value in it.”

In her one-room home, the Sunni Muslim refugee served tea to , who worked for an international humanitarian organization in Jordan for six years.

“It was strange to me that she was not interested in placing blame. She just wanted the violence to stop,” Byler said, looking up to the crowd of more than 100 people gathered on the Rockingham County Courthouse steps Monday evening.

The assembly, organized by , lit candles to shine the light of prayers for a nonviolent solution to the Syrian conflict, which has gone on for more than two years, left over 100,000 civilians dead and more than 7 million — about a third of the country’s population — displaced.

President Barack Obama has asked Congress to authorize the use of Tomahawk missiles against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime in response to a chemical weapons attacks that killed about 1,400 civilians last month. Obama claims he has evidence Assad is responsible.

Russian President Vladimir Putin claims evidence to the contrary, while United Nations inspectors are investigating the attacks.

Obama plans to address the nation tonight in a prime-time speech to explain his call for a military strike.

Byler, who is the executive director of the , was one of several people who spoke at Court Square about finding creative solutions instead of missile strikes, as the sun sank behind the nearby Harrisonburg/Rockingham Judicial Center. [EDITOR’S NOTE: Daryl Byler wrote an that was published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.]

Earl Martin, one of the event’s organizers, said candles were burning in 165 other cities in the U.S. He said missile strikes would lead to the deaths of innocent civilians like he saw in the Vietnam War.

“We carried the collateral damage in our arms and the collateral damage stained our shirts and stained our hearts,” he said.

Having seen the carnage of war, Martin wants the U.S. to find “more effective ways to respond.”

An Iraqi war veteran, who said he just made up his mind about whether the U.S. should intervene with military action in Syria, agreed with Martin.

“The cast of characters in this is insane,” Evan Knappenberger said. Israel and al-Qaida both want the U.S. to intervene, he said.

“I don’t think the U.S. military is the tool for this kind of problem,” he said, standing in his camouflage Army jacket.

Each speaker shared similar sentiments that the U.S. should dig around its toolbox for something besides a hammer.

In an interview while the congregation dipped wicks into glowing candles spreading light around a darkening Court Square, Byler said that any process meant to heal wounds made during the bloody conflict must involve Assad, the rebels and the majority stuck in the middle.

Violence has occurred throughout the Middle East, he said, because oppression has led to more oppression. When a majority regains power over a minority, as rebels intend to over Assad’s Alawite sect, they return the tyranny they experienced and the cycle repeats.

“The hard work is for the international community to recognize all of the disparate parties who have a stake in this problem to … come together to talk,” Byler said.

Instead of missile strikes, he said, those accused of war crimes, such as chemical weapons attacks, should be tried in the International Criminal Court.

“It seems to me that it models much greater respect for …  international law, for international peace, than doing something we’re pretty sure based on experience is going to fuel the flames,” he said.

Byler said the U.S. can only sell democracy if the nation can show it works properly, with politicians reaching across the aisle for compromise.

“To see effective …  democracy in the Middle East, we need to lead by example,” he said.

Article courtesy Daily News Record, Sept. 10, 2013

If U.N. inspectors conclude that the Syrian government knowingly used chemical weapons against its own civilians, I concur with President Obama that President Assad and his top military leaders should be held accountable for such egregious actions.

What is less clear to me is how U.S. military strikes — especially acting with little international support — are an effective strategy for holding the Syrian government accountable or making the Syrian people more secure. In response, Syria and its allies will almost certainly target Israeli and U.S. interests, plunging the region into even deeper chaos. Besides, another U.S.-led military action will further serve as a potent recruiting tool for al-Qaida.

Even if military strikes substantially weaken the Syrian government, can the United States be certain that the conditions on the ground are conducive for the formation of a new government that will better serve the interests of all Syrian people?

The Middle East is an honor and shame culture. A far more effective response would be to work with Arab governments to broadly expose the evidence of chemical warfare, using pictures and stories of innocent children and civilians to publicly shame those who perpetrated inhuman acts.

Furthermore, international tribunals exist for situations precisely like this. Why not use the International Criminal Court to indict and try Syrian leaders for war crimes?

Perhaps the most effective long-term strategy is the one least often mentioned in the current frenzy: U.S. modeling of what it means to be a global neighbor who is consistently accountable to democratic principles and international law. As matters now stand, many in the Middle East do not see the United States as a reliably positive example.

Indeed, there is a broadly held regional consensus that the United States only selectively supports democracy, international law and human rights. Frequently cited are a history of U.S. support for long-term dictatorships in Saudi Arabia and Egypt; providing cover for the Israeli military occupation in the West Bank; and increasing use of unmanned drones to assassinate leaders of groups like al-Qaida — strikes that often cause “collateral” civilian deaths.

Without a doubt this is a complex situation. Having previously worked as the director of a public policy office in Washington, I know that there are no easy answers. But I cannot see how introducing cruise missiles or smart bombs will do anything to calm an already extraordinarily volatile situation — especially if innocent civilians are killed as part of the U.S. attacks.

At the center I currently direct, we have received messages from about a dozen Syrians who have previously been students here. With few exceptions, they are opposed to a U.S. military strike, regardless of whether they lean toward Assad or against him.

The United States would do well to work with the international community to collectively seek the safety and well-being of the Syrian people. In the long run, patiently working with others to forge a political settlement inclusive of all parties to the conflict holds the greatest promise for a Syria where Alawites, Sunnis, Christians and others can flourish together.

This , in the Richmond Times-Dispatch and is being re-published and circulated by 91����Ƶ, with permission of the Times-Dispatch. If used further, just credit the Richmond-Times Dispatch.

Both Byler and Docherty are veteran peace practitioners, focused on conflict transformation and development efforts both domestically and abroad. Byler comes with extensive experience in leading non-profits and Mennonite church initiatives, including fundraising. Docherty has extensive academic institutional experience, with teaching stints at three universities.

Byler has directed programs for in Washington D.C. and the Middle East. He will be coming to 91����Ƶ in July 2013 from Jordan where he has lived since 2007, coordinating peacebuilding projects run by MCC’s local partners in Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Israel and Palestine.

Impressed by CJP alumni in Middle East

In the Middle East, Byler has seen the work of dozens of CJP alumni. He says he has been inspired by these alumni, noting how CJP “transformed the way they think about conflict and the way they are integrating the principles and experiences learned at 91����Ƶ in the challenging Middle Eastern context.”

As director of MCC’s Washington Office from 1994 to 2007, Byler met regularly with policymakers on Capitol Hill, the State Department and White House.  Prior to that, he spent six years as a staff attorney in Meridian, Miss., while serving as senior pastor for , an interracial congregation. He brings to 91����Ƶ significant fundraising experience, including leading a capital campaign for .

Byler holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia, where he also did graduate business coursework. He earned two degrees from 91����Ƶ, an MA from the in 1985 and a BA in in 1979.

Experiences in Burma/Myanmar

On the CJP faculty since 2001, Docherty spent much of 2008-12 working with groups in Burma/Myanmar on supporting the transition from a military dictatorship to a more democratic form of governance. Prior to this, she worked for three years with the Institute for Peace and Justice Education at Lebanon’s American University to develop a peacebuilding training program for young leaders in that country. She has led workshops on peacebuilding topics in a dozen other countries.

Docherty will continue to teach quarter-time as professor of leadership and public policy at 91����Ƶ. She has also taught at George Mason University and Columbia College in South Carolina. She earned her PhD at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason and holds an undergraduate degree in religious studies and political science from Brown University. She studied theology at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Lynn Roth to Mennonite World Conference

Byler is replacing , who has been named the North American representative to Mennonite World Conference. In the new CJP leadership configuration, both the executive director and program director are three-quarter-time positions.

“Daryl will be giving administrative leadership to CJP with a primary focus on building external relationships, networking with key university and external stakeholders, and developing resources for CJP’s growth and success,” said Provost Fred Kniss upon announcing Byler’s appointment. Kniss also expressed appreciation to departing Roth “for his years of wisdom and servant leadership to CJP.”

Concerning Docherty’s role as program director, she will “oversee the development, integration, funding, delivery and evaluation of CJP’s various programs,” said Kniss. “This includes the coordination of the academic and practice programs of CJP, and giving leadership to curriculum development.

“I am eagerly anticipating working with this new CJP management team,” said Kniss, “as they provide innovative leadership and vision to ensure that CJP remains a global leader in the peacebuilding field.”

The 3D Security Initiative based at 91����Ƶ is attracting wide interest among national leaders who often don

If 16th century Anabaptist leader Michael Sattler were alive today, would he vote in the upcoming presidential election?

Responding to this question from the audience, speaker Gerald Biesecker-Mast replied, “Likely no, but not out of apathy … Sattler probably would abstain, but would be alarmed at the notion that doing so was an act of indifference, supporting the status quo.”

Biesecker-Mast, professor of communication at Bluffton (OH) University, was giving a paper outlining the “righteousness and mercy” motif as practiced by early Anabaptist Christians, noting the group’s determination to combine “peace with justice in the social order” and that “scripture, not the hangman,” should be the final appeal in matters of civil authority versus freedom of worship and practice.

The question of whether Christian faith promotes involvement in politics or whether that same faith directs Christians to values beyond the political realm came to the fore repeatedly at the 15th Believers Church Conference, Sept. 23-25. Some 230 persons were registered.

The gathering was co-hosted by 91����Ƶ and Bridgewater College, with sessions divided between the two campuses. Using a format that combined scholarly addresses, panel presentations, audience questions and worship, the conference focused on the meaning of citizenship in the United States from a Believers Church point of view, asking what it means to be citizens of the world’s lone superpower and members of the body of Christ.

The Question of Voting

John D. Roth, “Mennonite Quarterly Review” editor and Goshen (IN) College history professor, said that as a pacifist he will not vote for president because the office includes the designation of Commander-in-Chief. In political elections generally, Roth said, “The differences, from an Anabaptist perspective, are illusory … The ballot box is not supposed to hold our personal dreams.”

Like several conference attendees, Roth decried political polarization. However, he said, “Abstaining from voting doesn’t make you less culpable for rulers’ decisions, but more.”

Roth spoke as part of a panel that sparked lively discussion from the floor.

Was it better to support “the lesser of two evils?” Panelist Lloyd Harsch, a New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary professor who volunteers in Republican campaigns, said yes, noting “Jesus isn’t running.”

International perspectives were brought to bear on the Believers Church Conference by (l. to r.): Ontonas Balciunas, president, Lithuania Christian Fund; Mwizenge S. Tembo, native of Kenya and associate professor of sociology, Bridgewater College; Wu Wei, senior pastor, Chon Wenmen Church, Beijing, China; and David Radcliff, New Community Project, Elgin, Ill. At extreme left is Nancy Heisey, professor of biblical studies and church history at 91����Ƶ and moderator of Mennonite World Conference.
Photo by Jim Bishop

Some participants said international friends made them feel responsible for voting when they said, “I don’t have a voice, but you have to have a voice” in influencing U.S. actions.

“What many people are calling for is a vote against what has been going on. It’s a cry of the soul. Maybe there’s nothing you can say yes to now, but you can say no,” said panelist Earl Martin. He and his wife, Pat Hostetter Martin – lifelong Mennonites and 25-year Mennonite Central Committee workers – said they grew up unfamiliar with politics, and, Pat said, “hardly aware of world problems.” That changed when they volunteered to help refugees in Vietnam, where their friends included a couple whose baby was killed when a U.S. Navy flare plunged through their roof.

Although Earl Martin said he votes, the couple focus more on peace vigils, a community voluntary gas-tax project and refusal to pay a military telephone-bill surcharge.

The Meaning of the term “Believers Church”

Opening conference speaker Carol Scheppard, associate professor of philosophy and religion at Bridgewater College, talks between sessions with Heidi Miller Yoder, who teaches worship and spiritual formation courses at Eastern Mennonite Seminary. Miller helped plan and lead worship sessions at the gathering.
Photo by Jim Bishop

Conferees from varying traditions debated biblical pacifism. Church traditions usually associated with the Believers Church include Adventists, Baptists, Brethren, Disciples of Christ, Mennonites, Methodists, Pentecostals, Plymouth Brethren and Quakers, denominations that view membership in the church as a voluntary act of faith.

However, Robert Lee said attending the conference reminded him of “how we use the term ‘Believers Church’ differently.” Lee, a Mennonite and international director of the Tokyo Mission Research Institute, explained that Anabaptists usually think the designation indicates pacifism, but others, including Baptists, do not.

One of the more riveting presentations came from Robert Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches. He captivated his audience as he spoke forcefully, yet in a non-judgemental manner, without notes, quoting leadership people from memory, employing self-effacing humor and underscoring “the urgency of now” in responding to “a world that is teetering between community and chaos.”

“God is calling us to re-read the Old Testament,” Dr. Edgar said. “Note that the prophets always had the minority view but believed strongly that they were acting in the will of God.

“Questioning our government and its leaders’ actions doesn’t mean that we don’t love our country,” he said. “But the world has changed so much in the last century. We live in a global village. God transcends national boundaries, and God calls us to be shapers, shakers and remakers of this fragile planet Earth.”

War and God’s Will

Mwizenge Tembo, associate professor of sociology at Bridgewater College, described Kenneth Kaunda, former president of Tembo’s home country, Zambia, as “a man of peace who reluctantly supported using force to overcome South Africa’s apartheid regime. Likewise, Abraham Lincoln reluctantly led in the Civil War’s fiery trial, said J. Michael Robertson, pastor of Warsaw (Va.) Baptist Church, who quoted correspondence between Lincoln and a Quaker friend.

Can a President know it’s God’s will to have a war? a woman in the audience challenged Robertson. Their dialogue continued after the session, in which Robertson advised his audience to “always know what you don’t know.” Warning against claiming to know God’s will, he advised fellow-pastors, “When you go home, teach the separation of church and state.”

Mark Thiessen Nation, an associate professor at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, spoke on the subject of his upcoming biography, noted Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder. Living among French Mennonites following the devastation of World War II, Yoder learned, and then taught, that true pacifism and Christianit
y are extremely difficult. Decades later, Nation said, “I was shocked to read Mennonites saying ‘How can we be pacifists after September 11?’ What rock had people been living under?”

“We have so much to appreciate in this country, religious freedom not least. However, many of our nation’s practices resemble all too closely the imperialism of the biblical empires,” said speaker Ted Grimsrud, professor of religion at 91����Ƶ. “It is as if we have two Americas, America the pioneer democracy, and America the dominant empire.

“Jesus presented a challenge to empire, and the empire struck back,” Grimsrud noted. “Those who attempt to follow the way of Jesus today must expect opposition from the state.”

International Perspective

Those attending the conference were largely from the U.S. with a few attendees from Canada and one from Holland. A three-member panel gave an international perspective to the discussions.

Wu Wei, Pastor of Chong Wenmen Church in Beijing, said each Chinese church faces a difficult decision over whether to register with the government.

Otonas Balciunas, president of the Lithuania Christian Fund, said his home community of Anabaptists endured terrible persecution under Soviet rule. In dealing with government, he said, their motto was “Do not fear, do not ask, do not trust. Rising individualism has become a newer challenge.”

Tembo said Zambia’s new consumer culture has been accompanied by chaos. Chatting with neighbors on a recent visit there, Tembo heard a man praising Osama bin Laden for engineering the Sept. 11 attacks. Friends were surprised to hear Tembo reply, “I could have been on those planes. I live there. I saw the suffering.” Tembo saw the man’s remark as a mirror image of the attitudes of many Americans who are unaware of the effects the U.S. government and businesses have on people across the world.

“Contrary to popular opinion, and we don’t want to say it too loudly, we are only as good and as precious as everyone else in this world in God’s eyes,” said speaker David Radcliff of the New Community Project in Elgin, Ill. Asked by a member of the audience whether Christians should seek persecution or hardship, Radcliff responded, “Those things come naturally if you live out the heart of your faith.”

Carol Scheppard of Bridgewater College and Ted Grimsrud (r.) of 91����Ƶ respond to audience questions following their presentations on “Believers and Political Authority in the Bible.” Brian Martin Burkholder (l.), 91����Ƶ campus pastor, led opening worship and moderated the sessions.
Photo by Jim Bishop

In a closing worship service, J. Daryl Byler, director of the Mennonite Central Committee Washington Office, spoke of Jeremiah’s prophesy to the Israelites of a long, hard exile in Babylon. Notwithstanding easier circumstances, he said Christian pacifists in America face an exile in which pacifism becomes less tolerated.

“We must find ways to both love and resist the empire,” Byler said, while noting that Jeremiah’s prophecy offered an eventual vision of hope.

Connecting Scholarship with Congregational Life

“I found the balance between the scholarly and the practical, the blend of ideas and experiences [at the conference] especially helpful,” said participant Edward B. Nyce, recently returned peace development worker with Mennonite Central Committee, Bethlehem, West Bank. “I appreciated the two-pronged call from speakers David Radcliff and J. Daryl Byler to examine our current lifestyles and to be prepared, by God’s grace, to follow Christ’s teachings over the long haul,” he added.

Char Smith, who recently traveled to Hebron with a Christian Peacemaker Team, said the conference was helpful, though more academic than expected. “I needed more theoretical grounding,” said her husband, Michael, who chairs the Peace and Justice Committee of the Illinois Mennonite Conference.

“It was gratifying to have Bridgewater College and Baptist, Brethren and Mennonite offices from Washington, D.C., involved in conversation at the planning stage of the conference,” said Nathan D. Yoder, associate professor of church history at Eastern Mennonite Seminary and chair of the program planning committee. “We were also intentional in wanting to connect the scholarship of the academy with the life of congregations. One way we did that was to weave worship into the conference proceedings.”

Conference planners are working with Pandora Press Canada for a forthcoming book in the “Studies in the Believers Church Tradition” series that will continue the conversation of the conference.

———–

Chris Edwards is a free-lance writer from Harrisonburg; Jim Bishop is public information officer at 91����Ƶ.