91短视频鈥檚 three graduates joined seven others for two years of service in Colombia under the SEED program of .

According to 鈥� headed for the last 25 years by social worker Sharon Hostetler 鈥�80 鈥� Colombia has the largest refugee population in the world.

鈥淢ore than 5.2 million Colombians have been internally displaced by right-wing paramilitaries often working in conjunction with Colombia鈥檚 U.S. funded and trained military, left-wing insurgents, indiscriminate aerial fumigations, large-scale extractive industries and agro-fuel production,鈥� says the Witness for Peace website.

鈥淎t every turn, U.S. corporations have benefited from the violence and mass displacement, most notably Coca Cola, Chiquita, Dole and Drummond Coal.鈥�

A variety of peace-and-justice groups, including Justapaz of the Colombian Mennonite churches, are helping with the recovery effort at the grassroots level.

鈥淭hese are amazing 91短视频 graduates, doing great work,鈥� said 91短视频 professor and chair of the MCC U.S. Board of Directors, , who visited Sarriot, Zehr and Morris earlier this summer. 鈥淭hey are accompanying churches and villages displaced by the violence of the last 10 to12 years.鈥�

Hershberger, who has an oversight role with MCC, was in Colombia as part of an MCC study tour. In the spring of 2013, she and her husband Jim will be leading a couple of dozen 91短视频 students to Colombia for an accredited cross-cultural experience.

The SEED participants in Colombia are expected to gain understanding of the economic, political, cultural, and religious factors feeding violence and poverty. Living among the general population, they work for peace, justice, equality, and livelihoods.

Sarriot, a U.S. citizen who has lived on three continents, is based in Medellin, the country鈥檚 second largest city and birthplace of the drug cartels. A major, Sarriot works with the Sanctuary Peace Church Network of Antioquia, which is comprised of 12 evangelical churches and organizations. One of them is an Anabaptist/Mennonite congregation that supports a group of war victims through community-building and workshops on trauma healing.

Sarriot is also running 12 workshops in a men鈥檚 prison under the auspices of the Prison Fellowship. Likely some of her students were members of paramilitaries, perhaps even soldiers who victimized those in need of trauma healing.

鈥淥ne of the things I鈥檝e realized living in such a violent and complicated urban environment,鈥� said Sarriot, 鈥渋s how important it is as Christians to understand Jesus鈥� call to nonviolence in all aspects of our lives.鈥�

She added that Jesus鈥� teachings tend to 鈥渃onflict with what our culture, media and government tell us.鈥�

Morris, a major from Charlottesville, Va., is assigned to the city of El Carmen de Bolivar, where he works for a local church and a regional food cooperative. In both cases he is helping displaced farmers organize projects related to food security and general economic development, such as a newly opened farmers鈥� market. He is also leading youth Bible studies with a focus on life planning and career callings.

Many of the farmers Morris works with were driven out of their farms in the surrounding mountains during the civil war. Morris is involved with community land purchasing for small farmers.

Zehr, from Pittsburgh, works in the remote mountainous community of Berruguita, which got caught in the struggle for territory between paramilitaries and guerillas in 2000. Most of the residents fled the area but many of them have gradually returned.

鈥淢y work is accompanying the community as they attempt to organize both to demand their rights as citizens and as victims of the armed conflict,鈥� said Zehr, who (like Sarriot) majored in peacebuilding and development. As an example, Zehr cited their pursuit of improvements to the community鈥檚 rutted access road. Also, in the spirit of the government鈥檚 land-reform program, the community is fighting for their right to collective land ownership.

Zehr also helps supervise a small-loan program for local farmers and helps supply produce to the farmers鈥� market that Morris helped launch. In addition, she works with a group of local mediators who are developing another way of dealing with conflict.

鈥淚f we aren鈥檛 careful and if we don鈥檛 take care of our security,鈥� she explained, 鈥渢he violence could begin all over again.鈥�

Each speaker applied the Christian peace position to a contemporary concern in an 8-10 minute address of 1,500 words or less.

Jessica Sarriot, a senior peacebuilding and Development major originally from Paris, France, took first place with her speech, “Hold on, Together.” Her speech examined the difficulties persons have in hearing each other,
often springing from a disparate sense of urgency and priority, and what needs to happen for genuine communication to occur.

“No matter their age, stance on war, mental health or the Establishment, people are brought together by their willingness to be moved, physically and figuratively, by the cry of another. When we do that, when we live
awake and responsive to others, seeing allies and opportunities, taking mad leaps at the light barely seen through the darkness, we are rewarded,”聽 Sarriott declared.

Jossimar Diaz-Castro, a sophomore philosophy and theology major from Mexico City, Mexico was first runner-up with his speech, “Unwanted Aliens: the Jewish and Hispanic Story.” Drawing on similarities between the Jewish people of Bible times and contemporary society, he urged his audience to “develop relationships with your Hispanic brothers and sisters. Invite them and visit each others’ congregations and set your tables for them.”

Megan Brauckmann, a senior peacebuilding and development major from Baltimore, Md., was second runner-up with her speech, “An Embodied Faith.”

“Being the body of Christ means allowing the model of the incarnation to challenge us radically to an embodied faith, a faith that wrestles with what the incarnation of the Word of God means and the role of the body in our theology – a faith that approaches each person barefoot, encountering holy ground,” Bruackmann stated.

As first-place winner, Ms. Sarriott receives a cash prize and entry in the bi-national competition with winners from other Mennonite-related colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The bi-national winner will be announced in late September/early October.

Following graduation this spring, Sarriott plans to join nine other people in SEED, a two-year peacebuilding program in Colombia with Mennonite Central Committee.

The annual oratorical event, open to students in Mennonite and Brethren in Christ universities and colleges in Canada and the United States, is administered by Peace and Justice Ministries of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) U.S.

The contest was established in 1974 in honor of the late C. Henry Smith, a Mennonite historian and professor at Goshen College and Bluffton University.

Jessica Sarriot, a senior development and peacebuilding major with minors in pre-law, political studies, history and social sciences, was honored for her speech, 鈥�,” in the C. Henry Smith Smith Oratorical Contest.聽 She received a $225 cash prize.

In her address, Sarriot called members of Mennonite Church USA to support the Palestinian church’s call voiced through the Kairos Document as well as Palestinian civil society and Israeli peace groups for selective divestment from the Israeli Occupation. Leaning on the stance of the Mennonite Church and its affiliated institutions of supporting peace as well as the concept of “first do no harm,” she asserted that removing stocks from companies which help to enable and entrench the oppression of Palestinians was a moral mandate.

“This call comes from a deep love for both Israelis and Palestinians and an understanding that love speaks the truth and holds its subjects accountable as well as a recognition that doing nothing is not a neutral act but a support for the status quo,” Ms. Sarriot declared.

She ended with a call to action for all members of Mennonite congregations, institutions or stock holders with Everence (formerly Mennonite Mutual Aid) that they speak up in support of divestment. “This is our Kairos, our opportune moment to work for justice,” she stated.

Sarriot is a native of Paris, France currently living in Harrisonburg. Following graduation this spring, she plans to join nine other people in SEED, a two-year peacebuilding program in Colombia with Mennonite Central Committee.

The annual event, open to students in Mennonite and Brethren in Christ universities and colleges in Canada and the United States, is administered by Peace and Justice Ministries of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) U.S.聽 The top three speakers receive scholarships to attend a peace-related conference or seminar as well as cash prizes, with $300 awarded for first place.

First place award went to John Wray, a 2010 alumnus of Conrad Grebel University, Waterloo, Ont., for his presentation, “Seeing the Human in the Human.”

Other 91短视频 contestants included:

Jossimar Diaz-Castro, a sophomore philosophy and theology major from Mexico City, Mexico was first runner-up with his speech, “.”

Megan Brauckmann, a senior peacebuilding and development major from Baltimore, MD was second runner-up with her speech, “.”

• Chrissy Kreider, a senior biology major, spoke about “Connecting for Compassion”
• Larisa Zehr, a senior peacebuilding and development major, spoke on “Tell me a Story”
• Jakob zumFelde, a senior environmental science and chemistry major, spoke on “Separated from Creation by Asphalt”

91短视频 the peace oratorical contest

Directors of the C. Henry Smith Trust established the contest in 1974 in honor of the late C. Henry Smith, a Mennonite historian and professor at Goshen College and Bluffton College (now University). Participating colleges host a contest with student speeches on the general theme of applying the Christian peace position to contemporary concerns. These individual campus contests usually take place during the spring semester of the academic year.

Judges for the 2010 contest were Michelle Armster, co-director of the MCC U.S. Office on Justice and Peacebuilding; Prem Dick, personnel placement coordinator in Human Resources for MCC; and Doug Pritchard, co-director of Christian Peacemaker Teams.

More information on MCC鈥檚 peace education work, including resources for youth and young adults on conscientious objection and alternatives to military enlistment, can be found at .