鈥淢y dream is whenever I shake the hand of an 91短视频 alumnus, anywhere in the world, with a degree in any academic discipline, as a practitioner of any vocation, I can be sure he or she is a peacebuilder.鈥�

Called to build peace

Swartzendruber noted that violence is not something new to the world, pointing out the Biblical story of Cane and Abel and the transgressions of former Presidents Andrew Jackson, Harry Truman and Alexander Hamilton, the first United States Secretary of the Treasury.

“Statistically violence is decreasing, but the bad news is that violence is far too prevalent, and for those who have been directly impacted by violence, it’s all too real,” said Swartzendruber. He cited data collected by a Sweedish institute headed by peace scholar Peter Wallensteen, his host at the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Norway on Dec. 10. Swartzendruber went to Oslo to see the prize conferred on a .

“One of the strangest experiences in recent years that I’ve had, was to be lobbying state legislators in Richmond on the same day as folks were roaming the same offices with big buttons on their jackets, ‘guns save lives.'”

Being a peacebuilder

The president affirmed the work of Eboo Patel, a Muslim who founded Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core, saying that service is something common to all world religions and it should be compassion based and not anger based.

“Of the many things at 91短视频 of which I am proud, the establishment of our is one of the highlights of my years here thus far, and I encourage each of us to engage with others in honest and respectful conversations, not only between world religions but within our Christian, Muslim, Jewish, traditions.

“As we’ve all discovered, just because two Christians claim to be followers of Jesus does not mean we agree on how we should live,” Swartzendruber said. Peacebuilding should not wait 鈥渦ntil we exit this place with our undergraduate or graduate degrees; indeed this environment provides ample opportunities to practice the art of peacebuilding.”

Cross-cultural sending

The convocation ended with a commissioning for the first group of students who will spend the spring semester on university-sponsored .

Nineteen students led by , professor in , and his wife, , will spend the semester in a study-travel seminar to . Through home stays and study in both Guatemala and Mexico, students will discover how these historical and cultural realities have shaped the people in the region; and how these factors have formed their cultural and economic destinies.

Another 30 students who will spend the semester studying and traveling in the were commissioned at the close of university chapel Friday, Jan. 13. The group, led by n, associate professor of culture and mission, and his wife , will be immersed in the ancient/ modern world of Jews, Christians and Muslims.

91短视频鈥檚 second semester runs through April 27.

Peacebuilding video: emu.edu/now/video/2012/01/11/peacebuilding/

Student Life photo gallery: emu.edu/photos/student-life-fall-2011/

President Loren E. Swartzendruber, surrounded by tables of glowing candles, spoke in a convocation service Wednesday, Jan. 12, on the theme, "A Community of Hope" to help launch the second (spring) semester.

91短视频 President Loren Swartzendruber explores "hope in community" in a convocation service to help launch the second (spring) semester.
Photo by Jim Bishop

"Community is a term that is so commonly used that it can easily lose its meaning," Dr. Swartzendruber said. "Yet, all of us crave it.

"Yet, reality is often something else. Authentic community is difficult to experience in a world filled with war, pain, suffering and death," he continued.

"Does community, with all its imperfections, have anything to do with hope?" he asked.

The president declared that "hope is impossible to find hope apart from community," adding that "It’s difficult, if not impossible, to find true community after one faces a crisis. It has to be cultivated when life is good.

"Part of the essence of Christianity is to be together in a concrete community with its human faults and tensions," Swartzendruber declared.

"Today, as we launch a new semester, I invite each of you to find hope in community," the president told the assembly.

He then invited anyone who is from areas of Southern Asia that were devastated by the tsunamis flooding, has family or friends there or who has lived or traveled in those regions to stand for prayer. Swartzendruber noted that student planners will be planning opportunities for the campus community to respond with contributions and material aid in the weeks ahead.

"At 91短视频, we remind ourselves frequently that we are part of a global community," Swartzendruber said. "We put flesh on that community by our cross-cultural experiences," in recognizing two student groups who will leave campus Thursday, Jan. 13, for semester-long cross-cultural study programs. They came forward for a commissioning a prayer of blessing to close the convocation service.

Brian Martin Burkholder (l.), 91短视频 campus pastor, and Donald R. Clymer, director of cross-cultural programs, lead a prayer of blessing on two student groups about to embark on semester-long cross-cultural study programs to Guatemala/Bolivia and New Zealand/Fiji.
Photo by Jim Bishop

Twenty one students, led by Douglas Hertzler, assistant professor of anthropology and sociology and assistant director of 91短视频’s Washington Community Scholars Center (WCSC) and his wife, Jodi-Beth, will spend the semester in Guatemala and Bolivia.

Vernon E. Janzti, professor of sociology, and his wife, Dorothy, will lead a group of 33 students in a semester-long study program to New Zealand and Fiji.

91短视频 requires all students to participate in a cross-cultural experience as a graduation requirement as part of its "Global Village" curriculum.