Peace

Anna Baltzer and Mustafa Barghouti discussed peace and Palestine on the Daily Show on October 28.  View the uncut interview.

Must conflicts between people and nations inevitably lead to broken relationships, strife, and violence?

Does the Bible offer another way?

Rev. Daniel Buttry will explore the biblical basis of conflict transformation and ways it may be lived today on October 11 and 14.

The most moving experience of my trip, however, was a visit to Aida Refugee Camp. During the war in 1948, many Palestinians fled from the violence, simply locking their homes and expecting to come back when things had settled down. Unfortunately, that time never came, and now they are spread all over the world... The self-proclaimed symbol of hope for Aida refugee camp is the key: the key that many families still hold to their homes that they are barred from returning.

Sara Brubacher reports on experiences of hospitality and cross-cultural friendship. 

Sara Brubacher reports on Christian Muslim dialogue and cultural understandings.  She will be the special speaker at First Mennonite Church at 10:45 a.m. on Sunday, August 30.

Sara Brubacher reports from the East/West Dialogue and Peacebuilding Workshop in Amman, Jordan.

Occupied Palestine will be the focus at First Mennonite Church on Sunday, April 26.  Dr. Gordon Brubacher will preach during the 10:45 a.m. worship service, sharing from his academic and personal experiences in the area.

Conflict in the Middle East.  Tragedy in Gaza.  How can we act to support peacemaking efforts in this troubled area of our world? 

Anna Baltzer, a Jewish American Columbia graduate, Fulbright scholar, granddaughter of Holocaust refugees, and human rights worker with the International Women's Peace Service, is the resource person for this year's Peacemaking Workshop.  Her acclaimed presentation is an account of her eyewitness experience of the conflict in the Middle East and the joint Palestinian and Israeli nonviolent resistance.

Before the glow of Christmas faded the world was shocked by the news of the Israeli bombing of Gaza and the subsequent invasion.  We invite everyone to join First Mennonite Church in praying and acting for peace and for justice.  Here are some resources.

Mennonite Central Committee Canada Letter to Prime Minister - January 5, 2009

Please, everyone, stop what you're doing. This is not just any report from Palestine, but the worst in my lifetime, the worst in 40 years. At this moment, Israel is raining bombs down on Gaza, an enclosed tiny area that is home to 1.5 million men, women, and children, most of them innocent civilians. This space is tightly sealed by Israel, which constantly denies Gazans electricity, food, medicine, and the ability to leave. Gaza is one big prison being bombed from above. The death toll is up to 428 in the past 7 days. That's more than the number of Israelis killed in the last 7 years. This is what I would call a massacre.