Today, June 20, is World Refugee Day, an international day designated by the UN to honor refugees around the globe and the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country in order to escape conflict or persecution. So today we have some resources and ways to move toward solidarity with refugees from our team peacebuilder Jennie Telfer, who collaborates with Trauma Rescue Aid (TRAID), a refugee-led peacebuilding organization providing mental & physical health care, food support, and other forms of tangible aid to Sudanese families who fled the war in Sudan.

The unended Korean War persists because of fear and the fact that our leaders (in the USA, South Korea, and the DPRK) have so far been unable to sustain a de-escalatory spiral, but that can change. Here are some ideas for US actions and how you can advocate for them.

The Gospel is not just about going to heaven when we die, but the coming of God's kingdom of justice, peace, and dignity for all people; and it’s this conviction that has brought me to work with Peace Catalyst as IT Manager.

Over the past three months, I had the opportunity to be part of a local project called “Safe and Strong – Women Shaping Communities,” through which I led Kintsugi workshops in different towns across Bosnia and Herzegovina. Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, symbolizes the idea that our scars do not have to be hidden, but can instead become part of our strength and beauty. In many ways, that philosophy reflected the women I met throughout this journey.

The good guys. The bad guys. I grew up believing there were good guys and bad guys. Indeed, many movies and stories supported the idea. But who were these ‘bad’ people? Why were they ‘bad’? What motivated them? And where did those motivating desires come from?

This is now the fourth war I have lived through in Lebanon. Each time violence returns, it carries old memories with it. Old fears. Old grief. In moments like these, I often find myself asking again: How do we hold on to peace in the midst of darkness? How do we continue believing that God is good and that Jesus truly is the Prince of Peace when societies keep tearing themselves apart?

The Islamic Center of San Diego has long been more than a mosque to me, many of us at Peace Catalyst and the whole community. It has been a place of friendship, learning, hospitality, and our shared work for peace. Imam Taha and the community there have welcomed us for years as partners in interfaith dialogue, justice, and care for our city. For me personally, it is a place tied to close relationships and memories that have shaped my understanding of love, faith, and neighborliness.

Peace Catalyst Team Members Nick and Laura Armstrong live and work in Boise, Idaho, welcoming and developing friendships of mutuality with people who have come to the Boise area as refugees. Continue reading to find out more about their impact and the importance of the Armstrongs and their work in PCI.

One way to reframe our thinking about hope (and everything else we’re not sure we believe in anymore) is to focus more on asking better questions and less on finding the “right” answers. While questions themselves offer less security and control than answers, questions are also more powerful than answers, and more compelling.

In the gospels, Jesus is asked 183 questions. In all but four cases, he replies either with another question, a story, or an “answer” that’s a paradox. Not only that, but Jesus himself asks 307 questions throughout the gospels. So he is far more often found with the questions than found answering them. Why might this be? I can think of a few possible reasons…