Three Reasons to Celebrate What God Has Done in 2014
by Rick Love
As we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace this Christmas season, would you join us in celebrating what God has done through Peace Catalyst International (PCI) in 2014?
1. God has changed the hearts of thousands of Christians & Muslims in 2014.
Over the last year we have seen God change the lives of thousands of Christians like Rich and Muslims like Ahmed.
Ahmed, a deeply religious Muslim visiting the U.S., participated in PCI events. He had never experienced Christian hospitality in his home country of Pakistan. In fact, he had heard so many negative things about Christians he didn’t want them to drink out of his teacups. But through these PCI events, God changed his heart. Ahmed exclaimed, “When my wife had Christians over to our house, I’d ask her why she would do that. Now, because of the time spent with PCI friends, I will make sure we have more Christians to our home for friendship and dialogue.”
Rich, a recently retired Lt. Col. in the US Army served in Iraq and Afghanistan. His Evangelical friends told him it would be impossible to have a genuine friendship with a Muslim. But God proved them wrong. He attended a PCI dialogue trip to Yosemite. As he talked around the campfire, hiked, rafted, biked and even swam in the cold snowmelt river with his new Uighur and Saudi companions, God changed his heart. He was blown away by how respectful these Muslims were, how deep their faith was, and how attentive to his story they were. This Army Officer came away from this trip with a new perspective and new friends.
2. We have begun to counter violent extremism.
Christians and Muslims make up over half of the world’s population. So there needs to be peace between these two faith communities if we are going to experience any semblance of the Christmas message of “peace on earth” (Luke 2:14). We work for peace and counter extremism in two ways:
We reach out to refugees and immigrants who may be recruited by extremist groups. This is why the FBI showed up at a Somali peace feast in Louisville. They know that the terrorist group Al Shabab recruits young Somali men.
We partner with Muslim peacemakers to counter violent extremism in Pakistan. We do this in partnership with Douglas Johnston and The International Center for Religion and Diplomacy.
We lectured on peacemaking at Duke Divinity School to Christian leaders from around the world, including students directly from the war in Syria and the terrorist attacks in Nigeria (Boko Haram) and Kenya (Al Shabaab).
3. We enjoy friendships with Muslim throughout the U.S. and the world.
One thing we do well is make friendships that lead to peace – one conversation at a time, one cup of tea at a time. We have relationships with Imams and Muslim scholars throughout the U.S. and around the world. We also have strong relationships with ISNA – the Islamic Society of North America – and Zaytuna, the only Muslim liberal arts college in the U.S.
One of the reasons we have made such advances in our work is because of people who pray for us and support us. Would you consider joining this group or deepening your partnership with us?
As 2014 comes to an end, would you consider a tax-deductible year-end contribution of $25, $50, $100, $500 or more to support our ongoing peacemaking efforts? Or, better yet, would you be a monthly supporter of our Waging Peace Fund? We are so grateful for your partnership!
