Christ at the Checkpoint was by far the most impactful conference I’ve ever attended. Nothing can compare to hearing from Palestinian Christians themselves at this particular moment of crisis. Even while these Palestinian Christian leaders affirmed their love for Jewish people and the depth of solidarity they feel from Jewish allies around the world, they spoke with authority and clarity to call western Christians to confront our own anti-Palestinian racism and the underlying Christian Zionism that results in harmful theological and political positions. So what can we do? Here are some resources.

Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage is a global network of 40 + autonomous Christian groups (including Peace Catalyst) who are engaging in a peaceful and prayerful show of solidarity with the people of Gaza by walking the length of the Gaza strip in cities around the world during Lent. As peace catalysts, we’re helping to organize a few walks around the United States. So far, we have one scheduled in the Twin Cities on March 23rd and one in San Diego on March 30th.

Are you interested in learning more about the incarceration and persecution of the Uyghur people in Western China. Uyghurs are being put into the largest concentration camps since the Jewish people were killed during the Holocaust. It’s happening again in China right now, and much of the world is unaware.

Uyghur, Kazakh, Tibetan, and other minority families are being traumatized through the assimilationist policies of the Chinese government. These policies include children being forcibly separated from their parents and put in boarding school where they are systematically stripped of their language, culture, and religion.

Pope Francis is currently in Canada and has delivered a historic apology for the suffering and abuse in the Catholic boarding schools for Canada's indigenous peoples. This apology comes on the heels of the Pope's apology from the Vatican in April of this year. Schools of this type are not just things of the past, though. Similar boarding schools are currently in operation in China for Uyghur and Tibetan peoples. Watch the video from this joint event with Peace Catalyst as well as representatives from several Uyghur and Tibetan human rights advocacy organizations to learn more about what's happening.

When I recently arrived in South Africa at the end of January to join my husband for a few months while he is on a temporary deployment with his job for USAID, I wondered how I would spend my time - what I would learn and whom I would learn it from. One thing I knew almost the first day I arrived is that I wanted to learn more about the concept of Ubuntu.

Our Peace Catalyst team in Seattle recently hosted its first live peacemaking event in over two years. Two local churches combined their efforts to host the local Uyghur American community in a community-wide Listening Event on the last day of the Winter Olympics. The timing was in solidarity to the worldwide Uyghur community whose concerns about holding an Olympic games in a nation where genocide is happening in real time were ignored by the IOC.

Support the Uyghur Wellness Initiative. We've developed training materials and recruited mental wellness professionals to volunteer their time to see Uyghur clients in North America, and you can be part of it.