Major training for Asian peacemakers--November 2012

Training participants in front of the Chiang Mai YMCA

 In November 2012 we gathered 25 peacemakers from across Asia for a Training of Conflict Transformation Trainers held at the YMCA in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  We had people from 8 countries:  India, Thailand, Myanmar/Burma, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Kyrgyzstan.  Some were educators teaching peace studies, some were grassroots activists, some human rights activists, some pastors, some church executives, and some missionaries.  We had various Christians and one Hindu in the group.

A "people sculpture" about peace

Exploring different types of nonviolent action

Together utilizing experiential education methodologies and often Bible studies we explored the topics of conflict analysis, personal conflict styles, conflict resolution, mediation, dealing with diversity in conflict (mainstream and margins), power dynamics, nonviolence, developing campaigns and strategies for change, trauma healing, reconciliation, the principles and tools of experiential education, and spirituality to sustain oneself for the long haul.

The "elephant game" exercise was particularly challenging!

In the "mattress exercise" participants had intense discussions about strategies to undo aspects of oppression

The training was very intense, some days going from 9 in the morning to 9 at night.  But we could deal with the intensity because of the variety of tools, experiential exercises, high energy engagement by the participants, and a passion to take something of great value back into the conflicts at home.

Legacy of the Children of Abraham

Christians and Muslims—how should we relate to each other?  Through violent competition, through conversion efforts, through keeping our distance, through loving our neighbors, through working together for peace?  All these options have been exercised by Christians and by Muslims.  Both religions, along with Judaism, trace their spiritual roots back to Abraham, but the relationships of these religious siblings has been highly conflicted over the centuries.

Five years ago 130 Muslim scholars from various Muslim traditions from around the world issued an open letter to the heads of global Christians communions, including the Vatican, Orthodox Patriarchs, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Baptist World Alliance.  The letter was titled from a phrase in the Qur’an, “A Common Word between Us and You.”  In the letter these Muslim scholars set forth two things that Christians and Muslims have in common:  Calling people to love God and to love our neighbors.  The Muslim scholars asserted that these two calls can be the basis for how the two largest religious bodies in the world relate to one another.  Various Christian communities formally responded to the Common Word document including the Baptist World Alliance.  These documents can all be found on-line at http;//www.acommonword.org. 

In Boston this November 30^th through December 2^nd Muslim and Baptist leaders from North America gathered for the second Muslim/Baptist Dialog based on the Common Word document and responses.  Papers were shared and responses given in plenary sessions and small groups.  I gave the final presentation, trying to bring the matter of how we relate into the practical areas of conflicts we face and how we will live together in diverse societies.  (If you want a copy of what I presented, send me an e-mail!)

Two days later I was landing in Abuja in northern Nigeria as part of a Baptist World Alliance human rights delegation invited by the Nigerian Baptist Convention.  For the last decade Northern Nigeria has been the scene of inter-religious violence between Christians and Muslims in which many churches and mosques have been burned and people killed from both religious communities.  But in the last couple years this conflict has taken a vicious turn through the appearance of an Islamist extremist group popularly called Boko Haram.  Boko Haram has engaged in a campaign of bombings and assassinations, targeting government officials, the military, the police, the United Nations, and churches.  Churches, including many Baptist churches have been bombed or fired upon, often during worship services.  Many people have lost their lives and many churches have been destroyed.

Praying in the ruins of a bombed church in Jos

Our delegation visited the sites of destroyed churches in the cities of Kaduna, Jos, and Kafanchar.  We listened to pastors and other church leaders tell of the attacks, the loss of members, and the difficulties of trying to rebuild.  We expressed our solidarity in Christ with them, praying together amid the rubble.  The Bible tells us in Romans to “weep with those who weep.”  We wept with our sisters and brothers.

Imam Muhammad Ashafa speaks as Rev. James Wuye looks on

But what should we do?  Some Christians have responded to violence with violence.  Others have responded by trying to work for peace.  We also met Muslims trying to work for peace.  One inspiring moment for me was meeting Muhammad Ashafa and James Wuye, an imam and pastor who both participated as leaders in the violence in Kaduna until they began an amazing journey of reconciliation (told in my book Interfaith Heroes 2).   As a result of their inter-religious reconciliation work they have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.  We also had Muslims present at the two-day conference and training on conflict transformation we held in the Nigerian capital Abuja.  I led three workshop sessions on dealing with conflict nonviolently.

Nigeria is a pivotal state in Africa, the most populous country on the continent and a key leader in many diplomatic and peacekeeping efforts.  The Nigerian Baptist Convention has over 6 million members and 10,000 churches.  How the Nigerians deal with the challenges of Muslim-Christian relations is critical not just for the viability of their nation but also for inter-religious relationships in Africa as a whole and the rest of the world.

There are many views among Christians about how we should relate to Muslims.  I believe we must begin with the same call made by the Muslim scholars in the Common Word, loving God and loving our neighbor.  I also believe we as Christians are called to share the good news of Jesus Christ with everyone we can, but if we include hatred, suspicion, ignorance and violence in our approach we will not be bearing a good witness to the love of God.  We would also be unfaithful to some of the clearest and most concise the teachings of Jesus, who doesn’t even allow violence against us as an excuse not to love.

There are no easy solutions in Nigeria, but there are people including some courageous Christians and courageous Muslims, trying to find the way forward.  It was a privilege to come along side them for a while and to share the struggle together.

Kenya Trip--June 2012

In June 2012 I traveled to Kenya for a couple weeks of peacemaking training.  I was working primarily with Wilson Gathungu, my friend from an earlier trip, then later with Pini Kadulah.

The peace procession begins on the dividing highway

Wilson took me to Mauche, a village in one of the hot zones during the 2007-2008 post-election violence.  Pastor Kones from a Pentecostal church in Mauche had been a participant in our June 2011 Molo District training, and now he was hosting the training for his village and people from some of the surrounding villages.  The highway had become a dividing line between the Kikuyu and Kalenjin communities.  But we brought together people from those communities as well as some other ethnic groups.  For two days we trained on conflict resolution and building alliances for peace and reconciliation.  We concluded on Sunday with a march down that dividing road, ending with a rally in downtown Mauche.  Wilson had written a couple peace songs that he taught everyone.  They even got me dancing to them at the rally!


Then Wilson and I drove up north to the Pokot district where Pini had pulled together a 3-day training for us to lead.  The Pokots are involved in violent conflicts with their neighbors, often around the issue of cattle rustling.  We had an excellent workshop at the New Vision Baptist Church.

The high point was after we had done a Bible study on 2 Samuel 21 and the traumatized mother Rizpah who lost her two sons to violence and transformed the situation through her nonviolent public action.  So I asked them to apply what we were learning about trauma healing to the context of cattle rustling.  Young Pokot men have to have 30 or so cattle to give to a bride's family in order to get married, but almost nobody has that many cattle.  So they have to steal the cattle, and everyone is armed with AK-47s.  When someone is killed often their bodies are just left in the bush; there is no grief expressed, no retrieval or burial of the body.  People go on as if the young man never existed.

Wilson facilitates part of the workshop in Pokot

I asked them to name a fictional young man, which they did:  Noroko, "Warrior."  I asked what would we do when Noroko died.  Participants talked about whether Noroko had been justly or unjustly killed, determining whether they should ignore his body or engage in a revenge raid against his killers.  As the discussion went on I realized only men were speaking.  I asked if any women would like to speak, and a woman chief spoke out (yes, I met a few women chiefs on this trip) saying the same thing as the men.  I was getting nowhere, so I put an empty chair at center stage and said this was Noroko's mother--what would she say to us.  A woman came forward and sat in the chair, catching me by surprise.  She took the part of Noroko's mother and spoke of her grief and sadness that more would die over her son's death.  Her feelings had been unacknowledged in the culture, but she gave them powerful voice.  I challenged them that these were not my words or my expression, but an expression from a part of Pokot culture that was being silenced and marginalized.  She asked for ways to recognize his death and her loss.  Pini then brought out the matter of planting trees to remember those who had died in a way that would bring healing to the people and the land.  The next day we planted trees around the church and in the community to honor those who had died.

Boaz (in white) speaks to folks at Turkhana village

On Saturday, a young peacemaker named Boaz invited us to visit a distant village called Turkwell where Pokots had been in violent conflict with a neighboring Turkhana village.  It took us almost 3 hours to get to the village, which was way off the road and through the bush.  A pastor of one of the two churches in the village had been at our workshop.  When we arrived the men of the village were also sitting and squatting in a large circle with the women and children clustered around.  Wilson, Pini, Boaz and I all spoke about making peace, but one elder spoke comparing their enemies to a virus that must be wiped out!  It was quite a challenging dialog, but I particularly enjoyed watching the patient firmness with which Boaz handled the situation.  He was young but had a depth of wisdom and insight into the situation that enabled him to be an amazing peacemaker.