Colin Saxton – General Secretary, Friends United Meeting
Interpeace – An International Peace Organization
Jim Winkler – President and General Secretary, National Council of Churches
Bill Goodfellow – Executive Director, Center for International Policy
Janet Mock – Exectuve Director, Leadership Council of Women Religious
Mark Weisbrot – President, Just Foreign Policy
Stephan Bauman – President and CEO, World Relief
Shan Cretin – General Secretary, American Friends Service Committee
John Lyon – President and CEO, World Hope International
Today’s letters go to three remarkable people working for peace:
Simone Campbell – Executive Director of NETWORK, Nun on the Bus
Valarie Kaur – Founder, Groundswell
Maria Santelli – Executive Director, Center on Conscience and War
In honor of keeping peace alive after peace day, all three of my letters go to figures or organizations directed towards peace:
Sister Patrica Chappell – Executive Director, Pax Christi USA
Win Without War – An organization devoted to solving conflicts worldwide without military force
Alexandra Toma – Executive Director, Peace and Security Funders Group
In honor of the International Day of Peace, all of today’s letters go to public figures working to build peace, including Jeremy Gilley, one of the founding members of the International Day of Peace.
Jeremy Gilley: Founder of Peace One Day and instrumental creator of the International Day of Peace
Avon Mattison: Founder and president of Pathways to Peace
Bishop William Swing: Founder and president of the United Religions Initiative
Before you read the letters, consider how you can create and build peace. Pray. Serve. Love. Act. Follow Jesus. And consider what you can do to pull peace into September 22nd.
Do you remember the 276 school girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram? Does #BringOurGirlsBack ring a bell? Many of those girls belong to the Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN), the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria. The EYN is suffering terribly at the violence of Boko Haram.
Yet, what makes their story so inspiring to me is not the bad, but the good that exists despite the bad. The Church of the Brethren (including the EYN) is one of three historic peace churches. While we in the United States never face a real threat to our love of peace, the EYN is confronted with that challenge everyday. In spite of all the evil, hatred, and violence that the EYN has endured, they choose to respond with courage, love, and nonviolence.
Midway through August, the Church of the Brethren observed a week of prayer and fasting in solidarity of the EYN.
I believe that fasting has the potential to be so powerful because it recognizes that when we make space in our lives for Jesus, his love can shine through us in some pretty amazing ways.
I decided that I wouldn’t just fast for that week, but I would extend my fast for an entire year by salvaging hours of my time that I waste playing computer games to do something better with that time.
I am going to use that time to write three letters every day about the EYN for the next year.
From today, September 1st, 2014 every day until September 1st, 2015, I will write and mail three letters to public figures.
This includes:
Elected Officials
Other Government Officials
Philanthropists
Media
Celebrities
Religious Leaders
Anyone who will listen
I will share with them the story of the EYN, and I will ask them to get involved however they can. This may mean sharing the story of the EYN on their social media and programs, donating to the EYN compassion fund, or setting aside aid money for the EYN.I want to emphasize the role that their creativity can play in making a difference.
I also want to emphasize that the only way to honor the EYN’s commitment to peace and nonviolence, is to explore and support solutions that also emphasize peace and nonviolence. From government officials, the only aid I will seek is humanitarian, nonmilitary aid.
I cannot do this alone.
The cost of sending over 1000 letters is well above $500.
(GoFundMe.com is a completely safe and secure website. It is among the most reputable and successful crowd funding platforms. If you have questions or concerns about donating through Go Fund Me, please visit http://www.gofundme.com/questions/)
All donations will go directly to purchasing stamps or envelopes, except for the Go Fund Me service fee. Any funds left over after 365 days of letter will be donated to the EYN compassion fund.
Send donations of stamps and envelopes to:
Emmett Eldred Carnegie Mellon University SMC # 2046 Pittsburgh, PA 15289
Write letters of your own!
Fill out this pledge form to commit to writing one letter a month or more on behalf of the EYN. If I can write three letters a day, you can write a few letters too!
Click here to donate directly to the EYN Compassion Fund.
The EYN gives me hope. They inspire me. So I’m not going to stop talking until I get people to listen. Join me. Support me. Pray for me and for the EYN.
Dunker Punks 