Stephan Bauman – President and CEO, World Relief
Shan Cretin – General Secretary, American Friends Service Committee
John Lyon – President and CEO, World Hope International
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.
Today features another round of letters inspired by a sponsor: all three people who represent her in Congress. If you would like to become a sponsor and be able to suggest recipients, check the links below. There are also many other great ways that you can get involved, or you can tell us about a project of your own, and we’ll see what we can do to help you out! Check below!
I had an interesting time writing one of these letters. It is a letter to Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. I try to write to a lot of legislators that have foreign aid or foreign policy specific focuses, but Senator Blumenthal’s only real connection to foreign policy is that he is a prominent member of the Senate Armed Forces Committee. So, I had to not only advocate for peaceful assistance for the EYN, but I also had to explain why I think military intervention is not appropriate.
Todays letters go to:
Senator Richard Blumenthal – Senate Committee on Armed Forces
Senator Chris Murphy – Senate Subcommittee on International Development on Foreign Assistance
Representative Rosa DeLauro – US Representative from Connecticut
Before I get to today’s letters, an important update on the EYN and their situation from COB Newsline:
“Prayer is requested for the students and staff of Kulp Bible College (KBC), and the leadership of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria), as the decision has been made to temporarily close the college. Students will be leaving for other areas of the country, and headquarters staff also may be making ready to leave as Boko Haram forces advance to within 50 kilometers of the EYN headquarters.” – Church of the Brethren Newsline
And a tweet today from COB General Secretary Stanley Noffsinger:
EYN church leadership have left hqtrs in Nigeria. We are in touch with Dali’s. Merciful God, bring your peace to Nigeria.
Daniel Burke – Editor, CNN Belief Blog Antonio de Aguiar Patriota – Brazilian Ambassador to the United Nations, Chairman of the UN Peacebuilding Commission Jody Williams – Professor, Activist, and Nobel Peace Prize Recipient
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.
Hello, #DunkerPunks! Bill from @OnEarthPeace here. How can we help?
-Bill Scheurer, Illinois/Wisconsin District
Great question Bill! And I hope your question inspires other Dunker Punks to ask the same question of themselves. We have two broad answers: We want you to listen, and we want you to speak up! First of all, listen. By reading dunkerpunks.com and keeping your ears open to any other sources that promote the movements of Dunker Punks in the Church of the Brethren and other peace builders, you will find opportunities to pray, encourage, support, and get involved! Today, dunkerpunks.com got a submission about a fledgling movement called Muna Daya, started by several Church of the Brethren youth who felt moved at National Youth Conference to do something about the situation in Nigeria. Since then, we’ve started working with these youth to see what we can do to support their mission, and maybe you can too. You see, the more you listen and search for faithful servants who are passionate about following Jesus in radical, innovative ways, the more opportunities you will find to help. The other answer we have for you is something you’ve already done today: Speak Up! By reaching out to dunkerpunks.com, you’ve shown what true Dunker Punks do: step out from the crowd and get involved. Don’t wait for someone else to do something, do something yourself! Of course, we know that all of you at On Earth Peace have a lot of experience with stepping out, speaking up, and doing something, but our hope is that everyone else reading this will feel compelled to do the same. And since you’ve stepped up, we want to give you a few specific things you can do as well. First of all, we hope that you connect with Muna Daya and any other groups that you see featured on dunkerpunks.com. See what you can do to help them. Second, we’ll give you a few questions, because we want to step out too. How do you think we can work together to build peace? How can we help you? Let us know at dunkerpunks2014@gmail.com. We look forward to working with you more in the future! To see how other Dunker Punks have responded to God’s call to step forward, check out our responses page! Help support dunkerpunks.com as we move to work more closely with On Earth Peace by offering words of prayer and support on facebook or twitter. If you’ve taken a step forward to be a radical follower of Jesus, and you want to work with dunkerpunks.com, or if you want prayers, support, and assistance from the Dunker Punk community, let us know in the form below!
Dunker Punks 