Peacebuilding: A More Christlike Witness

A few questions that we keep getting have to do with the relationship between peacebuilding and Christian witness. Is peacebuilding supposed to lead to witness? Does Christian witness simply not matter in light of so much division and conflict? What is Christian witness? Is it mainly about expressing religious convictions through our words? Or is it about serving as a living example of one’s faith? Read on to see our answers.

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Contribute to a Peacebuilding Culture in the Church This Giving Season

Global challenges like toxic polarization, ongoing violence and war, and climate change are dramatically straining our collective capacity to work together to meet everyone’s needs. Peacebuilding is not just for a few of us; peacebuilding insights and skills are needed to address the everyday challenges we face in our homes and communities, and we need them to work together to address wider societal challenges. Each gift to Peace Catalyst as an organization and to a specific peacebuilder or project is an investment to help shift the culture of the Church to prioritize God’s vision of holistic, just peace

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Nicole Gibson
What do we discover if we walk in the shoes of our neighbour?

I am guessing there is a person in your surroundings with whom you do not agree and share the same values. If you are unable to speak to that person, I invite you to imagine walking in their shoes. Imagine spending one day as that person. Think about their life, their struggle, their way of seeing the world. What makes that person unavailable to you? And what makes them relatable?

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Nicole GibsonBOSNIA
Building Vibrant Congregations Through our Peacebuilding Learning Journey

At Peace Catalyst, we’re working to equip and mobilize Christians for collaborative peacebuilding across lines of difference. In light of today’s hyperdiversity, church decline, and polarization, the need for a holistic, healing-oriented framework at a popular level among local pastors and their congregations has never been greater. With a shalom-centered theological framework and PCI’s peacebuilding toolkits, congregations have the opportunity to both reconstruct their faith in ways that fit with their core faith priorities and values and to collaborate with their diverse neighbors on issues that affect all of society. 

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The Dual Impact of Local-Inclusive Peacebuilding Learning Pilgrimages

In a world rife with conflict and division, peacebuilding is a felt need in our families, communities, and wider society. Traditional approaches to conflict resolution often focused on political strategies and the most visible leaders, but there’s a growing awareness that sustainable peace requires a more holistic approach that involves everyday people like you and me. One innovative approach that we are leaning into at Peace Catalyst is the idea of a “peacebuilding learning pilgrimage” that includes active local participation. This transformative experience combines groups of foreign and local participants who learn from local peacebuilding practitioners about challenges and successes in their peace work. By including and valuing the voices of local participants, this approach empowers local populations in conflict-affected zones like Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH) while simultaneously creating a lasting impact on participants from foreign countries.

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