BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz celebrates the support given to 15 projects for peace and justice during this year’s Peace Fund-Fondos por la Paz grant cycle. The Peace Fund-Fondos por la Paz was established in 2018 and empowers small, grassroots groups around the world doing the work of peacemaking on a local or regional level.
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We are deeply grateful to everyone who gives to support our work of gathering, equipping and mobilizing peacemakers throughout the world. Your generosity changes —and even saves—lives. If you’d like to increase the impact of your gifts, please consider the following. Thanks for all you do to support our shared work of creating peace rooted in justice!
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Every dollar you spend is a vote for the world you want to live in. Why give a tie or a candle to someone who already has more than they need? Why not make your gifts benefit people who could really use them? You work for peace rooted in justice! Shouldn’t your gift-giving do the same? Here are some gift-giving ideas for lovers of peace and justice. We’ve focused on grassroots efforts led by people we know so that you can be positive that your gift will matter and will be used wisely and well.
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As a pastor and person, Jim was shaped and gave expression to the vision of a just and peaceable world as championed by two of his “heroes”: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Clarence Jordan. Jim and Faithe were active supporters of the work of the Baptist Peace Fellowship-Bautista por la Paz, attending peace camp for a number of years and regularly supporting its work with their gifts.
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Christians have relied so frequently on the words “save” and “saved” that we regard God as a great rescuer who pulls us back from the abyss, the lifeguard who grabs us when the waves are too threatening. We feel sad, rejected and angry when bad stuff happens, especially widespread and long-lasting bad stuff like the corona virus, and we blame God for allowing it to go on. I believe that it is time – indeed, it is long past time – to give up this view of God.
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Embracing a world where peace, equity and justice prevail is to provide a stronghold amidst the tremors and earthquakes that bring death, despair and injustice in our communities. How we face these tremors will define our witness and our legacy for those following in our footprints.
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Deb Norton and Jonathan Sledge are longtime members of BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz who live in Raleigh, NC. They are members of Pullen Baptist Church, a BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz Partner Congregation. Deb works as a medical doctor in Raleigh and is on the board of directors of AMOS Health & Hope, an organization ran by missionaries Drs. David & Laura Parajón, that "exists to improve the health of impoverished communities in Nicaragua by working alongside them in health, education and development." As both were children of missionaries, Deb and Jonathan have traveled for much of their lives. Deb grew up in Kenya and the midwest United States while Jonathan spent his childhood in Peru and Louisiana. Both have lived in Raleigh for about 30 years.
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Born in Puerto Rico, Ricardo Mayol has been a missionary with American Baptist Churches for more than 20 years. He is currently serving as a regional consultant encouraging the development and consolidation of the Red Continental Cristiana por la Paz (Continental Christian Network for Peace, or CCNP). Based in Guatemala, Ricardo travels to coach CCNP members and future members in theological and pastoral training for peace, as well as on the basic goals of CCNP.
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The Mayan Intercultural Seminary (SIM) is a non-denominational theological school located in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. The Seminary contributes to the construction of peace from an intercultural perspective and promotes the values of equity, justice, inclusiveness, dialogue, human integrity, reciprocity, and a sense of vocation. SIM focuses on creating solidarity networks through initiatives in particular for women and youth, to build a more inclusive world.
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Anna Burkett is from Granville, Ohio and recently moved to Maryland to teach Spanish to middle schoolers. Anna grew up coming to Peace Camp.
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This was a historic gathering of Baptists from North, Central and South America and the Caribbean all committed to the work of peace and justice in our various contexts as people of faith. It was transformative week of living, learning and worshiping together despite differences of language and culture. The planning and leadership was provided by a talented group of Baptist leaders from across Mexico, Central, and South America. All services and workshops were conducted in Spanish with interpreters provided for the non-Spanish speaking attendees. It was an immersion experience for many participants coming from the North. We were immersed into the language, food, community and spirituality of Latin culture. We were invited to consider faith through the lens of a culture that values ‘we’ over ‘I’.
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Luz Amparo works in Cali, Colombia with Red de Mujeres Comisión de Paz / The Network of Women Peace Commission (CEDECOL), an organization working to end violence against women. CEDECOL contributes to the elimination of violence against women through Church Ministries to: 1. Promote prevention and protection strategies for women survivors of violence. 2. Encourage initiatives of social research that make visible the reality of violence against women. 3. Insert in political and ecclesial decision-making spaces to recognize women's leadership and the fulfillment of their rights.
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Selected by American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) board of directors from nominations submitted by clergy and laypersons across the United States and Puerto Rico, a number of American Baptist clergy and lay leaders will receive awards for significant faith-based work. Many of them are members and/or friends of BPFNA!
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The following story is part of the Vocation of Peacemaking series where we asked members and friends of BPFNA-Bautistas por la Paz to write brief essays on their peacemaking work. Each story is a wonderful reminder that there are as many ways to live a life of peace as there are people, and that we can act for peace in real and important ways wherever we find ourselves. This essay comes from Sandi John, a pastoral counselor and behavioral health nurse who also serves as secretary on the BPFNA board.
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The following story is part of the Vocation of Peacemaking series where we asked members and friends of BPFNA ~ Bautistas por la Paz to write brief essays on their peacemaking work. Each story is a wonderful reminder that there are as many ways to live a life of peace as there are people, and that we can act for peace in real and important ways wherever we find ourselves. This essay comes from Joao Matwawana, a former BPFNA board member who has served in a wide variety of peacemaking roles all around the world.
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A Peace Pole was unveiled at Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC on March 24, dedicated to Fr. David Valtierra, former chaplain of the campus Newman Center. BPFNA Operations Coordinator Evelyn Hanneman offered the following ecumenical prayer at the dedication service. Other prayers were offered by a Catholic priest and a Native American in the Catawba language. This Peace Pole joins over 100,000 of them in 180 countries around the world. Many are at Baptist churches.
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Three Catholic anti-nuke activists were sentenced yesterday (February 18) in Knoxville, TN. I was truly blessed to attend their sentencing along with many other supporters and came home deeply impacted, moved
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Eh Nay Thaw, familiar to many of us as a Peace Camp attendee, was recently invited to speak at Centre College in Danville, KY. His speech is inspiring and moving, and we are grateful to be able to share it. (Eh Nay hopes to attend Centre as a student and is currently working to find the funds to make that possible.)
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Many BPFNA members and Partner Congregations took place in a Moral March on February 8, 2014 in Raleigh to protest what many consider an extreme and regressive agenda within the North Carolina legislature. Long-time member Deborah Lynn made the trek from Tennessee to participate and shares her reflections here.
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Congratulations to Steve Jacobsen, current BPFNA member and former business manager, for being honored at the Center for Nonviolent Living's tenth-annual Peacemaker Awards and Picnic on Sunday, July 15, 2012.
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