Unless attitudes of tribalism, entitlement, and exceptionalism change and we work toward justice and greater equality for all, tensions will continue to escalate and greater violence will follow. When we only look out for our own, we are laying the groundwork for war.

While our relationship may be non-traditional, we are friends, co-constructors of peace, and servants of God. Muslim and Christian. Fatima and Rebecca. Matriarchs of the faith. Somali and American.

In the coming months, we'll be highlighting a different Jesus-centered peacemaker or organization once a month. These are people that you need to know if you are interested in peacemaking, and the first one we'd like to highlight is Josh Daneshforooz. 

Have you heard about this recent “Noah” movie? It’s making some waves. What keeps coming to my mind is how Jesus would react to it. Can it be used for peacemaking in the way of Jesus?

We are fellow pilgrims, wanting to know God and to do His will. This was our motto, our sincere statement of life purpose and understanding between us. Five men around the table, holy books open, sipping tea and snacking on homemade pastries.

We recently had the pleasure of putting on a “Quick to Listen” luncheon with friends from three local churches in Ventura County and friends from the Islamic Center in Oxnard. We met at an Indian restaurant in Ventura that is owned by a member of the center, a setting that provided an opportunity for us to meet and to ask questions about each other’s faith.

Most Saturday mornings Susan fixes a great breakfast. Friends arrive around 10. Some are Iranian. Some are Palestinian. Others Turkish and Yemeni. We always have halal food for our Muslim friends. Most weeks they pitch in. We have traditional eggs and pancakes mixed with dolma, samoosas, hummus, and borek. We were going to call it "Brunch and Share," but we are friends, so most just call it breakfast.

The peacemaking movement is officially well underway, and Peace Catalyst had a record-breaking year in 2013. We want to keep you in the know about what we're doing, so we've put together this overview of highlights from 2013. This is the work of so many people who work with us, support us, and are starting peacemaking movements in their own cities, so let's celebrate this move of God together!

In one of our recent posts, we wrote about how the FBI showed up at one of our Peace Feasts and how our peacemaking efforts help protect young Somali men in America from the recruiting efforts of al Shabaab. Today we'd like to talk more about the situation and share with you this analysis by Peter Sensenig.