Our Bosnia “Catalyze” peacemaking trip wrapped up a couple weeks ago after an exhilarating and rewarding 10 days filled with new relationships, dialogue, history, and learning across religious and ethnic differences.

Just over a week ago I enjoyed a delicious Uyghur meal with friends who are refugees to the U.S. from China. We came together to learn, to celebrate culture, and to discover what connects us all as human beings.

Every year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on September 21st. The United Nations declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace.

As Peace Catalysts we're celebrating the day and taking the opportunity to strengthen our resolve to do everything we can to work for peace between Christians and Muslims in our communities and world. Will you join us? 

How can I be a peacemaker when I wake up so anxious each morning? Does this happen to you? I can go right to sleep at night, but about 4:30 something wakes me up. These are stressful times, when anxieties can run high, but here are 4 practices that can help.

The news has been full of debate about what it means to be a good citizen and leader. Accusations of racism and nationalism are leveled against some, while accusations of hating America are leveled against others. 

At Peace Catalyst, our goal is to build peace between Christians and Muslims, and what better way to make peace while spreading the word about the Uyghur genocide in China than to do it in partnership with the American Chinese Church?

I have to ask this question because sometimes I think that we can equate criticism or accountability with hatred and not love. But when we love someone we want to see them at their best and living up to the values they proclaim. We want them to thrive, and we want them to live in light of whom God has created and called them to be, which can often mean holding them accountable to the principles and standards they have professed or proclaimed a desire to uphold. 

What do you have to do to get a bunch of teenagers out of bed at the crack of dawn during their summer vacation? Would you guess the answer is giving them a way to serve their community? Last Saturday we gathered together to help Habitat for Humanity for a day of interfaith community service. We started bright and early, and right on time as the doors opened we had 21 high school and college students ready to get to work. All together we had 36 Muslim, Jewish, and Christian friends, and one Hindu.

Before the Bosnian War in the early 90’s, Bosnia and Herzegovina enjoyed a long-held tradition of Christians hosting Muslims for Iftar during Ramadan, and Muslims hosting Christians during Lent and around Christmas or Easter. Before the war, it was very normal for neighbors to celebrate one another’s religious holidays with them through hospitality in one another’s homes, especially in Sarajevo where there was such diversity and even intermarriage between people of different faiths. Things like this happened all the time. But that was before the war. Now, in 2019, when our pastor suggested not only inviting members of the congregation to show up to an Iftar somewhere, but to actively host one on our own turf – well, that was a little unusual.