This event is part of our 12 Days of Peace virtual event series.
In a time when authoritarianism and religious nationalism are reshaping societies around the world, Christians often find themselves caught between complicity and resistance. What does it mean to follow Jesus when faith is used to justify domination, nationalism, or exclusion? And how might Christians embody a different way—the way of peace, solidarity, and hope?
In this panel, we’ll hear from three Peace Catalyst team members rooted in very different contexts:
Philip Kakungulu (Uganda) works with pastors, refugees, and faith leaders across the Great Lakes region, equipping them to resist divisive theologies and embody God’s reconciling mission.
Saleem Anfous (Palestine) brings his experience as a Christian in Bethlehem navigating the daily realities of military occupation, church divisions, and global Christian silence.
Jennie Telfer (South Korea) mobilizes people for practical solidarity and peace advocacy in a context marked by unresolved war and deep polarization.
Together, they will reflect on how Christians in their contexts are interacting with, perpetuating, and resisting “power-over” theologies and politics, and what following Jesus’ way of peace looks like in practice. Expect a candid conversation with concrete stories—both the harmful realities and the hopeful practices—that illuminate what it means to resist domination and build communities rooted in justice, healing, and solidarity.
MEET THE PANEL
Philip Kakungulu
Philip lives in Kampala, Uganda with his family. He is a pastor and seminary graduate with a Master of Divinity, having majored in Faith-Based Training in Conflict Transformation for Trainers. As the team leader and founder of Crossing Lines Africa and a founding member of the African Peace Warriors Network in 2013 (part of Global Peace Warriors), Philip works as a peacebuilding mobilizer, promoting peace-oriented theologies and facilitating conflict transformation training around the Great Lakes Region of Africa and beyond. In addition to his peacebuilding and conflict transformation work, he has worked extensively with faith leaders in refugee settlements and internally displaced people settlements in Uganda, South Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, D.R.Congo, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi because he sees all work to heal individuals and groups as part of God’s reconciling mission.
Saleem Anfous
Saleem Anfous is a tour guide in Bethlehem and the West Bank, a Project Manager for the Muslim/Christian Young Adults program at Musalaha, and serves as the producer of the Across the Divide podcast, which explores the intersection of Christian faith and social justice in Palestine-Israel and what this intersection means for the church in the West. Saleem originates from Aboud, the heart of Palestine’s finest olive oil, and has called Bethlehem home for over 25 years. His deep connection to both his Palestinian and Christian identities fuels his commitment to breaking down internal walls and managing the external challenges of living under the Israeli military occupation.
Jennie Telfer
Born in the USA but raised in Europe and Africa, Jennie’s professional career has taken her around the world providing social services and advocating for populations impacted by trauma, injustice, and war. Her mission is to speak peace and joy into systems and situations of conflict to see them transformed. In solidarity with Koreans and Korean organizations, she currently provides peace education, advocates to end the Korean War, and mobilizes people for peacebuilding.