Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Pangea Blog

Home

Home
Progressive Christian
The Global Immersion Project – everyday peacemakers. global conflict. #IsraelPalestine

The Global Immersion Project – everyday peacemakers. global conflict. #IsraelPalestine

Last updated on: February 13, 2014 at 12:10 pm by Kurt Willems

The Global Immersion Project – everyday peacemakers. global conflict. #IsraelPalestine 2014-02-13T12:10:54-08:00 Kurt Willems

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Kurt’s Introduction: Some of you may already know, I’m currently preparing for a trip to Israel/Palestine. Not only is it a dream come true to get to walk where Jesus walked, but this trip is quite intentional – learning from peacemakers in the region to become more of a peacemaker myself.

For the past several years, I’ve blogged about my journey of embracing nonviolence as a Christian teaching. Teaching – it becomes easy for peace to stay exactly that – as an abstract idea driven by various hypotheticals. But, when Jesus taught to love our enemies and to not return violence to our oppressors, he did so within his specific context. In other words, Jesus’ instructions in the Sermon on the Mount applied directly to the situations of those listening. They were not abstractions up in the clouds, they were meant to be applied in real life.

As I’ve prayed and wrestled with the real life implications of Jesus and the early church’s teachings on peacemaking, I’ve asked God to open doors to take the next step in dealing with this conviction in a practical manner. That is where The Global Immersion Project comes in – their mission fits my longings (and many of your longings too, I suspect):

The Global Immersion Project is an international, humanitarian non-profit organization that cultivates everyday peacemakers through immersion in global conflict.

The past month and a half I’ve participated in a learning experience to prepare our team for the trip. I’m learning about peacemaking in my neighborhood and peacemaking in the context of Israel/Palestine – honestly amazing!

In this blog post, I interview the founders of the Global Immersion Project – Jon Huckins and Jer Swigert. These are guys I plan to know for a long time and an organization I plan to stand behind. Why? Because I believe in their cause. After reading this interview, I think you will too…

The Global Immersion Project from The Global Immersion Project on Vimeo.

What is the mission and vision of The Global Immersion Project?

The mission of TGIP is to cultivate Everyday Peacemakers in the Way of Jesus through immersion in global conflict. Our vision is to see the Church embrace peacemaking as central to God’s Mission and embody its vocation as God’s instrument of peace. We hope to mobilize an entire generation of men and women who move toward conflict transformatively and season the world with the things that make for peace. These men and women won’t view peacemaking as a soft, euphoric ideal, but as the gritty, subversive and costly work of discipleship.

Why did you start it?

Although apart of faith communities on opposite ends of California, we (Jer and Jon) are first and foremost neighborhood practitioners who are adamant about forming people in the way of Jesus. As we’ve encountered the life and teachings of Jesus with our communities, while simultaneously immersing into the areas of brokenness, division and isolation in our own neighborhoods, we’ve realized how poorly equipped the Church is for the everyday work of peacemaking. Bottom line, our world is terrified of conflict, but each day, as we moved toward it as agents of reconciliation, we began to experience the heart of God more tangibly than ever.

Simultaneously, we understand ourselves as global citizens, learners, and practitioners who have been deeply formed by our friendships with peacemakers in the Middle East. Having done part of our graduate studies in Israel/Palestine, we were able to learn and build friendships with some of the most remarkable peacemakers in the world. Because we felt called to form our own communities in peacemaking, we thought, “Why don’t we just start bringing our friends from the US to learn from our Middle Eastern friends who are actually practicing peace in Israel/Palestine?” The response to that simple question gave birth to The Global Immersion Project.

What “problem” do you hope to solve through your work?

Peacemaking has been disintegrated from the Church’s understanding of God, His mission, and our vocation. As a result, we misunderstand who God is, what God has done, and what God is seeking to do here and now. So, rather than embracing peacemaking as central to God’s heart and critical to who we are as His family, we tend to speak of it as an esoteric theory or a subjective feeling. Rather than embracing peacemaking as an everyday, costly way of life, we both contribute to and run from conflict while outsourcing the work of peace to politicians and power brokers. In our churches we place Reconciliation in our values, but have no idea what it looks like nor how to lead, train, or disciple to it.

What “good” do you seek to create through your work?

The “big picture” way to answer this is to say that we are reintegrating peacemaking into our understanding of God, His mission, and our vocation. In so doing, we’re seeking to activate the American Evangelical Church into its destiny as the world’s foremost instrument of peace. Simply put, we’re tangibly training men and women to navigate the everyday spaces that they inhabit (home, neighborhood, region, nation, world) equipped with the practices that make for peace. The result? As we learn to practically join God in His mission of reconciliation as everyday peacemakers, families flourish, strangers are embraced, neighborhoods are flipped right-side-up, nations humbly extend grace to other nations and, we, together, co-create a more beautiful tomorrow.

What are tangible ways for people, churches, universities and other communities to get involved in the offerings of TGIP?

Currently there are four ways we are cultivating Everyday Peacemakers: (1) Learning Labs; (2) Integrative Workshops; (3) The Cohort; (4) Speaking/Teaching.

Learning Labs: We curate 3-Phase Learning Labs that culminate in 8-day immersive experiences into international and domestic conflicts and into the lives of the Everyday Peacemakers embedded within. By the end of the Learning Lab, you will be equipped to engage any conflict compassionately, creatively, collaboratively, and transformationally. Our Learning Labs are currently set in Israel/Palestine and on the US/Mexican border around the Immigration Crisis.
Integrative Workshops: Through one-session workshops or multi-day intensives, we equip individuals, teams, and faith communities to embrace peacemaking as the mission of God and vocation of God’s people, and to practically shift peacemaking from esoteric theory and aspiring value to costly, embodied reality.
The Cohort: Over the course of 4-6 months, our cohorts develop leaders into everyday peacemaking practitioners and trainers through ongoing, collaborative instruction and experiential learning. This forum is designed for individuals and churches that are seeking to leverage their influence in our world as compassionate, intelligent instruments of peace.
Speaking/Teaching: Both Jon and Jer are sought after voices in the following areas: peacemaking as the mission of God, peacemaking as discipleship, fusing the local with the global, theology of place, and neighboring. Whether in a keynote address, a sermon, or a seminar, we employ creative, engaging styles of communication to connect people with God’s heart for peace.

The Global Immersion Project

violence

Previous Post

February 12, 2014

Changing our Lenses on Crime and Punishment - a restorative justice view

Next Post

February 13, 2014 The Story of St. Valentine - in a nutshell

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category (Series) All Out War-Spiritual Warfare (Series) Church Plant Journal (Series) Dear Reader... (Series) Earthquakes...Signs of the Times? (Series) Entering the... Conversation (Series) Evangelical Culture Myths (Series) Everything is Meaningless [Pete Enns] (Series) Evolving Evangelicalism (Series) Hell Yes. Hell No! Who Cares? (Series) Hidden Worldviews (Series) If Evolution is Right, what about Adam? (Series) in less than 300 words (Series) Jesus and Nationalism (Series) Liberating Women for Ministry? (Series) Life-Changing Books (Series) Markers of Church Plant Movement (Series) Nonviolence 101 (Series) Philemon - Reconciliation (Series) Quote to Ponder (Series) Red Letter Dialogues (Series) Resource of the Week (SERIES) Revelation Sermons (Series) Share Something Sundays (Series) Simplicity in the Burbs: $2 a day (Series) The Binding of God [Open Theism] (Series) The Creed: Anabaptist Reflections (Series) Values for Church Leadership (Series) Video to Ponder Anabaptism Animal Advocacy Books Church Ministry Church Planting Community Culture Eschatology Eucharist Evangelical Reject Evolution Fundamentalism Greek Greg Boyd Guest Contributors Hell Holy Spirit Israel/Palestine Kingdom of God Lent Missional N. T. Wright Nationalism New Creation Nonviolence Open Mic Open Theism Parenting Passover Paul Philemon Podcast Politics Restorative Justice Revelation (the book of) Rob Bell Ron Martoia Sermon Shane Claiborne Social Justice Speaking Engagement Spiritual Warfare Spirituality Temple Theology Tim Geddert Tribulation Uncategorized universalism Video Blog Women in Ministry Worship Music Youth Ministry

Select a Month August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 October 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 December 2016 October 2016 August 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What's the main theme of the Book of Job?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Building a wall Exile and return Why good people suffer Genealogies

Support this
Column