When I think of what keeps me committed to my Quaker identity, I think of how I made sense of the Quaker belief that "there is that of God in every man." As a youngster in First Day School trying to make sense of who this person named God was, I simply decided it meant that there is something good in each and every person. The mission, approach and philosophy of Friends Peace Teams are grounded in that same belief: "We believe there is good in everyone and we each have the inner capacity to heal. Both victims and perpetrators of violence experience trauma and its after-effects. For healing and empowerment, we seek to share the inner goodness and wisdom of each person. This rebuilds trust." (friendspeaceteams.org)

Friends Peace Teams is a Spirit-led organization working to develop long-term relationships with communities in conflict around the world to create programs for peace building, healing and reconciliation. Quakers from several North American Yearly Meetings established Friends Peace Teams in 1993. Moved by the suffering in Bosnia and Herzegovina, they wanted to make every Friends Meeting and Church a center of peace and reach out to people suffering from war and violence everywhere. At first Friends were encouraged to join Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT). I was part of a two week CPT delegation in 2016 to Hebron in the West Bank. Today there are FPT programs in 15 countries as part of three initiatives (https://friendspeaceteams.org).

One of those initiatives is the African Great Lakes Initiative (AGLI). Almost half of the Quakers in the world live in this part of the African continent. The initiative came into being as a response to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. AGLI also led a number of Alternatives to Violence Project workshops in Kenya after lection violence and were instrumental in lessening violence in Kenya during the next cycle of elections. In 2008 I joined an AGLI/FPT delegation to Gisenyi, Rwanda. We participated in an Alternatives to Violence Project Workshop and helped to build the Gisenyi Friends Peace Center. Most of those AVP participants are pictured here.

The other two initiatives focus on Central America and Asia. In 2002 Friends offered Alternatives to Violence Project workshops in Central America, which led to establishing Peacebuilding en las Américas. They expanded to communities, hospitals, schools, churches and prisons across Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Colombia. In 2005 Friends offered an AVP workshop in East Aceh following the Peace Accord that ended a thirty-year war. This led to peace actions and education throughout Indonesia, Australia, Aotearoa/NZ, Philippines, Nepal and Korea (https://friendspeaceteams.org).

Friends will come in from around the world to attend the annual meeting held this year at Westtown School. While they are here we have the opportunity to learn more about the work of FPT and meet with Friends who put into action our calling to see that of God in everyone person in situations that most of us do not encounter. Their annual meeting is also open to any Friend who would like to learn more about their work.

If you are interested in hosting a FPT member while they are here, please call Deb Wood (Westtown MM) at 484-639-8536 or e-mail her at qdeb406@gmail.com. FPT members would also like to worship with area Friends on Sunday, May 19 and share more about their work at that time. Meetings interested in this should also reach out to Deb.

 -written by Deb Wood (member of Westtown Monthly Meeting)