A leading advocate of practical non-violence begins a two-week tour of Britain on Friday 16 January, offering case studies of achieving peace without guns in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Ekklesia
News – HCEF
Gene Stoltzfus, US founder and director emeritus of the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), will be on tour in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland through to 1st February 2009 to share his field experience in global peacemaking.
The visit is organised by Christian Peacemakers Teams UK and is backed by the religion and society think-tank Ekklesia. CPT came to global prominence in 2006 during the Iraq hostage crisis involving Norman Kember.
Since 1988, Stoltzfus has successfully placed violence-reduction teams in crisis situations and militarized areas around the world – including Hebron, Iraq, and Colombia – at the invitation of local peace and human rights workers.
Additionally, CPT has trained hundreds of committed peacemakers ready to risk injury and death in bold attempts to transform lethal conflict through ‘getting in the way’ of violence and building practical bridges for justice and peace.
In the shadow of the current Gaza crisis and the unparalleled violence of the last century, Stoltzfus will be meeting with twenty faith-related, civic and community groups across Britain to share success stories of active peacemaking in Palestine and Iraq.
Gene Stoltzfus grew up the son of a pastor in Aurora, Northeast Ohio USA. He is involved with the historic peace churches in America, graduated in sociology from Goshen College in Indiana and holds a Master of Arts degree in South and Southeast Asian Studies from American University and a Master of Divinity from Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries in Elkhart, Indiana.
