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Michael J. Wood is an open-space coach and facilitator based in Melbourne, Australia. He’s been providing leadership coaching to leaders in the university, government, business, church, and community sectors for the last 15 years. He has a special interest in supporting people to make positive changes in the world whether or not they’re in formal management or leadership roles. Michael also specializes in dialogue facilitation exercises such as talking circles, restorative justice conferencing, and contemplative retreats. Michael serves as community chaplain at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church, and his first book, Practicing Peace: Theology, Contemplation, and Action was published in 2022.   LINKS: Practicing Peace: Theology, Contemplation, and Action (book) by Michael Wood Harrison Owen: Open Space Technology: A User’s Guide     Edited by Nicole Gibson Music: Soulmates by Yigit Atilla Support the podcast: https://www.peacecatalyst.org/peacemaking-podcast

Elfidar was born in Urumchi, East Turkistan and grew up in Istanbul, Turkey until immigrating to the U.S. in 2000. She has over 20 years of marketing and project management experience, has taught the Uyghur language to U.S. government employees, and as the daughter of a prominent Uyghur writer and journalist, is an active member of the Uyghur community and an outspoken human rights activist.   Bill is a peacebuilder and Program Director at Peace Catalyst and heads an initiative of Peace Catalyst called the Uyghur Wellness Initiative, providing free mental wellness support to Uyghurs in North America who are experiencing secondhand and vicarious trauma from the genocide happening against their people and their family members overseas.   LINKS: Uyghur American Association: https://www.uyghuraa.org/ Bill Clark (Contact him or support his work at Peace Catalyst): https://www.peacecatalyst.org/billclark Uyghur Wellness Initiative: https://www.peacecatalyst.org/uyghur-wellness-initiative Emily Feng’s reporting on NPR: https://www.npr.org/2022/09/16/1123536630/the-black-gate-a-uyghur-familys-story-part-1 BBC Where Are My Children?: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-china-48873934 Uyghur Human Rights Project: https://uhrp.org/ Campaign for Uyghurs: https://campaignforuyghurs.org/ SaveUighur.org: https://www.saveuighur.org/   Edited by Nicole Gibson Music: Soulmates by Yigit Atilla Support the podcast: https://www.peacecatalyst.org/peacemaking-podcast

Katerina Gea is an organizer with The Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery and coordinates the Repair Network. She also is the pastor of Wild Church in Fresno, CA, where she currently lives in the traditional homelands of various Yokuts and Mono nations on whose lands her Russian Mennonite ancestors settled. We talk with her about what the Doctrine of Discovery is, how damage done to indigenous populations is still an ongoing problem, and what Christians can do about it today and live out Jesus's command to love our neighbors.   Edited by Nicole Gibson Music: Soulmates by Yigit Atilla Support the podcast: https://www.peacecatalyst.org/peacemaking-podcast 

On this episode we talk with the 2022 Rick Love Young Innovators in Peacebuilding Award winners. We presented these awards to two young peacebuilders in honor of our late Founder Rick Love, who cared deeply about young people and wanted a new generation of peace builders to be raised up after him. Each winner received a financial award to help fund their work and provide them with a path to living out peace in the way modeled by Rick Love. Learn more about the awards and all four Rick Love Award recipients at www.peacecatalyst.org/rick-love-award-recipients Edited by Nicole Gibson Music: Soulmates by Yigit Atilla Support the podcast: https://www.peacecatalyst.org/peacemaking-podcast 

Peter Coleman is Professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University and Director of the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution. He's a renowned expert on constructive conflict resolution and sustainable peace, and among many other things, he's also the author of over 100 articles and chapters, as well as multiple books, including The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization.   LINKS: The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization book:https://www.amazon.com/Way-Out-Overcome-Toxic-Polarization/dp/0231197411/ref=sr_1_1?crid=320NUI2UB5TM&keywords=the+way+out+peter+coleman&qid=1675118327&sprefix=the+way+out%2Caps%2C166&sr=8-1   Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution: https://icccr.tc.columbia.edu/   Peter Coleman TIME Magazine article: https://time.com/6222633/second-civil-war-us-how-to-avoid/   The Abortion Talks docuseries: https://whatisessential.org/the-abortion-talks   Finding The Way Out Political Courage challenge:https://www.startswith.us/findingthewayout   Edited by Nicole Gibson Music: Soulmates by Yigit Atilla Support the podcast: https://www.peacecatalyst.org/peacemaking-podcast  

Today we talk with Ibrahim Anli and Mehmet Saracoglu, leaders of the Rumi Forum, an organization dedicated to fostering interfaith dialogue and intercultural understanding.  Rumi Forum website: https://rumiforum.org/   Edited by Nicole GibsonMusic: Soulmates by Yigit AtillaSupport the podcast: https://www.peacecatalyst.org/peacemaking-podcast

Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon is the Executive Director of Churches for Middle East Peace. She is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church and the author of several books, including Just Spirituality: How Faith Practices Fuel Social Action, Social Justice Handbook: Small Steps for a Better World, Beyond Hashtag Activism: Comprehensive Justice in a Complicated Age, and Forgive Us: Confessions of a Compromised Faith. She holds a Ph.D from the University of California Davis and a D.Min from Northern Theological Seminary.   LINKS: Churches for Middle East Peace website: https://cmep.org Just Spirituality: How Faith Practices Fuel Social Action https://www.amazon.com/Just-Spirituality-Practices-Social-Action/dp/0830837752/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=mae+elise+cannon&qid=1664848010&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjAwIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=mae+elise+cannon%2Caps%2C254&sr=8-3 Social Justice Handbook: Small Steps for a Better World https://www.amazon.com/Social-Justice-Handbook-Better-Bridgeleader/dp/0830837159/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=mae+elise+cannon&qid=1664848010&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjAwIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=mae+elise+cannon%2Caps%2C254&sr=8-1 Beyond Hashtag Activism: Comprehensive Justice in a Complicated Age https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Hashtag-Activism-Comprehensive-Complicated/dp/0830845895/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=mae+elise+cannon&qid=1664848010&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjAwIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=mae+elise+cannon%2Caps%2C254&sr=8-2 Forgive Us: Confessions of a Compromised Faith https://www.amazon.com/Forgive-Us-Confessions-Compromised-Faith/dp/0310515963/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=mae+elise+cannon&qid=1664848010&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjAwIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=mae+elise+cannon%2Caps%2C254&sr=8-5 A Land Full of God: Christian Perspectives on the Holy Land https://www.amazon.com/Land-Full-God-Christian-Perspectives/dp/149829880X/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=mae+elise+cannon&qid=1664848010&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjAwIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=mae+elise+cannon%2Caps%2C254&sr=8-4 Our podcast episode with Greg Khalil and Todd Deatherage from Telos: https://peacecatalystpodcast.podbean.com/e/greg-khalil-and-todd-deatherage-reconciling-seemingly-intractable-conflict/ Network of Evangelicals for the Middle East: https://neme.network/about/#:~:text=The%20Network%20of%20Evangelicals%20for%20the%20Middle%20East,Jews%2C%20Christians%2C%20and%20Muslims%20in%20the%20region.%20Vision%3A Mike Pence speech before Israel’s Knesset: https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Full-transcript-of-Pences-Knesset-speech-539476   Edited by Nicole GibsonMusic: Soulmates by Yigit AtillaSupport the podcast: https://www.peacecatalyst.org/peacemaking-podcast

This week we’re talking with Pastor Czeslaw Kusmider from the town of Przemysl, Poland, just west of the border with Ukraine. Pastor Kusmider was called by his local community & government leaders at the beginning of the Ukraine crisis to help with the refugees that were coming from Ukraine into Poland, and he ended up converting his entire church into a refugee care center. In this episode, he tells us what that has been like and what we can all do to help. Edited by Nicole GibsonMusic: Soulmates by Yigit AtillaSupport the podcast: https://www.peacecatalyst.org/peacemaking-podcast

Andrew Larsen, a devoted peacemaker and long-time friend of Peace Catalyst, joins us to talk about a recent trip to Iraq and an unexpected personal meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, as well as his own approach to bridge-building in the Middle East and the U.S. Andy has worked as a consultant to churches and nonprofit groups seeking to understand “the other,” particularly Muslims. He empowers peacemaking initiatives through photography, personal relationships, and building a network among Muslim, Christian, and advocacy groups to build bridges between divergent communities.   Edited by Nicole GibsonMusic: Soulmates by Yigit AtillaSupport the podcast: https://www.peacecatalyst.org/peacemaking-podcast

Today we talk with Greg and Todd, Co-Founders of fellow peacemaking organization The Telos Group.  Before founding Telos, Greg lived in Ramallah, the West Bank, where he advised the Palestinian leadership on peace negotiations with Israel. He’s lectured widely on the Middle East and has been published by outlets like the New York Times, and he’s also an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s graduate school of journalism. Todd spent 16 years in senior positions in the Executive and Legislative branches of the U.S. government, and from 2005-2009 he was Chief of Staff in the Secretary of State’s Office of Policy Planning. He also spent two years as Senior Advisor in the Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom, where he specialized in religious freedom in the Middle East, and worked for 10 years in the U.S. Congress.The Telos Group: https://www.telosgroup.org/   Edited by Nicole GibsonMusic: Soulmates by Yigit AtillaSupport the podcast: https://www.peacecatalyst.org/peacemaking-podcast

Dr. Miroslav Volf and Hurunnessa Fariad, two of our first ever Rick Love Peacemaker Award winners, join our President, Martin Brooks, for this conversation about  the "why" and "how" of embracing 'the other.' The conversation is based around Dr. Volf’s book, Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation.   LINKS: Peace Catalyst International website: www.peacecatalyst.org Rick Love Awards: https://www.peacecatalyst.org/rick-love-award-recipients Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/ Miroslav Volf's books: https://www.amazon.com/Miroslav-Volf/e/B001IGJSHG?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_10&qid=1660078768&sr=1-10 Exclusion & Embrace book: https://amzn.to/3BPKNv3 Multifaith Neighbors Network: www.mfnn.org Edited by Nicole GibsonMusic: Soulmates by Yigit Atilla  

Steve is a Hong Kong-based travel writer, educator, and speaker who has been the Head of Christian and Community Development at Yew Chung Education Foundation for more than a decade. Steve is an experienced adventurer, having completed numerous cross-country journeys including the 500 mile Camino de Santiago in Spain and the 1100 mile Via Francigena from England to Rome. He hosts the Beyond The Pale podcast, which explores living life and spiritual faith through the lens of pilgrimage.  LINKS: Beyond the Pale podcast Yew Chung Education Foundation Seeds of Hope program   Support the podcast: https://www.peacecatalyst.org/peacemaking-podcast Edited by Nicole Gibson Music: Soulmates by Yigit Atilla