{"id":6408,"date":"2017-03-24T15:52:13","date_gmt":"2017-03-24T20:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/?p=6408"},"modified":"2017-03-24T15:56:18","modified_gmt":"2017-03-24T20:56:18","slug":"working-with-christian-peacemaker-teams-a-profound-experience-for-alumni","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/2017\/working-with-christian-peacemaker-teams-a-profound-experience-for-alumni\/","title":{"rendered":"Working with Christian Peacemaker Teams a profound experience for alumni"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lisa Martens (CMBC <\/b>\u201800) recalls what it was like being in Iraq when U.S. forces invaded the country in 2003. She remembers speaking with a man whose house was cracked because his neighbour\u2019s home had been bombed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\u2018It<\/a>
\u2018It changed my thinking forever,\u2019 Lisa Martens (CMBC \u201800) says of her work with CPT, which took her to places like Iraq, Mexico, and Colombia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cHe was a Muslim I think, and his wife was Christian,\u201d Martens recalls. \u201cHe just talked about how he believed that the people from various religions should be able to live in peace together, and how his family was evidence of that kind of cooperation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Martens is one of the more than 30 alumni, faculty, and staff from Canadian Mennonite University and its predecessor colleges who have worked for CPT. That includes Dr. Harry Huebner, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Theology, who helped found the organization.<\/span><\/p>\n

Started in the late \u201880s, CPT seeks to build partnerships to transform violence and oppression around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

The organization uses small teams of four to six people trained in documentation, observation, nonviolent intervention, and various ministries of presence to make a difference in explosive situations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kenton Lobe (CMBC \u201895), who served with CPT in Haiti in 1994 and in Grassy Narrows in the early 2000s, praises the forward-thinking people who created the organization.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Kenton<\/a>
Kenton Lobe (CMBC \u201895) served with CPT in Haiti in 1994 and in Grassy Narrows in the early 2000s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cCPT has a strong focus on justice,\u201d Lobe says. \u201cThey were one of the first organizations that was working at questions of privilege, questions of the implications of globalization, and the connection of that globalization to violence in local communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat was their work, and they were providing an avenue for the church to be present in those conversations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rachelle Friesen (CMU \u201807) says that she has always felt part of the CPT community.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCPT has always been part of my peace and justice journey,\u201d says Friesen, who today works for the organization in Toronto as its Canada Coordinator.<\/span><\/p>\n

Friesen\u2019s work involves everything from administrative tasks like data entry and writing grant proposals, to reaching out to CPT\u2019s constituency, to organizing training sessions, to supporting CPT workers, to speaking at rallies.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\u2018CPT<\/a>
\u2018CPT has always been part of my peace and justice journey,\u2019 says Rachelle Friesen (CMU \u201807), pictured here with fellow CPTers at a rally in Toronto.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big job, but it\u2019s a fun job,\u201d Friesen says.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I really enjoy is the opportunity to network with other organizations and with other peacemakers,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

People who are struggling around the world are all connected, Friesen says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s Palestinians struggling for freedom and liberation, or Kurdish people struggling for sovereignty in Iraqi Kurdistan, or small-scale farmers in Colombia who are fighting the multinational corporations that are trying to force them off their land, or Indigenous groups in Grassy Narrows and Shoal Lake 40, everyone is struggling to exist.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI find it really exciting that I get to work with an organization that sees these interconnections and is working in solidarity with people to try to resist these multiple oppressions,\u201d Friesen says. \u201cThere\u2019s a great opportunity to build relationships (so that) we can undo the oppression that we have within our world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\u2018CPT<\/a>
\u2018CPT has always been part of my peace and justice journey,\u2019 says Rachelle Friesen (CMU \u201807), who works as the organization\u2019s Canada Coordinator.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Martens agrees. She served with CPT in 1999, and then from 2001-2004. In addition to Iraq, the work brought her to places like Chiapas, Mexico; Colombia; South Dakota; and Grassy Narrows.<\/span><\/p>\n

CPT not only made a difference in the lives of those Martens worked with, but it also made a difference in Martens\u2019s life.<\/span><\/p>\n

She recalls working for an organization in Winnipeg a few years ago that supports refugees.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt I could do that (job) a lot differently having travelled and been in war zones (with CPT),\u201d Martens says. \u201cI could empathize differently having had some of those experiences myself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Working with CPT had a dramatic impact on Martens\u2019s worldview.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt changed my thinking forever,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n

-With file from Christian Peacemaker Teams<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lisa Martens (CMBC \u201800) recalls what it was like being in Iraq when U.S. forces invaded the country in 2003. She remembers speaking with a man whose house was cracked because his neighbour\u2019s home had been bombed. \u201cHe was a Muslim I think, and his wife was Christian,\u201d Martens recalls. \u201cHe just talked about how […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[156],"tags":[856,855,31,859,858],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6408"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6408"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6414,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6408\/revisions\/6414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}