On December 11th, we welcomed new friends and old friends into our global Euphrates living room to amplify the voice of our 2020 Visionary of the Year (VOTY) Aqeela Sherrills. The VOTY award is given to peacebuilders who make the impossible possible and work at the deepest levels of peacebuilding. Aqeela's message of finding the gift in the wound and viewing peace as a journey, not as a destination, reminded us that each of us is a peacebuilder.
Read MoreMending divides and practicing positive peace will require sustained effort and resources from all of us. The good news? Our progress has found momentum this year. Help us make a greater impact in 2021 to equip, connect, and uplift global peace leaders.
Read MoreWe would like to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude for our community. You all form our Euphrates community, a community of dedicated peacebuilders and soul-inspired leaders who serve and give selflessly and deeply inspire. We are grateful for you and grateful to be in community with you.
While this week in the United States represents a time to express and share gratitude for our blessings, it is rooted in a deeply complex and violent history. At Euphrates, we envision a future where all humanity lives from oneness with each other and the Earth.
Read MoreEach year Euphrates recognizes grassroots changemakers doing extraordinary work, striving to make the idealistic realistic and the impossible possible. Visionaries are those whose fearless and indomitable spirit allows them to transform the hearts, minds, and actions of those around them and reveal solutions where others see despair. Aqeela Sherrills is truly meeting the moment with an indomitable spirit
and a pursuit of inside-out transformation.
This season of life continues to offer unexpected twists and turns. How are you responding? Are you swaying with the twists and turns or are you taking time to root yourself in personal peace practices that provide radical self-care? The work is immense, the care for ourselves must be even greater. In order to build bridges, heal divides, and reimagine systems, we must care for ourselves and each other, and allow ourselves to rest. What do you need right now to find your equanimity?
Read MoreThis month Euphrates Founder Janessa Gans Wilder was featured in a full-length article for OOOM Magazine. This international publication focuses on “stories that inspire - about people who inspire.” We think this is a perfect platform for Janessa’s personal story and inspiring vision.
Read MoreJanessa opened our call honoring Juneteenth, Freedom Day. Then we turned to Paulette Pipe to ground our time together with an opening meditation that called forth stillness amidst noise and distraction. Stephen DeBerry moved our group into a space that explored economic inequality, architectured segregation, and the lessons he learned in a game of Monopoly with his family - we can allow ourselves to rest in the understanding that if we can play nice, we can go further, faster, with fewer tears.
Read MoreWe enjoyed having 56 beautiful faces and voices from around the world. Our call reached coast to coast in the United States and beyond these borders including Palestine, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Uganda, Afghanistan, Cote d’Ivoire, India, Nigeria and more.
Paulette Pipe opened our meeting with reverent stillness, reading the poem The River Can Not Go Back by Kahlil Gibran and then inviting us to set a sacred intention and "emancipate from anything other than love!" What a profoundly perfect way to begin our time together!
Read MoreWe are a global community bonded by our collective desire to inspire humanity to choose peace. We cannot think of a better time to respond to the ever present need for more profound connection and a greater sense of peace amid a landscape of uncertainty.
We are here to heed our community's call for deeper connection, resources, and inspiration. Euphrates Institute is eager to announce the launch of a new program in the service of peace: The Peace Practice Alliance!
Once again our hearts overflowed with love and appreciation for our dear community. The gift of presence you brought to our call deeply moved us. We know that we are stitching a new garment together!
Please enjoy the fruits of this call - the notes, the links, the inspiration!
Read MoreIf you are yearning for more comfort, guidance, and inspiration during this global pandemic, you are not alone. All of us are sharing in collective uncertainty. Euphrates’s offering is to inspire each of us to choose peace and to encourage our fellow brothers and sisters to do the same…As we look for ways to support our community, we are also looking for support for ourselves. We thank Euphrates’s community partners in sharing such resources.
Read MoreAt this moment in time, we have been cast into new territory.
In many corners of the world people are being asked to step away from their offices, schools, and community gatherings. Events and activities are being suspended or canceled. In my corner of the world, we are not accustomed to slowing down and stepping away from the hurried pace of life. We are all being asked to take precautionary steps and participate in social distancing. How do we heed this advice and not get swept into the fear frenzy? How do we stay united while safely apart?
It’s been an eventful month for Euphrates and we’d love to share some of the good news: small grant program, chapter spotlight on Burundi, our first chapter call of the new decade and more!
Read MoreThe past month has been a pilgrimage of sorts, from holy land to holy land, learning about two simple, humble servants of mankind, Christ Jesus and Mahatma Gandhi, whose wisdom and teachings continue to inspire most of the world. It would take a lifetime to grasp the depths and wisdom of these greats, yet how evidently alive are the Christ-spirit and Gandhian-spirit today.
Read MoreAs families and friends gather to share the love and joy this season of light brings, we'd like to extend blessings of comfort and peace to our global family as well. Please feel our outstretched arms of gratitude for our sacred bond of Oneness.
In the peacebuilding field, we talk a lot about transformation, but it was a special opportunity to meet folks from around the world who have lost family members due to war and conflict, become messengers and activists for peace. I participated in “Geneva Peace Week” as a member of a delegation from TAPS International…
Read MoreWe often talk about “turning the Other into a brother” but a lot of us struggle with just how to do that. We had the opportunity to hear the example of an extraordinary peacebuilder. James Offuh has dedicated his life to bringing heart to heart listening and dialogue to communities in his home country of Cote d’Ivoire.
Read More“Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” The lyrics of this iconic song have been singing in my head and heart since International Day of Peace on Saturday, September 21. Euphrates looks forward to uniting with the world on this day each year….
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