How you can help

This page encourages you to think about

the causes of war the nature of peace what you can do to help

In the end, practical peacemaking simply means that you prayerfully put your energy to work where it will do the most good.

What do you think? Do you have a favorite example of peacemaking?

Let us know.

Donations

If you would like to donate to SSFI's work, you can send your contribution to South Sudanese Friends International, Inc. (SSFI). Our mailing address is

SSFI is a 501(c) 3 tax-exempt non-profit corporation founded in 1994. Our activities are funded by contributions from individuals, religious organizations, and civic groups that share our love for the Sudanese people.

Wish list

If you can provide any of the items on our wish list, please contact us. 

WHAT CAUSES WAR ?

"The cause of war is the delusion that Government is an Authority controlling [the energy, the acts, and therefore the fate of] individuals. All the Kings, Emperors, Czars, aristocrats, upper classes, have always believed that they control, and are responsible for, the majority whom they regard as their inferiors. But human energy, like any energy, works only under its natural control. Like any energy, it can be prevented from working in any given instance, but nothing but its natural individual control can control it. When the pressure exerted to stop it is too great, it explodes destructively, in war.

"War will end when a majority of men on this earth know that every man is free. Each person must see for himself that everyone is self-controlling and responsible. So long as any large group of persons, anywhere on this earth, believe the ancient superstition that some Authority is responsible for their welfare, they will set up some image of that Authority and try to obey it. And the result will be poverty and war."

Rose Wilder Lane
The Discovery of Freedom
1943

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WHAT IS PEACE ?

Peace is a dynamic, constructive expression of human energy. Contrary to what most people believe, governments cannot make peace. They can only exercise temporary control over individual human energy.

We hear about the "stability" of totalitarian regimes, but this is not peace. Under the surface of "stability" is a world of poverty and injustice.

True peace is a product of liberty. It happens when men and women enjoy the freedom to apply their creativity and energy to solving problems like hunger, disease, homelessness, illiteracy, violence, terrorism, and even nuclear war.

Peace is the sum of individual initiative. Peacemaking begins with you.

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WHAT YOU CAN DO

In your heart

Be at Peace. Repent of any bitterness and regret you harbor in your own heart. Ask God to give you a spirit of loving reconciliation toward anyone you have wronged or who has wronged you. Ask forgiveness.

The Gospel of Peace means that you love  your neighbor as you love yourself. This kind of peacemaking is not easy. It requires giving of your freedom and expending your own human energy.

Here are a few ideas for community peacemaking:

• prayer groups
• community kitchens & food banks
• home building and repair
• domestic violence counseling
• women in crisis
• teen pregnancy
• elderly and disabled
• prisoners
• racial reconciliation
• youth
• tutoring

Educate yourself on global issues. Concentrate on an individual country or conflict. Your effort will be more effective when focused on a specific geographic area yet still will touch on the broader issues that may concern you. Involve your family.

Here are a few ideas for world peacemaking:

• Select a country or conflict. Learn about its history and the latest developments. The internet is a good place to search for news.
• Try to focus on root causes. Often, this turns out to be a lack of freedom.
• Get in touch with others who share your concern and join local or national groups. Make certain that the group you support is working for a peaceful resolution within a framework of democracy, respect for human rights, and social justice.
• If you want to help the young Sudanese from the Kakuma refugee camp who have been resettled in the US, try one of these sites:
  • The Church World Service Lost Boys web site
  • The World Relief Lost Boys web site
  • Siloam Health Care, if you are a doctor or nurse
• Don’t be naive. International aid can be diverted away from civilians to sustain the warring parties. Monitor how aid is being distributed.
• Financially support individuals, projects, and organizations that you believe are responsible.
• Go there yourself! Short-term opportunities for ministry may be available through national organizations.
• Make regular contact with your state and national representatives. Follow the activities of those who have a special interest in your country or crisis. You can email or write a letter to the President of the United States, and members of the US Senate and House of Representatives. Executives and legislators of other countries may be accessible via email as well.
• Write to the President of the Sudan. You can write to him in care of the Sudanese Embassy in your country, if your country has diplomatic relations with the Sudan. Here is the address for the Sudanese Embassy in the United States:

  Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan
  2210 Massachusetts Ave. NW
  Washington, DC 20008
  Tel: (202) 338-8565
  Fax: (202) 667-2406

• Write letters to the editor and call in on radio talk shows. Put notes on your church bulletin board.
• Check out more ideas about letter-writing.
• Send an encouraging email to us at SSFI. It will help keep our spirits up!
• If you would like to give us feedback or suggestions about this web site, you can complete our feedback form.

In prayer

Pray for Sudan, for its leaders, and for its people. Here are three specific things you can pray about:

1. The church is the only functioning social unit in southern Sudan. Pray that God will send trainers and resources to Sudanese church leaders, so that they can teach the people to live the Christian life, develop ministries in their communities, train and use lay ministers, develop administrative functions, develop skills of governance, and teach Christian ethics.
2. The church-led people-to-people peace and reconciliation process has been effective in stopping the inter-ethnic warfare in southern Sudan. Pray that grassroots people and their community and church leaders will unify around peace. Pray that the international community will learn about and support this process. And ask that village women will actively encourage and follow up on the peace and reconciliation covenant.
3. The people of southern Sudan do not want to be dependent upon outside relief. They want to rebuild their communities and they want to do the work themselves. Pray that relief organizations will begin to develop long-term solutions to humanitarian needs (such as health care, education, trade, industry, and infrastructure). Pray that relief organizations will train local Sudanese people to assist and manage relief and development projects. And ask that these organizations will strive to create a climate of mutual understanding between ethnic groups, and build support for democratic values, free elections, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and free enterprise.

Here are some examples of ways people have found to get involved. Let us know what you are doing. We would like this to become a very long list.

• Support from Phillips Middle School
• Support from Angola Middle School
• You can sponsor a Sudanese pastor. The first group of five pastors sponsored by SSFI, with generous assistance from the congregation of the First United Presbyterian Church, DePere, Wisconsin, and many individuals across the United States, has graduated.
• You can organize a symposium or educational event
• You can collect seeds
• Volunteer opportunities with SSFI are listed on the Volunteer Match site
• If you are Sudanese, living in Diaspora, the Sudanese North American Diaspora Database lists opportunities for volunteer advisors.

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