THIS MONTH
Involvement in Ministry
Karen DeVoogd
Two years ago I was offered a part-time position as coordinator of a special peacemaking effort called Mediator Mentors, administrated through California State University Fresno. The program trains students in peer mediated conflict resolution. And it was through this public organization that I came to really work with “the children of God”, The Peacemakers.
Dr. Pam Lane-Garon started Mediator Mentors over ten years ago. As of 2011, the program has active programs in 60 valley schools. This fall alone, we conducted 30 different sessions of initial training and re-training. One Clovis school had so many participants that the group was too big for our usual space. Gratefully, we rented the CCCMB Fellowship Hall for a day of training. It was so satisfying to host the group here at our church. How appropriate that a church who promotes peace should be the setting for such a training (By the way, the students really like the flags!).
Beyond the work Mediator Mentors does in elementary and middle schools, we connect with other parts of the community as well. We collaborated in a special effort with others from Fresno State, the City of Fresno, and the Lowell Neighborhood Urban Renewal project (We intersected with some of our friends from The Pink House there too!). Also, Fresno State and Mediator Mentors recently partnered with a national program called Conflict Resolution Education in Teacher Education (CRETE), hosting a four-day CRETE training at Fresno State in January, 2011.
The impact of this program is felt at many levels, but the personal stories we hear from individual children are what remind me that this is important “Kingdom come” work. For example, one of the youth in our own congregation was trained as a peer mediator at her school. She shared with me a story of being in conflict with a classmate and feeling hurt by insults that were directed toward her. She described using constructive communication skills she learned in the peer mediation training, working through the conflict, and speaking directly to the person who offended her. The conflict came to a peaceful and healthy ending and the relationship endured. I was deeply moved by her story and carry it with me as a reminder that each student we train gains the power to be peaceful in their own life. This gives me tremendous hope and energy to keep moving this message of conflict resolution.
I am uniquely blessed through working with Dr. Lane-Garon, as a means to integrate my gifts, my work, and my faith. “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9).
For more information, check out this link: http://www.csufresno.edu/mediatormentors/