By: Emma Rodriguez
This week, Southern Adventist University’s student chapter of the Adventist Peace Fellowship (APF) has been celebrating Peace Week.
According to an email from Lisa Diller, interim chair of the History and Political Studies Department, the Seventh-day Adventist church asks its educational institutions to hold a peace week every year in order to “to inspire and educate its young people in the work of non-violent peace-making.”
“We like to collaborate with many clubs on campus to show the variety of ways that Christians can be peacemakers, from the individual scale to the international,” Diller stated.
The Adventist Peace Fellowship chapter on campus is a branch of an independent nonprofit organization that champions peace, social justice and reconciliation among nations.
Founded in 2001, the APF seeks to raise consciousness about the centrality of peacemaking and social justice to the beliefs and heritage of Adventists, as stated on its website. Its emphasis is centered around public service, activism, advocacy and scholarship in order to mirror the radical spirit of many Adventist pioneers in the early church.
This year for Peace Week, the APF is collaborating with Model UN Club, Student Association, Social Work Club and Student Missions Club for various events throughout the week, including an upcoming poster-making booth on the Promenade March 5 and a Vespers service March 7.
Earlier this semester, on Feb. 13, Southern’s APF chapter held a Valentine-themed flower market on the promenade in partnership with Bridge Refugee Services, an agency that helps international refugees who are relocating to East Tennessee. Student leaders organized the event as a fundraiser in response to a recent executive order that suspended all funds to the local nonprofit.
Makena VonBergen, history education major and APF president, explained the club’s mission and told the Accent why she believes it is so important to be involved in local service.
“In our self-centered society, it’s easy to focus on how our faith can benefit us,” VonBergen said. “While these things aren’t bad, they’re also not what the gospel is all about. Faith without action is dead. We’re called to follow in Jesus’s steps, to welcome the outsiders and meet the eyes of those that have been marginalized.”
One of the club’s officers, Amy Van Arsdell, senior history major, told the Accent that she underestimated how much support her fellow students on campus would show. APF members picked and created the bouquets they sold on the promenade so that all proceeds could be donated directly to Bridge Refugee Services, and the flowers sold even faster than expected.
“We were thrilled by the turnout and were so happy to sell out an hour before we planned to leave the Promenade,” Van Arsdell said. “We hope that even people who didn’t buy flowers learned about the need in our community and can be moved to donate or volunteer with Bridge Refugee Services. The crisis is not over, and Bridge Refugee Services is going to need our support in the months to come.”
When asked why the club is centered around service to the community rather than a more central approach to service within the church, VonBergen said, “When it comes to issues of social justice, the environment, peacemaking and human rights, Christians should be at the forefront. At Adventist Peace Fellowship, we’re trying to become Jesus’s hands and feet to the world.”
According to Diller, one mission of APF is to remind Adventists about the church’s history of non-violent justice work and “tell the stories of those who work for peace in their neighborhoods, families, congregations and the larger world.”
“We want to remind our church that God’s kingdom is not of this world, and we work, as the prophet said, ‘for the healing of the nations,’” Diller stated.
An event poster uploaded to the APF Instagram included a statement from Nathan Walker, the volunteer manager of the organization. It said, “As you may be aware, an executive order was signed on January 20th, causing the Refugee Admissions Program to be suspended, with a pending review of the program after 90 days. This means that all refugees who were previously approved to come to the U.S. in the immediate future can no longer arrive, with all flights and travel plans canceled. In addition, funding for newly arrived refugees has been suspended.”
NOTES
In the wake of the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan in 2002 and 2003, there was a sharp rise in militarism among many Christians in this country. Adventists who wanted to remind their church of the non-violent peace-making history and theology of their church formed Adventist Peace Fellowship. It is a loose coalition of lay people, church employees, academics, and justice advocates who collaborate to connect folks to resources and each other. APF exists to help Adventists learn about their past heritage of nonviolent justice work and to tell the stories of those who work for peace in their neighborhoods, families, congregations, and the larger world. We want to remind our church that God’s kingdom is not of this world, and we work, as the prophet said, “for the healing of the nations.”
Many college campuses also developed Adventist Peace Clubs. Students in these clubs have tended to be organizations that advocate for justice and provide education about the needs of the world. They work to better their environment and local community and find ways to prevent violence as well as bring together folks who are different from each other.
The Adventist church has asked its educational institutions to have a Peace Week each year to inspire and educate its young people in the work of non-violent peace-making. We like to collaborate with many clubs on campus to show the variety of ways that Christians can be peacemakers, from the individual scale to the international.
