From cpt.unitedkingdom at googlemail.com Thu Mar 11 18:44:48 2010 From: cpt.unitedkingdom at googlemail.com (Christian Peacemaker Teams UK) Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:44:48 -0500 Subject: [CPT-UK] =?windows-1252?q?FORT_FRANCES=2C_ONTARIO=3A_GENE_STOLTZF?= =?windows-1252?q?US_1940-2010_=96_PRESENTE!?= Message-ID: <523080621003111544o7785e0cdmd5e3e4b0c7ef8020@mail.gmail.com> by Tim Nafziger Wednesday, 10 March, Christian Peacemaker Team?s founding director Gene Stoltzfus died of a heart attack in Fort Frances, Ontario while bicycling near his home on the first warm day of the year. Gene was at the heard of those who planted and nurtured the vision for teams of peacemakers partnering with local communities in conflict zones to build justice and lasting peace. Gene played a key role in CPT's founding gathering of Christian activists, theologians and others at Techny Towers outside Chicago, IL in 1986. Two years later the new steering committee hired Gene as the first staff person of the organization. Gene was the director of CPT for the next 16 years. In the early years, Gene and CPT?s Steering Committee experimented with various approaches to active faith grounded peacemaking. Through the early 90s, Gene gave leadership to solidifying the vision and practice of sustained teamwork in in situations of lethal conflict. During the late 90s and early 2000s, he guided CPT through its growth and maturation as an organization supporting nonviolent action around the world. After Gene retired from CPT in 2004 he continued his Christian peacemaking through nonviolent action, speaking and organizing in the USA, Canada and around the world. He also spent considerable time in Fort Frances with his wife Dorothy Friesen, where he wrote regular blog entries, worked for right relations with First Nations communities, and took up creative artisan endeavors making furniture and jewelry with wood, twigs and other objects found in the woods near his home. You can read a longer biography of Gene at http://www.cpt.org/speakers/gene_stoltzfus The closing paragraph of Gene?s final post on his blog ( http://peaceprobe.wordpress.com/) is an expression of his conviction and hope: ?Every one of us is impacted by a dominant culture which insists that military or police force will make things right. Every day, that culture tells us that dirty tricks, usually done in secret, are required for our survival. After all, it?s argued, someone has to do this dirty work. It?s called a noble work and the Blackwater mercenaries are required for the work. It will take an expanding world-wide but grassroots culture reaching beyond national borders to fashion a body of Christian peacemakers to be an effective power to block the guns and be part of transforming each impending tragedy of war. Little by little there will be change.? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: