What our program participants are saying

I recently participated in The Land Is Not Our Own, and it has been a real revelation to me. The first step is awareness and knowledge, followed by action, and this program can be an important catalyst in one’s journey. I also received an unexpected gift of increased reverence for the wonders of creation that are all around us, an appreciation that, in the long-term, may hold the key to our very survival as a species.

Ron Schaefer • Program Participant

We as a group were called to act on our faith as a result of taking JustFaith Ministries’ program on migration. A couple nurses are learning the Spanish language. Others are greeting incoming refugees to Louisville at the airport. One volunteers at a tutoring center that we visited on our immersion experience (Doors to Hope). One continues to volunteer at La Casita. All in our group feel empowered and competent to speak the truths and facts of our immigrant neighbors to others in our community. All have an appreciation of the tireless efforts of an immigration lawyer from Louisville that was our guest speaker at session 5. As for me I will continue to facilitate JustFaith programs at my church.

Mary Dovak • Louisville, KY

The focus in this class is a little different from all the other JustFaith offerings. Instead of looking outward into the world, this class took me inward to a deeper look at my language and the effect it has on all my relationships. It offered an opportunity to take a deep look at how language shapes our relationships as well as bring about the more just world our hearts know is possible. It helped me shift away from dualistic thinking--to move from a language of judgment to a language of invitation, to become aware of the needs of others and how those shape every conversation, how to create a safe space for all conversations, and it gave me an opportunity to practice listening for the whole story, to include all the lenses. As we continue to look for the way through all that separates us in these times, this class helped me notice my language, and offered strategies for finding a third way. It reminds me of Rumi’s poem. Here is a part of it, “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there.” This class opens us to the field—the possible thread running through all the other classes, through all our relationships and, indeed, through our lives. I am grateful for this experience.

Julie Powell-Mohr • Pilot Group