What our program participants are saying

Participar en el programa sobre la apertura espiritual fue una experiencia profundamente transformadora. Me recordó que la verdadera compasión comienza con un corazón abierto tanto a la fe como al servicio. A través de Éncuentro de Esperanza, vi cómo podemos convertirnos en instrumentos del amor de Dios, ofreciendo esperanza, sanación y guía a los necesitados. No se trataba solo de aprender, sino de vivir nuestra fe en acción y descubrir las poderosas formas en que podemos ayudar a otros a crecer espiritualmente, al igual que nosotros mismos crecemos. Estar rodeado de un grupo que me apoyaba hizo que la experiencia fuera aún más significativa.

Monica M. • Participante

“The Land is Not Our Own has allowed me the space to honor both my Christian faith and my indigeneity. I have gained a deeper understanding of how to communicate existing in both worlds by sharing with a faith-centered group that is open and empathetic. Our call as people of faith is to journey with the oppressed, and this [program] welcomed being witness to the beauty of indigenous culture and spirituality while also holding space to reckon with the horror experienced by indigenous peoples. We cannot build a better future and world without confronting the sin of genocide that continues to manifest in and through our current systems. This course fostered prayerful critique of history, as well as stoking creative solutions to how to repair the harms of colonization and assimilation, specifically as Christians, both individually and as a group. Together we felt the woundedness of genocide and violence, as well as the hope, creativity, and joyful resilience that indigenous people have carried, carry now, and will carry into future generations.”

Mandy Orta • Program Participant

Transformative is the single word that comes to mind. This program challenges us to deal with (and not just examine) the reality of racial injustice on individuals, families, and communities as well as entire segments of our country. We are blessed by having multi-generational African Americans in our group that put flesh to the words of our texts that detail the impact of historical prejudices. In other words, this is not an academic exercise, this is the reality of life lived under and through the historical abuse of laws, processes, power, and privilege. You must deal with this reality.

John Laliberte • Greenville, SC