FN

Notes to the Facilitator
for
“Living as Peacemakers in a Broken World”

Adapting
The study guide resource has been written to be taught in two, one-hour sessions, but could easily be modified for two, 90 minutes sessions or even three or four sessions by extending the time for dialogue during each section. I encourage you to be creative and adapt this material to meet the specific passions and needs of your audience.

The Problem-Posing Case Study: “Jakub’s Call”
For many of you, the case-study teaching method may be a new thing. I encourage you to give it a try. What’s exciting about this methodology is that it gives learners an opportunity to have an experiential learning experience in the comfort of a familiar setting. Rather than just discussing what others should do in a given situation, the case-method encourages participants to get “in the skin” of characters with which they might never otherwise interact. This “empathic identification” and the analysis that goes with it can be very powerful! Research has shown that this kind of experiential learning is a very effective tool in changing thought patterns and really internalizing material.

Where to Find the Case
This resource uses a case study called “Jakub’s Call.” I heavily suggest that you try to have your participants read the case study prior to the study session. While inevitably some people will not have done so, the case discussion will go much better if a good portion of your group is familiar with the dynamics of the case. Go to http://www.cctpp.org/SupportingPeacemaking/JakubsCall.htm in order to download the case.

A Map of Kuda
I have also included a map of Kuda, the town in the case, and the surrounding area. You may find that this simple visual will help your participants better understand the dynamics of the brewing conflict. In order to download the map, please refer to http://www.cctpp.org/SupportingPeacemaking/documents/KudaMap.pdf. I suggest that you introduce this resource during the “Understanding the Situation” portion of the case discussion.

Quick Facts about Indonesia
These “quick facts” about Indonesia will give you some useful perspective as you teach the case:

Indonesia has the world’s fourth largest population, over 240 million people, behind China, India, and the United States

Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population, over 210 million people, and also the world’s largest reformed Christian population

Indonesia is made up of over 17,000 islands, the total area of which is about three times the size of Texas

Indonesia was a Dutch colony until 1945

Separatist groups continue to push for new political arrangements in many areas of Indonesia including Aceh (the area of heaviest devastation following the December 2004 tsunami), Papua (the region where the case takes place), and several other provinces.

For additional information on Indonesia and a map of the country I suggest you refer to the CIA Factbook at: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/id.html

Final Thoughts
I encourage you to become very familiar with the case prior to teaching it. Read it several times, identify the characters and become comfortable with the general timeline of the events in the case. Your role as the facilitator is to help your group think about the dynamics and the issues in the case. Remember, there are no “right” and “wrong” answers to the questions in the teaching note. The questions are just jumping off points to help everyone understand the dynamics in the case. Once your group has familiarized themselves with these dynamics, they will have the knowledge they need to advise Jakub, the main character, in the situation he faces, and begin to consider how they could help bring peace to troubled situations such as the one depicted in the case. Enjoy!

For additional insight on how to read and teach case studies, I encourage you to refer to:

Additional Components

If you are adapting this study resources for two, 90-minute sessions or three or four sessions, I encourage you to consider using the following exercise to help participants understand that our own experiences with brokenness or “areas in need of healing” actually help equip us to be effective peacemakers. This session could either begin the peacemaking study or come after the case study as a lead-in to the definition of peacemaking.

Identifying Areas in Need of Healing (15-20 minutes)

Introduction: Briefly explain that all around the world there are wounds in need of healing, some of which we hear about through the media and some which remain private. Before we can really become peacemakers, we need to be able to identify situations that need healing. Some of these wounds will be very near us, and we may be called as individuals to intervene. Some will be more removed and we will be called to accompany others as they work to bring healing in these situations. In order to begin to better understand the need for healing, explain that you are going to start with the following.

Activity:

Give each participant scissors, a blank sheet of paper, and some kind of adhesive. Ask participants to use excerpts from newspapers and magazines to make a collage of examples of wounds in need of healing. These could include both words and images from a global, national, local, or familial context.

Gather the participants into groups of 3 or 4 and ask each group to:
1) Identify similarities in the examples included on individual collages
2) Discuss what it took for a specific instance to be represented in a magazine or newspaper in the first place, (i.e. well known, violent, affected a lot of people)
3) Share with one another instances of brokenness that either affect them personally or affect friends or family members

Bring the entire group together and allow each small group to briefly share what they learned from one another.

Debrief: Facilitator should point out that often our own personal experiences best equip us to live as peacemakers. Once we realize that we too have areas of brokenness in our lives, we are better able to understand how other people experience hurt or broken relationships. These areas of personal struggle are resources for the peacemaker, not barriers.

Additional Case Studies

If you find that your group really enjoys working with problem-posing case studies, I would encourage you to consider using other case studies to look at issues ranging from doctrine to ethical dilemmas to diversity. The Association for Case Teaching has made thousands of additional case studies available at: http://www.caseteaching.org/. You could also contact the Plowshares Institute for additional peacemaking case studies, international case studies, or case studies particularly relevant to a young-adult audience at: plowshares@plowsharesinstitute.org or (860) 651-4304.

Additional Resources

As your group prepares to support global peacemaking efforts, you may find it useful to research the particular country you aim to support or the specific strategy you hope to implement. I encourage you to refer to the Links page in order to learn more about other peacemaking organizations that are supporting local peacemakers around the world through a variety of strategies.

Prepared by Elizabeth Velez
Plowshares Institute
Simsbury, Connecticut
plowshares@plowsharesinstitute.org
860-651-4304

For the Churches’ Center for Theology and Public Policy