One of our joys is encountering the diversity of the students and faculty from all over the Middle East and North Africa.  Conflict transformation skills are so relevant in the ministry settings from which these students come and to the places they will return.

There are many tools we share from the book of Esther, Acts 6, and Acts 15 (conflict in the early church!).  Today we looked at the Esther story with students from the viewpoint of the “social barometer” or “spectrum of allies.”  This tool outlines what strategies to use to move people from the position of opponent to ally, whether they are passive or active.  The idea is to motivate people to move one segment in the direction of positive change because it is very difficult to move people all the way from leading opponent to leading supporter.  This tool is available at Training for Change at

  http://www.trainingforchange.org/sites/default/files/Spectrum%20of%20Allies.pdf

If you have not read or used Bible studies on Conflict Transformation in your church and you have responsibility for teaching, preaching or leading workshops, check out this comprehensive resource on Dan’s new website.  It is available here, in a dozen languages:

  http://www.danbuttry.com/resources/bible-study-guides/bible-study-materials/

We are so thankful to all of you who given financial support to make this journey and ministry possible.  Thank you also for your prayers and may 2017 bring the Prince of Peace closer to your heart, home and community here in the Middle East and all over the planet.