Mylinda is a pastoral artist and trainer. She partners with IM colleagues, national church leadership and social change organizations to seek justice, healing and transformation through restorative art and creative expression. Compelled by Jesus’ prayer that the kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven, Mylinda creates spaces where servant leaders and those who do the hard work of rescue, relief and restoration can be nurtured and renewed. As sinner and saint, she sees beauty in broken places, wonder in wounded people and life in loving God and others.

She writes of her recent trip to Cuba to do a conflict transformation training – [I was with] Mercy Gonzalez-Barnes, Ray Schellinger and Adalia Gutierrez-Lee. Together we worked from 8am to past 11pm most days. I wouldn’t recommend this pace for the long haul, but because of the concentrated nature of the training, we did what was needed. I feel like we honored the work of our mentors, Dan and Sharon Buttry since it was the first 10-day Training of Conflict Transformation Trainers without their presence. It was an historic and “passing of the baton” event, indeed. With the “passing of the baton”, we also added our own touches and adaptations to work within the Cuban group’s emerging experience. …

This experience changed me. I see the work of trauma healing, conflict transformation and racial reconciliation differently now. I experienced a transformation, an invitation to both repentance and forgiveness and a new way of honoring others, myself and God’s dreams for us. I got a glimpse of Shalom and am inspired. I hope you are, too!

Read Mylinda’s complete journal at https://internationalministries.org/blessed-are-the-peacemakers/