Mennonite Weekly Review

In the new Christian Peacemaker Teams Chicago office, Sophia Hochstedler and Dave Corcoran open envelopes of donations with gratitude.

Sophia Hochstedler and Dave Corcoran open year-end donations at the new Christian Peacemaker Teams Chicago office. — Photo by Carol Rose/CPT

Margaret Sumadh does likewise in Toronto, as CPT approaches the end of its financial year Jan. 31.

Generally, supporters donate about one-third of CPT’s annual income during the holiday season. However, supporters responded throughout 2009 as CPT had to recover from a dip in the level of donations at the end of 2008, causing a financial shortfall that resulted in deep cuts.

“We are so grateful that we have been able to restore CPT work in Al Khalil [West Bank] and to continue the work in Iraq thus far,” said Carol Rose, CPT co-director.

CPT moved forward with trainings in Colombia, Europe and Chicago this year. New CPT members are serving as reservists, and some are filling openings as full-time members finish their terms of service.

While there is still a freeze on the size of the full-time Peacemaker Corps, there are urgent openings for new full-time members in Palestine, Ontario and Iraq. There is also a need for new reservists who are available to serve yearly on teams for several weeks or months and who are ready to raise funds equivalent to the cost of their service.

“If the year-end donations continue in the generous trend of this year, we hope to be able to go beyond filling current vacancies to expand the full-time Corps in order to widen our existing peace work with communities in Colombia, Iraq, Palestine and North America and perhaps beyond,” Rose said.

Meanwhile the offices in Chicago have moved into one floor of a new building. Renovation work continues, getting other parts of the building ready to welcome future trainings. Thousands of volunteer hours and more than a dozen no-interest loans are making the purchase and renovation possible.

Rose looks forward to having volunteers throughout the next six months.

“With six more loans of $5,000 we will meet our goal to cover the cost of the initial renovations without diverting funds from project peace work.”