Orlando 2008 – Peacemaker Conference

I finally have a moment to report to you my experience at the Peacemaker Conference and marriage mediation training. Having never been to Florida, I was happy to enjoy the long daylight hours and glad that it was not too hot and humid in late September. The trip was refreshing, reminding me about the centrality of Christ and the gospel, not some process, to bring about peace. It was the stories and the people I met that encouraged me the most. Hearing stories about reconciliation revealed to me my hardness and unbelief of heart in the power of the gospel. It was good to be convicted and reminded of the hope Christians have in the gospel. Because of the cross we can have peace. Since we have peace with God, we can have peace with one another! I was especially encouraged by the cross denominational support for peacemaking and the gospel centeredness of the conference.

Forty of us were trained by five teachers to do marriage mediation. The teachers had various backgrounds. One was a wife and mother while others were attorneys. All five had a passion for ministry and were trained to help people understand the grace, forgiveness, and love that is available to them through Christ. The class role played a broken marriage where a husband was estranged from his wife. We addressed heart issues or idols of the heart. Mediators serve parties by helping them to bridge the gap between what they believe and how they act. They help them to see themselves in light of the freedom of the gospel, to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance, confession, and forgiveness are key ingredients toward a successful and redemptive mediation. (In both the vertical and horizontal dimensions.) I learned that it takes much effort to resolve a conflict. A good mediator will spend hours conflict coaching before a mediation to get the parties ready for mediation. It’s long and hard work, but peacemakers who sow in peace will reap a harvest of righteousness.

Conflict is an opportunity to glorify God. And marriage is an arena for the display of God’s glory. To be a peacemaker, I need to be caught up in my love of God, a display of his glory, and a love for sinners, entangled by sin. There, but for the grace of God, go I. I was reminded that Jesus Christ was the good shepherd. Christians should imitate his love toward others by lovingly and willingly partaking in the search and rescue mission. Peacemaking should be lived out and applied in the local church. God is glorified when his people are united. Churches need to apply redemptive and loving church discipline to rescue, guard, and protect its flock.

After the two days of marriage mediation training, the Peacemaker conference began. There were four different speakers and many workshops to chose from. You should get a taste! Here’s a clip of Thabiti preaching on forgiveness.

Keynote Highlight: Thabiti Anyabwile from Peacemaker Ministries on Vimeo.

On Saturday, before the conference was over, Ken Sande updated us about some of the international work Peacemaker ministries was involved in. PM is trying to teach Peacemaking to ministry leaders in other countries. They hope that they will catch the vision, that they would be instruments in the Redeemer’s hand, helping to train rising-leaders by building a culture of peacemaking in seminaries. It was encouraging to hear about the conversion of a man in South Korea. Peacemaking skills were being taught to refugees that were coming to South Korea since many of the refugees didn’t have the people skills to develop interpersonal relationships, having been acclimated to an oppressive country. This man was converted to Christ through the class! He didn’t need to learn techniques or people skills, he needed an encounter with Jesus! God gave the man a new heart of flesh. He confessed that he was on a mission to South Korea to kill his refugee wife, who had been unfaithful to him when she left her country a few years earlier. Stories like this remind me of the power of the gospel. The gospel is for real life. Don’t you forget that!