Peace_Week_Dec_05 CELEBRATING PEACE, THE FEAST OF LIFE Presidential Message to AFPLI Peace Week Held on December 21st – 23rd, 2005 1.1.        Greeting       This message of mine will double as a peace greeting and a greeting for Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. It was hilarious for me to speak briefly over the telephone with some of the participants at the Peace Week this morning. I was especially thrilled to speak with Mr. Anthony Adeniranye, the President of the youngest KAIROS Peace Club founded last October at the Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo. I was told about other members of the Adeyemi club who had planned to come from as far away as Ila Orangun. I thank those who came from other places like Abeokuta, Oshodi, Agege, Ikeja, Shogunle, Ipaja, and Alagbado, to mention a few. I look forward to see all of you very soon. 1.2.        Praise the Lord Before continuing further in this message, I want to give all honor, praise, glory and adoration to God for the divine blessings and protections that we enjoyed this year. The devil tried in several ways to slow down our progress by causing accidents, sicknesses, and spreading untruths. We thank God who fought gallantly on our behalf. Victory was won spiritually and physically. The devil saw the coming glory. He slowed it down but could not stop it. The angel of the Lord, the angel of peace, showed up and destroyed the work of the devil. To God be all the glory. 1.3.        Commendations We all did a good job this year. Our work deserves commendations individually and collectively. The National Coordinator, National Executive Secretary, Presidents and Executive Officers, all the members and their hosting churches, mosques, schools and communities performed extra-ordinary feats to promote the ideals of APPLI. The stories of your street peace rallies, seminars and workshops, were told by newspapers and broadcast by radio stations and televised by popular Television Houses in the nation, including the AIT and the OGTV. I tried to publish your work in our newsletter, the African Voice of Peace, as much as space could permit. People are listening and they are marveled at the new message of Peacebuilding that APPLI is spreading. By our work we have shown to the world that, if given the right opportunities, Africans can do the right things and do things right. This is God’s doing. We are only participating in God’s vision of Africa, the Future Land of Peace.   1.3.        Celebrating Diversity I appreciate the theme of your Peace Week for this year. I have interpreted it to mean “celebrating diversity.”  God loves variety and He is the God of variety. He created us and gave every one of us our individuality. What we need to understand is how to appreciate our differences and use them to build our communities and not destroy them. According to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “the human race is like the children of one father who are living together in one big apartment house.” Jesus Christ described it as a big mansion with several rooms. Apostle Paul spoke about it in Acts 17:26, when he said “God created the entire humanity from the blood on of one man.” The duty of the servant-leaders of the House of God is to encourage God’s children to live peacefully together. 1.4.        Violence is often a Consequence and Not a Cause Violence can be described in many ways. Violence is often not a condition, it is a consequence. When peoples’ needs are not met then violence becomes inevitable as they struggle to meet their needs in their own way. By depriving the ordinary citizens their needs, greedy leaders forced the people to become violent. By denying and delaying justices, people are forced to violently take the law into their own hands. When leaders become dealers, when rulers become lawless and law breakers, when the elders become partial and encourage cronies, then they will oppress and violate the people through structural injustice and violence. When leaders have neither forward nor backward vision, then the followers will become disillusioned and the people will perish. According to Dorn Lois, “when rights are denied, self-esteem diminished, and potential undermined, people become both victims and students of personal violence.” A Yoruba adage says: “Bi Ile ba ngbe osika ti ko gbe olooto, bo pe titi, rere a ma su ni se.” It is difficult to be good when others are bad. But the Bible says: “Do not be weary in doing what is right; because we will reap the reward if we faint not.” 1.5.        A New Door of Opportunity is opened before us In my speech to your First Peace Week, I called your attention to our humble beginning. I am so proud of the progress that we have made. As you have been told, the doors of the private and secondary schools in the Lagos State Six School Districts are being opened to us to start our new peace club – The Youth Peace Alliance Club (Y-PAC). This project will start in earnest in January of 2006. The theme chosen for this project is “Youth Peace and Nation Building.” I invite you to participate in this new beginning for our country. Many good things await everyone if this dream becomes a reality. The facilitators and the teachers that will be trained for the program will receive new knowledge. They will be certified to teach our Peace Curriculum in their schools. The students will be taught that there is alternative to violence and will become better citizens. There will be peace and progress in our grassroots communities. We will understand who is behind our religious and tribal hatred and enmity. We will learn to how to become Peacebuilders instead of violence engineers. Through the program our youths will receive cognitive and transformative liberation. We will launch many more KAIROS Peace Clubs in institutions of higher learning in 2006. We will also intensify the launching of KAYERO Peace and Love Clubs in religious houses such as churches and mosques. Similarly, we will launch more African Children of Peace Clubs in the nursery, kindergarten and elementary schools. 1.6.        The Domains of Violence and Peace Violence is in the domain of the devil. Peace is in the domain of God. When sorrow multiplies, search very well, you will see who is behind it. When joy increases, watch well too, you will know that it comes from God. For violence to stop we need intercessory prayers – these things cannot come out except by fasting and prayer. Peace is like a beautiful bride on the run, it is like a loving and caring mother banished from her children. We have to seek and pursue her to bring her back home. It is completely erroneous for anyone to think they are serving God’s purpose through violence. There is nothing like holy war. All wars are evil. Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” That is God’s promise of peace. Peace is not easy. Peace is not cheap. But peace is possible. We have to work for peace as if we are working for a life career. “Blessed are those who labor for peace in Africa, for they shall put the enemy of humanity to shame.” 1.7.        Who is the Source of our Power? I cannot deceive you. We need the power of God to do this work. This is a spiritual battle. Therefore it calls for faith in God. We have to recognize also that we fighting the devil. Devil is the author of lies, hatred, violence, war and death. God is the author truth, love, peace, joy and life. I wish you a happy Peace Week. I pray for your safety individually and collectively as you rally for peace this week. I pray for your safe return journeys to your respective homes. I wish you Godspeed and journey mercies. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! God Bless you. Shalom. Peace. KAYERO! Rev. Titus K. Oyeyemi President/CEO African Projects for Peace and Love Initiatives, Inc. Nfp TimeOn KAIROS Peace Academy (December 22, 2005).