By Tim Sullivan
As we turn the page on 2025, I often hear people say, ‘Thank God.’ Indeed, it was truly a violent year. There is much peacebuilding still needed in our world and in our country. 2026 is starting out with state-sponsored violence in Minneapolis that we could not have imagined. It's hard for me to believe that some people condone this type of violence.
In response, the people of Minneapolis, Minnesota and elsewhere are demonstrating a type of nonviolent resistance that is certainly inspiring me to do more. At this moment, I believe we are all called to some form of nonviolent resistance. There are many forms of nonviolent action. While we might all like to be in the streets of Minneapolis, it's just not possible for all of us to join them. I suspect that most SERVAS members are engaged in nonviolent peacebuilding in their own communities. I believe being an active member of SERVAS is a form of nonviolent peacebuilding. It's clear our work is still needed, important, and we need to grow our efforts. Despair is not the answer. We must continue to engage with peacebuilding and as our new board member, Jeff says, “Find joy in the beauty of our world”.
I am grateful for all the US Servas volunteers that support our mission. I'm especially thankful for the new team of board members whom you elected this past October. While I'm just getting to know them, my first impression is that this is a talented group of folks who care about peacebuilding. (I am, of course, also thankful for our returning board members who have been working hard). In our recent retreat we outlined the following priorities for 2026:
- Advance peace through meaningful people-to-people connection, with clear and measurable impact.
- Grow membership and engagement in balance with interviewer and host capacity.
- Strengthen communications, storytelling, and brand clarity.
- Improve governance, leadership, and organizational capacity.
It seems to me that all our objectives include a foundational emphasis on communication and relationship development in our efforts to build peace. In our first board meeting, I already saw liaisons creating goals to implement these objectives. All members are welcome to join board meetings, which are held on the 4th Monday of the month at 9 a.m. PT, except when they fall on a holiday. Let us know if you would like to join us and we will send you a link.
There's a line in Rumi's poem “The Road Home” that rings true to me. It says: "The essence of every human being can see, and what that essence-eye takes in, the being becomes." Folks become what they experience and what they take in. Travel and actual conversation with the other makes this happen. Isn’t this what Servas does; we transform hearts with the experience of the other through our hospitality.
A Ken Untener prayer that Archbishop Oscar Romero often used, has been an inspiration to me when I felt my work wasn’t accomplishing enough. Romero was assassinated by the USA supported El Salvador government in 1980. This prayer makes it clear we are not expected to do it all, and we cannot know how our Servas hospitality might change some person’s life. Here is an edited version of the prayer:
"Prophets of a Future Not Our Own"
This is what we are about.
We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something and to do it well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders
Your involvement with SERVAS may plant seeds that grow beyond your wildest imagination! Help us expand the foundation we lay. Invite your neighbors and friends to join us in our nonviolent peacebuilding. And if you're looking for new ways to be more active in peacebuilding, join our volunteer team. We may not be in the streets of Minneapolis, but we are planting seeds of future peace!
Thank you for being a peace worker for US Servas.
Tim
