As I write this, it’s February, and I am eagerly preparing to assist with Mennonite Mission Network’s next Civil Rights Just Peace Pilgrimage, alongside members of the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference. This marks my first Just Peace Pilgrimage, and I am glad to be doing so with individuals from my home conference. As I prepare for this trip mentally, physically and spiritually, I am reminded of the 2022 Youth Venture trip I co-led with Arloa Bontrager, Mission Network’s North America regional director for short-term programs.
That trip focused on immigration, in partnership with Mennonite Central Committee. We were hosted by Shalom Mennonite Fellowship, which supports a Mennonite Voluntary Service unit in Tucson, Arizona. Our group included two leaders and approximately 10 teenagers and young adults from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia. That trip was more like a pilgrimage, with participants feeling a wide range of reactions and emotions from disbelief and anger to laughter and compassion, as we learned about the realities of those seeking to cross the border from Mexico to the U.S. It was a life-changing experience for all of us, so much so that one of the participants donated all his clothes from his suitcase to one of the agencies we visited. We left with questions like:
- What now?
- What more can, or should, we do?
- How can we make a difference in our own contexts?
We didn’t leave with answers but with a sense that we had just been on a journey, a pilgrimage.
This experience, among others, inspired Just Peace Pilgrimages. We learned that this journey together is crucial — a chance to listen, learn and be present with people. In September 2022, we launched our initial Just Peace Pilgrimages, focusing on racial justice through the Civil Rights Movement. In 2023, during the delegate session at MC USA’s biennial convention, we shared more broadly about this program. To date, 13 groups have participated in Just Peace Pilgrimages, either focusing on racial justice or immigration. This spring, we are introducing our first Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples Pilgrimage. I encourage you to consider how you might engage with these pilgrimages, whether you feel the call to participate or to support others in this opportunity to learn, grow and be transformed.
If you are feeling inspired to take the next step, please visit the Just Peace Pilgrimage webpage.
Marisa Smucker
Executive Director