little friends for peace
Blooming and Bombing
Editor’s Note: DC Service Corps volunteer Sam Alves reflects on the beauty and joy that exists amidst conflict and destruction. My DC Service Corps cohort recently went on a lovely retreat at Mt. Irenaeus, a Franciscan intentional community which shares its space with lay community members and students at nearby Saint Bonaventure University. School librarian…
Little Ones and High Crimes
Editor’s Note: In light of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, DC Service Corps volunteer Sam Alves relates Dr. King to Jesus and finds hope in Jesus’ Resurrection. In our Peace Classes last month, we spent a week learning about one of Little Friends for Peace’s favorite peacemakers, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. At one…
Bending Toward Justice
Editor’s Note: DC Service Corps volunteer Brigid Dunn reflects on how she notices justice being nurtured in Washington, DC and beyond. “The arc of the moral universe may bend toward justice, but it doesn’t bend on its own.” – Barack Obama Over the past few months, I have been pondering Barack Obama’s take on Martin…
Day 13: Genuine Connection
Editor’s Note: On the thirteenth day of our 2025 Advent blog series, “Visions of Visitation: Love in Motion,” DC Service Corps volunteer Brigid Dunn reflects on how she shares Jesus’ love at her ministry site, in the Casa, and throughout Washington, DC by connecting with others. “Mary is an example of a young person who…
Peace the Size of a Mustard Seed
Editor’s Note: In a society that often challenges peace, DC Service Corps volunteer Sam Alves reflects on having faith the size of a mustard seed and promoting peace in little ways. Peacemaking in this world armed to the teeth seems like an impossible task oftentimes. Consider the billions of dollars in arms sales, the militarization…
The Power of Reflection
Editor’s Note: DC Service Corps volunteer Brigid Dunn shares the ways that she reflects on each day individually, with her community, and at her ministry site. In the few weeks that I have been in the Casa and at Little Friends for Peace, I have witnessed the power of the art of reflection, as a…
What I Learned from Career Day
Editor’s Note: After participating in an elementary school’s career day, DC Service Corps Volunteer Philip Krabill reflects on how his year of service will lend itself to his career. Recently, as part of my work with Little Friends for Peace, I was asked to present as part of a career day at a local elementary…
The Little Ways of Building Peace
Editor’s Note: In his first FMS blog post, DCSC volunteer Philip Krabill describes how his ministry site promotes peace and the “little” ways that it makes big differences. “Those who make us believe that anything’s possible… are often the ones who have survived the bleakest of circumstances. The men and women who have every reason…
Transformation
Editor’s note: Transformed through her intentional peace ministry with Little Friends for Peace, DC Service Corps volunteer Erin Frances Reinhart shares an experience of collective transformation for her students, her colleagues, and herself. Alexandria City Public Schools offers high-quality after-school programming at schools and community-based sites through Linking Instruction Nurturing Knowledge (LINK) Club. Link Clubs…
Kindness
Editor’s note: DC Service Corps volunteer Erin Frances Reinhart, who ministers with Little Friends for Peace, shares the impact of a peace education workshop for students on kindness. Little Friends for Peace provides in-school and after-school programming for students at many sites, including schools in Riverdale Park, Maryland, Alexandria, Virginia, and Washington, DC. I have…
Trust
Editor’s note: DC Service Corps volunteer Erin Frances Reinhart leads peace workshops at organizations throughout the DC area with her ministry site, Little Friends for Peace. While leading a workshop on trust at the Father McKenna Center, Erin Frances was challenged to trust herself, others, and God more deeply. Little Friends for Peace is an…
Day 11: Peace
Editor’s note: On this eleventh day of our Advent and Christmas blog series “His Light Would Not Go Out,” DC Service Corps volunteer Erin Frances Reinhart shares the glimpses of God’s peace that she has seen through her time with FMS and her service with Little Friends for Peace. In the poem “First Coming” by…
Portraits of Christ: Tom and the Paradox of Poverty
Editor’s Note: DC Service Corps member Lizzy Balboa concludes her series on the “Portraits of Christ.” In this final post, she tells the story of a man who had to lose it all to find his way back to Christ. I’ve received the warm smile of Christ in His modern embodiment of Tom. Tom was a prominent…
Portraits of Christ: The Wisdom of King David
Editor’s Note: As part of DC Service Corps, Lizzy Balboa volunteers with Little Friends For Peace, a nonprofit organization that promotes inner and interpersonal peace skills within children and adults. In the third installment of her “Portraits of Christ” series, Lizzy reflects on her experiences at the Father McKenna Center, a Catholic social service agency…
Portraits of Christ: LeShay and the Sins of Our Fathers
Editor’s Note: For her year of service as part of DC Service Corps, Lizzy Balboa volunteers with Little Friends for Peace, a nonprofit organization in the DC area that promotes inner and inter-personal peace skills within children and adults. In the second installment of her “Portraits of Christ” series, Lizzy shares a story of brokenness passed…
Portraits of Christ
Editor’s Note: For her year of service as part of DC Service Corps, Lizzy Balboa volunteers with Little Friends for Peace, a nonprofit organization in the DC area that promotes inner and inter-personal peace skills within children and adults. With this special series, she will provide an in-depth look at some of the lives that she’s…
Comfort and Joy: Meeting Ann in Her Cozy Room
Editor’s note: As part of our “Comfort and Joy” Advent/Christmas blog series, MJ Park, co-founder and co-director of Little Friends for Peace, reflects on where she has found peace in her own life. Little Friends for Peace is a nonprofit organization that empowers children and adults to solve problems nonviolently. Little Friends For Peace has been working in the Sursum…
Peace Within, Peace Without
Editor’s Note: Missioner-in-training Janice Smullen shares her experience of volunteering with Little Friends for Peace during her time of formation in Washington, DC. “If peace is what every government says it seeks, and peace is the yearning of every heart, why aren’t we studying it and teaching it in schools?” Coleman McCarthy The mission of…
