Last week, our 2026 Leadership Cohort officially began. Twenty leaders have entered a six-month journey of formation that will culminate in their invitation into our community of Peace Fellows. They are being equipped for moments like the ones we are living through now — when conflict is local, fear is rising, and the Church’s witness must be courageous and rooted in love.

That work is already unfolding on the ground. Just days ago, our Executive Director, Jer, and a team of Peace Fellows returned from Minnesota, where they joined with more than 1,000 clergy invited to witness injustice, stand in solidarity with threatened communities, and train alongside local peacemakers in disciplined, nonviolent resistance. What our new cohort is beginning in formation, our Peace Fellows are already practicing in real places, with real people, under real pressure.

Jer reflects more on that experience in the Twin Cities in his latest Substack, Transforming Terror: From Minnesota to Our Own Places.

Minnesota underscored something we have been learning for years. Immersive formation into conflict no longer requires international travel. The same practices Global Immersion has honed in conflict zones around the world are now being practiced in our own communities, with Peace Fellows learning from Peace Fellows and carrying those disciplines home.

This is what Global Immersion exists to do: raise up leaders in community, learning from one another how to follow Jesus into the conflicts of our time with courage, imagination, and love.