Sunday 8 June at 8am and 9.45am

Our Guest Speaker for this day will be Joy Balazo :  ‘International Peace builder’joybalazo

Joy was awarded the World Methodist Peace Prize in 2012.

Joy Balazo was born in the Southern Philippine island of Mindanao as the youngest of nine children.  Before coming to Australia in the 1980s, Joy worked with ecumenical and Human Rights organizations in the Philippines.

Joy emerged as a leader in the Asia Pacific region through her peacebuilding efforts with the Uniting Church in Australia.  Ten years ago Joy established Young Ambassadors for Peace and worked with local communities to establish peacemaking centers in Asia and the Pacific.

Joy has worked in the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea, in the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, along the Thailand-Burma border, Northeastern India, Timor Leste and Bougainville.  In 1999 sectarian violence erupted in Indonesia. Christians and Muslims battled through the streets and the entire chain of islands in the province of Maluku, where Ambon is the main city, fighting seemingly engulfed the region.

750,000 people were displaced by the outbreak and an estimated 5,000 lives were lost.  Tensions were high and help was needed.  The Uniting Church responded to the violence with humanitarian aid and a call for peace between both neighbors and faiths.  A peacebuilding organization was established called Maluku Ambassadors for Peace, and at the center of this movement was Joy Balazo.

Joy recently returned to her home in the Philippines to work in Mindanao amongst the indigenous Subanen people of the Zamboanga Peninsula supporting their efforts for peace and sustainable livelihood.  The struggle for peace will not be an easy one, but for Joy Balazo it never has been.  Her thirst for peace is one that crosses the lines that are sometimes drawn between tribes, between states and between faiths.  For her tireless work the World Methodist Council awarded her the World Methodist Peace Award in 2012.

This is an opportunity to meet and hear a passionate worker for peace and the empowerment of marginalised people