Peace Camps
Spaces that offer healing, hope, and practical tools for actively building a different world are sorely needed amid the violence and disconnection present today. Young adults are tasked with forging a different course ahead—one that can bring about true healing, transformation, and repair to our communities, the Earth, and beyond.
We recognize funding is often a barrier for young adults so MCC will be covering all costs of travel, lodging and meals. Each participant will be expected to cover a $250 registration fee (does not include airfare outside of U.S. and Canada). We encourage churches, schools, families and friends to support participants in the registration fee where possible.
If you are a young adult, please consider joining us on one of these experiences, or tap shoulders to get young adults you know involved!
Upcoming Peace Camps:
- Colorado Peace Camp, September 21 – 27, 2025
- CCDA Peace Camp, November 1 – 8, 2025
- Puerto Rico Peace Camp, February 15 – 21, 2026 (Spanish-speaking only)
Stay tuned for more information and opening registrations. Find out more details by exploring the events pages below.
Peace Camp activities
During peace camp we engage in a variety of collaborative and participatory activities that facilitate dialogue and collective learning. Several activities we adopt from MCC’s Peaceful Practices, but there are many others that we also include depending on the topic and goal of the camp. The list of activities below is not exhaustive, provides an idea of what participants are engaging in.
- Circle process
- Identity flower
- Iceberg analysis of positions and needs
- Active listening exercises
- Tree analysis tool
- Case study of a mediation
- Ven diagram
- People on the Move – experiential learning around immigration
Each Peace Camp has its own booklet of exercises that are tailored to the camp itself. You can find a copy of that booklet by visiting the tab for each peace camp.
Media
"This is ours to do"
Song written by Stones cry out camp participants
Learn about previous camps
Collaboration between NPJM and MCC East Coast
When: March 10 - 15, 2025
Where: Akron, PA – MCC The Welcoming Place
Who: 13 young adult participants
- Participants from Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Washington DC, Indian, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Colombia
Theme: Learn about how climate change happens, the impact it has on our planet, and how to advocate for climate change policy in Washington DC.
Impactful Moments
This peace camp was full of a variety of experiential activities from doing Wild Church in the morning to going to Washington D.C. to speak to congressional legislators about climate change and immigration. An impactful educational activity included creating a model of the greenhouse effect with our bodies representing different gases in the atmosphere, heating up our planet.
For many participants this was the first time they had a chance to speak in-person to congressional legislators about issues that are important to them. This was an opportunity for them to experience another part of the democratic process that allows citizens’ voices to be heard.
Collective songwriting was another creative way to engage themes from a deeper artistic and emotional perspective. Together the camp wrote an entire song including the moving words, “When the ‘I’ becomes the ‘we’, The earth can breathe free”. Check out the recording on the Peace Camp page title, “This Is Ours to Do”.
Collaboration between NPJM and MCC Central States
When: January 19 – 25, 2025
Where: El Paso, TX
Who: 14 young adult participants
Participants from Pennsylvania, Kansas, Indiana, Texas, Washington, and Ontario, Canada
Theme: Understanding immigration on the US/Mexico Border in the El Paso/Juarez area
Impactful Moments
The first full day of this camp was also the US presidential inauguration of Donald Trump and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This was a particularly significant time to be address a topic that has created significant inequality and suffering for many people residing in and trying to come to the United States. The same week that we were at the peace camp, the new US administration cancelled all new cases for seeking asylum having a devastating impact on people waiting at the border.
One evening we drove into the New Mexico desert near the border where we could see helicopters and blimps flying overhead looking for people crossing without documentation. We stood in circle around a girl's t-shirt found on the ground, contemplating to whom this shirt might have belonged to and how it might have arrived. What was the story of the person that brought it to this point in the desert and left it here?
Another afternoon we visited the two memorials to the El Paso shooting perpetrated by a man who harbored racism and hate in his heart and shot and killed 23 people because of the color of their skin. One of these memorials had a labyrinth that we walked around in silence, contemplating the lives these victims had lead and how society can allow such a heinous crime to happen.
Our visit to a shelter in Juarez, MX where the men staying there expressed anger for having their asylum cases erased after having spent their savings traveling from their homes in Africa only be turned away without even a chance to argue their case. We stood in circle absorbing the anger and acknowledging the inadequateness of our visit with nothing to offer but our witness to share going forward. Slowly we began to build a bridge with the asylum speakers by listening to their stories, telling jokes, laughing, speaking honestly and speaking through our humanity. The room went from a tense open wound of acknowledgement and pain to a boisterous time of sharing and connection.
Rocky Mountain Peace Camp Register here!
“…all of these topics gave us a holistic view of the issues, and I appreciated all of the intersectionality.” –participant testimony
“I loved meeting participants from so many different backgrounds and with many different experiences.” –participant testimony
“The leaders helped us open up early and vulnerably, which led to deep connecting and the invitation to be ourselves within the group.” –participant testimony
“Very richly grounded, challenging and motivating to take an action.” -participant testimony
“It was awesome to connect with the broader local community as well and see the amazing things that people are doing here.” –participant testimony