Meet the team.

HOME: Iraq

Role: Peacemaker and networker, co-founder and president of Progress in Peace, regional mobilizer and peace camp host.

Impact: Samer loves hosting peace camps and bringing people together to create spaces of learning exchange. He has provided training for community-centered development for several different communities in Iraq and is seeing the fruit of three volunteering groups in Sinjar, Alqosh and Qaraqosh (with more locations soon to come). He believes strongly in depending on local resources and local hands for long-term sustainable change. His organization, Progress in Peace, is the only non-governmental organization in Iraq that embraces this community-centered approach and, as such, is swimming against the waves (in his own words). He never gets tired of asking the question, "What's in your hand?" as a way to engage challenges, and he always enjoys seeing the organic growth of local initiatives that are owned by the participants. Thank you, Samer, for your peaceful and hopeful contribution in the Middle East.

HOME: Democratic Republic of Congo

Role: Co-Founder of the Five & Two Network, Global Mobilizer, key network mentor, and international advocate and ambassador for CCD.

Impact: John’s influence was extensive and significant. When we as a network gathered to remember John, this is what a few different network members said about him. What better way to honour his impact among us.

“John was a man who was prepared to shift. He was not afraid of change. He believed change was possible & necessary.”

“He was loyal to the Gospel message.”

“Mindset change was one of his favourite phrases.”

“John disturbed people for all the right reasons.”

“John wanted to see others succeed. That was his heart.”

“His legacy lives on in this beautiful community he helped start and nurture.”

HOME: Colombia

Role: Peacemaker, pastor, mother and co-regional mobilizer with her husband, Juan Manuel Guevara.

Impact: In a country known for violence and turmoil, Ginna has trained and mobilized dozens of peacemakers. Together with her husband, she has applied community-centered development (CCD) training to her work with churches, community groups, and even former combatants. Through this dedication, Ginna is seeing her vision unfold: community impact groups across six Latin American countries using what they have to create what they lack. As a Regional Mobilizer, she continues to identify, support, and train leadership groups that, in turn, are having a transformative impact on their own communities. Ginna says that her biggest achievement—and the one she values most from her work with Five & Two—has been her own learning journey and the transformation of her closest community. 

HOME: India

Role: Regional Mobilizer, founder of the KarunaShree Foundation (KSF), peace camp host, practitioner of community-centered development, and network mentor for leaders in Asia

Impact:  Sam values relationships above all else. After hosting a peace camp in 2023, there was a small group of young leaders who shared a desire to serve. They all loved the church and its mission, but they also saw communities beyond the reach of traditional church ministry. They felt called to bring God’s love into those spaces through practical service, community development, and peacebuilding. They asked a simple question: “What do we have in our hands, and how can God use it?” And so, the KarunaShree Foundation (KSF) was born. They started small by visiting children living on the streets, sharing stories, hope, and friendship. Over the past three years, KSF has been granted opportunities to empower widows, serve refugee communities, develop sustainable livelihood projects, facilitate interfaith peace camps, and equip the next generation of leaders across Asia.