“Good examples of this are the effects of our Church’s helping hands program. These volunteers in yellow shirts—tens of thousands of them—help cleanup efforts to relieve destruction and suffering from natural disasters and serve in many other humanitarian projects worldwide. In the process, relationships are formed people-to-people that would be impossible by institutional declarations.
There is an important lesson in the “helping hands” experience. It is an effort that brings peace to people who are in distress. But it also teaches us the power that comes when individuals put aside their differences and work together to find common ground. When our volunteers bring help, people in distress do not ask for their beliefs. Likewise, the volunteers help everyone, not just fellow believers. Why? Simply because deeper moral needs about safety and family and hope take center stage. What is important is giving help and getting help, people-to-people.
This is the way to unite people who face a common problem. Peacemaking involves finding common ground. A minister who seeks to heal a troubled marriage or resolve a personal controversy is working for peace. Young men and women are peacemakers when they forgo the temporary pleasure of self-gratifying activities and involve themselves in service projects and other acts of kindness. Persons who seek to reduce human suffering and persons who work to promote understanding among different peoples are also workers for peace.”