BOOK – March 2012
In an area where more than 40,000 were killed, thousands were wounded, and millions fled from their homes since the mid-1980’s, persons inspired by Fethullah Gulen have helped bring stability and unity through educating both girls and boys, helping the disadvantaged, developing opportunities, and encouraging justice and peace. Kirk describes her heart-warming experiences meeting people whose lives have been changed.
“Growing Seeds of Peace: Stories and Images of Service of the Gülen Movement in Southeastern Turkey”
A Travel Journal by Martha Ann Kirk with Historical and Geographical Context by Dogan Koc (ISBN 978-0-9848777-0-6)
“If a typical picture speaks a thousand words, then the pictures in this collection by Martha Ann Kirk speak millions. These photos document Hizmet-in-practice, service-on-the-ground, love-made-real, which is the ultimate power of the cosmos and the surest path to peace and justice.”
Jon Pahl
Professor of the History of Christianity in North America, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia“
“These days, when the media seem filled with injustice, tragedy, and violence, Growing Seeds of Peace offers us images and words of individuals’ courageous good deeds and the possibilities of hope for young people. Sr. Martha Kirk’s sensitive stories and perceptive images help us catch a glimpse of communities where reconciliation has pushed aside hatred and where generosity transforms misery. These moving narratives of ‘winning hearts for good’ offer an alternative to those who once thought winning wars was the only way through life.”
James C. Harrington
Founder and Director of the Texas Civil Right Project,
Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas School of Law
Martha Ann Kirk, Th.D., a professor in the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, has received a number of peacemaking awards for her work building bridges between diverse peoples. Among her recent publications are Healing and Hope: Stories from Northern Iraq Where Persons Inspired by Fethullah Gulen Have Been Serving (www.guleninstitute.org) on peace building and Women of Bible Lands: A Pilgrimage to Compassion and Wisdom which has sites from a dozen countries and the history of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim women associated with them.