Hi everyone,

We just concluded our first official day of the Summit, with a group dinner and then a lengthy phone call at a london phone booth to Jason [Brock]'s podcast for broadcast on the internet. The two-day training preceding the Summit was quite an experience. 40 people from 11 countries, representing groups and networks nationally and internationally are gathered to form an international coalition calling for Departments of Peace worldwide. The atmosphere of healing and the energy of loving understanding is palpable. There are three participants from Palestine and two from Israel and this morning one of them said to another, "I feel closer to you than to my own mother." Prince Hassan of Jordan sent a representative as well. There is a deep sense of calling forth a way of moving from the culture of war and violence to a culture of peace and nonviolence. As we work together to create concrete proposals, Mike and I are often invited to share our perspective and how we are running our campaign. And we are learning from others and are excited about the possibilities for cooperation that are emerging. One thing that is clear to us is that we are demonstrating a possibility in our country that is embraced by those in other countries and that it is very hopeful, just as we hear from so many throughout the USA. As we discuss strategies that are inherent in a department of peace and issues that will be handled by a secretary of peace, it is obvious that there is a lot of energy moving in this direction around the world. Tomorrow we will talk about next steps and everyone is talking about their plans for proposing Departments of Peace in their respective countries. John McDonnell, MP, welcomed us this morning and gave concrete advice and requests which are very similar to what we know we need to do in the US in terms of politics. Our approach of grassroots and direct political lobbying has been a topic of discussion as well, and I look forward to discussing our strategy and next steps asap...we are on a roll!

Hope this finds everyone well - a big thank you from everyone here - and Marianne was thanked by Diana Basterfield, co-founder of the UK group working for a Ministry for Peace, for initiating the conversation in a hotel room in London that resulted in this Summit - what a remarkable journey we are on together.

with love and gratitude, Dot