Leymah Gbowee

Leymah Gbowee (pronounced beau we), 2011 Nobel Peace laureate and Liberian peace activist, received the 2016 Community of Christ International Peace Award on Saturday, June 4 during the Community of Christ World Conference.

Ms. Gbowee was honored for organizing Christian and Muslim women, empowering them to join in prayer and public protest. Her efforts played a pivotal role in ending Liberia’s civil war in 2003. Gbowee has selected the charitable Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa-USA to receive the $50,000 grant, funded by Community of Christ, which is included with the denomination’s International Peace Award.

Gbowee was featured in the 2008 documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell, which included details about her confronting ruthless leaders, and coordinating public protests and a sex strike. Her memoir, Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War, describes how Gbowee’s calling to promote peace began to take shape when she started asking: “Why were women, who bore the brunt of war, expected to remain quiet while men debated how to make peace?”
When asked why it was important to her to come to Independence, Missouri, to accept the Community of Christ International Peace Award and speak to people in Independence, Missouri, at the Auditorium—and thousands more through a live webcast that reaches a worldwide audience in English, French, and Spanish from www.CofChrist.org—Leymah Gbowee answered:

I’ve always said that if I ever get to the place where I’m satisfied that I’ve arrived, then that’s the beginning of failure for me. My life is one of everyday struggle. Receiving this award has two points of significance for me. One, it is a Christian entity, and my faith is key to everything I do. I believe I’m doing God’s work, and my work is a call. Second, every award is a recognition that, in this phase of my life, I’m still doing something good in the eyes of humanity. I didn’t just get the Nobel [Peace Prize] and then sit down. It’s a reaffirmation.
The Community of Christ International Peace Award has been given since 1993 and has been ranked highly among the nation’s and the world’s peace prizes. Honorees include people from diverse faith and ethnic backgrounds, including Dr. Jane Goodall, Ela Gandhi, Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba, and Rev. James Lawson. See the full list at www.CofChrist.org/peace-award.
Community of Christ is a worldwide Christian denomination with about 250,000 members in more than 60 nations. Its Independence, Missouri-based international headquarters includes a Temple dedicated to the pursuit of peace.

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