PEOPLE STORIES
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Here are some stories of people whose lives have been impacted by their encounter with Initiatives of Change. If you would like to share your story, please email us.

I was 75 before I finally forgave my absent father. I don’t recommend leaving it that long. The resentment builds up and takes its toll. But I didn’t realise that until I was 45, on a social work course. At coffee one morning a younger chap casually remarked, “You’ve got a lot of anger in you.” “What me?” I exclaimed, “mild-mannered me?” I couldn’t believe it.

Nightclubbers

Sander discovered he needed a power greater than himself to overcome an addiction to sex.

Michel Kipoke

Frédéric Chavanne pays tribute to Michel Kipoke, a fellow fighter for peace.

Leif Hovelsen

As a young man during World War 2, Leif Hovelsen fought in the Norwegian resistance. He was captured by the Gestapo and sentenced to death in a concentration camp, but a series of unexpected delays to his execution meant that he survived. An encounter with God while in prison led Leif to forgive his captors and after the war he worked in Germany sharing his experiences of suffering and forgiveness and working to rebuild relationships and trust.

Goretti Nguyen

was born in Saigon, Vietnam, and migrated to Australia when she was eight years old. As a teenager she remembers thinking to herself, 'When I grow up I want to help people.' But how was she meant to do that? She searched for that answer for many years.

was in the French Resistance during World War II. She wanted every German dead and their country 'wiped off the map of Europe'. But only a few years later German and French leaders said that she did more than any other individual to reconcile their countries after hundreds of years of enmity.

Rev. Sylvester

"We are taught that we are to think globally but to act locally. The Connecting Communities Fellowship Program helps us to act locally. It is a well-thought-out process to identify and break down barriers that have caused separation between groups. It also allows us to build alliances with people who are trying to bring about change."

Alice Cardell

"We have to learn to balance our culture between technology and humanity. As we offer open homes and engage in open conversations, we are the architects of the healthy community we seek.”

Joseph Karanja

1.3 million people worldwide do not access to safe drinking water, according to the UN. Joseph Karanja starts each day with a time of searching for direction in silence. He tells how this led to finding spring water on his land, which will soon be marketed nationwide.

The inspiring turnaround of a racist journalist