Burgeoning Valley peace group draws criticism

MAT-SU -- When Terina Alcantra and Gayle Eckert pick up their homemade signs and take to the streets of the Mat-Su Valley, they know it is no easy road they are preparing to walk down. Bearing signs that read, "Peace" and "Support our troops. Bring them out of harm's way," the women have been cursed, yelled at, mooned and nearly run over.

"The whole time you're walking, your heart is pounding," Eckert said. "You really want to stand up and not be silent, but on the other hand it is really scary out here in the Valley."

But such opposition has not stopped Alcantra, Eckert and between 20 and 30 other Valley residents from continuing their peace marches this spring and organizing a local branch of the Fellowship

of Reconciliation. While America has apparently won the war in Iraq, Valley FOR members say they are not losing momentum in their efforts to spread the word of peace. And their message has sparked an array of responses from the community.

"We've had people flip us off, swerve at us, moon us, yell at us … people would say things that were so ugly … It's been a pretty interesting experience, but we've also had people thank us," Eckert said.

She said Valley residents have told the group they appreciate the message they are sending. Other times, the marches have led to calm, rational debates.

"What I love is the people who take the time to approach us and have an intelligent conversation," Alcantra said. "It's opening that dialogue."

Alcantra said she has always had strong political opinions and considered herself a pacifist, but it wasn't until this last winter she decided to act upon these beliefs. In February, her 16-year-old nephew was shot and killed in Palmer. At the same time, America was preparing to send troops to war in Iraq. These two seemingly unrelated events connected in Alcantra's mind.

"He was only 16," she said of her nephew. "And I realized kids just two years older than him were going to war and dying and killing. That made me get more involved … Normally I think I probably would have sat on the sidelines." Eckert said she and her husband, Dave, have been involved with FOR and other campaigns around the world for some time.

"We come out of the Christian perspective. For us, that's the heart of the gospel," Eckert said. She said after the first peace march was organized earlier this winter, she began talking with a youth minister from one of the local churches and a Buddhist, and they decided to become more organized in their shared hope for peace at home and abroad.

Alcantra and other FOR members emphasize that their group is interfaith based. It is not a new church, and participants don't have to have a religious association at all to be involved. The group also says its message isn't anti-Bush or anti-troop. It is simply anti-violence.

"We're just pro-peace, and that's basically what our signs have said," Alcantra said.

With the war in Iraq winding down, Alcantra said the group might widen its focus. They may work to raise money to help build schools in Afghanistan, send toothbrushes and shampoo to Iraqi families or organize a winter hat-and-coat drive for Valley children. The group says there are an overwhelming number of issues here in the Valley and around the world -- poverty, domestic violence, war, globalization, and the aftermath of war in Iraq.

"The reality is that it is probably not going to be the last war we'll be involved with, and it wasn't the first," Eckert said.

People wanting more information about FOR can visit the Web site at forusa.org or attend one of the upcoming meetings at the Trinity Lutheran Church. The local group meets at 1:30 p.m. each Sunday.