About the Global Peace Festival

The Global Peace Festival (GPF) is much more than a celebratory event. It is a global movement of committed peace builders working in partnership based on common principles, values, and aspirations. The GPF promotes and celebrates persons and programs that contribute to reconciliation, mutual respect, harmony and cooperation, and sees all people as One Family Under God.

Through multi-sector partnerships including faith-based organizations, civic institutions, nongovernmental entities, and the business sector, GPF encourages programs that facilitate intercultural and interreligious cooperation, strengthen God-centered marriages and families, and foster a culture of peace and service. Ongoing programs are implemented by national chapters throughout the year, and culminate in a celebratory event that consists of three main components: an international leadership conference, a social impact program and a public celebration.

Since 2007, the GPF message and approach have resonated in the hearts of people from every corner of the world. As a result of the hope and inspiration instilled by GPF, many ongoing grassroots projects and programs have been initiated. Communities and nations are being transformed as significant issues are resolved by volunteers energized and motivated by the vision of One Family Under God.

Vision, Mission, Goals and Guiding Ideals

Vision

All humankind is One Family Under God

Mission

GPFF promotes, implements and celebrates ongoing programs that bring people together beyond race, religion, nationality and culture as one family under God.

GPFF works toward a peaceful world by facilitating intercultural and interreligious cooperation, strengthening godly marriages and families, and fostering a culture of service and peace.

Goals

Build a movement involving all sectors of society that promotes the unity of the human family on every level.
Facilitate intercultural and interreligious cooperation.
Promote and strengthen virtuous marriages and healthy families.
Foster a global culture of peace and service.
Inspire innovative approaches to peace-building.
Advocate and contribute to the achievement of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.
Demonstrate and celebrate achievements for peace and human development.

Guiding Ideals

All people – regardless of culture, nationality, religion, race or ethnicity - are members of one human family created by God.
The highest qualities of the human being are spiritual and moral in nature.
The family is the “school of love and peace”.
By creating a global culture of service and living for the sake of others we can reconcile and bring together the divided human family.
Peace requires respect, dialogue and cooperation beyond the boundaries of ethnicity, religion, and nationality.

Three Pillars of GPF

GPF focuses on three areas of endeavor: interfaith partnerships, strengthening marriage and family, and fostering a culture of service. Together interfaith, family and service form the trifold platform of GPF, like the legs of a tripod providing essential elements and a balanced approach for effective peace-building. These three “pillars” are imbedded into all GPF-related programs.

Interfaith Partnerships

We live in an unsettled world. At times, mere differences in perspectives can lead to devastating conflict. Therefore, rather than dwelling on the doctrinal differences among religions, GPF focuses on the essential principles that are affirmed by all major faith traditions. The true interfaith experience is rooted in the universal principles, values and aspirations that bind all people together as one family.

GPF promotes interfaith partnership and collaboration based on the common purpose to serve the greater good. GPF encourages mutual respect, constructive dialogue and joint action inclusive of all cultures and traditions as essential components to peace building.

Strengthening the Family

The family is the most fundamental human institution. The family has been called the “school of love and peace”, because it is in the family that individuals learn lessons of love and interdependence. The lessons of love and relationship learned in the family should be extended to all humanity in its richness and diversity.

The GPF sees “family” as the immediate three-generational family we grow up in, as well as the global family that includes all people from all nations. The “three generational family” is our first social environment that includes grandparents, parents and children. Ideally it is in the extended family that we grow and learn to relate with people of diverse personalities, with the family bond being more essential and enduring than differences or disagreements.

All people – regardless of culture, nationality, religion, race or ethnicity - are members of one human family created by God, the ultimate reality. Through understanding and acknowledging this essential common identity for all people, we lay the foundation for transcending differences and resolving conflicts.

Culture of Service

Service is the essential building block of peace

Serving others is not only an expression of care and concern for others, but can also be a transformative experience for those who serve. Service builds character and helps to engender one’s ability to love and respect others. Therefore, the Global Peace Festival promotes volunteerism and the lifestyle of service as the best way to substantiate the vision of One Family Under God.

A New Vision for Peace

GPF continues to make significant impact because it is guided by a simple yet powerful vision with a practical plan of action. That vision can be summarized in one phrase that is full of meaning - One Family Under God. The profound truth is that all humanity is connected together in a most fundamental way, beyond the differences of race, religion or nationality. Because we all share a common Origin or Source, the Creator God, all people are part of the one human family.

Indeed, the essential principles of the world’s great faith traditions lead us toward this conclusion. People everywhere understand deep relationships in familial terms, and thus can readily embrace the fact that humankind is one family- brothers and sisters all. In the larger context, we are bound together as the human family because of our common spiritual heritage – that God is the origin of us all. Without recognizing God at the center, the human family will remain unable to find the cohesion and harmony necessary for a world of lasting peace.

Projects

The Global Peace Festival is a project of the Global Peace Festival Foundation and registered in the United States of America as a not for profit organization. A number of chapters and affiliated organizations are established in nations around the world to facilitate the work of the GPF and its related activities.