The #TelosTrees Forest is growing!

Join the #TelosTrees campaign by June 30th!

Peacemakers from across the Telos network and beyond have committed to nurturing new life, shared their messages of hope, and given to sponsor new life in places facing difficulties greater than ours.

As we face daily challenges to secure security, dignity, and freedom for all—both abroad and at home—we look to this community. In our commitment to new life, we practice hope. For as Palestinian theologian Mitri Raheb reminds us, hope is what you do.

Here are some of the #TelosTrees growing today!

Jen Bellini:

“We planted this apple tree with the hope that it will give flowers for the bees, oxygen to our air, and apples for our family and friends. We hope for kinder, healthier communities as we begin a new normal.”

Jordan Wilson:

“I planted a tree and am delighted to be part of the #TelosTrees initiative. When the future seems so uncertain, the best thing we can do is invest in it. This tree will hopefully be creating beauty long after covid and long after me.”

Mary Tezak, Telos partner Millions of Conversations Project Coordinator:

I chose to plant a blue spruce nearby a giant blue spruce that has been growing in the yard of my childhood home for years. I wanted to ensure that the families who live in my home after mine are able to enjoy these trees that mean so much to me and to Colorado.

Marina Klimchuck:

“Recently reading an article I came across the expression of ‘Permanent Temporariness’. The article was describing the universal refugee experience of being caught between a home that was left and the new home that is perceived as temporary. But it went beyond that – it referred to a feeling that is familiar to me and so many people all around the world. The feeling of transience, carrying a sense of temporariness in the city we are living in. The idea that it is not worth investing enough in a place because it is temporary and we may leave it soon anyway, maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after. Postponing life, although for many this becomes a permanent condition. The Covid-19 crisis gives us not much of a choice. It messes with our sense of time and plays with our perception of temporary and permanent. It makes us rethink our priorities. Taking part in #TelosTrees is a serious commitment for me. Taking care of another living thing comes with a hope to invest into feeling home, into feeling rooted, no matter how temporary or permanent a situation may be.”

Carly Rosenthal:

I’ve never seen anything quite like life in Jerusalem right now. In this holy city my neighbours are spread out down the street praying together but apart as the sun goes down. A culture of hugging and kissing restricted to screaming hello from a distance with masks on. Families and friends kept apart for holidays and instead celebrating via Zoom. It’s been wild but my hope in planting this new life is that after this pandemic passes these #TelosTrees will remind me of the beauty in community and spending quality time with loved ones (near and far).

David Katibah:

This fig tree’s new growing place is in the backyard of my parents’ home, which I’ve been staying at for a number of weeks now. Our family has tried growing figs before, but somewhere along the way, our tree didn’t make it. I still remember my sadness at its slow withering. It’s syrupy sweet figs were a highlight of mine in the late summer months each year. I planted this new fig tree as an act of hope in rebirth, in redemption and new life. In this moment, we need fresh eyes to see the life that is springing up all around us, and to nurture it with everything we have. We push back against the darkness just a little bit every time we do. Things may return back to “normal,” and I probably won’t be around long enough to see this fig tree grow to maturity, but it will remain. Growing, breathing, bearing fruit and beauty freely for all who come near. May we each today and in this season invest in such things together.

Add your new life to the #TelosTrees forest today! Click here for instructions on how to join the campaign!