Paving the way for peace and justice

Bruce Nordstrom-Loeb first got involved with Quaker social justice work as a college student in Michigan. While working with AFSC on a racial justice summer project in the South, he had the opportunity to attend a church service led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta.

"Hearing Dr. King talk was particularly important to me, because of his commitment to peace in Vietnam," says Bruce, who was wrestling with decisions about the draft—and finding support in Quaker peace testimonies.

Bruce's experience that summer and his commitment to peace and racial justice led him to work for AFSC's program in Michigan. He and his wife, Barbara, got married in a local Quaker meetinghouse where her Jewish congregation met. In the years that followed, Barbara's and Bruce's teaching assignments took them to East Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe, where they enjoyed the chance to meet new people and experience cultures and faith traditions unlike their own.

When Bruce and Barbara made the decision to include AFSC in their will, they were motivated both by AFSC's work in the world and a sense of gratitude for the ways in which their early experiences with AFSC helped shape their future.

"My work with AFSC broadened my sense of how to work from a place of peace and justice," says Bruce. "With its distinctive spirit, AFSC's belief that there is something of God in every person shaped the direction I would continue to take throughout my life."

Making a future gift to AFSC is one way you can put your faith in action to build a better world. Please contact Alyssa Chatten at 888-588-2372 or GiftPlanning@afsc.org to learn more.