Mennonite Church USA has given its 2025 Bring the Peace award to Joe Roos and Ciela Acosta.

A committee of previous recipients chose a Legacy Peacemaker and a Young Peacemaker from nominations. The award is sponsored by MC USA’s Church Peace Tax Fund.

Legacy Peacemaker Joe Roos began in 1970 to look deeper into how his faith interacted with issues of global injustice, like the Vietnam War, racism and global poverty. This newly found passion led him to change the trajectory of his career and life from continuing toward a doctorate in physics to beginning a seminary degree focused on theology, peace and justice. He said his peace and justice work really began the following year, when he and some of his classmates founded Sojourners magazine, an ecumenical publication promoting peace and justice.

“Central to the beginning of Sojourners,” said Roos, “was bringing together two things we thought were crucial to following Jesus: taking seriously his life and teachings and applying them to the critical issues of our day — war, poverty and racism.”

Since leaving his position as publisher at Sojourners, Roos has pastored three Mennonite congregations, participated as a Mennonite Mission Network associate at an international school in India, and served on the boards of MennoPIN, Peaceful Options for Training and Careers, ReconciliAsian, Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries and The Mennonite magazine. In retirement, Roos has continued his work toward peace and justice, especially through advocacy for the people of Palestine, to end the occupation in the West Bank and genocide in Gaza.

Young Peacemaker Ciela Acosta is a third-year peacebuilding and development major at Eastern Mennonite University. Her peace and justice work has primarily been through her involvement with Mennonite Action, EMU Peace Fellowship and EMU Chamber Singers.

Acosta experienced a pivotal moment in her vocational call in January 2024 while participating in a nonviolent civil disobedience action on Capitol Hill with Mennonite Action. She and 135 others called for a cease-fire in Gaza, largely through singing hymns of peace. Acosta and many other protesters were arrested for their participation. Her experience with peaceful protest and arrest led her to change her major to peacebuilding and development.

Through her involvement in Mennonite Action, she has participated in civil disobedience, song leading, marches, protests and gatherings that help organize people against Christian nationalism and the genocide in Palestine. With EMU Peace Fellowship, Acosta helped organize the Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship Conference and led workshops about organizing on college campuses.

“To those who are not actively engaged in peace work, I say: Celebrate small wins,” Acosta said. “Trying to change the world as an individual is too much weight to carry. Find a way to join a collective, as hope is often found in the community that is formed while doing peace work. I recommend jumping on a Mennonite Action mass call or trying to find mentorship in an organization that is meaningful to you. You are not walking alone!”