PHOENIX - Lyle Skillen is a firm believer in strength for peace and as a result he's not what you might expect from a self-described conservative. Skillen, who retired from the U.S. Navy after 21 years - 17 of those as a special operations technician supporting the SEALs with training as an emergency medical technician, just returned to Arizona after a second voluntary tour to Darfur doing humanitarian work.

He's also a member of the grassroots campaign, Arizona Department of Peace. Skillen, 49, said George Washington wanted both departments of war and peace, but the war department prevailed. (If you look at the $1 bill it has an eagle clutching 13 arrows symbolizing war and a laurel branch symbolizing peace.)

After retiring from the Navy, Skillen worked as the Charter School Liaison for the Arizona Department of Education. But several things happened that made him rethink what he was doing. One of the things that made an impression on him was meeting some of the Lost Boys of Sudan at St. Stephen's, Phoenix. That put a face to a global issue. "It's much more personal," he said.

 
The tragedy of 9/11 also influenced him.

He first went to Baghdad to provide diplomatic security but also took a Peace Pole with him. Peace Poles were conceived by a Japanese man wanting to emphasize that people are the same everywhere after the atomic blasts ended World War II. The words "May peace prevail on earth" is written in many languages on about 250,000 poles worldwide. Skillen knows of Peace Poles at Starshine Academy, where he used to work, as well as the Pentagon, Iraq, and its sister Peace Pole here in Phoenix.

"Peace is the ultimate outcome. Sometimes you need to maintain peace with force."

  
While he was in Baghdad the Episcopal chaplain left. Skillen is a cradle Episcopalian who has spent most of his spiritual life within in the Diocese of Arizona. (He was baptized in New Mexico but was confirmed in 1969 by Bishop Harte.) He contacted The Rev. Liz Simmons who was his home parish priest at St. Stephen's and she e-mailed Skillen the the paperwork acknowledging his status as a chalice bearer and Sub-Deacon. Canon Andrew White of the Church of England also helped him to be come eligible to conduct services for the Anglican services at the U.S. Embassy Chapel in Baghdad.

Skillen led services there for more than a year. Since he wasn't ordained he couldn't consecrate the host but he could distribute it. "It was a
much different worship experience than regular church. It energized me," said Skillen. "It's been hard spiritually coming back." He felt like he was in limbo when he returned.

Skillen had thought about the priesthood before, but "was talked out of it." But when he came back to the States he started the priesthood discernment process. However, he also felt a call to return to people in need. Darfur had "galvanized the world's attention" so he asked for, and received, a one year deferment from the discernment process and went to Darfur.

 
"You can't sit here and do good works there."

The Fur people in Darfur (Arabic for "land of the Fur") are a docile, calm, and peaceful people that live in a region of Sudan where they are treated as second-class citizens. But they will fight back when the janjaweed invade and attempt to slaughter them.

After research, he found Humanitarian International Services Group (HISG), a group that was assisting locals refurbish a guest house that could be rented out to visitors as a way to provide those same locals with a source of revenue for on-going humanitarian projects. (Click here to see the Oasis Guest House PowerPoint presentation.) He was impressed with their "ability to help people who really needed help."

 
HISG finds donors to fund projects. The group provides the tools and materials while the locals provide most of the labor - similar to Habitat for Humanity. But these projects can take awhile. In fact, Skillen said "it takes a lot of ‘while'." The donors will be eventually repaid with the guesthouse's profits and the locals will keep all future profits.

Skillen liked that approach since another group had built a community center in Faina complete with solar panels but left ("Poof! Gone!") without teaching anyone how to maintain the building or its solar panels. There was no follow through and it just acted as a BandAid, according to Skillen.

"These people will still be here when you leave," he said.

 
HISG asked the local sultan what was needed and he promptly said schools. They had one school that was for boys in the morning and girls in the afternoon. So HISG generated $10,000 and helped build another school but said that it must be open to both boys and girls. The sultan agreed.

Skillen likes to help people become self-sufficient. He points to the United Nations supplying food as a mixed blessing. The people are starving so they're given food. Since they're given food they stop cultivating more food and become dependant on the free food. But what happens when that food supply is cut off, Skillen asked.

Because of the boycott and sanctions on Sudan, Skillen and the others couldn't deposit funds into a bank and withdraw it upon their arrival. "It's hard to carry tens of thousands of dollars. When you're personally carrying $60,000 it's precarious." Knowing that money might be stolen was an accepted risk. "It's doing business in a wholly different way."

 
Skillen said Darfur is a country of vigilante justice and you have to watch out for yourself since you're not armed. "You don't put yourself in adverse situations," he stated.

"I chose to concentrate on the people. This is about the people - it's important to remember that they're people."

Skillen said Mr. Saadala, who was the foreman for the guest house, is an example of Matthew 6:3: "But when you give to the poor, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." Saadala's a Muslim who employs widows as well as men, something many men would not do there. "It's unskilled labor but it's work," Skillen said. He said Saadala's actions spoke louder than words.

Saadala also helped a neighbor girl who needed hearing aids so she could pass her university exams. He took her to a distant town where she could be fitted with hearing aids. Skillen said that while she might eventually go completely deaf, she'll be better off with her university education or degree. "Who knows what she might become with that education?"

"We treated the people well ... treated them as human beings and as a result got a lot of work done. Darfur was God's work - God's project. God does work all over and that was God's work.

"If we can help one person it's a success."

On the Net: Arizona Department of Peace Campaign: http://www.azdopcampaign.org/

On the Net: Humanitarian International Services Group: http://www.hisg.net/index.php