Matt Chandler, with Christian Peacemakers’ Team based in Chicago, will return to Reedsport Tuesday to share firsthand accounts of his recent experiences in Iraq and Palestine.

During the day, Chandler will talk to elementary, junior and senior high school students. At 6:30 p.m., he will give a slide presentation to the community at the United Presbyterian Church, 2360 Longwood Drive. The event is free to the public.

Chandler returned to Oregon on Nov. 11, from an international engagement with human rights advocates in war-torn and unstable regions. His time was spent in Hebron and farther south in the 150-person village of At-Tuwani. He also completed a fourth trip to Baghdad.

A 1999 graduate of Thurston High School in Springfield, Chandler graduated in 2003 from George Fox University in Newburg, majoring in Christian ministries and philosophy. He describes himself as an evangelical Quaker, whose personal focus is on social justice and peace issues.

Christian Peacemakers is a program of Brethren, Quaker and Mennonite churches (USA and Canada), supported by The Baptist Peace Fellowship, Every Church a Peace Church, On Earth Peace and the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship.

Chandler’s Iraqi peacemaker team of six people lived in Iraqi communities, working with Iraqi groups, Muslim clerics, Christian priests and international human rights groups on a variety of projects, including the development of a nonviolence movement.

In January, Chandler spoke to local student and community groups. He spoke to fifth-graders at Highland Elementary School, who began a pen-pal initiative with students in Khanaquin, Iraq, a Shiite-Kurdish town near the Iranian border.

For his upcoming visit to Reedsport, Chandler will again answer questions and speak to audience interests.

For more information about Chandler's community visit, sponsored by A Thousand Cranes, those interested can call (541) 662-0315.