Khampha Stempel ’21

Broadway, Virginia
MAJOR: sustainability studies

“Global social and environmental justice movements have one thing in common, they fight for the basic humanity and love of people in the world. The Mennonite contexts I grew up in disagreed with the common sentiment of love for all people of the world. Faith is not about dehumanizing individuals and communities by telling them they are straying from God’s path. Faith is about humanizing diverse people and communities with love, kindness and welcome.

My faith drives my interests and abilities to solve sustainability problems and fight for social and environmental justice. Recently, I’ve applied these interests to my work in the Sunrise Movement and academic work on western collaboration with indigenous communities. Next year, I will continue to pursue my interests in sustainability and find new ways to fight for justice by enrolling in the Arizona State Master of Arts in Sustainability program.

Folks in the church not only have an obligation to be global citizens, but they must also break down harmful structures like purity culture, racism, colonization, homophobia and patriarchy embedded in the church. Let’s have a conversation about purity culture, let’s have a coffee and discuss Asian hate, let’s go to a Black Lives Matter protest, let’s fight for justice in the name of love.”