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After 18 visits to the country, Johnston's work in Sudan culminated in a conference between Christians and Muslims. A previous peace agreement in 1972 broke down because, Johnston says, "nothing had been done to cement new understandings at the grassroots level." And when war broke out again, it was for the same reasons. "Rather than focusing on getting the peace agreement, I felt that we would be doing greater service by putting in place an interreligious council. Under the auspices of that council, [there would be] a committee to protect religious freedom.

"We weren't there to abolish Shari'ah," Johnston says. "We were there to answer that very simple question of, 'What steps can an Islamic government take to alleviate the second-class status of non-Muslims in a Shari'ah context?' "

ICRD first convinced the government to allow the creation of this independent council, which would have the authority to criticize the government. By the end of the conference, Christians and Muslims alike said it was the first time they had spoken heart to heart.

The agreement, now five years old, included the creation of an independent body charged with holding the government accountable for its religious policy. The government allowed leadership on the council that Johnston wanted but Khartoum initially opposed. And it agreed to listen to the recommendations of the council. "Darfur notwithstanding, as that is a Muslim-on-Muslim conflict, they've honored that commitment," Johnston says, "to the tune of more than half a million dollars in land and funding to permit the building of new churches and to provide restitution for past seizure of church properties."

Since that first peacemaking attempt, ICRD has begun projects in Kashmir, Afghanistan, and Syria.

Despite the rise in religious conflict over the last 20 years, efforts to bring religion into international relations are still not much appreciated, much less followed, in the foreign policy establishment.

"Faith-based diplomacy understands that religion is at the heart of identity," Seiple says. "If you don't know how to work within that context, then you're never going to be able to do anything." Johnston's groundbreaking academic work as well as his on-the-ground success, Seiple says, have made room for other organizations to work in faith-based diplomacy, including IGE. "Doug is John the Baptist out there in the wilderness, saying 'wake up' to international relations people."

Johnston has become an elder statesman and a model for evangelical overseas engagement. Bob Andringa, ex-president of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and a former congressman, has known Johnston since the '70s. "I was struck by how Doug modeled intellectual openness and understanding of the world and how diplomacy worked, and had an evangelical faith." Johnston reached out to engage Muslims before 9/11—well before the evangelical community as a whole began thinking about it, says Andringa. "Doug is a unique person, gifted by experience and education as very, very few are in the evangelical community."

Johnston says his focus was inspired by Matthew 5:9, in which Jesus says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." While remaining committed to Jesus, Johnston says he sees the image of God in all people. With that common ground, Johnston has shown that it is possible to make friends out of enemies.

Rob Moll is a CT editor at large.

Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Douglas Johnston heads the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy and is author of Faith-Based Diplomacy: Trumping Realpolitik.

Johnston spoke with American Public Media earlier this year about the greatest threat in the post-Cold War world.

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September 2008, Vol. 52, No. 9