As an Iraq War Army Medic, Diana Oestreich ran headlong toward pain and conflict to protect her fellow soldiers from a common enemy.
Oestreich said that experience taught her that everyone – enemy or not – was more alike than different. And it was there that she dedicated her life to helping people through conflict, regardless of their background.
But she didn’t stop running toward conflict. Oestreich, the key relationships officer for the Preemptive Love Project, has committed her life to facing pain and choosing to love anyway, “to lean in,” and to remake the world around her. The project helps families from Iraq and Syria rebuild from the ashes of war.
“We show up on the front lines of conflict, where the bombs and bullets are still flying, with emergency food, water and life-saving medical care,” Oestrich said. “Violence is unmade as ISIS survivors and refugees are empowered to reclaim their lives from war by creating businesses that give them dignity over dependence.”
She is passionate about her work.
“We go where no one else will go to love the ones that no one else will love, because we refuse to let violence have the last word.”
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