Mary Yoder made her first trip to Israel/Palestine in 2002 with a Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) delegation. She then took an intense four week training course on Christian non-violence through CPT. She returned to the West Bank as a volunteer member of CPT's violence reduction team where she served for three months on two subsequent visits. She remains active with peace work in her local community where she is employed as a Registered Nurse.

Mary's commitment to peace making began soon after graduating from Jonathan Alder High School in Plain City, Ohio. After becoming a registered nurse, she worked in a volunteer capacity for an under served urban clinic in Jackson, Mississippi called Voice of Calvary. Following more education, she became the Head Nurse for a children's psychiatric unit in Goshen, Indiana at Oaklawn Hospital. She has also worked for a variety of Native American clinics in Arizona and New Mexico. Her volunteer work took her to Americus, Georgia where she worked for Habitat for Humanity International. She is currently employed as a nurse at Mt. Carmel Medical Center in Columbus, OH.

Mary first became interested in Israeli/Palestine peace work when she read of the many home demolitions taking place in the West Bank in the late 90's. She was extremely impressed on her initial delegation trip with the intense cooperation between Israeli peace groups, living in Israel, and Christian Peacemaker Teams who lived in Palestinian areas.

Mary has also made frequent trips to Washington DC in attempts to educate lawmakers on the continued confiscation of land in the West Bank. In the Spring of 2005, she sponsored a trip for a Palestinian map maker. Together, they spoke with 15 Congressional staffers. Again, in the Fall, they spoke with 24 Congressional staffers, Congress, and a variety of Palestinian and Israeli organizations.

Mary's Christian faith is expressed in the Biblical text of Micah 6:8, "What does the Lord require of you? But to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."