wfn.org | WCC FEATURE: Young Muslims, Jews and Christians become peace facilitators

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>World Council of Churches - Feature

YOUNG MUSLIMS, JEWS AND CHRISTIANS BECOME PEACE FACILITATORS

>For immediate release: 29 July 2010

While peace is a commonly held value within Judaism, Islam and
Christianity, other religious values can often become sources of  conflict.
In order to build community beyond faith boundaries a group of young
adults from each of the three faith groups spent a week focusing  on the
common value of peace recently.

The result? Each of them will return to their homes as qualified  peace
facilitators.

Participating in the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland  month-long
summer course called "Building an Interfaith Community" the 32
participants from 20 countries forged a sense of community out of  their
religious diversity.

A new dimension to the July course for 2010 included exploring "how  to
overcome conflict and restore good relations".

"Whether it is visiting a church, synagogue or mosque, or having  formal
lectures outlining different faith approaches to contemporary issues,  or
just socializing and enjoying each other’s company –  the group is
challenged to live together and grow as a community, overcoming
stereotypes and preconceived understandings of each other," says  Tara
Tautari, programme executive for Education and Ecumenical Formation  for
the World Council of Churches (WCC).

As the WCC prepares for the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation
(Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=4ceb9b31e3cf74ee6219  ) in May 
2011,
it is including peace education in all its formation and educational
programmes. For the students of the summer interfaith seminar this  meant a
5-day intensive training programme on "Dialogue for Peaceful Change".

The training, which was developed by practitioners working in conflict
settings, offered concrete tools for conflict management and effective
communication skills for mediators. An international team of trainers
taught the students about the role of conflict in human relations  and its
various and often hidden layers.

"Now, one of you will make a proposal and the other will say 'no'.  Then 'A'
will make another proposal and 'B' will say no," said Ingeberte  Uitslag, a
peace trainer from the Netherlands during the sessions.

"The person I was talking to was deaf and dumb," Benjamin Adekunle,  a
participant from Nigeria, said summarizing his feelings after sharing  a
personal story with a partner who had been asked not to show any  facial
expression or other reaction to what was said.

"We believe heavily in experiential learning," says Colin Craig,  a Roman
Catholic and the senior coach for the training programme. Craig  became
involved in peace building activities at the times of the "troubles"  in
his native Northern Ireland and was inspired by the ecumenical Corrymeela
Community of lay Christians dedicated to reconciliation work.

"It wasn't so much a pious activity as it was a thrilling activity,"  said
Craig, who hopes to pass on the enthusiasm he has experienced to  the next
generation. "You really felt that you were on the edge of something."

>Restoring right relationships

Helping groups that strive for social change to overcome conflict  within is
primary task for trainer Paul Muego who is a social worker as well  as a
mediator in the Philippines.

Muego hopes that the students at Bossey will be able to apply their  new
peace facilitator skills in their day-to-day lives, starting within
themselves.

"Sometimes it is very easy for us to identify ourselves as victims  –
victims of violence or conflict – but often times it is  very difficult
for us to acknowledge, or even see, that we ourselves are victimizers,"  he
says. The hope for Muego is that a key learning would be how to  build and
restore "right relationships".

But, can this be achieved in a one-week training session while nestled  in
the idyllic Swiss countryside along Lake Geneva?

Some students were enthusiastic about the programme, like Koni Patrick,  a
Christian theology student from Nigeria.

"I consider this seminar as something that will equip me personally  so that
I will be able to make a change in my society," she said.

Others are skeptical. "The problem of trust" is a key factor when  applying
mediation and conflict management techniques in a place like her  home in
Israel, Sahar Yasdanpour, one of two Jewish participants said.

"We maybe don't trust the other side and that is why it is very  hard to do
peace," she says. "If this programme will give me the answer to  the issue
of trust, maybe I would be able to do that, but it's hard."

Tautari and her WCC colleagues hope the opportunity for young people  from
different continents and faith communities spending a month listening  to
one another stories and learning how each live out their own spirituality
will help students gain a better understanding of different ways  to view
the world.

"It turned out that I didn't know as much as I thought I knew" about
Christianity and Judaism, Adrian Kirk, a Muslim student from the  United
States said.

>[775 words]

Ecumenical Institute Bossey (Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDC 
T=b642bb9582a1659e8547 )

Audio interviews with some participants and trainers (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=0781c01f565151acd2d3 )

Free high resolution photos available (Link:

http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=23fad17ce9540791ec7c )

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,  witness and 
service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship  of churches 
founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant,
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560  million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the  Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse  Tveit, from 
the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.

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