Tensions and misunderstandings between religious groups has been a constant battle for millennia. But since the events of September 11th, 2001, they have often been a regular part of the environment our country’s youth have grown up in. It was under this backdrop that 52 Houston teenagers (youth who were a mere preschoolers and Kindergartners at that time) came together this past month to learn more about each other through iFaith Camp.
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Organized by Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston, iFaith Camp is an initiative for youth between the ages of 15-18, which has just completed its second annual summer program. The program was the brainchild of the Interfaith Relations department, and has been largely organized by IM’s youth council with the assistance of agency staff. Over the course of 3 days in July, teens who are Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Protestant, Baha’i as well as Atheists or Agnostic, came together to hear from speakers on various faiths, engage in community service work, dialog on issues and perspectives, and engage in leadership training activities.
Many of the participants become involved through family, much like Eman Muhataseb, a junior at Clear Horizons Early College High School. “My parents like to do interfaith dialog dinners at our house, so when they found out there was this youth program for it I started going to the dinners and I went to the first annual youth camp.” Meanwhile others found the program through interfaith clubs already organized through their schools. Regie Mauricio, a recent graduate of Strake Jesuit High School, came out of one such club and helped to planning this year’s iFaith Camp after participating in its inaugural year.
In describing the process that went into developing this year’s program, Mauricio emphasized the importance of themes. “We knew we had 3-days, so we tried to come up with a theme for each. The last day we knew we wanted for leadership, the second day community service, and the first day about breaking down barriers and learning about each other. So the progression became, how to become “other-minded”, and then trying to find activities that would relate to each of those other themes.”
First year participant Rose Montonchaikul, a junior at St Agnes High School, saw the benefits of the process firsthand when she realized the scope of the participants interest, and their ability to see commonalities. “I wasn’t expecting the younger people here to have such passionate thoughts about their own faith, and how it relates to everyone else. But it was really eye opening to see all these different people interacting and being able to relate to everyone else’s struggles.”
Reflecting on her second year with the program, Muhtaseb also notes the opportunity to simply dialog with one another. “Now I feel like its okay for me to ask questions. I can just be a leader and just talk and not feel like, ‘oh, I’m sorry that I asked that question.’ This is a place where you can ask questions and see how everyone is different and not feel bad forever for asking questions.”
Meanwhile Andrew Best, another recent graduate of Strake Jesuit adds, ” My experience with this is that its good to say that you’ve actually talked to people of other religions because there are a lot of people who haven’t been exposed to other religions. And if you can say that you’ve talked to people of other religions you can say yes they are exactly like me. They like to have fun. They get irritated when it is hot outside. Stuff like that. You can assure them of our commonalities.”
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Learn more about IM’s Interfaith Dialog Programs.