DownloadJuly 19 issue
EMU peace camp grows
Interfaith program more than doubles in two years
By Tom Mitchell Harrisonburg Daily News-RecordPage:
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HARRISONBURG, Va. — Two years after it started as a brief pilot program, an interreligious summer camp continues to grow dramatically.
Jeremy Bacheller of Staunton, Va., talks with a group of children during “Lunch with a Peacemaker” on the last day of Interfaith Peace Camp. — Photo by Jon Styer/EMU
The Interfaith Peace Camp at Eastern Mennonite University now lasts a week and has 44 children attending, more than twice as many youngsters as the camp in 2008.
“We have a waiting list,” said Vesna Hart, co-chair of the camp’s planning committee. “What we do is pretty unique.”
What the peace camp does is join kids from different religions and nationalities for five days of art, drama, music and recreation. Through such activities, and the consumption of ethnic foods, participants also build friendships with children from other cultures.
The camp, which ran June 28-July 2 at Eastern Mennonite University, featured stories and lessons that help first- through sixth-graders grasp three religions known as the Abrahamic faiths: Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Accordingly, the camp featured field trips to Beth El Synagogue, the Islamic Association of Shenandoah Valley Mosque and Trinity Presbyterian Church.
Hart and other adults created the peace camp in 2008 to teach youth intercultural goodwill.
Last year EMU’s Center for Interfaith Engagement, Abraham’s Tent, partnered with the camp’s founders. Gretchen H. Maust, associate director of Abraham’s Tent, served as camp administrator.
Some participants are out-of-towners who, visiting Harrisonburg for the summer, learned about the camp and decided to attend.
Others came even farther. Adam Baibeche arrived with his father, Abder, from San Juan, Puerto Rico, where Abder teaches college-level French.
Adam, 7, who speaks French, Spanish and English, said he wasn’t sure he’d like the camp but soon changed his mind.
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