Picking strawberries and planting tomatoes for peace? It happened in central Illinois summer of 2010. At First Mennonite Church in Champaign, Muslims and Mennonites are working together in a community garden, in an effort titled: “Muslims and Mennonites: Planting Peace One Seed at a Time.”
Volunteers, from both the church and the Central Illinois Mosque and Islamic Center, discussed peace as sharing ecological responsibility on our common land, participating in projects that bring about positive change in our community, and learning about our local food economy. Besides working together planting, weeding, and watering, volunteers are also participating in a weekly class taught by Brian and guest teachers from the Central Illinois Mosque and Islamic Center. They cover issues of food ecology, distribution, economics and history as related to peacemaking from a faith perspective. The class is taught on Sundays at the First Mennonite Church in Champaign, IL.
– From the Faith in Place web site. To read about this project as reported in Champaign-Urbana’s Daily Illini, go here.