Kids4Peace - Love is all there is...

In early August Kids4Peace camps took place in several locations across the country including, for the first time, a Vermont and New Hampshire camp near Hillsboro.  At our Ageless Worship service on September 7, three of the participants from that camp shared their experience of that camp, emphasizing the important lessons they learned about conflict resolution and appreciating the differences we encounter in others.  Perhaps someday young people in these programs will take these lessons to the world stage, and peace will indeed be a reality.

Lola, a member of Temple Beth Jacob, shared this:

“The 36 kids who came to camp were as different as you could get. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Americans, Arabic speakers, Hebrew speakers, boys, and girls. Just about every characteristic that we had set us apart from the other campers. Differences like these are known to set people apart. They’ve caused innumerable wars in the Middle East, as well as Europe, China, Africa, and even the Americas.  They’ve driven families apart, and changed love to hatred. Though that is not, and has never been, inevitable. 

“…Differences can make things difficult.  However, above that, it makes connections run deeper, makes friendships last longer, and it adds depth to the people we meet.”

Tyler, a member of Bow Mills United Methodist Church, described a game the campers played where they were assigned conflicts and given two choices for how to approach them: to cooperate or to compete.  “As our discussions and understanding developed, we used the skills we learned to solve conflicts with tether-ball and gaga ball. We realized that this was a model of how global conflict resolution can be.  That was made really clear when Yuval, a Jewish camper from Israel, said “We shouldn’t be at war.  Our leaders should be sitting down face to face and talking about peace. It … amazed us that a 12-year-old said that. That was the most intense thing we talked about. Also the most important.”

Georgia, a member of St. Paul’s, told of another activity where the kids took turns giving positive affirmations to all their fellow campers.  “It felt good to know that other people thought well of us,” she explained.  “That day we all learned that loving and appreciating one another is an important step in bringing an end to conflict.”

The three children ended their presentation by singing a song in Hebrew, Arabic and English: God is all; God is love; Love is all there is.