During the month of August, URI in the Netherlands met with a team of four French students calling themselves “InterFaith Tour."
URI Steering Committee the Netherlands and the IBS (Foundation Interreligious Council Segbroek) CCs in The Hague, Netherlands, met with InterFaith Tour to support the student volunteers’ year-long journey around the world, which began in July and is set to end in June of next year. The French students hope to connect with individuals and organizations promoting mutual respect and understanding through interreligious dialogue and initiatives.
InterFaith Tour is comprised of four French students from different faiths and backgrounds: Victor Grezes, an atheist; Josselin Rieth, an agnostic; Ismael Medjdoob, a Muslim; and Samuel Grzybowsky, a Christian. The tour was created by Sparknews, an “impact journalism” news site, and Coexister, a French interfaith youth movement.
URI Europe appealed to the four students for an obvious reason: URI shares a common vision. However, in URI European Coordinator Karimah Stauch’s words, “URI is for believers and non-believers." This sentiment reportedly resonated with them deeply.
In the Hague, Bart ten Broek, who is involved with both the URI Steering Committee in the Netherlands and the IBS CCs, along with Yadin Karabulut, who is a member of the IBS CC, welcomed the four young students, introducing them to URI and later inviting them to his Dialogue House.
Bart ten Broek hopes to have the InterFaith Tour attend and speak at the URI European Conference in Paris this coming November. Further, he is working on connecting them with European URI youths. He has also put them in contact with Heidi Rautionmaa, conveener of the Forum of Religions and Convictions in Helsinki CC, another point of contact and pit stop for the InterFaith Tour.
Later in August, the InterFaith Tour also met with URI Germany and URI Berlin activist, Peter Amsler, in Berlin. Today, URI is a proud sponsor of the InterFaith Tour and is looking forward to what the four students will experience, achieve, and discover during their interfaith world tour.
