“I learned the importance of trying to understand our neighbors, not just out of respect, but because the systems that divide us aren’t working for any of us.”
-Ezra, youth participant since 2017
Over five years ago, Ezra was a rising seventh grader who was invited to address his faith community during a well-attended worship service. He began by thanking his faith leaders and teachers for educating him in the values of his faith and the importance of social justice. Then, he described the transformative impact of an interfaith summer camp experience.
He described how this summer camp prepared him and other seventh graders from various faith traditions to become interfaith peace leaders. Although the majority of campers were not of his faith, Ezra had a chance to share his faith background with them and hear what they had to say. The camper community was open minded, so he could speak with confidence about his faith values in front of others–an opportunity he had not previously experienced. Moreover, he began to learn how to apply social justice values in the real world.
As a high school senior, Ezra reflected on how his experiences had transformed him. He described a sense of togetherness with others who shared common values, even though they came from different communities and faiths–peers he wouldn’t have met without that summer camp. His worldview had been expanded and enriched by their stories. He began to feel a change in himself: a new sense of personal identity as a leader.
Moreover, Ezra realized that he had learned a common language to better understand others and live more positively together with them. He had gained leadership skills to solve problems in conflict areas among people with different backgrounds and views. As Ezra stated, “I learned the importance of trying to understand our neighbors, not just out of respect, but because the systems that divide us aren’t working for any of us.”
Support Young Changemakers!
Mosaic Interfaith Youth Action helps develop our future peace leaders by providing young teens like Ezra with valuable opportunities to build bridges across divides to ensure a more equitable, just, and peaceful society.
But we can’t do this vital work without your help!
Activity fees and tuition cover only a fraction of the cost of running our programs, and we provide more than half of participating families with scholarship assistance. A donation to Mosaic: Interfaith Youth Action will remove financial barriers for youth in our communities and create new programming opportunities. We need your help to bring this transformational work to a wider range of young people across Greater Boston! Please consider making a financial contribution to Mosaic in order to ensure that all young people in the Greater Boston area like Ezra have the opportunity to actively create a better world around them through interfaith action and advocacy!
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Thank you forsupporting Mosaic!
rnWhen you give to Mosaic: Interfaith Youth Action, you are helping heal divides in our country. You are giving young people the tools to engage with one another with respect, dignity, and open-mindedness, even when they disagree. You are helping youth come together and celebrate differences instead of fearing them, and work together to make the world a more just, equitable, and