KCIYA- Faith Always Wins Interfaith Leadership Blog

Sacred Foods: Loaves of bread that bring the community together The smell of raw dough waved through the air as we entered the home. I had never really cooked before, without anything burning, so this was a very new experience for me. I didn’t know what Challah was or even how it tasted before that day. We split up into groups of two do get someone on one time with the dough. The beautiful masterpiece of braided bread seemed like a daunting challenge that was impossible. The next hour was filled with laughter, fun, and steady instruction; by the time it ended, I had a perfect challah in front of me. While it baked in the oven, we went out to the garden to pick some crunchy pears. While eating them together, we discussed the traditions of Challah and how it relates to our own personal traditions. This experience not only taught me how to make delicious bread, but it gave me some personal insight into Jewish traditions. I learned about the different types of Jewish beli

When I think of Malala Yousufzai, the first words that come to my mind are strong, empowering, and inspiring. At such a young age, Yousufzai became an activist for girls’ education, as well as a Nobel Peace Prize winner. She has inspired numerous girls to fight for their education and to not be afraid of the struggles that may lie in front of them. In the documentary ‘He Named Me Malala’, director Davis Guggenheim captured an exclusive view inside the Yousufzai household and of her determination to fight for girls’ education. Along with myself, two other board members of KCIYA were compelled to plan an event where Malala’s documentary was shown, to motivate members of the community to fight for a change. The event was planned for the evening of Friday, September 13. When all the other members arrived, we began with the guidelines of civil discourse and began streaming the documentary while chowing down on Spin! Pizza. After the movie was completed, we dove into the discussion

When I recently had the wonderful opportunity to plan my own KCIYA service project, I had two things in mind: I wanted to reach across the aisle from my own Catholic identity, and somehow help the environment in the process. In my opinion, there is one place in Kansas City that encompasses both these ideals: Mitzvah Garden. So the service day was coordinated with the incredible Ken Sonnenschein and his team. For months, I pulled my hair out over logistics - who would show up, how many questions should I write, what do I wear? In mid-September, the time came. I drove to The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah all the way in Overland Park. As soon as we parked, I experienced a wave of relief. I felt it would all go well. Thankfully, it did. We helped the garden prepare for winter by raking up the weed-preventing straw they put over tarps in rows that cover about a quarter of the garden. Then some of our group went to harvest and sort apples while a few others and I took the tarps

Our recent visit to Cherith Brook Catholic Worker House provided growth on an emotional, mental, and physical level for me. During the planning process, I discovered how to plan and accommodate for a religiously diverse community.  Entering the house was different because the community was so welcoming. Their focus was on the feeling of community, rather than what community you came from. I had learned about the Catholic Worker movement through school and it was really cool to see that movement come to life. My belief is to do your best to help those in need at all times, in every community. Everyone, privileged and underprivileged can face times of need and it’s important to serve those who need it. Moving forward, I plan to continue serving those in need and reaching out to help Cherith Brook. Small acts of service filled with great love can make a huge difference in someone’s life. Our focus as humans should be to help others and affirm the gifts and inherent dignity an

Sion Friends Hugging before Heading to their Worksites This morning prayer was about communal love and why communal loving is important and what are some of the barriers in why we may not show it as often as we should. I believe that it is our human nature to judge and perfect people that creates an instant barrier to our ability to fully love. I decided that I was going to spend the morning in the garden again because it is the chore I enjoy most in the morning. It's a way to connect with the natural resources we have been given and with people that are not in my work crew at the service sites during the day. We planted sweet potatoes and the did some weeding. Later, we went to our service site and we worked and were in service to a lovely homeowner, Ms. Davis. She was extremely nice and so hospitable. She is a retired nurse which I think is really cool. We have a medical conversation about arthritis. We chatted and talked about the shared experience of having aches and pa

   Today was insanely hot. I felt like I wanted to give up about 800 times but I managed to push through every time. I kept thinking about who we were helping and why. In all honesty, doing something for someone else's sake is a heck of a lot easier than doing something for myself-at least in the present time. In situations like these, maybe the motivator could be boiled down to a simple risk of shame or fear of disappointment, but I would like to believe it's the simple human kindness alive in my heart. In all honesty, being here can be incredibly hard. It's hard labor, learning new skills, and being uncomfortable with new routines. Physically at times. Emotionally at times. It's a place and experience that forces you into awakening and creating discomfort surrounding the luxury of our lifestyle, no matter how mundane you may consider your life to be. I always leave with a refreshed sense of place in the world alongside the people in it. This place is truly specia

  I pulled into the parking lot of the Missouri Innovation Campus on a Tuesday afternoon in July, and, as I did so, I couldn’t help but admire the snazzy building that stood before me. My 2:30 (which ended up being a 3:00, so I was early, a lucky-strike-extra) was a quick meeting with our interfaith programming czar, Clare Stern. We mapped out our event space and checked A/V capabilities for what would be an evening of cinema and civil discourse. So, lots of circular tables, open space for cheesy icebreakers, a linear corridor for our buffet traffic, and fun rolling chairs were in order.  Readers may know that the Kansas City Interfaith Youth Alliance, Faith Always Wins Foundation, and Global Ties KC join forces for our Movie Night event series. Acknowledging that faith-based systems do not exist in a vacuum, our Movie Nights focus on the nonreligious factors that intersect our identities and shape our lived experiences. It’s always a pleasure to share a meal, a mo