Friends:

I had a very fine experience last night in visiting
the class of Dr. Richard Jones and Dr. Mohamed Adam El-Sheikh
at VTS. Theirs is one of the first classes for the Certificate
Program in Christian Muslim Dialogue. There were 25 or
so students in class last night. I heard two interesting
student presentations on fasting--one by a Christian student and one
by a Muslim student.

I congratulated them on being the first--
Faculty and students of the first required course in the certificate program.
Of course, they have encountered all the issues in a beginning class.
And there are many differences in background and perspective as
well.

The program is launched--thanks to these good folks.
I hope that we will be building bridges of mutual understanding
for years to come.

Peace,
John