Encounter and witness with integrity to the light, truth and way of Christ should first be healing. It heals through recasting in encounter the other faiths' false images of Christ and Christianity brought about by Christians' participation with past and present imperial exploits. It heals by witnessing that much that has been done by Christians is not of Christ. This healing stance is first of all confessional in the face of these tragedies of history. Anglican Bishop and Islamic scholar Kenneth Cragg comments on the tragedy of religious violence:

Religions claim to be custodians of transcendent truth -- of the truths which ought, by definition, to unite and bind one. Yet religions are among the most insistent dividers of mankind, and never more so than when they ally and align with the political, ethnic and economic conflicts of mankind. Dialogue, as an agent of true reconciliation, is often in danger of being recruited as a factor in a pseudo-one. True reconciliation means radical acknowledgment of tragedy, an end of assumed innocence and a deep retrieval of enmity (Cragg, p.312, 313).

Christians who claim to bear the light of Christ in this world bound by the triadic structures of violence can, by the power of God's Spirit, be peacemakers in the following range of ways:

Acts of Love and Mercy Among the Other: By the spring of 1985, Bob and Jill Burkholder, working with MCC (Mennonite Central Committee), had built a strong sense of trust between themselves and the Muslims, Christians and Druze they worked with to help rebuild war-torn southern Lebanon. That spring many foreigners were being kidnapped by various Muslim factions. So, Bob and Jill went to the local Muslim village leaders to ask if it was safe for them to remain. The Muslim leaders wanted them to stay because of the quality of their work. They told Bob and Jill that they viewed them as a different kind of Christian since they didn't carry guns but helped all impartially. Bob and Jill were asked to stay with the assurance that they would be safe.

All went well until a morning early in August of 1985, when two armed men came to their home and took Bob away without explanation. They took him secretly to a building where he was interrogated. The first question was, "Are you afraid?" Bob replied to his faithful Muslim captors with the Arabic phrase, "I fear no one but God." This answer broke the ice with his interrogators and the following two hours were more a discussion of MCC's work in Lebanon than an interrogation. Their final words to Bob were, "Keep up the good work."

While this discussion was happening, religious leaders from the various factions were gathering in Bob and Jill's home. These leaders who had followers fighting each other and normally had little to say to each other, were sitting together in the Burkholder's living room. There were Muslims, Maronite Christians, Shi'ite Muslims, extremist Hizb Allah (party of God) and Druze. When Bob came home fourteen hours after his capture, they were there to meet him. Their common concern for Bob, who had shown sacrificial concern and love for them, was revealed to be greater than the barriers and bitter divisions between them. On that day the peace sown by Bob and Jill's loving service was revealed to them, as dividing walls of hostility were broken down in their living room. The room could barely hold the expansive space of reconciliation they had created in their relationships.

Confusing Categories of Religious Conflict: Due to the encounter of the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, the Chechen conflict has had religious overtones. Walter Bergen, an MCC worker in Moscow, provided aid to refugees through local Muslim and Christian agencies. Walter describes how MCC aid to the Muslim relief agencies such as the Red Crescent helps to confuse the categories of religious conflict as Muslims receive aid from Christians who disagree with their co-religionists who are killing Chechen Muslims. Those simple gifts of food and clothing are signs of hope that the violence suffered was not just because of religious difference.

Inviting Children to Peace: In Assuit in Upper Egypt, where there has been much religious violence, two little boys ran out onto the stage of the opening day celebrations at a church run school. One was dressed as a Muslim Sheikh and the other as a Christian Priest. They stood before their classmates smiling and holding hands raised high between them.

Dialogical Witness: David W. Shenk, of Eastern Mennonite Missions, regularly holds meetings with Muslims in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in which he presents a non-Constantinian view of Christianity in dialogue with the Muslims about their faith. He also presents an authentic view of Jesus and works at dispelling many misconceptions Muslims have about Jesus, whom they honor as a prophet. His efforts create a reconciling space where Christianity is seen in new ways.

Truthtelling in Other Contexts: In the spirit of truthtelling and with an informed disassociation from American power interests, the American Rev. Charles Kimball was a part of a team welcomed in Teheran to mediate with the Iranian student militants that stormed the U.S. embassy and held 53 hostages. Rev. Kimball and six other American clergy were meeting with the student captors when one of the students declared, "The taking and holding of these spies is a great Islamic act!" Rev. Kimball replied, "That is nonsense." The student paused and asked what he meant. Kimball responded with a statement expressing an understanding of the political reasons for the hostage taking, to which he added, "Even so, you must know that your actions here are not only illegal, they are immoral. And, they are certainly not Islamic. Your responsibility as Muslims is to protect the foreigner in your midst. ... While I strongly disagree with what you are doing and believe it ultimately will hurt, not further, the image and understanding of Islam in the world, I must also say that your rhetoric is far from helpful..." After a pause the student said, "What we are doing may not be Islamic, but it is revolutionary!" (Kimball, p. 1,2)

Staying in the Fire: During the civil war in Lebanon many Christians who lived in the south fled the fighting and joined or supported Christian militias. But, there was one priest, Fr. Salim Ghazel, who stayed in the south and maintained good relations with the Muslims throughout various conflicts. He refused to get involved in the politics or the fighting. He was so well known for his peacemaking abilities that Muslims would often seek out his conciliation skills. He continues to operate a center for mediation connected to the church he leads.

Catalysts of Encounter: In Upper Egypt, where much direct interfaith violence has taken place, Mennonite Central Committee has provided English teachers for over ten years. Coptic Orthodox Bishop Athanasius in Beni Suief has said that the English classes led by MCC teachers were the only place in the city were Muslims and Christians can be together on equal terms. He said, "This is a true peacemaking endeavor." It is healing when a Western Christian volunteers to serve in teaching Eastern Christians and Muslims together. Not only words but worlds come together.

Working Together as Faith Communities: In March of 1995, three Christian and three Muslim organizations launched the first international Christian--Muslim committee for development and relief named the Committee on Interreligious Development Action. The founders declared that "religion should be used to promote peace and justice in the world." (Christians and Muslims..., p.32)

Reconciliation Walk: A "Reconciliation Walk" is taking place. Groups of Christians are walking from Germany to Jerusalem, following the routes of the Crusaders. Along the way they are reading a letter of apology and repentance in the local languages of each town and village, hoping to foster reconciliation between Christians, and Muslims and Jews whose ancestors were killed in the name of Christ and the Church. They left Cologne, Germany on Easter Sunday, 1996, 900 years to the day of the start of the Crusades. That afternoon the 125 walkers visited a Turkish mosque and presented the message of the Reconciliation Walk to the imam and 200 men and boys present. The imam said, "When I heard the nature of your message, I was astonished and filled with hope. I thought to myself, ´whoever had this idea must have had an epiphany, a visit from God.' I wish that this project should become a very great success." Walkers plan to arrive in Bethlehem by June 8, 1999, 900 years after the city fell to the Crusaders. Teams of volunteers are needed to walk during this time, walking ten days to months at a time. (Contact address: Reconciliation Walk, P.O. Box 61, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 4JJ, United Kingdom.)

Welcoming Reciprocity: In Lebanon a few years ago, a number of rich Muslim families, including the Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, gave Balamand University large donations for the development of its facilities. Balamand University is owned and operated by the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch which during the civil war in Lebanon chose to have no militia unlike some other Christian groups.

Solidarity over Justice Issues: The Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt continues its policy of forbidding its members from visiting Jerusalem in spite of the many changes in policy in the peace process. They are waiting until there is a just peace for their Muslim neighbors. In the words of Pope Shenouda III: "The decision to forbid Copts visiting Jerusalem remains in place, and nothing has happened yet which calls for our changing it. Copts will not enter Jerusalem except in company with their Muslim brothers and sisters." ("Jerusalem Refocused")

Forming Youth Together: One evangelical pastor in Egypt holds summer youth camps for Muslims and Christians in which they spend time working, living and relating as equals. The experience forms the youth to see the other in many ways like themselves.