‘Building a bridge of understanding’:
Project connects Christians, Muslims
By Frank Reddy, The Layman, November 29, 2010
A Presbyterian Church (USA) minister’s solo journey into South America found him face-to-face with an Islamic fundamentalist leader, who was curious to see the Christian in Hezbollah territory.
The Rev. Ben Mathes of Atlanta – a Christian radio regular and missionary – went to the continent’s Tri-Border Area, home to 25,000 Hezbollah and Hamas members, who operate a variety of legal and illegal operations in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.
The meeting between Mathes and Mohammid Yusef Abdallah took place in Ciudad Del Este, Paraguay, a massive retail zone notorious for its unchecked flow of weapons, drugs, counterfeit goods and duty free items.
Photo by Ben Mathes
Muslim students at a school in the Tri-Border Area of South America connected with students at a Christian school in the United States in an effort to “build bridges” between the cultures.
Mathes told the Hezbollah leader he hoped to meet officials with the local Lebanese Central School, where 308 Muslim students studied in English, Arabic and Spanish. Introductions were made to the school’s headmaster, and an idea was born.
On Oct. 11, 2010, nearly a year later, Mathes arrived again in Paraguay with a suitcase full of gifts for the Muslim students.
Leaders of a Christian school near Atlanta had learned of the plan. Students at Strong Wall Academy in Lawrenceville, Ga., prepared banners, letters and scrapbooks as gifts to the Lebanese school.
They also made a DVD, which included a song written by a Strong Wall Academy student. While sitting at a piano, sophomore Dania Morales performed her melody “Friendship Begins with a Hello.”
But the most useful item Mathes brought from America turned out to be his laptop. It would prove to be the most effective tool in “building a bridge of understanding” between the students.
On the second day of his visit, the schools were able to connect using Skype – a real-time video conferencing program. A small camera on Mathes’ laptop captured the Lebanese students in their classroom.
Mathes said students on both ends of the streaming Internet feed “walked computers around their respective schools for show and tell.”
The students were not able to hear each other because of a software glitch, but several minutes into the broadcast the Muslim pupils tried to communicate.
“The students in Paraguay started making heart shapes with their hands,” said Anthony Knight, headmaster at Strong Wall Academy. “Then, they began writing messages to our students and holding them up for the camera.”
On pieces of paper, students wrote: “peace,” “new friends,” “hello” and “here is our school.”
At the Lebanese school, English teacher Leila Darwish translated. “There wasn’t a dry eye in the whole room,” Mathes said.
The Muslim students also watched the DVD and wanted to create one of their own to send back to the Christian students.
Missionary Ben Mathes of Atlanta, Ga., traveled to Paraguay to connect students in America with a live Internet video feed.
Mathes loaned his camera to Hamid, “a talented senior at the school who used it overnight to video his world and the lives of students at the school.”
Students also made banners, completed video messages and bought team T-shirts and memorabilia to send back “to their new U.S. friends.”
Despite the students’ enthusiasm, “it was an idea not entirely embraced with open arms,” Mathes said. “There are differences and there is conflict between our countries.”
When the students returned to the Lebanese school the next morning they found all of their personal e-mail and Facebook accounts had been hacked.
“Somebody was very unhappy with what we were doing,” Mathes said. “They also came after my sites, but our Internet administrator was ready for them.”
Mathes’ non-profit humanitarian organization, Rivers of the World, has a Web master and other staff headquartered in the United States, who were able to block the hackers.
However, when he returned to the United States the computer and cell phone he’d used in Paraguay had been hacked, and all of his contacts had been stolen and deleted.
Upon his return, Mathes said he received e-mails both “applauding and decrying” his efforts.
Some angry e-mail letters called for his removal from Christian radio and demanded that donors cease in their support of Rivers of the World.
Another e-mail accused him of “bowing to the enemy.”
Knight said the Paraguay project never struck him as such.
“To me, this just seemed like an opportunity to bring about humanity to a bad situation, to let people know that not everybody who is Islamic is a terrorist.
“We wanted the opportunity to build bridges, build relationships and start a dialogue,” Knight said. “Everybody since 9/11 has been so fearful, and there’s been a label on the Islamic community. We wanted to give these people a face.” Related article and video:
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Added Knight: “It was also a chance to let them learn something about us, because there’s probably been some generalizations about Americans too, and we want to help change the thought of that as well.”
Knight said he was thankful that children at Strong Wall Academy were able to “have a great first exchange with the Lebanese school.”
This month, the American students plan to send more gifts to the Muslim children. Knight said teachers are asking the pupils to take pictures during Thanksgiving to show the students in Paraguay what Thanksgiving is about.
He stressed that the chief goal is to show God’s love.
“We want to show God’s love in a way that keeps the relationship going, so we don’t want to start quoting Scriptures at them or leading them in a sinner’s prayer, but we have taken a small step, which is to say, ‘hello,’” Knight said.
Mathes said he intends to go back to the Lebanese school and continue communications.
He said that “the kids down there invited the kids from America to come down and stay in their homes. That would be amazing.”
The positive impact the mission has had on the students in Paraguay has been great, he said.
“The kids told me this opened a part of the world they never thought they would see,” Mathes said. “It was just incredible to be there and be a part of this.”
Mathes’ organization, Rivers of the World, uses rivers in 21 countries as a way to reach people. ROW travels remote jungle rivers and asks local inhabitants how their lives might be improved.
ROW efforts run the gamut from traditional Christian missionary work to academic research, nation building, health and educational ventures. Volunteers from across the United States supplement the organization’s efforts with short-term mission trips.
For more information, visit www.row.org.