Father Hanna Kildani is the new Catholic patriarchal vicar for Nazareth. He spoke to us about Christians living in the Holy Land, who consist of 2% of the total population in Israel/Palestine. Kildani said that living in the Holy Land is difficult—whether as Christians, as Jews, or as Muslims. “Our mission as Christians is to tell ourselves, Jews, Muslims, that we don’t need to build more walls,” he said, “We need to build more bridges.” PC: @katxmoon #Godland #Nazareth #Israel #CJS18

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The Baha’i World Center sits on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. The center is the spiritual heart of the Baha’i faith, a faith that believes all the world religions are united and that each religion’s prophet (Abraham, Jesus, Mohammed, and Buddha, to name a few) has contributed to revealing God’s purpose and truth for humanity. Rodney Clarken, 66, is a Baha’i who has volunteered at the center for the past five years after retiring from teaching at a U.S. university. He was our guide for the day. “I actually didn’t want to come here, I loved teaching and I loved my students,” Clarken said, “I was coming here as a sacrifice. I thought, I’ve had a wonderful life, let me come and just give straight service.” He added, “I’ve never been happier.” The center is significant to the Baha’i because the resting places of Baha’u’llah and the Bab, two central figures of the faith, are located here. PC: @galie_darwich @katxmoon @sarahcwyman #Godland #Bahai #Haifa #CJS18

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Haifa is the only city in Israel with an Ahmadi Muslim community. The Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious movement that has its roots in the teachings of Miriam Ghulam Ahmad. “Ahmad came to fix the mistakes,” said Muad Oudeh, the Secretary General of the Ahmadi community in Haifa, “The problems came from wrong interpretations of the Scripture.” By Scripture, Oudeh is speaking about the Holy Quran. Ahmadis face persecution by the two dominant Muslim groups and are considered to be non-Muslims because the groups reject Ghulam Ahmad’s messianic claims. Oudeh talked to the Godland team about the religion during our visit to his mosque. PC: @katxmoon @augusta_ant #Godland #Haifa #Ahmadi #Muslim #Religion

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