INSPIRE

INSPIRE

INSPIRE is a group of women from diverse faiths that come together to build and nurture friendships which allows for increased knowledge and understanding of other beliefs without compromising their own. Through these relationships, they inspire others in their families, communities, and the world to live peacefully together.

Recently a group of women from Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities in Philadelphia gathered together for the first time. This gathering is part of our INSPIRE initiative, helping bring women together, from various faiths, to build relationships with each other. Our Director of Outreach, Hurunnessa Fariad who leads the INSPIRE team, and Niki Roberts, who also helps with INSPIRE, nationally, gathered with them to help facilitate these relationships. These women shared about themselves and learned about each other’s lives over brunch. One of the exercises that Hurunnessa and Niki facilitated was sharing an impactful event in their life that they can share with the other women in their group. After sharing, each person was asked to retell the story of another woman, to the rest of the group. This was done to help the women to hear each other, to better understand each other, and to enter into each other’s lives, including their pain or happiness.

The women also began planning for their next gathering, and in the meantime they are communicating through a WhatsApp thread. They are working together to accomplish a service project together, and to encourage more women from the various faith traditions to join their effort. Our team has provided a toolkit which offers guidance on next steps for these fantastic and committed women.

Not long after, a similar meeting was held in Houston. This meeting not only featured many of the same experiences as the meeting in Philadelphia, but it also featured conversations about their upcoming Passover event happening at a local Rabbi’s home.

We could not be more excited about the INSPIRE communities beginning to take shape. Hurunnessa Fariad and Niki Roberts are working diligently to help gather, facilitate, and resource women across the country to build a tapestry of friendships with people they might not otherwise connect with. We look forward to working with them and highlighting the voices of women across the country.

If you would like to see an INSPIRE group established in your city, we would love to help! Email hurunnessafariad@mfnn.org for more information.