Bible slucie11ts wolk thl'ouyh lforcling Univer·sity Tuhkodc1h ciuT'iny the Bi/,/e ,1/ojol's Retreat un Sepl. 4. The l'ct/'eat ut lll'T aeaied an enuiro1rn1ent thut encourc1yecl slrong hon els uncl ho11cst cnco1111ters. <t< !'onlirHJ to fT'l'sh111c111 Tuylol' Brown. I Pho tu hy Owen HnHl'H Sophomorl' Graeme Guslineuu feuds his peers i11 u deu1•tio11al u/ the H1h/c mujors l'i'lreut on Sept. 4. Thi! ,·ell'eul IL'as designed lo help the fl'eshmen and yo11ng<·r students gel lo knou• the upperclassmen 111 /he clepurlment. l'hoto hy Owen Bnm•n any more inclined to take them to a mosque than I am a Hindu temple, a Buddhist temple or a Sikh temple. I like what I do." Cox said the change in his students' attitudes and faith after the trip was noticeable. "Before the trip, these religions ... are all foreign words, terms and ideas in a book or on a PowerPoint slide or an exam," Cox said. "After the trip, these are people with names, faces, wives, jobs. They're people. And we know they're people when we share a meal and share a worship space on their turf. It's a lot more difficult to demonize them or write them off as stupid ... I see a big change (in the students). Alot ofpeople say it's a good experience. Some say a life-changing experience. They begin to take their faith a lot more seriously." Baird thought Cox hit the nail on the head as the trip brought the class and the religion to life. "I think this experience has given me an experience to reflect on whenever I think about Islam and whenever I discuss Islam with others," Baird said. "It's put real faces behind the religion, to the religion, and it has made Islam in America more real to me." Markwood said the trip helped her to relate to Muslims and encouraged her to pursue her personal faith deeply. "The more you interact with Muslims, the easier it becomes to have a positive dialogue with them so it kind of defies stereotypes," Markwood said. "It motivates me to study more about what I believe, to imitate their piety and also to be better in evangelism to Muslims." BIBLE ~L'i
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