When we started looking into this Interfaith Immersion trip for the ELCA’s Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV), one of the visits we made was to see Serigne Touba—the Khalif of the Mouride brotherhood. This visit was set up by one of our Senegalese coworkers, Vieux Sy, who is the Administrator for the Linguere-based programs of the EELS. Himself a dedicated and faithful member of this Sufi movement, Vieux arranged a meeting with his own sprititual advisor or marabout, who in turn arranged a meeting with the Khalif.
As we explained the vision we had for this immersion trip—to have an opportunity for ELCA members to see, hear, and experience first-hand the kind of Christian and Muslim interaction people in Senegal live everyday—the Khalif said that such an undertaking was a noble cause, and he not only encouraged us to pursue it, he unequivocally gave his support to the idea. If the group were to come to Touba, he said, he would give them extraordinary access to the holy places, along with permission to photograph and video in them. Perhaps more remarkably, he said that even if the trip did not have the time to come to Touba itself, he would nevertheless give his whole-hearted benediction to the trip and to the goals and vision behind it. He assured us that he would be praying for us and for the success of our trip.
As it turns out, the trip won’t have enough time to truly visit Touba, particularly since the timing coincided with the Magal, and annual pilgrimage during which close to three million faithful crowd the city and its mosques. Still, we have had wonderful discussions with many Mourides—including a deep and enlightening one Robert, Darryl and I had tonight with Vieux. And it is very clear to me and to others that God’s blessing—and the blessings of many of God’s faithful people—have been upon this pilgrimage of ours.
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Posted by: Volunteer in Peru | May 18, 2011 at 06:31 AM