This is a condensed version of my final write-up for the Fellows Alliance. See full version on my new blog here:
http://worldfaith.wordpress.com/2008/06/03/in-closing/
Reflecting on the past year as a part of IFYC Fellows Alliance is a difficult undertaking. Though the intent initially was likely based on trainings and campus work, I feel like the best parts of it were by-products of this intent, such as the great opportunities I was granted from the IFYC, and the potentially life-lasting friendships that started out of the fellowship.
The contact network I have developed with IFYC’s staff’s help is global and powerful, and I am sure that I will continue to utilize it as a develop World Faith further as an organization, but I do not believe that even the contacts are the most valuable aspect of the year. I believe the most lasting impact of the Fellow’s Alliance on my life with be that of personal connections.
The fellowship will most likely remind me of the mixture of parsing Bob Marley lyrics, discussing theological friction-points, and theorizing program ideas with Soofia Ahmed, Farah Qureshi, and Hafsa Kanjal. Or perhaps having some of the most blunt discourses possible with Jessica Kent and Anne Bouthilette. Even possibly being completely and obnoxiously unproductive and crazy with Joshua Stanton and Nadeem Modan, or holding jovial yet inspiring conversations with Austin Maness. Every Fellow represents more than a contact to me, but a memory and a friend. The staff of IFYC represents more than just human resource, but mentors and family. As a Christian, I believe that God is Love, and where Love is, God has blessed. This rubric elucidates the value of our work, as we are able to live as examples of what interfaith cooperative can look like, in a world of compassion and understanding.
As I conclude this paragraph, I am completely my year-long commitment to the Fellow’s Alliance. However, with the end of the Fellowship, I see the beginning of a career in making the interfaith movement, a long journey in personal growth in faith, and life-long friendships that will remind us why we even bothered to try to make a difference in the first place.
In Peace and Love,
Frank Fredericks
Former IFYC Fellow
