In an era when intolerance and prejudice can overwhelm people, the members of the Children of Abraham Coalition (COAC) highlight their active response in a new video: build peace.
Youth leaders worked together with support adults to compose a video for the Global Youth Voices: Digital Storytelling Campaign from the Journalists and Writers Foundation (JWF). The campaign seeks digital resources that can show “how interfaith dialogue has inspired understanding, unity, and collaboration in their communities.” This entry from COAC draws on Peace Camp 2025 and highlights how it is fostering deepened understanding, manifesting unity, and creating opportunities for collaboration across faith traditions.
“We learn about our faiths, meet new friends, and learn how to stand up to faith-based prejudice,” Peace Camp leader Abbey Finn said.
Fares Saffaf has been a part of every single peace camp, and he now supports the program as an adult. “Encouraging kids to stand up against hate is the very important message that peace camp teaches you,” Saffaf said.
Fr. Corey Brost, CSV, founded COAC to build understanding, respect, and relationships between Christians, Jews and Muslims of all ages. COAC events bring together Muslims, Jews and Christians to learn about each other’s religions while working together to build a world of salaam, shalom, peace.
Viatorians are committed to reading the signs of the times and moving to stand with and walk with people who society is trying to account of little importance. Fr. Brost witnessed hatred and prejudice toward religious minorities and moved to mobilize young people from the Abrahamic religions to build relationships that then bring peace. “I started peace camp because I realized there are people training our young people to hate at a very early age. They see that hate in classrooms, on social media, in friend groups – so we need to be training them to stand against hate,” Fr. Brost said.
In the Viatorian spirit of forming young people to be faith leaders, middle school students participate, and high school and college students lead Peace Camp with support from Viatorians and other adults. Participants gather at a church, a synagogue, and a mosque over the course of camp. The goal is for all young people to learn the beauty of each tradition, including by experiencing that tradition’s place of worship, and practice skills for standing up against hate.
The faithful work of these young people is a good reminder to adult ministers to continue making space for youth leadership, which is both a commitment to a strong future and an acknowledgement of the impact they can make today. “Youth are not leaders of the future. You are the leaders of the present. Go be interfaith leaders right now because you are changing the world,” Fr. Brost said.
For further reading, look back at previous Peace Camp stories from 2024, 2023, and the first Peace Camp in 2018.