Open for Worship

9 September 2010
a photo of a locked  church

Traveling Peace Academy | Asia Region

Two sects of the Syrian Christian Church in Kerala India reopened their churches and resumed peaceful worship this year after leaders of several Cooperation Circles in southern India helped negotiate a truce in a century-old conflict that was threatening to break out in a new round of violence. The conflict has claimed numerous lives over the years and caused the closure of 300 churches in the region. Inspired by their participation in the pilot of URI’s new Traveling Peace Academy training program, the CCs initiated an unprecedented dialogue between leaders and lay people from both sides that, along with international pressure, persuaded them to pull back from the brink.