On Monday 12th November 2018 members of Wessex Jamaat were invited to visit St Peter's Church in Titchfield by the Vicar Reverend Susan Allman and her congregation. St Peter's church, only a few minutes away from the Al Mahdi Centre, shares a special link with Islam as it was first built in the very same year that the tragedy of Karbala occurred. This amazing fact, combined with the years of friendship between the communities of Wessex Jamaat and St Peter's Church, made this visit an extra special one.
Attendees were given a tour of the beautiful and historic church and learnt about various aspects of Christian symbolism and faith, including a detailed explanation of the concept of baptism, in which Christians are given something akin to ablution, in the font (basin) within the church to symbolise a declaration of their Christian faith and their service and submission to God and Jesus. After being given a demonstration of the organ within the church, attendees had the opportunity to get to know each other through individual conversations, discussions and even making doves in an origami session, led by Reverend Susan Allman. The younger children were able to play together and create various drawings.
As a sign of peace and friendship, doves were made in the origami session. Making the doves was great fun; it was good to be able to laugh together as everyone, tried to get to grips with the technicalities. Just like doing origami was not easy, so too making peace is not easy; it requires a lot of perseverance, 
but this is what we are all called to because we all serve the God of peace. With the help of God, let us pray that our young people will be instrumental in helping us move forward into a more peaceful future.
The doves were hung across the wooden screen in church as a reminder of our time together.
"That there was such a good response from the Al Mahdi families and ours at St. Peter's Church. I think everyone had a good time and it was delightful to see everyone happily engaged in conversation with one another, right for the beginning. There is really no awkwardness and we are able to talk with one another even about some of the trickier issues, as well as asking questions about things we are unsure about. Praise be to God for bringing us to this point! ", commented Reverend Susan.
Wessex Jamaat would like to thank Reverend Susan Allman for her kind invitation and we look forward to the further growth of this special relationship between our communities.
With salaams and duas,
Fazle Abbas Datoo
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Resident Alim
Wessex Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat