ADA, Mich. - "To go to Israel is to see the Bible come alive," says Rabbi Michael Shaddick who helped to coordinate a trip to Jerusalem.
"It was extraordinary, the opportunity to travel as a group of Pastors, Rabbis and an Imam together, it was a striking privilege," says Pastor Bob Linstrom.
The clergy from West Michigan traveled to Jerusalem in January partly because they wanted to understand each other's faiths better. They reflected on the trip as they gathered for dinner in Ada, on Monday night.
"One day we went to the river Jordan where Prophet Jesus Christ stood, the holy place and I stood there with my Christian and Jewish friends," said Imam Sahibzada.
"At each site we had the privilege of, if it was a Jewish site to find the Christian and Muslim perspective and they listened very carefully to us and we did to them but the most significant thing was to find again and again what we had in common," says Linstrom.
After finding so much in common, it makes it difficult for the religious leaders to watch the current situation unfold in Syria.
"This violence, it is very real to us because we were just there and it reminds us how unnecessary it is and if only we could all break bread the way we do in Grand Rapids, we would all and the world would be so much better off," says Shaddick.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the WZZM 13 app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@wzzm13.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter.