Fethullah Gulen and the Gulen Movement

...Linda Kirchner. I teach third grade at a Catholic school in Annapolis Maryland. This experience has been thoroughly enjoyable for me from start to finish. It started out with an email from of my students’ parents inviting me to consider this trip, and after pursuing it I finally ended up at a dinner and met Ali for the first time after corresponding emails. I just knew after I met him: his warmth that this was going to be a wonderful experience, and it certainly has, so thank you. Just thinking about the trip as a whole, and all the things that we have done and experienced from a historical point of view, and also things that I‘ve taught about and places that I’ve taught about, and teaching the children about their faith and actually coming to the sites where St. Paul was, umm, it is just so exciting to me and almost overwhelming. I’ve found myself on the trip a lot of times just looking out the window in awe, and not knowing what to say. When I first found out that I was going and I actually committed to it and asked my principal for the time off, she said you are going where?! And I just couldn’t wait to go back and share this experience. When I told my family I was going they were very excited for me, and when I told the thirty-five students that I teach who are my children for the year, we are very close to them. He said well why are you going there Ms. Kirchner?, and I said well, I am going somewhere where other friends are around the world, and where God’s children are that are different than us. And then, that is very much how I presented things to them. So when I go back I will share this experience with my thirty-five children, and I will just share with them the love and the warmth that I’ve experienced on this trip from the people and from the group as a whole. I’ve really enjoyed spending this time with each of you and getting to know you a little bit better. ... I really enjoyed being in the schools, I really did, and learning about them, and I think one of the things that struck me was that they studied the language, the English language. I wish that in our own school we would pursue that further. I think the idea of acceptance is one that is so important and the one that I teach, and I truly believe that when you teach a young child something that that’s how they are going to live their life. I feel a great responsibility in teaching them how to learn about their own faith but also how to live in the world with others, and this experience has helped me personally to understand that and I will be able to share that with my students, so thank you very much!