Amanda Wiley and Rana Al-Husein became friends when one day at Target, Wiley's son asked Al-Husein why she covers her head. Al-Husein said she was grateful for the chance to explain her Muslim faith.

Amanda Wiley and Rana Al-Husein became friends when one day at Target, Wiley's son asked Al-Husein why she covers her head. Al-Husein said she was grateful for the chance to explain her Muslim faith. / GPB

For almost a decade, a group of women from around Macon of various faiths, Judaism, Islam and Christianity,  have been meeting in an effort to push back against the misunderstandings between their faiths and to foster a sense of community.

Over the years they’ve had book clubs and service projects, but one constant in their group is their monthly lunches. Now, inspired by those lunches, the Women’s Interfaith Alliance of Central Georgia is putting together a cook book full of the recipes that have fed the members along their journey. 

Sharing The Foods Of Faith

Marlene And Rasha

Rasha Aimach demonstrates how to put together a fattoush salad, a dish popular during the fasting of Ramadan in Islam but which also has roots in Syrian Christianity.

Rasha Aimach demonstrates how to put together a fattoush salad, a dish popular during the fasting of Ramadan in Islam but which also has roots in Syrian Christianity. / GPB

"You can go to IHOP and get potato pancakes, so it's not just a Jewish thing anymore," -Marlene Humphrey

 

A Staple Of Muslim Fasting With Christian Roots

Plates filled with food from the lunch spread, left. Interfaith alliance members listen as their colleagues explain the foods they chose to share.

Plates filled with food from the lunch spread, left. Interfaith alliance members listen as their colleagues explain the foods they chose to share. / GPB

 

Food For The Mind, Food For The Body

Carolyn Holmes said she struggled to think of a dish you could call explicitly Christian. Thinking back to the way she'd seen Southerners respond to death, illness and the call to comfort a neighbor all her life, her mind turned to the casserole.

Carolyn Holmes said she struggled to think of a dish you could call explicitly Christian. Thinking back to the way she'd seen Southerners respond to death, illness and the call to comfort a neighbor all her life, her mind turned to the casserole. / GPB

"Food speaks to people in a very specific and very unique way. It's the nourish of the body, let's say that. Like our discussions are nourish of the mind," -Rasha Aimach

 

Casseroles As A Holy Food

Leaders of the Women's Interfaith Alliance of Central Georgia say they plan to put together a cook book of the recipes their members have shared with each other.

Leaders of the Women's Interfaith Alliance of Central Georgia say they plan to put together a cook book of the recipes their members have shared with each other. / GPB

"The thing that I think first of all is casseroles. My mother took casseroles to everything. If somebody was sick, if someone died, if someone was sad... you know, when somebody is just grieving,"-Carolyn Holmes

 

 

 

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