"All over the world there are young people who have it in their hearts that the clash of civilizations will not become a force of inevitability," he said, and it is important for groups across the country and world to know they are not acting alone. So IFYC goes from city to city, sharing anecdotes and connecting the narratives of diffuse groups working for a single goal.

Patel told the high school students that the single most important skill they could cultivate in this movement is the ability to find common ground. He asked how audience members’ own traditions (religious, cultural, etc.) inspire generosity and love, and then he asked what sets of values differing traditions share. By celebrating the inspiration to service in one’s own heritage, he said, an individual can recognize similar positive features in another. While youth work together on IFYC service projects such as building houses and taking part in international exchanges, they nurture their own self-identity and an ultimate sense of interconnectivity.

For more information on IFYC's work, visit IFYC. Dr. Eboo Patel's book, Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle of the Soul of a Generation is available online and at bookstores everywhere.