BU Students Take on D.C.

Photos provided by Hannah McWilliams.

Bluefield University students were invited to Washington, D.C., March 16-19. The objective of this trip, funded by a grant from Interfaith America, was to provide students with an educational experience that enhances their interfaith knowledge of different religions across the nation. 

While in D.C., the students visited the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC), the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). 

Courtney Frame and Hannah McWilliams participated in the trip. McWilliams said her favorite part of the experience was by far the Bible museum.

“I loved learning about Jesus and the history behind His life and His ancestors’ life,” McWilliams said. “The museum had a lot of interactive things that helped me learn.”

McWilliams also spoke about how she learned that a lot of races and religions get a lot of hate.

“I think it dawned on me when we went to the Holocaust Museum,” she said. “The Jewish people were treated poorly just because of who they were. It wasn’t just Jews that Hitler hated though; he hated anything that was not what he wanted the world to look like. Seeing the shoes that were worn when the Jews were killed broke my heart into pieces. They were just humans, like me and you.” 

McWilliams said the BU group also went to the African American Museum, which is where for her she said it all connected.

“People were targeted because of how they looked,” McWilliams said. “Even today, it is happening.”

McWilliams said the main thing she took away from trip was that everybody deserves freedom in their faith.

“I think it opened my eyes that the world doesn’t revolve around me,” she said. “There are other people who deserve what I have. I think we take our religious freedom for granted because some people don’t have the freedom to go to a church of their choice or to pray out in the open. Christians have more freedom in America than in other third world countries. I think that as Christians, we just need to love one another.” 

“I give you a new command: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.” — John 13:34

Frame said her favorite part of the D.C. trip was the Holocaust Museum.

“I am not a fan of history, but there was just something about it (the Holocaust Museum) that really fascinated me,” Frame said. “It was a very touching experience to actually take the time to learn about what actually happened during that time.”

Frame said aside from the pre-scheduled activities, she also fenjoyed getting to explore the city on her own during the evening hours.

“I am a city person, and I just felt at home,” she said. Frame said she also learned that, in general, we do not know as much about other cultures and religions as we think we do.

“Economics plays a huge role in religions and faiths,” Frame said, “and I did not realize that prior to the trip.”