What one Canadian street could teach the world about religious harmony

A sikh, two muslims, a jew, a christian and a buddhist walk into a room.

The six men aren’t putting in place a punchline, however keeping a community meeting right here on no 5 street in richmond, british columbia.

Balwant sanghera has been planning the drift for the yearly canada day parade, and reminds every body that they are able to take part. Azeem moledina wants to speak about weekend parking. Abba brodt would love to make the street greater pedestrian-friendly. Frank klassen is new to the vicinity and is meeting many for the primary time.


All in all, it’s a quite regular neighbourhood association assembly, filled with cups of tea and small talk.

But no 5 street isn't always a regular neighbourhood - the road and the surrounding region is domestic to approximately 20 locations of worship: buddhist and hindu temples, a sunni and a shia mosque, and numerous churches, preaching in english, mandarin, minnanese, cantonese, arabic, hindi, and punjabi.

Sanghera, a member of the gurdwara nanak niwas, or sikh temple, likes to name it the dual carriageway to heaven.

“i do not suppose there may be any [other] place like this,” he says.

'a lifeline'
When you consider that 2013, mr sanghera has been encouraging contributors from all the homes of worship on the street to meet each few months.

“it offers everyone a lifeline to remember the fact that there’s so much that unites us,” says abba brodt, the head teacher at richmond jewish day school.

Brodt stocks sanghera’s enthusiasm for the network, and has helped organised volunteer events for his college students and students from az-zahraa islamic academy, round the corner at the no. 5 street.

“i assume every discern understands what we’re looking to do, it’s not approximately politics, it’s about looking to do suitable in this global.”
Spiritual concord doesn’t always come naturally, sanghera admits.

Despite the fact that they are proper round the corner to each different, many organizations on the street nonetheless stick with what he calls their personal “cubby hollow,” not often venturing out of doors their very own cultural or religious community.

Sanghera lived thru the warfare among india and pakistan in 1965 and says he has seen first-hand how inaccurate ideals approximately cultural superiority can lead to violence.

“a few humans get so hung up on 'oh my faith is better than yours!' and that’s wrong, that’s some thing we've got to triumph over.”

So sanghera is possibly the most important cheerleader for the toll road to heaven as a symbol for canadian multiculturalism, usually cooking up a brand new hobby for human beings to do, be it serving a communal lunch in the gurudwara’s kitchen, or building a float in the annual canada day parade.

Abba brodt
Abba brodt

Inner
But now not every trouble is without problems solved via greater parking or parade floats.

Last wintry weather, a gunman killed six men all through night prayers at a quebec town mosque, which left many muslims across canada feeling alone and afraid.
The act of hate made it clean why the toll road to heaven remains very a lot wanted, says azeem moledina, a member of az-zahraa islamic centre, who does public members of the family for the mosque.

“it turned into a snowstorm, i recall. It became bloodless, it was sub-zero temperatures, the roads have been slippery, however i had communities from all over richmond come with the aid of,” he says.

“they held their palms together and that they supported us in our time of grief and disappointment, because it turned into a time of grief and disappointment for all of canada.”


Mourners attend the funeral of the men killed at a quebec metropolis mosque
Mourners attend the funeral of the men killed at a quebec city mosque
Heaven and earth
No five avenue wasn’t constantly such a heavenly destination.

For many years, it was only a sleepy with the aid of-way at the outskirts of richmond, a suburb of vancouver.

On one aspect of the street, there were acres and acres of farmland. On the alternative, a quiet row of mid-century homes.

However inside the Eighties, the metropolis of richmond discovered itself inside the middle of an immigration increase, with learners pouring in from china, the philippines, taiwan and india.
With them, they added no longer simplest the languages, cuisines and traditions in their home countries, but their religions as properly.

One of the first establishments to come back to the street became the gurudwara.

Individuals offered an 11-acre farm and farmhouse on no five road in 1984, and converted the farmhouse into an area of worship.

Other faiths soon followed, and in 1990, the city rezoned the vicinity to officially allow cultural and religious firms to build alongside the street.

As the road grew, immigrants constructed huge cultural hubs where they couldn't handiest coaching their faith, but be reminded of wherein they arrive from.

View from the air close to the north quit of no 5 avenue looking in the direction of vancouver (city of richmond archive)
View from the air close to the north quit of no five street searching in the direction of vancouver (city of richmond archive)

“each time we worship i'm reminded of the way my ancestors worshipped,” says jonathan wang, even as sipping tea in the library of ling yen mountain temple.

In another room, nuns in putty-coloured gowns are chanting softly, while worshippers quietly move inside and out of the temple’s difficult courtyard.

Constructed in 1996, the temple is through far one of the maximum amazing homes on the motorway, with lush gardens, colorful work of art and ornate gilded eaves.

A small pear tree flourishes on its expansive grounds, a nod to the land’s agricultural past.



Faith did no longer strike mr wang ; for him, it changed into greater of a slow awakening.

For years, he dropped his wife off on no. Five road with out going in the temple himself. However as he grew older, he says, he began thinking more approximately what might be awaiting him after dying.

He longed to hook up with his circle of relatives back in taiwan, and he came to cherish buddhist teachings of reincarnation.

“i came to see it not simply as a buddhist temple but as a network where people come to get in touch with their lifestyle.”

'not a smorgasbord'
At the meeting, frank klassen is notably quiet. He’s been a pastor at trinity pacific church for almost a 12 months, but it’s his first-time meeting the various men around the table, and he has some trepidation.

Can they shake palms in their faith? Is it rude to drink tea if others are fasting? Who's vegetarian and who isn’t?

“there’s type of a careful studying every different that takes time,” he says.

Placed at once throughout from ling yen mountain temple, trinity pacific is a part of the church of god (anderson) movement, which emphasises personal religion and one’s relationship with god over liturgical practice.


The significance of this dating to his church and his religion could make rev klassen experience a bit “queasy” when human beings talk approximately the “motorway to heaven”.

“in the long run the road that ends in heaven is a narrow path, it’s not a smorgasbord,” he says.

Rev klassen stated he’s happy to participate in community activities and wants to be an excellent neighbour however in the long run he’s extra involved with strengthening the religion of his own congregation.

Training musical worship at trinity pacific
Working towards musical worship at trinity pacific
After leaving the meet-and-greet with his neighbours, he pulls out his bible and turns to matthew 7:14.

“input through the narrow gate," he reads.

"for wide is the gate and extensive is the road that ends in destruction, and lots of enter thru it. But small is the gate and slender the street that results in lifestyles, and only a few locate it.”


Disaster and friendship
When the canadian authorities announced it'd be dramatically growing the wide variety of syrian refugees allowed into the u . S . In 2015, it caused an outpouring of support from throughout the u . S ..

It was no extraordinary at the motorway to heaven.

The bc muslim affiliation, a sunni mosque and cultural association located across the nook from no 5 road, on blundell avenue, had worked with church corporations both on and stale the motorway to sponsor refugees earlier than.

But this become the primary time they might be making use of to sponsor refugees on their very own. Their neighbours on the highway supported them, giving money, meals and kitchen gadgets. After raising extra than c$500,000, the mosque changed into allowed to sponsor forty seven refugees to return to canada.

The assignment changed into specifically near the coronary heart of shawkat hasan, who spearheaded the campaign.

He changed into just a boy while the first arab-israeli battle broke out inside the past due Forties and his circle of relatives fled from the metropolis of ramla to a united nations refugee camp. At some point, in a bag of clothing donated by way of the red move, he determined a word pinned internal a man’s coat.

“please write me returned,” the word said in english, together with an cope with in abbotsford, british columbia.

The eight-yr-old hasan did, and as a consequence began his long correspondence with isaac braun, a mennonite from canada who changed into concerned with raising money to help refugees.

Shawkat hasan
Shawkat hasan
The 2 struck up a friendship that would bring them each halfway round the sector.

Braun attended hasan’s excessive faculty graduation and helped him get right into a mennonite university within the usa, which in turn set hasan at the direction to a process with the united international locations refugee organization in europe.

Hasan says that it became braun, a mennonite, who taught him about the impact that one individual can have on the lives of others.

“we are all humans created by way of the same god for the same destiny,” hasan says, even as sitting outdoor the bc muslim affiliation earlier than night prayers.

"human beings are arguing and killing each other for no motives, except to create more misery.”

Whilst he was ultimately prepared to retire and his very own  daughters have been ready to go to university, hasan determined to move his circle of relatives to canada, where braun had lived.

“in canada, as quickly as you step out of the airplane you aren't any one-of-a-kind than every person else,” he says. "i like this, and i think this is an instance for the relaxation of the world.”