On an early mid-August morning, my wife and I began our day long journey to Sandpoint, Idaho to conduct a training for people interested in learning more about the current refugee crisis. But when we arrived we found protesters outside and 170 people inside, almost all of whom were also there to protest. Here's what happened next.

At one point during the 3-hour protest, I was able to have some reasonable conversation with one angry man who was about 40 years old. His shirt said, “Jesus says you must be born again” and he wore a black beret to shield his face from the sun. As I looked into his calm blue eyes I thought, ”He looks so normal.”

With fortitude, the Muslims and all those outside of Masjid Omar Ibn al-Kuttab in Ohio practiced great restraint in the face of incredible offense. A leader of the mosque had informed friends of Peace Catalyst earlier in the morning that a hate group was planning to arrive during Friday Prayers.

The world is seemingly becoming overrun with hate and violence. We hear about yet another shooting practically daily, and almost any kind of disgruntlement or difference of opinion seems to be grounds for violence. But as we are so inundated with horror story after horror story, we’d like to bring you news of a story that turned out very differently. A story of how love can change the ending and win the day over hate and violence. A story that gives us hope that there is still something stronger in this world than fear and hatred.