Tunisia, North Africa - 11:00 a.m. -Tues. Jul 20, 2021

Eid al-Adha, in Arabic, means the “festival of the sacrifice”.

Eid al-Adha is a holiday celebrated within Islam. It honors the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God’s command. Before Abraham could sacrifice his son, however, God provided a lamb to sacrifice instead. 

Islam believe that God called Abraham to sacrifice Ishmael. 

Christianity and Judaism believes God called Abraham to sacrifice Issac. 

Abraham and his wife Sarah was promised by God a child but struggled to believe God since they were of old age. So they took it upon themselves to produce a child with Abraham’s concubine, Hagar, Ishmael’s mother. Ishmael is Abraham’s 1st son. Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions consider Ishmael to be the ancestor of the Ishmaelites (Muslims). According to Muslim tradition, Ishmael founded a great nation as promised by God in the Old Testament. 

Sarah conceived Isaac later on. Isaac was a miracle child, born to Abraham and Sarah in their old age as the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham to make his descendants a great nation. Later, to test Abraham’s obedience since Isaac was the promise, God commanded Abraham to sacrifice the boy and Abraham was about to obey then God provided a lamb to sacrifice instead.

 Isaac became Abraham’s sole heir, though God promised that Ishmael would still raise up a great nation of his own.

Coney Island, Brooklyn, N.Y. - 6:00 a.m. - Sat. June 26, 2021 

A beautiful caribbean couple participating in the Spiritual Baptist faith prior to getting married

Trinidad Orisha (Orisha) is an uniquely Caribbean syncretic practice, involving specific elements of the Catholic faith. Orisha originated in Trinidad during the middle to late-19th century, created by  Africans who were brought to Trindad & enslaved to work on the plantations. The practice is also evidenced in other Caribbean islands like Grenada, Saint Vincent, Tobago and the Virgin Islands.

Trinidad Orisha incorporates elements of Spiritual Baptist. Some use the term “Shango Baptist” to refer to members of either or both religions. 

This faith consider themselves to be Christians. It is an Afro-Caribbean religion that combines elements of the different traditional African religions brought by the enslaved populations combined with some Christian beliefs.