A believer in the United States had been praying for a few years to meet a person of peace during his regular visits to the local mosque. One day a young Muslim man almost knocked him down as they accidentally bumped into each other… Quickly a friendship developed based on a deeply felt, heart-level connection. An invitation was soon extended, and accepted, for the young man and five other friends of his to come to the believer’s house for halal tea. These young men had been sent to the States by their government to earn a Masters degree in Economics. Their wives and children had soon come to join them.
That simple tea developed into much more and over the next three to four years they did life together while studying the kingdom of God. They would feast together and then study their respective Scriptures as a group. Over and over these studies would eventually lead to Jesus, his kingdom, his personhood, and his message. These were glorious times and God would show up.
After growing close together, the students invited their new American friends to visit their extended families back in their home country. That trip was nothing short of a travelling feast as they moved from home to home enjoying the warmth of hospitality. They not only met with family members, but with scholars, including one of the founding members of an Islamic movement in the region. The scholar insisted that they visit his home too on their next visit. All of these doors opened because of the love that was shown for the visiting students.
These new friends shared that their views of Christians had changed forever. The kingdom of God spreads and grows like leaven. One of the group, who had usually appeared to be the hardest, shared his change of perspective with a local house church member
“When I came to your country I was so full of judgement and criticism. Then I met you and your friends and God has changed my heart. I did not know that people like you existed”
Muslims are not expecting kindness from Evangelicals and when we show it to them it melts their hearts.
While visiting the students’ home country, the Holy Spirit planted an idea to visit the country once or twice a year and to lead dialogue tours. When this idea was shared with the Muslim host families they loved it. Their only request was that this would be done with a Muslim partner organization to keep everything legal. This is a reasonable request and cooperative efforts are currently under-way with a Muslim Center in the U.S. that specializes in dialogue tours.
In May and June of 2011 there will be an exploratory trip where the American believers will meet with key Muslim leaders in the country to work on organizing the dialogue tour. They will be staying with Muslim families who are eager to meet these American Christians who showed such kindness to their relatives. This is an open door for the kingdom of God to expand into these networks. The prayer is that an organizational center can be established in the capital and a second leading city with the blessing of Islamic leaders. The visa would be granted with the understanding that the Americans come as “faith-based diplomats.” Every effort is made to honor relationships and keep everything transparent and open.
Editor’s note – To protect the innocent, this article has had names and locations removed. Anyone interested in reaching the author can contact H2H.
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