On Friday, I went with the South Asian Friendship center to learn about Muslims. It was quite an experience. As I am writing, I wish I could just exclaim everything I want to say, but alas, having you read this will have to suffice. I got there and my new friend Petru was there also. He is a student in Trinity’s M Div. program. I met him on Thursday when we took the kids out to the beach. He and I were able to have some interesting conversation and I hope God will give me more chances to get to know him and learn from him. Anyways, there was a group visiting so the director of the center took the 11 of us to talk about what is going on in the world with Christians and Muslims, and then we got Indian food and headed to a Mosque. It is amazing to me how much Islam is growing here in the States and how even Christians are converting! It is scary that in not too many more years Chicago’s main religion could be Islam.
The Lord opened my eyes to how much I need to be on guard about these issues and to be bold and be willing to proclaim. There was lots of good information, more that we can talk about later. Anyways, we went to Mosque and it was pretty crazy. They filled up a pretty large room and I was taken back. There are things that I liked about it, but at the same time it is worship of a false god which is scary. I learned that there is a difference from their perspective about truth and honor. They are willing to lie to infidels if it will cause them to convert and gain honor. It is kind of a “ends justifies the means.” Which is scary because after we watched it all happen, they took us up for an introduction to Islam and Q and A session. They lied about a lot of issues. I read a book called Toward Understanding Islam before I moved here to get an understanding and they contradict themselves. It is scary that people are deceived into these practices and such. It motivates me more and more to spread the good news of Christ. After that, we headed back to the center were the director helped us debrief.
He talked about the things they changed up and allowed us to ask questions. He was very helpful and I learned a lot about it all. I feel a lot more compelled and challenged. It is pretty cool. So this evening I went to play basketball and to pray that God would give me someone to talk to or something. I ended up playing some 32 with some guys and then 1-on-1 with this guy. I had a lot of fun and was able to at least show him humility and love through playing. I did not get a chance to proclaim God’s word, but I did share life and love with him, and I hope that God will continue to nurture my relationships to those guys. I have been playing there a lot and I have been having a great time. My prayer was that God would at least allow me to gain their respect so that they would allow me to talk with them and know me by more than just “whiteboy.” He is answering prayer and I am blessed.
It is pretty awesome what God continues to do with me and teach me. I am called to be a light and a witness, I cannot make excuses anymore. I trust God and I believe He will be faithful to me, and to this community. I continue to pray God would give me boldness and strength to love and give generously. I am pumped! I cannot wait to share some of these lessons with other students and maybe I’ll even be able to take them around! Whoo! The Lord Saves!
