Using Imagination

If you haven’t checked out our new

Internship opportunities on our website, we hope you will. Even if they aren’t geared for you, maybe you know someone who would be interested? Many folks tell us they just aren’t interested in Muslims, but maybe that’s because they don’t know any? Read what one intern wrote about his experience with Muslim minority folks in a Western context:

Ever wondered what your life would have been like if you were born in a different country? Maybe even on a different continent or perhaps in a very different cultural setting?

What would your life look like? Which values and norms would lead you in your decision making?

To which God would you pray?

During my stay in [City ‘X’] I met people who mostly grew up in a Muslim background. At their birth their father said the call to prayer in their ear. From childhood they saw their parents practicing their religion. And they soon got an idea of the lifestyle a Muslim should be leading: praying five times a day, fasting during Ramadan, giving donations, reading the Qur’an, respecting and loving family members, acting and dressing in a modest way, etc.

Or to sum it up, just being good.

I remember a time in my life where I’ve tried to be good, too, but in a Christian way: praying at least a certain number of times each day, giving donations, reading the Bible, respecting and loving my neighbor, acting and dressing in a modest way, and yes, at times even fasting!

I was longing for God, longing for a relationship with him, longing for to be close to him, longing for security. I thought that if did as much as I could, God would be gracious and meet me half-way.

In [City ‘X’] I rediscovered the same desire for God in many Muslim people I met. With all seriousness and discipline they were trying to obey all the rules, be good enough, stay pure, reach up to God, live right, and ultimately, gain eternal life.

I was deeply touched by this honest longing for God I shared with these people!

I didn’t grow up in a Muslim background, but was raised in a Christian home, and heard stories about Jesus. Eventually I gained more and more understanding of what it means to have a relationship with God. It is not me working my way up to him, but him humbling himself down to me. It’s not him meeting me half-way, for he came 100 % of the way. There is nothing I have to do in order to earn that relationship—no praying, fasting, giving, reading, acting and even loving will accomplish it. He has done everything. It is finished! And he did it because of his grace and compassion. And not just for the sake of me and other Christians, but because of his grace and compassion for the entire world!

In my internship, I was touched by the honest longing for God I saw in many Muslims.  I came to realize that the message they deeply need to hear is the Good News I have heard many times before!

How can I stay silent? How can I not share the Story with them? How can I not introduce them to a God whose character is grace and compassion, who does not choose to act on the basis of my good deeds, but has already done everything needed to make this relationship possible?

The Gospel is God’s Great Treasure!

Let’s share it!