At the hotel on Monday one of the young Muslim women engaged me in a conversation. She wanted me to understand the similarities of the Muslim faith and Christianity. I am not sure why she started this conversation, but I think she overheard me talking to the other volunteer in the dining room on how a Christian nation should respond to a crisis like this, but ministering to Muslim refugees.
Anyway she went on to explain that they believe Moses and Jesus were prophets. She covered other similarities like the belief in one God, who is the creator of all things. She stressed that the differences between our faiths is minor. I explained that unlike Islam, the true Christian faith acknowledges God's grace not works. We believe thier is nothing we can do to earn our way into heaven. Jesus is more than a prophet. He is God's son. He is devine. He died on the cross for our sins to make us righteous in God's eyes so we can have a relationship with him. I said this was not a minor difference, but a big difference that distinguishes true Christian faith from all the others.
In a non confrontational manner we continued this conversation for almost 2 hours. Only interupted for a few minutes for her to put down her prayer rug to perform her mid-day prayers. It was an interesting conversation and we did have common ground on some topics. I know she is a true believer of her faith, but one thing she revealed about thier that it is a balance between fear and hope. They fear God, they fear the stuggle with the temptations of this world and doing enough to obtain paradise. They hope because God is merciful when dealing with thier short comings. I don't know this young woman's name but I pray that someday she will find that it's possible to live not only with the assurance of hope but that she will know the assurance that Jesus died that she could have salvation.
On Monday evening I went to a worship and prayer gathering down the road at another hotel. It was a small group of about 2 dozen. They had already started so I was trying to sneak in unobtrusively, when across the room someone waved to me. It wasn't someone I met that day, so I assumed it was a young woman from Maine that I knew was over here but didn't expect to run into her so soon. I don't think I have seen her for about 4 years or so, but I knew she was working with EuroRelief. I went over and greeted her, then sat down for the worship and prayer time. At the end we were supposed to pair up with someone to share prayer requests with. I ended up paired up with her. We shared a lot about the purpose of our being here. It seems like every Christian I meet realizes what an opportunity to not only provide aide for refugees physical needs, but their introduction to the west gives us an opportunity to share the hopes and values we have in Christ Jesus. This young woman and her friend raised enough support to stay through May. It was great to hear how much God was working in her life and how mature she sounded in her faith.
At the end of the day I was struck by the strange experience of having 2 very different conversations. One with a devout Muslim and one a devout Christian. But both volunteering to help with the refugee crisis. One because of fear and obligation, the other an expression of gratitude for what God has done for her.
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