Jesus calls a very specific person (or in our case, a group of people) a “man of peace”. This is a reference from Luke 10:6 when Jesus sends out the 72 and tells them not to bring anything with them, but to look for the man of peace that will welcome them into their home and provide for their needs as they go out sharing the Good News.
And we found our people of peace.
For this first month on the race, my team’s ministry hosts were not Christian. In fact, they were devout Muslims. We were sent to serve in a city that had recently experienced a bombing attack in the name of their god. Needless to say, there was slight anxious anticipation on my end. This is not a typical World Race host situation, and tensions were high in the area we were going into. I really didn’t know what to expect, but all I knew was that we were invited to teach the English language and our American culture to the students of an Islamic boarding school.
It’s stereotyped that these Islamic boarding schools are working as centers where Islamic extremism is birthed. The staff and students at this school wake up as early as 3 or 4 a.m. to start their first of five daily prayers. There is no skipping or calling in sick. This is mandatory everyday, along with memorizing the Quran in Arabic and fasting twice a week.
Going into this environment, I was nervous and on edge as thoughts raced through my head. Do they know we are Christians? Is it safe to talk about the truth of what we believe? Will they kick us out if we try to share the Gospel and who Jesus really is?
Contrary to these initial perceptions, our ministry hosts and the students at this school were among the most open, welcoming, and kind people that I had ever met. We were greeted with excitement and honor as we settled into the place we called home for a month.
Within the short time we had with them, God opened several doors of opportunity to share the Gospel with the students. After teaching English, I always left time for them to ask questions. One of the first questions that an 8th grade girl asked was for me to tell them about my life. I then proceeded to give a short snippet of myself, but made sure to glorify Christ and the saving grace that I had found in Him. The very next question that was asked was, “Will you tell us the story of Jesus?”
WILL I?!
Fully engaged, these curious 8th graders were hearing the Gospel for the first time in their life! They also asked if my teammate Kelsey had his Bible. As he pulled it out, their eyes got wide and they all hovered over the Word as it got passed around the classroom and asked us to read from it.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? Only God is capable of opening doors like this!!
This is only a few of the many opportunities we had over the course of our time with them. The Gospel was shared multiple times with the students. Our squad leader spoke in front of ~1,000 Muslims and told them of the life we had in Jesus (read previous blog for that story). We also sang worship songs in places where Christ’s name is never mentioned.
And there’s more!
Not only did we get to share our culture and faith with them, but we also learned so much about theirs as well! These people were so incredibly open to teach us what the true Islamic faith is about.
And here’s what I learned…
These are kind, peaceful people. They took us in, gave us a place to rest, and fed us more food than our stomachs could handle. What the media portrays about this group of people is only telling one side of the story; the story of a very small amount of people. There’s always another side and a voice that goes unheard.
Some of the best advice that was given to me at launch was: Don’t get fat on your own words and show your love for others through a posture of listening. This whole experience would have been meaningless if all we did was share who we were without taking significant time to get to know these beautiful people. It was through this great exchange, that we all became friends. It was truly a beautiful experience to be a part of, one that I will never forget, and something I encourage everyone to go discover for themselves.
Jeremy speaking in front of the Muslim people that welcomed us (only about a quarter of attendees are shown in this picture)
teaching the 8th grade girls!
singing songs of worship at the Islamic boarding school
Sharing cultures, who we are, and our love for these people
We always ate our meals sitting together and having great conversation
hanging out with the students between classes
Our team preparing for a leadership seminar for the students
Spenc and I were two of the speakers!
the hungry learners!
