Monthly Archives: March 2021

Assuming broadly though that Muslim women are oppressed (I plan to explore this issue in future Muslim Connect editions.), how should we respond? What if anything should we, or some of us, do?

I favor, though certainly don’t always practice, taking productive action. Rather than telling our circles again, “Muslim women are oppressed. Hijabs are bad!” let’s find practical responses that make a difference.

For instance, some good friends are laying it on the line as they seek to establish a series of safe houses for Muslim background women.

That might be too big a leap for you right now. It sure is for me. So what might you and I do?

Read something by a Muslim woman. Browse here and here. (To be sure, we won’t agree with every opinion expressed on these sites.)

Encourage gatekeepers to offer Muslim women a chance to find safety and deliverance in your country.

Buy a stack of the Muslim World Prayer Guide and pray through it with some friends this coming Ramadan (April 13-May 12).

Peruse the resources at The Truth Collective. If you like what you see (and you’re a woman!), consider attending their Written on Her Heart Conference.

Finally, next time you see a hijab-wearing woman in the media, thank God for her precious life and pray it gets way more abundant. When you see one in real life, smile at her like the Jesus-loving wild thing you are! If you’re a man, pray all kinds of hope and life over her. If you’re a fellow female, exercise your freedom in Christ and say hello.

Another email landed in my inbox this past week. This one in part sharing an article designed to fan flames of fear and anger because, get this: A woman in a hijab participated in a press briefing at the White House. I have a hunch this reflects similar squawking from years past when the first woman gave a press briefing! (History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme!)

Her name is Sameera Fazili, the new Deputy Director of the National Economic Council and no light weight! We’re blessed to have someone so whip smart helping lead the nation. (To be fair, the one who shared the email with me did so for purposes of prayer.)

When you find yourself growing weary in the struggle to think about Muslims the way God does and love them like Jesus, maybe try these two things that help me:

1. Wriggle your way into giving a missions talk! No, I’m serious. The size of the audience is not the main thing, but shoot for your whole church! The chief benefit will be the research and prep you do. And when your brain hears the conviction in your voice, it will agree, “Yes, we do believe this stuff. Keep pouring on the coal!”
2. Hang out with crazy vision people. I recently reconnected with a friend as he paused in the midst of a weeks-long international trip. He’s putting his own body on the line to see what can happen right now for people groups not only without a church (unreached), but also, as far as we can tell, with no one working for the Gospel at all (unengaged).DW is a little older than me, an honest three times smarter, and has vision, pardon my French, out the wazooo! God uses him to strengthen my soul.

I hope you have people like him you can call on when your conviction caves a bit. You also probably have other ways to shore up flagging passion. Please help us by sharing them below or with me.

With that hope in mind, can I point your fertile imaginations down a winsome avenue? When we can once again be with people, how might we be with Muslims? Here’re some ideas I’m anticipating:

1. Plan to take someone to a mosque. It’s so good, though scary, for Christians to cross the threshold of a mosque. There is power and liberation in learning “those people” are simply people. Although we disagree in fundamental ways, in similarly fundamental ways, we’re pursuing the same ends. Now’s the time to reach out and set things in motion.
2. Easter may be too soon, but plan now to have a Muslim family over for a Memorial Day bbq or a 4th of July shindig. The Easter tips here work for most holidays.
3. Host a cooking class. I really try not to ask you to do anything I haven’t or wouldn’t do, but this one’s iffy. I might gather a cooking class, but only if someone else, ideally an amazing Muslim cook did the teaching. (Unless the guests wanted to learn to bake sourdough bread. Poorly. Like a rank beginner!)

You may just be hoping to hug your mom or, oddly enough, see the inside of a McDonalds. I hear you. But may God fill us with faith, sanctify our imaginations and supply us with strength to connect with Muslims here, there and everywhere.

Feisty Action Alert: I signed a petition this morning to ask President Biden to immediately, “follow through on your commitment by signing the updated presidential determination for FY 2021, which would increase the refugee ceiling to 62,500.” Join me?