Monthly Archives: January 2023

You know something? Sometimes I swear at Muslims. Big groups of them and sometimes even individuals. That might be surprising if you know my bias toward them.

I love Muslims and long to see them receive the life Jesus has in mind for them, but sometimes I just don’t get it. Mind if I share with you?

Even though I detest it, I understand Sunnis and Shias battling over land and power. Heck, in my own backyard American Christians call for civil war against other self-avowed Christians. But I don’t understand killing people because they’re doing the religion wrong. 

Last week, I swore at Hassan Muawiya, a Sunni Deobandi cleric who goes around Pakistan asking the police to prosecute Ahmadis for blasphemy, a crime punishable by death there.

If you don’t know who Ahmadis are, I don’t blame you. They comprise a small and unorthodox sect of Islam, numbering between 10 and 20 million and in my limited experience are among the nicest people ever. But they’re in the bullseye. 

On January 12, nine Ahmadis were killedin their mosque in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Their Muslim attackers attempted to persuade them to recant their views and when they refused, killed them. 

Protestants and Catholics have killed each other in the past, so our slate is not clean, but I honestly don’t get this. I’m thinking these killings would be roughly parallel to an Evangelical killing a steadfast Mormon. Would God be pleased by that? Nope. 

I’ve got to think the fondness and care for minorities Jesus showed as he walked through Galilee carries on for minorities today, whether they be Christian, off-center Muslims or any other stripe of humanity.

You love Jesus, right? You want to follow his teaching and example, right? Then join me for a little happy dance: Yesterday the US State Department launched a program called Welcome Corps. Finally, American citizens can band together and sponsor refugees. 

Just the facts, Ma’am:
“Refugees” not “immigrants” (documented or not): Welcome Corps allows for private sponsorship of vetted, documented legal refugees. Most will initially come from Sub-Saharan Africa. This effort is distinct from the issues on our southern border. 

What do sponsors do? In groups of five, sponsors will “take on tasks like securing and furnishing initial housing, greeting the refugee newcomers at the airport, enrolling children in school, and helping adults find employment.”

Who pays for this? The sponsors will be required to have $2275 per refugee they sponsor. 

Two things that I like about Welcome Corps: 
It’s politically ambidextrous! If you’re blue, “Yay, we’re helping marginalized people.” If you’re red, “Good, we’re giving power from the government back to the people.” If you’re Christian, well, our Jesus does have a soft spot for people who got dealt a bad hand. 

It’s timely relative to the employment environment. Anecdotally, the Department of Corrections in my state, Colorado, currently has over 1700 openings! Other agencies are similarly understaffed. 

The pilot effort is looking for 10,000 Americans who can help 5000 refugees. A quick peek at the Church Angel website says there are over 4000 churches in Colorado alone! Seems likely that Christians around the country could step up and say, “Hey, we got this!” 

Can you think of five local friends whose gifts, resources and connections compliment yours? My mind is spinning! Get started here. And please let me know what you think about Welcome Corps. 

Special thanks to readers who weighed in with info and advice for my upcoming trip to Ivory Coast. If you haven’t yet, please open and read last week’s Muslim Connect.

Maybe you can relate to this: I love America, feel like I generally fit in the culture and, at least to a small degree, recognize the privilege that comes with being born here. That said, thinking about visiting a different country makes my eyes light up and my heart race a bit. Familiar?

In a couple weeks two really good buds and I will go to Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire if you want to be really accurate, French or you’re trying to impress a girl!). We’re going to meet a guy there from a Muslim background who loves Jesus and is pursuing a number of smart ways to enable his people to consider the claims of Christ. The four of us are wondering if some American churches might partner with him in God-honoring ways to see the kingdom grow. 

I share this with you because I think you might say, “Oooooh, fun!” But also because you might know some things or people I should know before I depart. And because I want to ask you to pray for us. 

If you’ve got advice, please let me hear it. 

If you’re inclined to pray, here are some ideas:

1. I’m not the best guy to get any ducks in a row, but that’s my role with this trip. Please pray I wouldn’t miss important details like what pants to wear, how to make phones work in CI and plane tickets. 
2. Pray for the relationships between the four of us. I love each of these guys and one I’ve not met IRL yet. But we do come from different places. We need the Holy Spirit’s help.
3. Please pray for the families and churches we’ll leave behind and ask God to bring us back to them safe and sound. 

Thank you for being with me in this. I look forward to sharing fun stuff from this trip. 

PS: If giving is your gig and you’d like to cover some of the cost of this effort, you can contribute here. (Scroll down to “Bennett Vision Trip.”) Thank you.

Got any fun New Year’s resolutions, goal, dreams? I’m hoping to build a small cadre of like-minded people who will challenge me to be the best person I can be and do the best work possible. 

It’s important, isn’t it, to have people who have your back? In all of life, for sure. And maybe particularly when you’re swimming upstream and trying to love and connect with Muslims. 

My friend Martin heads up a cool organization called Peace Catalyst that helps people become agents of peace in their neighborhoods and the world. They recently released a series of very short videos and simple prompts to get going in peace making. 

The second entry, “Lean Into Those Who’ve Got Your Back” really resonated with me:

Peacebuilding is all about relationships, so an important practice is to recognize and celebrate those who care for us, encourage us, and challenge us. Here are a couple questions to help figure out who those people are for you:

• Who’s in your support system that you can turn to when things get hard?

• Who isn’t but could be?

• What other sources of support could you look to?

I wonder about this for you. Do you have someone eager and watching to give you a high five, a quick prayer an “atta girl/boy?” We all need that. 

I’m down to be your “at a distance” cheer leader. Shoot me a message, sharing about an effort you’ve made and I’ll tell you you’re a rock star! 

Let’s also pray for each other and the many people God has rallied to extend his love and care to Muslims all over. 

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11