Monthly Archives: February 2023

When did you last consider how pagan your version of Christianity is? I’m being intentionally provocative, but it’s not a bad idea to do an inventory from time to time: What is legit Bible, what is simply my tribe’s approach, what is American culture, what is the fruit of my own dark heart? With all those in mind, in what way is Christianity a tool I use to both make sense of the world and to survive in it? 

I ask this because I’m wondering about Folk Islam, the reality for most Muslims that the pure Islam of the Quran is mixed with the religion their people previously followed and a blender full of other practices and convictions. 

I know my tendency when thinking about that is to roll down hill to a place that says, “How quaint and sad (“pathetic” on a feisty day) that those people are superstitious and afraid. How pleasant that I am not.” 

Nothing renders us impotent as quickly as smug assurance (masking as confidence) that we don’t deal with what those others do. 

That said, most Muslims really do add to the Quran and Hadith a variety of practices designed to increase the odds of good things happening, ie. a baby boy being born, and bad things not, sickness, job loss, crop failure. 

Approaching Muslims in whole mannermust include curiosity beyond understanding the five pillars to include all the fascinating power grabs, desperate hopes, and merit-bearing habits that make up real Islam.

Two reasons, among thousands, this matters: 1. Empathy. Feeling another’s fear and pain knits our hearts to theirs. 2. Access. If you understand another’s fear and pain and, almost beyond belief, you have a fix for it, they might just listen to you, finding life in the process. Of course, they might also run you off. Jesus experienced both. 

Please check the two minute video I just posted telling the story that sparked this Folk Islam train of thought.

As the number of dead in Turkey and Syria passes 40,000, I’m wondering how you are handling this. Do you, like me, sometimes just turn away because you can’t process it? I’m guessing your mind is often turned toward prayer for the suffering and those serving on the ground.

If you’re wondering what you can do, here are three things I’m thinking about:

Give
Of course money helps in the immediate aftermath of such tragedies. I encourage you to give your own money, but also to mobilize your tribe. What if you set an amount to give and asked your friends to contribute to match it? What about asking your church to make an emergency contribution now and then add Turkish/Syrian relief funds to your next church budget?

There are many places to give. Here are two I trust: Frontiers and MRDS. 

Get Ready
Looking out several months, when the intense attention has faded, but the challenge still remains, how might God use us in his continuing work in Turkey and Syria? We’ll likely see an uptick in Syrian refugees coming to the U.S. How might your church respond? Is now a good time to start building a Welcome Corp plan so you’re ready to bring over a family? My friend and author D.C. Keane suggests preparing for future ministry by looking into trauma care training from Trauma Healing Institute or Multiplying Hope. 

Go
Have you ever felt a nudge to move to Turkey or Syria? I sure have. Is it possible this tragedy might serve as a catalyst for you to put your skills and passions to work there? As rescue moves to recovery to rebuilding, may God open many doors for believers from all over to extend the kindness and hope of Jesus to Turks, Syrians and Kurds. 

If you could use a little good news, hop over to this video I just posted. You’ll get to see our Colorado winter wonderland and hear an amazing report, all in about 90 seconds! While you’re there, I’d appreciate you subscribing to the channel. It’s approaching 100 subscribers!

As a novice biologist in a former life, visiting Côte d’Ivoire presented me unexpected gifts: A roadside vendor selling a freshly dead Civit Cat for travelers to take home to Mom in the city, seeing cashews grow on the bottom of an edible fruit and drinking in the glorious greens of lush West African jungle. 

It was a deeper gift to hang with the “beautiful feet” group of women and men who have pledged themselves to bring good news to the most unreached parts of their country. They will live lean and largely unseen, save for a small audience of supporters and a Father who must be delighted in their sacrifice of service.

I was also reminded of our tendency to stereotype and look down on parts of our country or state as backward or wrong-headed. For instance, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1.46) “The South,” California or in Colorado: Pueblo. In the Ivory Coast, many look down on Bouna, the city and region where our new missionary friends are working. The idea, both in and beyond the Ivorian Church that “up there” is backward and unsafe contributes to a dearth of gospel effort. 

Finally, when I began to advocate for unengaged people groups a couple years ago, God gave me the Bozo of Mali as a challenging example: They’re fishermen who live in tough places. They’re also nomads, so it’s a different tough place from time to time. But get this: One of the local missionaries we met is moving this week to a Ivorian village where Bozo live! I saw them there, fishing nets drying in the sun! The kingdom is breaking through for the Bozo.

Thank you so much to Muslim Connect readers who gave over the past year to allow this trip to happen. I believe your gifts have contributed to kingdom advance. Want to see and hear a bit of Côte d’Ivoire? Watch the 90 Second Muslim Connect videos I’ve posted. I’d be thrilled to have you subscribe to that channel and receive ongoing, fresh content. Thanks.

I love a nice overlap. Like when a sermon can be used for an article or a trip to the grocery takes you by your favorite thrift store. 

Here’s my current overlap: Today is the second day of Black History Month in the U.S., there is a shared history among Islam and African and Caribbean Americans, my friend hooked me up with an amazing Black History Month prayer calendar, and I’m writing while en route to the Ivory Coast to see if God may open a door of outreach to Muslims there!

So much fun!

Some of Islam’s first steps in the Americas were taken by West African slaves brought here. Muslim slaves made up a minority and faced many challenges in maintaining their faith. But some stood out, including one man who left an entire Quran in Arabic, written from memory. (I know you’re remembering your Sunday School teacher or Navs discipler asking you, “How much scripture do you have memorized!”)

Then in the heady civil rights days of mid-last century, some Black Americans found a home in a new version of an ancient faith, the recently founded Nation of Islam. While a side current to main stream Sunni Islam, it seemed to provide what many Blacks were looking for. 

Does your church formally recognize Black History Month? Mine doesn’t and I’m wondering why. 

So I’m planning to do two things:
1. Ask my pastor if we can distribute this calendar.
2. I’m going to listen a lot this month. For the next few days to Ivorians. I know a little north of nothing about Muslims in Côte d’Ivoire. I need to learn. 

For that matter, I also need to learn about Blacks here in the U.S. Maybe you’ve got a book you’d recommend for starters. 

If you’ve read this far, can I ask a favor? Click here to watch the first ever 90 Sec Muslim Connect video. It will tell you about the trip to CI and some ways to pray. If you subscribe, you’ll get an alert when the second one drops and maybe see the first footage you’ve ever witnessed from Ivory Coast!