Author Archives: shanedar

This Saturday we’ll commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S., arguably the most audacious, successful, dreadful acts of terror in history.

While that weighs heavy on our minds, justice seems to be creeping forward in a couple places. In Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of 9/11 is taking a step forward following many delays. Pre-trail hearings are happening now and will again in November, with the actual trial beginning as early as next April.

In France, the trial has begun for twenty people accused of involvement in the 2015 night of terror in Paris that killed 130 and injured over 400 more. With hundreds of people given the opportunity to share the impact the event had on them, the trial is expected to take up to nine months.

Two things I hope we can keep in mind in these days:

1. While specific Muslims are on trial for specific evil acts, Muslims in general are not. Most do not support these acts and in the sad calculus of Islamic terrorism, Muslims usually end up suffering the most.
2. We rarely get the justice we hope for on the timetable we want. We could easily echo Habakkuk’s poignant questions to God about when, if ever, justice will come.

God’s justice and kingdom will come. First in our submitted hearts, then ultimately extending to the ends of the earth. May the grace of Jesus help us in the meantime to say with Habakkuk, “Though. . .the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.”

“What we do in life echoes in eternity.” Marcus Aurelius

And sometimes bounces back way faster than that! 

A whip-smart and spiritual friend of mine has lately been up to her virtual ears helping Afghans get out of Dodge. Not just any Afghans who want to get out (bless their hearts and journeys), but her personal friends and their friends. Even though, like me and (probably) you, she’s never been to Afghanistan.

(Heads up, none of these names are actual.)

My friend Anna first met Fatima in 2011 when she was on an exchange in the U.S. for two weeks! She exhibited the classic signs of a person of peaceand Anna began to study the Bible with her over Facebook. Fatima introduced Kadija to Anna and she joined the study as well. Fatima came to love Jesus in late 2015. She posted Psalm 31 on her facebook page which led to another Muslim background believer reaching out and connecting with Anna! He went on to lead his wife to Jesus.

Anna met another set of Afghans she’s now helping when she attended a local Nowruz celebration, hoping to find some new Iranian friends. God spoke to her in reference to a nearby group of people, “There are the Afghans. Go to them.”

Two months before Kabul melted down, God gave Anna a word through a friend in a small group. God showed him a picture of Afghanistan and said Anna would have a significant role there. When the city fell, she began to feverishly work with Fatima and over two dozen others, including Kadija’s boss who asked for help.

Because Anna faithfully, intentionally sought to build friendships with Muslims in the U.S., when  “such a time as this” came, she was in a position to make a difference.

Of more relevance to us than Marcus Aurelius, the apostle Paul said, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

As of this writing, eight of Anna’s 33 friends have made it out to safety. The work continues.

It’s hard not to just keep refreshing my Twitter feed right now, but what good does that really do? Maybe like me, you’re wondering what, if any, good you can do for the tough situation unfolding in Afghanistan.

As we mourn 13 (at present) fallen U.S. soldiers and five times as many dead Afghans, we cry. But after the tears are done?

I realize that “doing something” might not be what’s right for you. Understood. But if God is nudging you to take action, or the person he’s wired you up to be “needs to do something right now,” here are some options:

1. Send a small gift to a Muslim friend, an imam if you know one. I just did this: A Starbuck’s e-card to an Iraqi friend. Told him I just felt like extending a bit of kindness on such a tragic day.

2. Find the closest refugee resettlement agency near you and ask what they might need for an influx of Afghan refugees. You can check here or here. (Maybe give your couch and let the kids sit on the floor for awhile, but don’t tell them it was my idea!)

3. Want to make a difference for Afghans who are displaced within their country? Text this link to your church’s missions director or pastor. These are trusted friends of mine, trusted enough that I plan to ask my church to contribute here.

4. Sign up for a six week online course that will give you the information and practical tools to build real friendships with Muslims.

5. Forward this email to your pastor and a couple of friends. Let’s rise above partisan politics and partner with God to extend love to Afghans. He’s rather fond of them.

You can still download this half page prayer guide to pray through personally and distribute to your church and beyond.

More people are thinking about Afghanistan right now than any time in history. Of course it won’t last. There is always more news around the corner.

While it does, can I ask you to flex your networker/influencer/reliable-dude muscles and invite a ton of people to pray?

Here are some ideas: 

• Download this half sheet prayer guide and get it in your church’s bulletin this Sunday.
• Don’t have a bulletin? Make it available on your church’s website or app. Alternatively, go old school and simply hand it out!
• Copy and paste it on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TicTok or in a dozen texts and messages. I’m planning to do this.
• Share this email with people who don’t have a big passion for Muslims, but who might pray and invite others to do so given the unfolding situation in Afghanistan.

Download the half page guide here. If you’d like a Word version you can adapt, find it here. (If you change more than a bit, feel free to take off the “shanebennett.com” at the bottom.)

May the Father hear and answer our prayers beyond our wildest dreams for the deliverance of many and the glory of God.

Deja fu: The eerie feeling that somewhere, sometime you’ve been kicked in the head like this before.

With the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban are feeling their oats and munching up territory. As they do, the human suffering, the fear and heartache multiply. I’d rather not think about it, preferring to chat with you about fun and hopeful things. But here we are.

Depending on how deep you want to dive, here are some resources to grow your heart and mind and inform your prayers. Also I’ll close with a hopeful story, because that’s who I am!

•  This poignant first person account unveils the situation for a young Afghan woman as the Taliban extends the sphere of their control.

•  Operation Allies Refuge will provide special immigrant visas for Afghans who served the US military during our time in their country. Anywhere from 2500 to 70,000 Afghans will be allowed to move to the US. Please check your closest World Relief office (or other resettlement agency) to see how you and your church can provide critical help in the resettlement process.

•  A friend of mine has lived in and around Afghanistan for a number of years. His letter to Afghans at this strategic time moved me.

•  A trustworthy group of believers are hosting a zoom prayer meeting for Afghanistan on Wednesday, August 18th. They’ve given me permission to invite you to join in. There’s so much we can’t do for Afghans, but we can join with sisters and brothers in prayer to the God who can do anything. Here’s the link, meeting ID: 864 4160 2533, and passcode: 925451.

• Finally, Nadia Nadim is a radiant example of the power and resilience of the Afghan heart. She was born in 1988. After losing her father to a Taliban execution, she fled with her mom and sister to become refugees in Denmark. She began to excel at soccer and now plays both for the Danish national team and for the Racing Louisville Football Club. She speaks nine languages. Oh, and one more thing, she’s one semester away from completing med school!

I wrote in a recent Muslim Connect, “If a Muslim shot someone you loved and that made you mad, I get it. Of course it did.”

My friend Kea sent a beautiful response to that comment. Excerpts of her story comprise most of today’s email.

“I’m in the very small percentage of your readers who would check the box ‘Have had a Muslim shoot someone I love,’ (a dear friend serving as a teacher in Iraq) and yes, it would be natural for that to have made me mad and for me to still be bitter nine years later. 

But. . .but Jesus.

. . .but Jesus has suffered on my behalf and as an example for me, teaching me what it looks like to love and pray for my enemies.

. . .but Jesus, knowing I would need a head start to respond graciously, prompted me several years before my friend was murdered to start pleading with Him to enable me to do the impossible task of forgiving whoever was responsible, if and when my friend was killed. When I was reeling from the news, the young murderer was the only one for whom I could pray. The Lord filled me with a deep love for him.

. . .but Jesus used the death of my friend to show me the battle is not between Muslims and Christians, but between Satan and Christ. This tragedy sparked a flame that still burns, prompting me to seek out deep relationships with Muslims around me.

Don’t get me wrong if what I wrote above makes it sound like healing was easy, but the Lord’s grace is so abundantly present if we’re willing to receive it!!”

Kea is willing to be a resource for anyone who may be struggling with fear, anger or bitterness because of wrong done to them or a friend by a Muslim.

Let me know if you’d like to take her up on that. I’ll connect you.

Please see the important note at the end of today’s email. 

Got plans for this Sunday? Well, on July 18th, some 60,000 Saudis do. They’ll be standing in 100º+ sunshine on a broad plain a few miles outside of Mecca, commemorating the Day of Arafat. This gathering is an essential part of the Hajj, the once in a lifetime pilgrimage required as one of the five pillars of Islam. In most years there would be upwards of two million, but COVID has caused Saudi officials to limit the number of pilgrims and exclude anyone from outside the Kingdom.

The place is important as it is believed to be where Adam and Eve reunited after being cast out of Heaven, and where Muhammad delivered his final sermon.

Muslims believe the day is important because, finishing his divine revelation, God said, “This day I have Perfected your religion for you, Completed My Favor upon you And have chosen for you Islam as your religion” (Quran 5.3)

The Day of Arafat is focused on forgiveness. Pilgrims spend the day standing, crying in repentance for their sin and begging God to forgive them. Muslim who are not on the Hajj, basically the whole rest of the ummah, are encouraged to fast and seek forgiveness. Muhammad is reported to have said that those who fast on this day atone for their sins of the previous and coming year.

I have a hunch that God wants to say yes to many, even most, of the prayers prayed this Sunday at Arafat and beyond. God’s desire, his very nature, is to lavish forgiveness on his creation.

Will you join me in asking God to move in such a way that many, even numbers beyond counting, find the abundant life Jesus said he came to bring. The thief has stolen, killed and destroyed for long enough.
Once a year I ask all the readers of Muslim Connect to donate some hard earned capital to keep these brief emails going and growing. Muslim Connect is free and always will be, but for the past 35 years, I’ve paid the bills (more or less!) with the kind gifts of friends, family and churches. If you’ve found value in Muslim Connect, please consider sending a gift today. Thank you. Click hereand choose me from the staff drop down. Thank you.

Please see the important note at the end of today’s email. 

Todd Johnson is the co-director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Seminary and a faithful Muslim Connect reader.(Clearly equally impressive credentials!) Mustafa Akyol is a Turk who writes extensively about “the intersection of public policy, Islam, and modernity.” (Sadly, it would appear he doesn’t even know about Muslim Connect!)

In a recent Christianity Today article, Dr. Johnson interviewed Akyol about his latest book, “Reopening Muslim Minds: A Return to Reason, Freedom, and Tolerance.”

Akyol asks this key question: Can Muslims be Muslims and participate in the modern world without abandoning who we are?

Notice this question is asked by an insider. Akyol describes himself as “a ‘born-again’ Muslim, [having rediscovered my faith] in my college years.” He’s asking his tribe, but we can listen in and wonder.

You may have heard someone say, “If a Muslim isn’t committed to the dominance of Islam even to the point of killing those who won’t follow, they’re not a real Muslim.” This conviction is espoused in different parts of the Muslim world and in varying quarters in the US.

Toward answering his question, Akyol goes back to the early days, scholars and approaches to Islam to see if that is really true; if it is indeed the only way. Read the article or the book to get a brief or fuller answer, but as you’d guess, he thinks there are options.

Smart people are always thinking and writing about God. (Unless God is you or a trinket in your garage, how can you not? He’s God!) That said, I lack the context to understand the degree to which Mustafa speaks the heart language of other Muslims. Clearly he doesn’t speak for all. But I’m glad he’s speaking out. . .to his tribe and to us.

Once a year, in the height of summer, I ask all the readers of Muslim Connect to donate some hard earned capital to keep these brief emails going and growing. Muslim Connect is free and always will be, but for the past 35 years, I’ve paid the bills (more or less!) with the kind gifts of friends, family and churches. If you’ve found value in Muslim Connect, please consider sending a gift today. Thank you. Click here and choose me from the staff drop down. Thank you.