[Day 28] Outside the Middle East most people may not have heard of Amr Khaled, Mustafa Hosni, Moez Masoud, or Ahmad al-Shugairi. However these men have a significant following in the Arab world through Middle Eastern Television and the web. Amr Khaled’s influence for moderate and practical Islam has been compared to the North American evangelical preacher Rick Warren.
[Day 12] This regular gathering is an example of communities of faith in Jesus the Messiah that are springing up throughout Indonesia. These gatherings may look different from what we see in our own cultural settings, but Jesus is being made known; He is being honoured!
[Day 11] One very real difference between accepted Western and Islamic cultural norms can be found in simple conversation. In many Islamic societies a man is not permitted to inquire about the another man’s wife in direct conversation.
These are all questions I asked myself a few short years ago when I met the man of my dreams. He was all I could have asked for and so much more. We connected like I never had with another human being! It was amazing! At the time we met, neither of us was actually practicing our faiths but both came from strong backgrounds, he Muslim, and I Christian.
Here I am today, a follower of Jesus. There are many verses that encourage me, one that I think of almost every day is 1 Peter 3:1-2. I am challenged to look at my marriage, not as a mistake, but as a sign of God’s forgiveness, grace and love. I keep praying that my husband will come to know Christ. Let’s discuss this, please leave a comment.
Helpful resources and tips for cross-cultural marriage, especially marriage between Christians and Muslims
Refugee women face particular hardship with poor living conditions, poverty and the lack of access to relief projects. Many Muslim women lose their husbands and fathers as a result of war and conflicts. Muslim women fact additional problems as they are not leaders in their society.
Political leaders and religious figures of some Muslim countries deny the presence of HIV / AIDS in their nations, claiming their immunity to the virus. The unrelenting refusal to acknowledge the HIV crisis adversely affects the people contracting, living, and dying of HIV and AIDS in Muslim communities.
In countries, like Somalia or Afghanistan, children are often used in armed conflict. Of all the children in the Muslim world, the most vulnerable are those who are orphaned or separated from their families. During the Iran / Iraq War boys were sent out in front of the troops dressed in white robes to explode land mines.
It is certain that these last five years has seen the Muslim world groaning in great pain. Wars, earthquakes, tsunamis, daily struggles with poverty, lose of family members plus an emptiness of spirit and soul are things we need to think and pray about for Muslim peoples.
