With a Shi’ite Muslim
Sharon is a Shi’ite Muslim from the Middle East who immigrated to the U.S. with her family when she was a teenager. One day, God led her to sit right next to me while we were waiting for the cleaning crew to vacuum the hallway. She was very friendly to me. After our first conversation, she asked me to pray for her healing, which she was familiar with from watching the 700 Club on TV.
When we met again, Sharon expressed disappointment that she was not healed right after our prayer. Then she said that her Christian friend told her that her prayer was not answered because she is not a Christian. While she was exercising on weight machines, we talked about her family which led to our dialogue on Christ and sin. When our sinful nature was mentioned, her heart was softened towards Christianity. But when we talked about Christ’s deity and resurrection, she insisted that Muslims do not believe in these. I gave her a Bible and a copy of Our Daily Bread before she left that day.
The next few encounters were brief with family updates and prayers. Sharon enjoys reading Our Daily Bread and appreciates being prayed for daily. Every time she shares her worries and concerns with me at the gym, we pray together, and her face always beams with peace after we pray. I love Sharon dearly, and always look for opportunities to share Jesus with her. But when we talk about salvation, forgiveness, and crucifixion, she does not hesitate to express her regret that I am not a Muslim.
One day, Sharon sighed because she had not been healed by Jesus after our earnest prayers a few months earlier. Islam teaches her that God gives healing power to holy men to heal people, and Jesus is one of the prophets and holy men. Then we talked about salvation and the forgiveness of our sins through Jesus. For her, forgiveness means continuing to do good so God will work on the heart of the person we have offended, in order for them to forgive us. She said Christianity is cheap grace, because once we Christians have the assurance of eternal life, we begin to do bad things. But Muslims make their efforts to do good until their death. She even said that she loves me so much and feels sorry that I will not be in heaven because I do not believe in Islam. Our religious talks stopped for a couple weeks until I read an article about using the Qur’an to show Muslims that Jesus is the sacrificial lamb prophesied by the prophets.
I asked Sharon about several prophets in the Qur’an from Adam, to Abraham, to Jonah. She was excited when we talked about the Qur’an. But when I concluded that Jesus is the lamb who was to die for our sins, she immediately said that is what Christians believe. Then she went home to re-read her Qur’an to make sure that I did not misquote any passages. She still enjoys talking with me, and sometimes we talk for 25-30 minutes. I usually end our conversation with prayer. Several times when I arrived at the gym, Sharon waved at me and told me that she has been waiting for my arrival to pray for her and her family!
The support from her family make it difficult for her to leave that community.
Even though Sharon does not go to the Mosque because of her health, she is still a devoted Muslim. The support from her family make it difficult for her to leave that community. I was surprised to hear from a Muslim that I would go to hell while she was trying to evangelize me. As an evangelist, I should be the one to tell her that, but not the other way around! It is interesting to see how Sharon shares my compassion and religious devotion, though hers is directed towards Islam. I often pray for Sharon with tears during my prayer time. It is hard for me to think that I might not see her in heaven if she does not repent. The Gospel has been clearly presented to her.
With A Sunni Muslim
Mo is a very devoted Sunni Muslim from the Middle East. He is a computer engineer with three children in college, and his wife who was converted through their marriage. When I asked Mo about Islam, he was very enthusiastic to share his belief. He bought me a Chinese Qu’ran and a Muslim doctrine book as gifts, and invited me to visit his mosque, which is one of the largest mosques in the Bay Area. After hearing his Islam belief, I gradually shifted our conversation to Christianity. We began our conversation from the God of creation. Talking about our Creator, the God of Abraham, was a joyful dialogue, as we found some common doctrine.
Our next religious dialogue was on Jesus Christ, sin, and final judgment. Jesus is one of the prophets in Islam, and Mo did not believe in resurrection as Islam taught him that Jesus did not die but went to heaven directly. He recognized our sin problem but believed in doing good to earn merits for the final judgment. To be saved by grace through faith is too easy for him to accept. According to his beliefs, we must keep doing good so our merits will outweigh our sins on the judgment scale.
After that discussion, I sensed the Spirit saying not to argue with him.
Lastly, we talked about the Bible, and I was shocked by his drastically changed attitude. Though Mo had been very gentle and kind in our previous discussions, he angrily criticized the authority and authenticity of the Bible. He did not accept any information to prove the Bible’s inerrancy, as there are no original copies available and discrepancies are found in different early copies. Because the Bible is written by more than one author, he considers it written by men, not inspired by God. His mind is set on what he believes. After that discussion, I sensed the Spirit saying not to argue with him. Our religious dialogue stopped there, but our friendship continues.
With a Mainland Chinese Atheist
I met JZ while we were exercising on the treadmills. One day, we had an interesting discussion about Christianity. I would like to convey this discussion through dialogue as an example demonstrating what could be going through a Mainland Chinese atheist’s mind when we discuss Christianity.
Me: Good morning. I have not seen you for a while and I am glad to see you today.
JZ: Are you back to school? You look like you have lost some weight.
Me: Yes, my school has started, and I have different exercise schedule. How are you?
JZ: I am fine. What’s on your left hand? Is that a tattoo? How did you have it on your hand? Is that permanent?
Me: Oh, this is henna. Do you know the Indian Henna people use to dye their hairs?
JZ: Yes, I know Henna.
Me: I use Henna to draw a Bible story on my left hand. It will fade out in 10 days.
JZ: A story?
Me: A story of a bleeding woman happened during Jesus’ time on the earth…Through prayers, we can still touch Jesus even He is in heaven now.
JZ: This is too dangerous to believe in prayer of healing. A sick person is better to see a doctor for healing than just depends on prayers.
Me: Yes, God gives doctors wisdom, and I do believe we need to do both. I did not believe in Jesus as I was raised in a Buddhist family. It is because I have personally experienced healing by Jesus, then I decided to become a Christian.
JZ: Science is so advanced these days, how can you Christian say there is a God? You Christian always relate everything to God. It is the result of human’s effort that science is able to be developed. It took years of trial and error to advance our science. What does that have anything to do with God?
Me: God gives us wisdom so scientists have the wisdom to develop science.
JZ: It is developed step by step. Not through a miracle. Science is a sure thing. You are a well educated person, why would you believe in religion? We have outer space with planets yet to be discovered. Chairman Mao was respected as a god, and we studied his words.
Me: There must be a Creator to create the whole world. How does the world exist?
You Christians always mention God whenever there are things you cannot understand.
JZ: Don’t try to put everything under God. You Christians always mention God whenever there are things you cannot understand.
Me: There are Christian scientists. Even Darwin admitted evolution was a mistake.
JZ: I do not understand why you would believe in this. You must have studied science through education.
Me: Yes, but our knowledge is limited. Science has its limits. Since you think I am a well-educated person, why would I believe in Jesus if I had not experienced Him personally?
JZ: Do not get upset because of my comments. I am just being straightforward.
Me: Not at all. It actually helps me to understand you better. I think you are struggling between science and Christianity. I will get a book, A Song of a Wonderer (遊子吟), for you to answer your questions.
Reflection
For multi-ethnic community outreach, love and care speak louder than words. The majority of residents are from group cultures that focus on relationships and are community-oriented. If I am welcomed by a group member, the whole group will welcome me and vice versa. I need to begin by loving God first, and then loving the people around me with a willingness to learn and adapt to differences. It is about genuine love, service, and humility, instead of seeing people as a number in our project that needs to be managed, efficient and effective.
The majority of residents are from group cultures that focus on relationships and are community-oriented.
Holistic missions is definitely not a social gospel, focusing on social reform but ignoring evangelism. We need to take the initiative to befriend multi-ethnic people around us, recognizing cultural differences that could make people fearful. We also need to survey the communities we serve in order to understand their needs and recognize the gap between the church and the community. Most non-believers I have met have welcomed prayers to Jesus, and I have been able to help them experience Jesus’ love and peace through praying with them. I continue to pray for the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts and lives.
God provided everything I needed for my intercultural ministry training and I graduated in May 2014. Through my graduation research project, I learned that there is no intercultural training available for multi-ethnic community outreach workers. Since I benefited tremendously from my intercultural training, I asked God to use my limited skills to train workers for His Kingdom. In the meantime, I also started a multi-ethnic outreach ministry in a local park.
Relational Realism for Christian Ministry 關係論與基督教事工 