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Action & impact
January update
The Christmas season gave many opportunities to share God’s love with Muslims – there is much to be thankful for! As we look forward to 2020, your giving continues to be vital in supporting the many opportunities that God is giving for engaging with our Muslim neighbours.
Here is Jon’s testimony from Southampton earlier this month …
“Back in June we were kindly invited in for curry and conversation at the Central Mosque by a lovely guy I had met at a Ramadan Iftar meal. Sensing that there may be an open door for us, Paul and I went along to Friday Prayers to see whether we could meet the Imam and discuss doing some dialogue and bible study.
As we walked up to the Mosque gates, I will admit to feeling a little bit uncertain about how it would pan out – how do we explain what we want to achieve? Who are we? Where do we sit?!
I needn’t have worried! Amazingly, the first person I met as we walked through the doors was the friendly Labour councillor, Toqueer, whom I had also met at the Ramadan Iftar meal! What are the chances that out of all of the hundreds of worshippers we would arrive at exactly the same time (halfway through the service - we got our times wrong)!? God had given us a man of peace. He was super keen on the need for dialogue, he would introduce us to the Imams after the service, and he showed us where to sit!
After the service we spoke with the young Imams of the mosque and Toqueer about our vision for the dialogue. Again, they were positive. Paul explained discipleship bible studies and their emphasis on obedience and practical action, which seemed to go down well.
We have agreed to look at doing a dialogue in March at Central Mosque with details worked out nearer the time.
What an amazing God of surprises we have!”
Support Mahabba in 2020!
Your financial support allows us to continue our work across the network – helping conversations like Jon’s to happen. This year, why not consider how you could further that support, whether financially or through regular prayer?
You can donate directly to Mahabba’s work by going to mahabbanetwork.com/donate
Why not share with friends, your small group or Church about the work Mahabba is doing? Encourage them to consider supporting this vital work. You can simply forward this email or contact us if you would like to find out other ways you can share about Mahabba in your area.
Upcoming …
Didsbury: Tuesday 4th February - a Greater Manchester Mahabba Special is taking place at 7.30pm at the Nazarene College in Didsbury. A chance to hear Steve Bell sharing on ‘Speaking Truth and Grace’. For more details visit www.nazarene.ac.uk
Bristol: Monday 10th February - An event with the Revd Dr Richard Sudworth, special advisor to the Arch Bishop of Canterbury on interfaith relations. Sessions looking at ‘Faith in Educational Settings’, 4-6pm followed by ‘Christian presence in a multifaith society’, 7.30-9.30pm at Easton Christian family Centre. For more details contact the Mahabba Bristol group at mahabbabristol@gmail.com
The Mahabba Roadshow will be hosting various events throughout the country during 2020, rolling out the refreshed Mahabba vision. Keep a look out for more details to follow in the coming weeks!
Pray …
For follow-up opportunities after the carol services, parties and Christmas celebrations that Muslims were invited to.
For the development of the Mahabba network – for more churches to adopt the Mahabba vision; for key places where there is no Mahabba group yet; for more regional facilitators and local coordinators to be raised up.
For Mahabba work happening in Cardiff, Cambridge, Peterborough and Huddersfield – that there would be more opportunity to disciple Muslims, good dialogue between Christian and Muslim leaders and greater involvement from local churches.
If you haven’t already seen Steve Bell’s vlog on how we can engage with prayer as a network this year, you can watch it here.
Stay Connected
To stay connected with more of what’s happening and engage with others across the network, please sign-up to Discourse - our new forum for community discussions, by following this link.