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What could be a better time?
Jill brings an encouragement from a local group getting together with Muslim friends to share God’s story
“What could be a better time than this for Muslim and Christian women to meet together in friendship?”
These were the first words that were said at the first of our Prophets’ Stories (see below for more info) meetings. It was the day after the Christchurch shootings and we were able to come with flowers and stand together with Muslim friends as they grieved. Then a month later when we met again, it was just after the Sri Lankan church bombings, and this time the Muslim ladies came with flowers and stood with us.
These two international tragedies cemented our desire to meet together in unity and look at the stories of the prophets. We had asked our friend, a young lady leading the women’s work at one of the town’s mosques, if she thought there might be a group of ladies who would like to look together at the stories we have in common and see what we can learn together about God and about ourselves. She was very enthusiastic and thus it was that our meetings began.
About a dozen of us, half Christian and half Muslim, have enjoyed getting to know each other. A few of the Christian women had never really met a Muslim, and some of the Muslim women had never met a real follower of Jesus.
“I walked in sceptical to other people’s views and worried about how they would react to opinions, but ended on a positive high.”
“I arrived, not really knowing what to expect. Now I’m really glad I came; I’m relaxed and excited for the next one.”
It was a great joy to see ladies who had only just met sharing deeply about their joys and their difficulties, and then discussing together what we learned about God from the stories of Jonah and Joseph. We talked, among other things, about what it means to trust God in difficult circumstances, being obedient to God, and the power of forgiveness in families.
Ramadan and school holidays interrupted our meetings – but we look forward to starting again in September and seeing what God will do!