A network member writes about a Christmas time when they invited a group of Muslims to their home.
What do you picture in your mind when you think of Muslims in the UK? Whatever the image in your mind, God tells us to love all Muslims! But what does that look like in practice?
Many churches with Muslim communities on their doorstep offer English language classes or English Conversation groups and find that these activities open the door to engaging with their neighbours. Find out how to use Halloween topics as a springboard to talking about Jesus.
The Islamic month of Ramadan runs from 10 March to 8 April this year (2024). Ramadan is a great time to start conversations with Muslim friends and colleagues and to focus on praying for Muslims in our local community and across the UK. These next few weeks are full of opportunities!
We’re excited to tell you about a Mahabba event that happened in Croydon last weekend called the Hope Event. This regular gathering is designed for people to bring a friend from another faith background. This time they had an African theme, celebrating God’s diversity and creativity. We also want to highlight some of the other things that Mahabba is involved in such as Millennial and Juma prayers.
This month we want to share with you two events that tie in with our values of Encouraging Prayer and Enabling all Christians. Our vision is to grow regular, persistent prayer for our Muslim brothers and sisters. We also want to see Christians grow in confidence, equipped to share Jesus with their Muslim neighbours. Are these things that you could be involved in? Could you invite people in your church to join you in your vision?
For Mahabba, it’s all about the relationship – not strategies, not techniques just a real love for our Muslim friends and neighbours. And that’s why we love hearing stories from our groups. Stories are a genuine reflection of the work that our members are doing, and they spur us on and encourage us.
Your contributions helped us facilitate the prayer meetings that we hosted during Ramadan – thank you!
Many of you will have participated in our Network Survey which was an attempt to get a picture of how the pandemic affected our regional groups. The results have given us insights and encouragements.
The Mahabba Trustees will be meeting in Birmingham on 22nd June. Please pray for them.
Have you spotted the network survey in your inbox?
The pandemic has changed the way we relate to each other. In every sphere of life we’ve adapted to online meetings, smaller gatherings, and less face to face contact.
We’d love to check in with Mahabba prayer groups across the country, find out how you’re doing, and how we can support you moving forward.
Our English classes began more than ten years ago. The reason for starting the classes was to create an opportunity to build relationships with the local immigrant communities and to be a demonstration of God’s love by meeting a felt need.
The Love of God is shown by the fact that our classes are practically free, some students expressed surprise at that, because in their home country education is so expensive. Others have commented on the manner in which our teachers treat the students. One person said:
I feel like my teacher cares about me.
Another said:
Your class is not all work-sheets, you take time to teach us to speak.
In addition to English, the teachers offer help with form filling or other practical needs.
The position of teacher is respected by most cultures, so when relationships are built up, students often share their struggles and problems with us, this sometimes leads to opportunities to pray with the student.
The classes have helped to remove fear of mixing with Christians and the fear of entering a building associated with the Christian community. Being under the umbrella of the church gives the teachers freedom to talk about the Christian festivals and other religious events.
The English classes serve as a common platform where volunteers from four different churches work together, some teach others prepare the tea and coffee and look after the student’s children. The unity that comes from being in Christ is demonstrated by the diverse backgrounds of our teachers.
We use ESOL materials that we got from the British Council many years ago, so we are now looking for new resources.
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