A Halal Christmas

A Halal Christmas

Christmas is a good time to invite Muslim friends to visit your home. They may be curious to see your decorations and learn about what Christmas means to you. They may also want to check it is not like they've seen on TV!

One year, we had made quite a number of connections with a local mosque through having ‘Meetings for Better Understanding’. We thought it would be good to invite them all round near to Christmas. So we decorated our home, prepared halal refreshments (no alcohol and pork products). We also prepared some nice gifts for them to take home with them.

We then considered should we share a Christian message? We felt ‘no’ on this occasion, as they were being invited to our home for Christmas event and didn’t want them to be a captive audience under false pretences. So instead we literally prayed that the Lord would initiate a conversation that would be like ripples in a pond. We also prayed they would feel the Lord’s peace in our home.

When our guests arrived they brought lovely gifts for us! The cranberry and orange mulled with spices went down a treat as did the home made halal mince pies! Then after a short time one of the older Muslim men said ‘I was reading Luke’s gospel recently and I would like to ask a question’ which he did. Then he said ‘I am just throwing a stone in the pond and letting the ripples go out’! We could hardly believe what he said but he repeated ‘I am just throwing a stone in the pond and letting the ripples go out’! We had a great conversation for the rest of the evening! Meanwhile, the ladies (we practised segregation as they usually do) said, ‘It is so peaceful in your home’!

You may not be able to invite a whole group, but you could do just the same with a family or one or two individuals. Hospitality is a central part of Muslim culture and is a great way to build trust and have significant conversations that can be built on over time.

Chas from the Network

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Sharing the Reason for the Season

Sharing the Reason for the Season

Christmas and Easter are great opportunities for us to be sharing the meaning behind our celebrations and to point our Muslim friends to consider Jesus. Far from shying away from this we can be encouraged to prayerfully consider how best to do this – knowing that our Muslim friends would expect us to be sharing if our faith is of any consequence to us.

Whether you are holding an English conversation group leading an ESOL class, a sewing, craft or cooking group with Muslim women as participants, make time to have 15 minutes of the session talking about the Christmas festival and being willing to answer questions or objections. Sometimes I have done this using a simple worksheet with pictures – as a reading exercise. Another year I bought in a nativity scene, with each character to be unwrapped from its Christmas paper and as we set it up, the story was told. If cooking together why not make Christmas treats and use them as a way to explain the reason for the joy we experience through the Good news of Jesus’ coming to us. If you do this remember to buy halal mincemeat for the mince pies so that all can enjoy the results of the baking!

Some friends I know welcome a Muslim family to their home for Christmas tree decorating every year. Others invite friends for tea and cake where the nativity scene can be handled by the children and explained by the hosts. In past times we have had window displays of either a Christmas scene or a simple, 1 sentence message of Hope/Joy/Peace facing the street and lit up so that passers-by can see.

Christmas is a time for gift – giving and so, again, an opportunity to give a well thought out gift for your Muslim friend or family. Calendars are always popular and we pray that the words printed on them will give spiritual life to those who receive them. ‘Hope’ calendars are available here in many languages. The new translation of Luke’s gospel by Duncan Peters might be suitable for some friends.

Some pointers to get you started on how you share

· We are not celebrating Jesus’ birthday but that God has come to us, in Jesus.

· Explain the importance of Jesus, God with us, to you in daily life

· Share an experience of knowing the truth of “God with us” in time of trouble

· There is a lot in the Qur’an about being moved from darkness to light. Talk about the Christmas lights, candles and glitter as echoing the light which came into the world – through the person of Jesus. Explain that through Jesus, we can we moved from darkness to light.

· Be prepared for objections about seeing Jesus as God’s son. Explaining that Jesus is known as this because he did god-like things whilst on earth such as healing, raising the dead, having power over nature, casting out evil spirits

· The ‘I am’ sayings speak volumes about Jesus’ identity and should anyone show real interest you might suggest that they study these with you - showing how Jesus fulfils the Old T prophecies.

Muslim women have thanked me for explaining the meaning of the Christmas celebration. For years they had attended their children’s nativity scenes at primary school but never before had heard the story explained. Could you help to bring understanding this year?

Miriam Williams Dec 2021

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What Surprised the Arab Guest at the Carol Service?

What Surprised the Arab Guest at the Carol Service?

Some years ago I began working with Friends International. This organisation works in Universities in the UK seeking to make contact with overseas students with a view to sharing the good news of Jesus. My wife and I had the great delight of welcoming into our home students from many different countries – we are still in touch with some many years later but today I want to write about just one from a country in the Middle East.

He had come to the UK to study for his Ph.D. with a view to returning home to lecture at a local university. We held weekly Bible studies for men and, although a Muslim, he joined the group. He was keen to learn about what Christians really believed. I found that we had much in common and he was a frequent visitor to our home. Around Christmas time we felt that we should invite him to a carol service. It was a creative evening with a clear gospel presentation. I was interested to get his reaction afterwards but what he said greatly surprised me:-

“I expected that you would talk about killing Muslims but instead you talked about, love peace and justice.” This spoke volumes to us both regarding what he had been taught and his deepening understanding.

He is back home now but we are still in touch. We are thankful that he went home with a Bible and even invited us to his recent wedding even though Covid and distance prevented us from going. We still pray for him and believe that the Christmas invitation was far from wasted.

Ken

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