Ramadan Far from Home

As a church, the discussion around asylum seekers and our role as a place of welcome is not a new one for us. Yet, as we enter the second week of Ramadan, it does bring up some points for reflection. 

Try to imagine for a moment that you are far away from home, from your family, and from your community on one of the most significant holidays in your faith. For us as Christians, it would be the equivalent of being displaced on Christmas or even Easter. Imagine the pain and loneliness as you might reflect on the holiday season of your childhood and the stark contrast to your reality now. 

Currently, some of the most common countries of origin for asylum seekers in the UK are Albania, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. These are, of course, Muslim majority nations where observing Ramadan and sharing an Iftar meal in community would be a normal practice. It is a time of seeking to grow closer to Allah, increased prayer, and time spent with family and friends.  However, being in a season of displacement, asylum seekers cannot observe this season in their usual way. Spending most of the day in their small, shared hotel room, they almost certainly don’t have the money or freedom to do these things.

You might remember a few weeks back when Filipe shared in a Sunday service about the work Hope Church is doing with refugees and asylum seekers. He also shared about the effects this has on mental health. While it is my first Ramadan in the UK, I have seen first hand in Greece and Cyprus how saddening this season can be for asylum seekers. Not being able to gather with family or cook a traditional meal for Iftar brings up feelings of loss again and again. I imagine it is the same for Muslim asylum seekers in the UK.

In thinking about writing this blog, I was reflecting on the significance of having Easter, the marker of the most significant event in Christianity, in the middle of the month of Ramadan this year. I know that asylum and the effect it has had on Luton is a complicated issue and that people might have different opinions on government immigration policy. As we reflect on Easter and the absolute extravagance of the Father’s heart and what Jesus has done for us, how does that shape how we care for, pray for, and love asylum seekers, particularly during Ramadan? I think it is a call to deeper compassion and greater welcome. In this season, let us look on our asylum seeker neighbours with the same compassion that Jesus had for us. Let us meet them with the love of Jesus and act as light in what otherwise is probably quite a dark and painful season.

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me” – Matthew 25:35

Danielle Aguilar

An Invitation to Pray

As we walk with God, He does meaningful things in our lives and also through our lives. One thing I am always grateful to the Lord for, is that as I pray, or as people pray for me, I can see Him changing  my mind and heart through both pleasant or challenging situations. I also have seen His work and changes in other people’s lives as His church prays and it is powerful to be and feel part of it. 

Muslims around the world will be celebrating Ramadan from March 10th to April 8th. It is definitely an important month of the year when they celebrate their community and share their values such as prayer, fasting, reflection, worship and service. This event is in the ninth month of the Muslim calendar and it is one of the most sacred times for Muslims. It is also a month that many Muslim men and women expect to receive something new from Allah. Due to that many Muslims are open to have spiritual conversations or dialogues and it is a great opportunity for us as Christians to be able to share our faith in a natural, but also in an intentional way. It is an opportunity that we can learn from each other, but also to share the seeds regarding the love and salvation we can receive from Jesus. I myself have been having good conversations in these past years with Muslim friends and I am grateful for the respectful and reflective conversations we had together. I am glad for the opportunities I was able to pray with them during this season of the year and see that God was doing something in this regard. 

As Ramadan is coming soon, I would like to invite you to pray for this! Hope Church has a few physical books of the ‘30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World’ and I am happy to give one of these to you or send you the pdf version. Through this book, you will be able to read specific prayer requests for different groups and realities, but also read encouraging or challenging stories in this regard. 

From this prayer guide, I would like to share the ‘How should we Pray for the Muslim World?’ session that shares specific reasons for this, such as:

  • “We believe that Jesus is the Saviour of the world, reconciling all people to God. John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19.
  • Every human being is made in the image of God according to, and thus has inestimable worth and dignity. Genesis 1:26-28.
  • God loves Muslims and does not want any to perish. 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9; John 3:16.
  • As followers of Christ, we take Jesus’ strong exhortation to love God and love your neighbor very seriously. Muslims are our neighbors, and one way we love them is by praying blessings on them, their families, and communities. Matthew 22:37-29.
  • Jesus commands us to love everyone – even those who hurt us – and to pray for them. Matthew 5:44. 
  • Our intercession for Muslims needs to be motivated by love. Our model is Jesus – who, while we were yet sinners, loved us and died for us. Romans 5:8.
  • As we receive God’s love for us, He gives us His love for all others and enables us to fulfill the great commandment to love God and love our neighbor. We are not called to judge, fear, hate, or relate to Muslims in any way that is counter to the Kingdom of God. We are simply to love, live as Christ commanded us, pray, and trust God by His Holy Spirit to bring people to Himself in Christ. Galatians 5:22-23; John 6:44; 12:32; 16:8; 1 Corinthians 13.

I hope these thoughts are encouraging and I hope that God will bring us good experiences as we pray as a church during this time for our Muslims friends. 

Filipe Almeida

References: 30 Days of prayer for the Muslim World – page 3

Preparing to contribute and encourage

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Why should Christians meet together?

We go to church services to worship God; right?  Well, some years ago, Ailsa and I did a lot of door to door evangelism using a questionnaire supplied by Woodside Church in Bedford.  One of the points which people regularly made to us was directly contrary to the above position: “I don’t need to go to church to worship God.”    So how does the Bible itself answer our question?  The writer to the Hebrews urges this:

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Let us not give up the habit of meeting together as some are doing. But let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  (Hebrews 10:23-24)

So the purpose of meeting together is for us to encourage one another and spur one another on.  Now most certainly, one of the primary ways we do this is by worshipping God together (as the preceding verses in Hebrews 10 make clear).  Nevertheless, encouraging one another rather than corporate worship is, I suggest, the primary goal here.

 

How might we encourage one another?

In 2Corinthians 14, Paul writes at some length about this subject:

  • Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. (v1)
  • The one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. (v3).
  • The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues – unless someone interprets so that the church may be edified. (v5)
  • When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. (v26)

When he talks about ‘prophesying’ here, Paul would appear to mean any sort of intelligible godly verbal utterance.  So this might include things like Scripture reading, praise, prayer, preaching, ‘speaking the word of God boldly’ (Acts 4:31), as well as anything we might introduce with words like, “I feel that God would say to us …”.  Paul himself gives his own list in verse 26.  But this would seem to be by way of example rather than him seeking to give us an exclusive list.

 

What might help here?

So here’s the thing. Are we familiar with what Paul says about everybody having an upbuilding contribution to bring when the church meets together?  And if so, are we intentional about asking God whether there is a contribution that he wants us to bring?  In the same way as a preacher or worship leader might need to prepare the contribution they bring, shouldn’t we all find 5 or 10 minutes within our private prayer time to ask God ‘how are you speaking to me,’  and then ‘ is there anything you want me to contribute and share in the church meeting today?’  This might be something private for an individual, or it might be a picture, a scripture or an encouragement for the whole church.

 

In my own experience, it’s so easy to go around with the false notion that prepared and spontaneous contributions are somehow alternatives, whereas in fact they are clearly complementary.  I know that personally the more intentional I am about preparing, the more spontaneous I’m able to be in the moment.  I might come with several verses of Scripture ready to share and they might not be used, but it’s surprising that often the way opens up for me to share something spontaneous.

Let’s spur one another on, and encourage one another.  Over to you.

 

Robert Lampard

Applying Christian truth

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I am currently reading a book written by my friend Matt Hatch. I would recommend it to you. In it he shares this story.

 

I read recently about a lady called Teri Horton, who lived in California. She retired from truck driving after an accident, and spent her time hunting for bargain treasures. In 1992, she stumbled across a large abstract painting that she bought for $5 in a thrift store. After being tipped off by a local art teacher, she took the painting to experts who confirmed it was an authentic Jackson Pollock. (A similar work sold for $140 million in 2006.) Teri didn’t actually like the painting but upon hearing its potential value, she refused to sell unless she got a price close to the valuation. Even though she was broke, she turned down an offer of $2 million and later an offer of $9 million, insisting the painting was worth more. She died in 2018, still holding onto the painting and never cashing in on her remarkable find.

For Christians, renewing our mind is an exercise in claiming what is already ours in Christ. It’s no use, like Teri, simply knowing about the benefits and privileges of our new status. We need to ‘cash them in’, we need to apply these truths to ourselves rather than hold on to them and hope that somehow, they will impact our lives just because we know about them.

Hatch, Matt. Metamorphosis: Unlocking Your Spiritual Transformation through Healthy Discipleship (p. 135). Sequoia Tree Books. Kindle Edition.

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