Monday 13 January 2014

Churches Reaching Out to Muslim Neighbours

Guest blog from a Curate in West London

Change of Attitude toward Muslims: From Fear to Love         
                                

The life of the late Nelson Mandela reminds us that we have a choice in reacting to those different to ourselves with either fear or love; and yet sadly many Christians follow the Western media’s lead in associating Muslims with fear. However at the centre of the Christian faith is not fear but the love of Jesus (1 John 4:18) and the wonderful privilege of sharing that love of Jesus with all peoples including our Muslim neighbours (Matt 28:18-20).

Mahabba means ‘love’ in Arabic and fittingly is the name used by a national network of Churches working to share the love of Jesus specifically with their Muslim neighbours. Through training courses such as ‘Friendship First’ and regular prayer meetings many Christians are learning to transform their fear into love and form deep friendships with their Muslim neighbours. Through these deep and loving friendships we have found that many Muslims are keen to discuss who Jesus is and furthermore when offered, some who wish to experience the love of Jesus for themselves and to follow Jesus.

For those who would be interested in getting involved, or coming to visit a Mahabba group in your area, or simply would like to find out more please do visit http://www.mahabba.co.uk/ or contact directly info@mahabba.co.uk