(Klik disini untuk baca dalam Bahasa Indonesia)
By Dila*
The first two months of my Bible school internship have not been easy. Adjusting to life in this place has had its challenges, because everyone around me is Muslim—at first I was not sure how to communicate with my neighbors. I grew up in a primarily Christian community, surrounded by people who shared the same religion. I did have a few friends growing up who were Muslim, but I had never lived in a predominately Muslim community before. Perhaps you could even say I grew up in a “fanatic” Christian household.
Let me tell you a little about my family. When I was growing up, one of my favorite uncles decided to mualaf (change religions from Christianity to Islam) and this caused lots of tension and fighting in my extended family. After my uncle’s decision, he disappeared for many years. When he finally did return to our village, he was ostracized—kept at a distance and judged by our family. The family did not officially break ties with him, but the relationship was not good. However, last year my uncle was very sick. During his sickness, he decided to return to faith in Christ. I was honored to be part of sharing the gospel with him during this process. He was baptized but then a week later he died. I carried a lot of judgement against my uncle—I could not accept when he became a Muslim. The question in my heart was, can I relate to other Muslims?
When I arrived in this internship location the beginning of December, I felt like deja vu—it reminded me of my uncle and how much anger and judgement I felt towards him. From the beginning of our time here, our mentors have been teaching us about contextual ministry.[1] This grew and stretched me—I feel like God is changing how I see things. It feels like a significant shift is happening in me. In Bible school I had learned a little bit about contextual ministry and a desire to serve in missions had grown in me, but now here in this place I am learning so much more. It feels like I am learning and getting to put things into practice on a daily basis. How I see things has changed. I am learning so much from my neighbors here and from the children. The kids open doors for me, to learn how to communicate and build relationships with their parents.
I have learned a lot from Jesus here, how Jesus was born and later began his ministry—not in a fancy palace or wealthy neighborhood, and not from a wealthy family. I am learning to love cousins here in the slum (Christians and Muslims are often referred to as “cousins”—both descending from Abraham–the children of Isaac and Ishmael are cousins). Perhaps according to many people, my neighbors in this community are not worthwhile—this place is dirty (a trash heap) and many people here have jobs that are considered shameful and low (scavengers, beggars, etc…). Many children here have dropped out of school because of financial difficulties; when they drop out, they can help support their families by begging on the streets or painting their bodies silver to be “Silver Men.” But in this place, I learn that Jesus is with them. It turns out that Jesus is not only in the midst of Christian communities, but he is also in this slum—amongst my cousins here. I am learning to see people with the love of Jesus, to view people as my cousins with the love of Jesus—not to avoid them.
[1] “Contextual Ministry” in a Muslim context can mean all sorts of things. In our team context, this means we show respect to our neighbors by refraining from eating pork or drinking alcohol. We refrain from decorating our house (or clothes) with overtly “Christian” symbols (ie. Crosses). We use language that our neighbors are familiar with: “Isa Al-Masih” [Jesus], “Siti Maryam [Mary],” “Ibrahim” [Abraham]. We refer to ourselves as “followers of Isa Al-Masih.” We also use contextualized versions of the Bible when sharing scripture with friends—these translations use the terminology that is easier for Muslims to understand. We learn to pray with our eyes open and hands palms up. We greet our neighbors by saying, “Assalamualikum.”
See 1 Corinthians 9:20-22 for inspiration from the Apostle Paul.
To reflect more please see: https://www.frontlinemissions.info/the-c1-to-c6-spectrum.
*Name changed to protect privacy
