Indigenous Perspective: Culture, Religion, History, and Politics from the Viewpoint of a Local Believer

 

Jenny is a student at a local university studying psychology and philosophy. She is also the daughter of the pastor of our partnering church here and leads music Sunday mornings on the piano.

*Her opinions may or may not reflect my own.*

 

Me: There are two different types of Islam, right? Can you tell me what those are and describe the differences?

Jenny: There’s Sunni and Shi’a. Sunni, they are more according to the sharia, to the book, the Quran. They are literal in how they practice things. Shi’a, they have different traditions and rituals and people they follow. So, Mohammad was a prophet, and they have Ali, the husband of Mohammad’s daughter, and [Abu Bakr] was connected to him as well. When Mohammad went to die, there was this debate of who would come after him. Shi’a follow Ali. Sunni follow [Abu Bakr]. Shi’a are more open-minded, I think, in different things.

 

Me: How do these two groups feel about each other?

Jenny: Very hostile. Very. Sunni’s say Shi’a regard Ali as more than Mohammad, and that’s very wrong to Sunni. They say they are not true Muslims.

 

Me: And which is the majority here?

Jenny: I think now it’s Shi’a, but if so, not much more than Sunni. Christians are less.

 

Me: When you say “Christians,” are you referring to the Catholics or Evangelicals?

Jenny: Catholic. Evangelical is 1%.

 

Me: How do the Catholics here feel about Evangelicals?

Jenny: They don’t like us. They think we are not true Christians. Like how you regard Jehovah’s Witnesses, this is how they regard us. They even call us Jehovah’s Witnesses sometimes. They can’t differentiate the two. There is a lot of persecution from Catholics to Evangelicals.

 

Me: Do you think the Catholic church here in this context follows the Bible? Would you say they are true followers of Jesus?

Jenny: No, they need Jesus. They need to be saved as much as any other people. My mom, who was a Catholic, her family stopped talking to them because they came to Christ, which is ironic, because they were already supposed to be Christian.

 

Me: So you don’t think anyone in the Catholic church here is genuinely saved?

Jenny: I can’t say that. There are some that believe but are afraid to leave. There are some who are trying to be a light to others. There are some that really do believe. They might have some wrong practices, but they really do believe in the Christ of the Bible. But usually, if this is the case, they do leave the Catholic church eventually.

 

Me: So, with these three groups, Sunni, Shi’a, and Catholic, how do you approach sharing the gospel with them?

Jenny: With Muslims, I think it’s the same, in general. You can enter it with the idea of Christ, because they believe he was a prophet. So, you can talk to them about that in the Quran, which calls him the Spirit and the Word of God. It literally says that. Even it says he is going to come back to judge, but only God can judge. Christ is written about more than Mohammad in the Quran. They believe he is born from a virgin, that he did miracles, but he was replaced [on the cross]. So, we can talk about how Jesus could not be replaced, how it was God’s plan for him to die.

 

Me: What about Catholics?

Jenny: It’s harder, to be honest.

 

Me: Really? You think it’s harder to share the gospel with Catholics here than with Muslims?

Jenny: Yes. It ends up with tension. Always. I don’t know. Even if we talk about the same book. When they know you’re Evangelical, they shut down. But how I would approach, I would bring verses from the Bible. Most people haven’t even read it. They have to see the truth from the Bible. So, you talk about how Christ is the only mediator, that people came to Paul and wanted to kneel to them, but he told them no, to look to Christ. He called everyone a saint because they’re saved by Christ. So, like this.

 

Me: So, someone who is coming over as a missionary, what is our role?

Jenny: First, just the fact that you come here is a big thing. People appreciate and hear you just because you choose to live here, even with all the bad situations, instability, war, economic crisis, everything, you know? But I believe your role would be to strengthen the churches that are here. You know, coming here and opening a different church alongside weakens the churches that are here. They already need strength anyway. We need a lot. Especially being such a minority. We need encouragement. And it’s very helpful that you learn the culture, because it can be sensitive to talk about the gospel. It’s very important that people who come in learn the culture, learn the language, love the culture, love the language. I know people who have come here and it is obvious they do not love this culture. We can see this. It’s disrespectful. It’s so important to know and love the culture. Muslims aren’t going to listen to you if you don’t. But, for me, your presence in our church really gives me strength. You show me we’re not alone, because for some time, we were very much alone, and it was very hard. I didn’t even know if people cared about us. So, it gives us strength, and there’s a lot of work. And partnership with the local church is vital. If you want growth, community. Coming from a person who focuses on the local church, I get frustrated in many ways with people and organizations that come here and don’t connect people to the church. We need to help the church.

 

Me: How can we help strengthen you guys?

Jenny: We need stronger discipleship and training. People who know the Word. With having us as the minority who know the Bible, imagine the pressure on one person to disciple, you know what I mean? So, discipleship is very important, and encouragement of discipleship. Christians here should not be saying, “Let me get you to the church.” No, you be the church wherever you go. Also, the ways we interact with other religions. There are so many temptations to compromise to other religions and ways of thinking. And resources. Financial resources. We are limited on what we can give. People here cannot be full time in ministry unless their resources come from outside. You need to have a second job. So we need people to go on visits and strengthen members and train leaders to do the same, because many of us are working multiple jobs just to make it, you know? We need help. We need help with visits. We need help with kids ministry. We need help with transportation. There are a lot of things.

 

Me: How can people in the States be praying for this church?

Jenny: My dad calls our church the church for people who are crossing over. It’s a church for those who are leaving Islam and Catholicism. There are many people who are in our church but cannot come on Sundays for safety reasons. So please pray for them. Pray that our church can really show Christ in everything, and live for Christ, and after that, I think everything else will come. You know, in times of temptation or trouble or safety, we would be really strong and faithful. Pray this church would be a place where all people and all backgrounds can come in and not be judged or rejected. Pray for the safety of our church, safety of the members, for the refugee children coming on Sundays. Pray for this.