“It is exciting to build that connection between people who are seeking God and God, who is seeking them.”

Craig Macartney
Spur Ottawa Writer

As Ottawa becomes more multicultural, the Church needs to be able to engage across cultural lines. The Metropolitan Bible Church (MET) is hosting a six-week course to help Christians bridge the gap with Ottawa’s growing Muslim population.

“The objective is for Christians to feel more comfortable and know how to connect to Muslims,” explains Judith Dancer, who leads the course and is on the leadership team of Loving Muslims Together (previously known as the Canadian Network of Ministries to Muslims). “[The course] is really to allay the fear and see what commonality we have. There are a lot of things we can actually generate conversation with them over.”

Dancer says Muslims tend to be much more open to conversations about God than secular Canadian society. Gaining a basic understanding of Islam and learning the shared beliefs can help build genuine relationships and spark conversations about Jesus.

“Their faces light up when they see that you know something about their celebrations. It gives an opportunity to say, ‘There is a similar story in our Bible.’”

“The difference between Islam and Christianity is very big because it has to do with who Jesus Christ is, but there are a lot of similarities. One example is we both believe Abraham took his son up the mountain in obedience to God, to sacrifice him. They believe God provided a ram in the thicket to save him. They have a celebration called Eid al-Adha [which commemorates this].”

Dancer is friends with several Muslim families and has a Muslim student living with her. She makes a practice of greeting them on their sacred days.

“Their faces light up when they see that you know something about their celebrations. It gives an opportunity to say, ‘There is a similar story in our Bible.’”

The course Dancer leads is called Bridges: Christians Connecting with Muslims. A key focus is helping Christians learn the similarities between the beliefs so they can build bridges with Muslims and point them to Jesus.

“God promises that those who seek Him with their whole heart will find Him.”

The course starts in the evening of October 28, running every Monday for six weeks. It is DVD-based, taught by Fouad Masri, a Christian man who grew up in Beirut, Lebanon. Following the lessons, participants engage in a guided discussion of the topics.

Heather Berghuis attended the course earlier this year. She says the biggest impact was seeing how many Muslims are seriously seeking after God.

“There were testimonies on the videos of people who were seeking God and weren’t satisfied with what Islam was teaching. God promises that those who seek Him with their whole heart will find Him. I want to be a part of helping those who truly want to know God to be presented with the truth of who Jesus Christ is.”

Since taking the course Berghuis has started helping some Muslim refugees learn English as a second language. She is now in school to become a certified English-as-a-second-language teacher, which she hopes will open more doors to reach out to Muslim women.

“We really do need to love them.”

“It hit me that we are His Body here and He has invited us to be part of this. I think it is so exciting to be part of building that connection between people who are seeking God and God, who is seeking them.”

Berghuis and Dancer have had their Muslim friends share challenges with them and have offered to pray with their friends about the challenges, praying in the name of Jesus. Both women say the response has been positive and that their friends are very happy to pray together in Jesus’ name.

“We really do need to love them. They don’t know Jesus,” says Dancer. She adds a final quote from Fouad Masri, the course founder, “They really need an authentic witness of Jesus and what Christianity is about.”