living to serve among Muslims

"Communicating the truth to Muslims for understanding."

A guy who lives in the Middle East spoke in chapel today. I am not identifying him for security reasons... he spoke about connecting with Muslims. These are the notes I took, they sound exactly like connecting with PMs

You need to be sure that the words are understood.
The speaker must understand what the listener is hearing.

To Muslims the deed weighs as much as the word.

Historical context is important to understanding and communicating the truth.
Collective identity, not individuality is important in understanding context.

Job, life choices and activities are our idenity in the West
verse
family, family heritage and relating to Muhammed in the muslim world.

In the West - choice
In the East - history

Religion is a birth thing not a personal choice.

Muslims are taught that the decline of the islamic empire was the result of straying from correct teaching... [Compare to modern jihadist teachings that are dividing muslim generations in west
how to reach? I need to blog about this]


some steps
1) understand identity
2) importance of language - live in the language
3) respect Islamic culture and history


living in a middle eastern ctiy
1) provide a safe and familiar environmment... Be aware of what is happening around us
2) permanance
3) community - being in community
4) orient our lives toward culture
5) relationships in the language and culture

I think there are amazing parallels to working among PMs

the self: another shift

"Sartre said, 'Existence precedes essence.' We make ourselves by what we choose to do. "

"For Nietzsche the only self worth living was the self of the ...Overman, the one who has risen above the conventional herd and has fashioned himself."

a shift:

"premodern" theistic notion that human beings are dignified

by being created in the image of God

to

"modern" notion that human beings are the product of their DNA template, which itself is the result of unplanned evolution based on change mutations and the survival of the fittest

to

"postmodern" notion of an insubstantial self constructed by the language it uses

to describe itself

Sire - p. 181-2