This picture by photographer Ro Amir Hakim shows what is currently happening as Rohingya refugees are fleeing genocide in Myanmar. Please pray for them. Pray that the world will listen and find a way to help.
A SPIRITUAL FOUNDATION
Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our 56th wedding anniversary.
Wes is a self-professed atheist who simply can’t believe that God exists. I’m a strong Christian in that I believe that Jesus loved me enough to die for me. In this day and age of modern medicine, I believe He is the greatest healer of all. I can’t go for long without talking about Jesus.
Our marriage has not been smooth sailing. But we’ve been able to stick together, weathering the storms as they come. We’ve learned to accept and love each other, despite our differences
Those of you who have been reading the biweekly messages I’ve sent out since 2013, will know how I have tried to encourage you in your faith. God gave me a calling, starting in 2000, to share His love with others, especially those struggling with mental health challenges. Since 2018, when Living Room, the faith-based peer support ministry I had founded, lost its support, I had been trying to bring it back.
And so, a few months ago, I joined LinkedIn to search for people who might help it happen. Ever since I have been exploring the many posts that come through the feed, especially those about mental health. But I came to know about many other things as well, many struggles that people were experiencing.
Now the whole world has ended up like one great big Living Room for me as I read posts and engage in discussions with people who are in the middle of some of the world’s worst struggles. I now have friends and acquaintances in many corners of the world, speaking with them on many topics. Through LinkedIn, God has returned me to the role I had always found so meaningful—to encourage people in their faith, especially those who feel the world’s rejection.
Several weeks ago, I connected with a person living in the Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh. Many more from the camps followed, until now I have twenty connections with the Rohingya. When I message them I tell them about Jesus and how I’m trying to start support groups that would have Jesus and His unconditional love as its foundation. Living Room’s Open Door would provide groups led by facilitators from different faith traditions.
The person I present to them is Jesus as he was experienced by those who first met him two thousand years ago. Back then, most weren’t aware that He was God, and the crucifixion had not yet happened. They only witnessed Jesus the way He was—his kindness, humility, and wisdom.
From long ago, I have not believed in converting a person from their religion to my own. Because their faith tradition is important to them, as our Christian tradition is to us. Religious traditions are part of our culture and helps to make us who we are. Jesus has made me who I am.
I introduce the people I meet to the Jesus whose unconditional love is for all people, regardless of who they are, where they’re from, or how they worship. Believing in this healing love does not require transforming their faith or taking away from it. It will only add to it. And, although it’s not my intention to make this happen, I believe the Holy Spirit will lead them to seek further.
My Rohingya friend Niyamot responded like this: “Whether we call Him Allah or God, it is the same light that guides us to serve others and bring hope where there was once despair. I believe that through this shared spiritual foundation, we can help build peace not just in our own communities, but in the world at large.”
If all peoples of the world’s different religions could only gather under the umbrella of Christ’s unconditional love—a love that every one of us can share in—what a different world it would be.
marja
Leave a Reply