A Whole New World

So I have finally arrived and I must say that its a lot different than I expected. I mean I'm not entirely sure how to describe it, I definitely still in the United States, however, its like I'm in another country entirely. Everyone around is Muslim and signs are in Arabic and its all Arabian restaurants and shops. There seems to be no sign of typically American suburbs. But I must say I'm still very excited!

To address the questions a lot of people have asked about my previous two blog posts. It would take a long time to completely explain everything that was thrown at us in the four days at the conference. I will do my best to explain it here. Islam and Muslims are very misunderstood and their beliefs have been misrepresented over the years. What most people in the Western world know of Islam is the Muslims you see in the Media, the extremists who aren't true followers of Islam. Just like everyone who claims to be a Christian is not necessarily a true follower of God, Everyone who calls themselves a Muslim are not true followers of Allah. One of the things we learned about Muslims is some of them have high identity with Islam and being a Muslim because it is their culture but all of them do not if keep to all the Muslim practices. Unfortunately I can't sit here and type out every verse we looked at in both the Qur'an and the Bible. I can assure all of you who are concerned that I wouldn't still be here if I didn't believe in the things they taught us. I was just as shocked as all of you to get this information thrown at me, however, they backed it up thoroughly and I can't deny that their claims are legit. I wish ou could have heard the stories and the testimonies, they were incredible. This is a radical way of thinking, there is no way to deny that, but its very exciting to me. Know that God has lead me to this place, he has been preparing me to hear the things I heard at the conference. He has been softening my heart to the Muslim people and I'm excited to begin building relationships with you. I don't want anyone believing that I'm here doing some not of God, or that its a wrong way of thinking. I had a lot of same misconceptions of Islam that you do, however, know if you actually look at the Qur'an yourself and study it (warning english translations are inaccurate but unless you know arabic you dont tend to have much choice) that it says amazing things about God, and it specifically points Muslims to the Bible and to Christians. I promise I can explain everything a lot better when I return home, I will go through every verse with you if you so desire. I believe this is truth and that God is making an incredible moment. I ask that you continue to be in prayer for our team here and I still really need everyone's support even if you don't necessarily understand or agree with the common ground approach we are using. In the mean time if you are still curious check out Acts 15 and really look at how Paul did his ministry. Research on your own the truth about Islam as portrayed in the Qur'an. I advise not to believe anything in the Hadith which is a different book Muslims tend to use that justifies acts of terror and the Jihad. We are not even acknowledging the Hadith because its not true. So anyway if you don't want to research, give me a ring, I will be more than happy to discuss it with you.