Another example of how small numbers of believers of whatever faith can make a difference is my own tiny church in Kuwait , which was able to sponsor Afghanistan projects, i.e. HOPE projects which had earlier simply offered medical aid to women during the Taliban days. That is, when such medical support was almost non-existent.
Likewise, in 2005 my tiny church set up an appointment for the HOPE representative from Afghanistan to sit down for a dinner visit with the Afghanistan Embassy in Kuwait . This helped both Christians and Muslims in Kuwait to lobby for more nationwide support in the subsequent "Zakat" campaign for aiding Afghanis, especially in women's education and health, as well as in work-training. ("Zakat" is the Muslim's giving or tithing taken normally around Ramadan each year. It is a pillar of their faith practices.)
http://www.alafco-kw.com/alafco/Portals/0/Annual%20Report%202005.pdf
Similarly, last month, my humble tiny fellowship in Kuwait donated to a benevolent group in Lebanon .
We sent this money to a multinational Christian fellowship in Beirut consists of Armenian and Lebanese (and other Arab) Christians. However, that church also helps support a food bank and kitchen for Lebanese of all religious backgrounds Beirut . (Since the Muslim New Year and Christmas are dovetailing again this year, December will be a great time for Christians to share with Muslim poor in Lebanon .)
In this day and age-with food prices rising, violence occurring, and economies going bust-it is essential that people, regardless of their faiths, reach out to each other in all kinds of supportive and positive ways.
A PASTOR FROM MUMBAI
During the midst of "The Siege of Mumbai" this week, my pastor-also from Mumbai most of his life-chose to begin his weekly church message with 2 Corinthians 4:1-10, which begins:
"Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we're not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don't maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don't twist God's Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God If our Message is obscure to anyone, it's not because we're holding back in any way. No, it's because these other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to give it serious attention. All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and that they won't have to bother believing a Truth they can't see."
Moreover, 2 Corinthians continues, "If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us. As it is, there's not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we're not much to look at. We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken."
At a moment, when Mumbai residents were and are terrorized by great forces, it is a brave message.
Even if a reader is not a Christian, I would recommend that they face the violence in the positive light of this sort of message.
That is, whether Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Jain, Confucianist, agnostic peacemaker, or just-plain builder-of-better-worlds, we need to recognize the power within us to change the mess- and horrors of this time in history.
This means, as the Mumbai pastor shared, "We cannot support victimization."
In conclusion, we need not react by lashing out at others in times of terror and horror, especially non-responsible faithful of other religions.
THE LAW OF THE GARBAGE TRUCK
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