What would it look like for Christians and people of other faiths to have a respectful, intelligent dialogue about religion? How could we use those experiences to improve our missional efforts to share the gospel? This past November, group of four church leaders from the Christian Reformed Church and two from the Reformed Church in America* decided to find out.

“We wanted to explore ways to make contact and build friendships of mutual understanding with religiously and culturally diverse persons,” said one Resonate staff member, summing up the trip.

The six participants—three each from Canada and the United States —visited three different Muslim-majority countries where Resonate Global Mission staff work, allowing them to see Islam in different contexts. The group met with Muslims in a mosque and with a group of Catholic and Protestant friars in their community.

They were able to do this through a type of inter-faith dialogue called Scriptural Reasoning, which the staff member explains: “Persons of different religions gather to read and explore their sacred texts in order to foster mutual understanding and friendship. This is a way of witnessing that respects others.”

Initial Reactions

One of the trip’s facilitators summed up his experience saying he was “moved beyond stereotypes, practiced conversing with others, sought ways to show Christ’s love to others, and returned impassioned to help their congregations do the same.”

One of the most important experiences for breaking stereotypes was meeting several Arabic-speaking Christians.

“This vibrant living Christianity, alongside the church’s intentional attempt to live in peaceful coexistence with Muslim authorities and neighbors, is a treasure to behold,” said one participant.

Taking Lessons Back to North America

Among the six participants was Rich Braaksma, Resonate’s regional leader for Western Canada. Rich was both excited for future outreach and challenged by what he experienced.

“The opportunity to visit Muslim-majority countries and engage inter-religious dialogue in those places seemed like an immense way to learn and better understand how to pursue those relationships in Western Canada,” said Rich.

“Jesus reveals the God who sees and goes to the outsider and ‘the other’ in love,” Rich added. “Which effectively ‘un-others’ them...This trip helped me see people as diverse creatures, all of us made in God’s image…”

Rich and the other leaders see this coming together of what used to be separate ministry locations (Home Missions and World Missions) as an opportunity for Resonate to expand its reach.

“Mission,” one Resonate missionary notes, “is a practice for which there is no conclusive theory or strategy. As an agency that is helping the church engage mission, we need to create spaces to keep on practicing.”

Although the trip is complete, the participants will continue to communicate with, encourage, and share how they are implementing what they learned with members of their congregations.

We thank God that Resonate missionaries are pursuing deeper relationships and respectful witness. Pray that God will continue to teach us how to share and be Jesus’ love to Muslim neighbors and those living around the world.

*For security reasons, we are not able to share the names of most of these participants