The story starts the day we decided to do one of our treasure hunts in IKEA. Our group needed a pot for cooking and IKEA is probably the cheapest around, plus Camille and I had never been there. We prayed before we left and Camille and I wrote our words that we felt the Lord had put into our mind including giraffe, baby blue scarf and baby in snowsuit. We entered IKEA and walked up the stairs to the first section-the children’s section. We were like maybe its a stuffed giraffe but there weren’t any among the stuffed animals. Just then toddler came up with us and pointed at us then proceeded to throw his giraffe blanket at us! We were like well I think this is who we need to talk to…not him but his parents of course haha. We ended up talking to his parents for about 20 minutes. They were a very nice young swedish family. After our conversation, we forgot to get their number to meet up again! I pray we can meet them again somewhere in Malmo.
We made our way through the trendy rooms (if you haven’t been to IKEA, I highly recommend it if you like swedish design). We came to a section for organization and saw a cute baby in a snowsuit, more drawn to him for his cuteness than for the fact that we had baby in snowsuit on our list. His dad came holding a baby blue scarf. We started a conversation and really connected with him and his wife. He was originally from Syria and his wife from Lebanon. They were older than us just by a few years. It was only a 5 minute conversation but we were invited to his home! Later we both expressed that we saw a kindness and friendliness in each other and our new friend William said it wasn’t a usual practice to invite strangers to his home.
We set up a meeting for Friday and were really excited for it. I didn’t know what to expect. I assumed they were muslims but didn’t ask earlier. It was really my first meeting with people that practice the Islam faith. On Friday, Stina, Camille and I took the bus to their apartment. William met us at the bus stop, we greeted and he led us to his apartment. It was decorated very tastefully with trendy european design. William and his wife made us feel so welcome in their home. They set out a spread of coffee, bakery and snacks.
As we started to talk, it actually surprised us when he said,”You guys are christians right?” We hadn’t really talked specifically about why we were in Sweden until this point. He then said he had read the Bible 5 times and loved discussing religion. Wow, we were taken aback. My assumptions about muslims were being blown out of the water. Although I think our new friend William is definitely a stand out and not many other muslims or Christians for that matter have read the Bible 5 times (including me haha).
We went on to discuss Islam and Christianity for 2 or 3 hours. It was an amazing education into the Islam faith. He discussed his frustration with muslims and Christians alike that try to make a “quick sell” by spewing off a sales pitch for their faith. He said he was most interested in Jesus which they believe is a prophet in the Islam faith. We talked about the differences in our faiths as well. The main point about Jesus that most muslims don’t believe is that he was crucified, that Jesus is God, and that he was birthed as a result of God coming down as a Spirit to Mary. They believe in the miracles that Jesus performed and that He spoke the word of God.
Its interesting the way we make assumptions. I made the assumption based on where he came from that he was muslim. Although I was correct, he later told us Syria has quite a few christians as well as people of other faiths. What do you think of when you t
My wife and I are currently staffing a Discipleship Training School (DTS) through Youth with a Mission (YWAM). We both love God and are committed to following his will. I enjoys taking photographs of my travels as well as blogging about awesome things God does. To see more photos, visit our gallery. More about Calvin and Camille
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6 Comments
YAY for encounter =D
Michael Jake Lee
1/9/2010
Your worldview is changing. Ruined for the ordinary. You’re done for.
Jeff
1/9/2010
Wow! jed, dan and i were just talking about making muslim friends and the truth of who they are. You did it and it changed your mindset as it would most of us! I am proud of you guys for following God and what he has for you. This was so awesome to read!
Melodie
1/9/2010
Bless the Lord! Thanks for sharing! I will pray for William!
Dee Hopkins
1/9/2010
Hey,
This is Joel. We are having the most amazing experience in Kona! Can’t wait to see you guys when you get back here.
Bye.
Crystal Mattila
1/15/2010
This is an amazing experience. I love it. It’s so great that you guys are doing this now while you’re young and have so much to offer through living this way. Your commitment is beautiful.
Debbie Aho
1/30/2010