Seven ways to develop bridge-building love
1. Ask God to give you a Muslim friend
2. Actively seek a friend out
When we pray, we act in cooperation with the Spirit. As we pray, we move. After six months in our new neighborhood, my husband and I discovered a ministry that would match us with an international student to welcome into our lives. We requested a match with a Muslim couple or brother/sister, and were certain this was how God would answer our prayers. When, on match-up day, we were paired with a Hindu student from India, we wondered what God was doing. At church the next morning, three rows in front of us, was a young woman with a head covering seated next to a young man. After the service, we hurried over to introduce ourselves. They were brother and sister, from Saudi Arabia, and were brand new to Kansas. They had attended church that Sunday for a one-time cultural experience.
3. Invite them into your life
Deep friendships do not happen overnight. Trust is sewn together over time, through shared experiences. My husband and I first showed Athilah* and her brother Mubashir* around the city. Then we had them over for dinner. As time passed, I began inviting Athilah to join in my mundane, day-to-day life — afternoon errands or Target runs. When my husband was working an overnight shift at the hospital, she often kept me company. Some of our best conversations have happened over ice cream or walks through the park.
4. Pray with your friend in Jesus’ name
5. Meet practical needs
When Athilah and her brother were still new to the country, they had no car and they did not know where to buy certain things. This created an easy way for my husband and I to come alongside them. We helped them learn what medications they needed when they got sick. We drove them to the bank, showed them how to get library cards, and lent them boxes when they moved. When there was a misunderstanding between Athilah’s scholarship program and the local university about her enrollment, we contacted the international student representative. I told Athilah that we were asking Jesus to make a way for her to stay at this college, and when he did, she noticed.
6. Learn from them
7. Introduce them to Jesus
One of the Arabic prayers recited by Muslims all over the world asks God to guide them to “the straight path” (The Quran, 1:6) According to John 14, Jesus is that Straight Way. Without him, we are all lost — no matter what religion we claim or what country we live in. Do not waste time and energy arguing with your Muslim friends about every differing doctrine and belief. Instead, invite them on a journey to discover the Straight Path in Jesus through God’s Word and through the evidence of him working in your life. Then trust the Holy Spirit to do his work of speaking through his Word as it falls on the soil of your friends’ hearts.
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