I have a friend. I will call her Sami in this communication. Sami is a British Pakistani Muslim in her late 30s. We have been friends for over 6 years. When I first met her, she was very interested in seeing the inside of our little church building. She had lived almost all her life just doors away from the church and always wondered about it.

Through the years I have visited in her home many times and gotten to know her extended family. She attended my Mums and Tots group with her sons, helped me with my Urdu, assisted in my reading classes, and taught me how to cook some Pakistani dishes. Sami has visited in my home several times. Her husband attended the men’s English conversation classes at our church.  Her nephews and nieces came to our Holiday club and now attend our boys and girls clubs. I cried with her when she miscarried her baby girl and rejoiced with her when she later gave birth to a healthy baby girl. She has confided in me about personal problems.

Sami has asked questions about my beliefs. She has expressed on more than one occasion how much she appreciates our church and how we have helped her family. After a 3 week long illness, I realized I hadn’t spoken to Sami for quite a while, so I decided to text her to see how she was.

After some chit chat back and forth, to my surprise she confessed that because of all the recent negative media about Muslims she was keeping a distance! I quickly assured her that what bad Muslims do, does not affect my friendship and love for my Muslim friends and students. She was quite relieved. When I told her George said they missed her son at boys club, she admitted that she had intentionally kept him away from club to protect him from being discriminated against as a Muslim. I assured her that we are very intentional in our efforts to make our kids’ clubs a safe place where we respect each other and treat one another the way we ourselves want to be treated.

This was her response, “I know you guys are lovely, but it’s always in the back of our minds that maybe everyone thinks we are all the same as the monsters responsible for the atrocities in the world.”

Karen King (and George)

George: I have somewhat reluctantly served as Chairman of the local Neighbourhood Forum for the last 18 months. I didn’t desire the job nor do I consider myself particularly well-suited for it. However, our multi-ethnic community needs all the help it can get in getting along in peace and harmony, and that’s part of the mandate of the Forum.

My right-hand man, the Forum Secretary, is a devout Muslim of Pakistani heritage (the largest ethnic group in our area). Our Treasurer is a kind Jamaican lady not very happy about the busy new mosque across the street from her home. Then there is the older Irish gentleman who in more than one election ran as a candidate for a political party branded as racist and if given a chance would “send all the immigrants back to where they came from” (would that include him I wonder?). All this makes for interesting dynamics in our monthly meetings, and I have learned that the surface layer of peace and harmony is covering a deep bedrock of suspicion and distrust–where? In our committee? Perhaps, but even more so in the wider community.

This directly impacts our ability to serve as Christ’s ambassadors here. We have had to consciously work at overcoming suspicion by acts of kindness and love in the name of Christ, and so it continues. My initial reluctance has given way to conviction that I can serve Christ well as Chairman of the Neighbourhood Forum. The local community needs a sense of true community, and who better to help create that than God’s people? Pray for us as we seek to let our light shine that people may see our good works and praise our Heavenly Father. Pray for our Christian witness in the Forum and in the community.

Karen: God seems to be doing something new in my English class. Whereas my class used to be composed solely of Pakistani Muslim women, it is now more diverse, including a Russian, a couple of Brazilian, a Somalian, as well as an Afghani and several Pakistani women. I recently had opportunity to give the Afghani lady a Jesus Film. One of my former students who became quite ill last year, has returned to class this year and was excited when I told her about the boys’ club her 2 sons can attend. She has already watched the Jesus film & told the Afghani lady, “It is very good.”

Pray as we continue to sow seeds in the hearts of the children who attend our clubs. The current theme in girls’ club is compassion. Last week I spoke to my younger girls about the compassion of Jesus the Messiah for people and told them the story of the mothers bringing their children to see Jesus. I shared how Jesus’ helpers sent them away but Jesus said, “No, let them come!” He wasn’t too busy for children. He cared about those children and their mothers and their needs. I told our club girls that He cares about them too.

Continue to pray for things we have mentioned before–George’s mother Doris, the new special monthly fellowship of believers, and the needs of our little church.

We are grateful to be part of God’s great “community”, the Church of Jesus Christ.

George and Karen

Thank you for praying for George’s mother, Doris. She has improved to some degree and is able to lead a more normal life. Please continue to pray for her cancer to recede, and that God gives her everything she needs for the days ahead. It was difficult to return to England in mid-May with the uncertainty about Doris’ situation. In addition to that, we were missing our new grandchild, Adleigh. But at least there is Facebook!

Now we are back in full swing. In addition to resuming his regular pastoral and ministry duties, George was invited to speak at the European Baptist Federation’s 2015 Mission Conference held here in Birmingham. The theme was “Christian Muslim Encounters in Europe: Proclaiming Jesus in a Multi-Faith World”. George shared that our church’s strategy has been to pursue 3 things in relation to our Muslim neighbours (based on Matthew 5:14-16), as follows:

• Visibility — make residents aware of the church
  You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. (Matt 5:14)
• Trust — convince residents that the church’s presence is beneficial to them
  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. (Matt 5:15)
• Community — make the church a centre of activity for residents
  In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matt 5:16)

Please be in prayer for the third meeting of the new Fellowship of Believers (from a Muslim background) on June 27th. May it become a mighty tool in God’s hands to encourage and evangelize those who don’t know Christ.

As we write this, it is 9:35pm of the first day of Ramadan, the annual 30-day fast for Muslims. The fast that began at 2:30 in the morning is just ending. Now that’s a long day! We are encouraging Christians locally to pray for Muslims daily during Ramadan, and we encourage you to join! Just click on the 30 Days of Prayer graphic below (or if you don’t like to click email links, go to Facebook and search for 30-Days International). Each day you can find a new prayer request for that day.

God bless you and thank you for your interest,

George and Karen King

Recently a Fox News pundit asserted that Birmingham is a “totally Muslim city” to which “non-Muslims do not go.” The blunder prompted a flurry of comedic responses.

• local band “Duran Duran” is renamed “Quran Quran”
• the largest fast-food chain in the city is “Burqa King”
• Birmingham is now SO Muslim that they recently voted to remove “ham” from the name
• and then there’s the tweet about the Queen’s headscarf…

According to the 2011 census, Birmingham is 46.1% Christian, 21.8% Muslim, and 19.3% non-religious, so the Fox expert was clearly misinformed. But does that mean all is well in Birmingham? I know of white English people who avoid a Muslim neighbourhood (one we frequent) because they feel unwelcome. On the other hand, I know of Muslim people who avoid going to a white working-class area for fear of being harassed by non-Muslims. Apparently the ‘no-go’ knife cuts both ways. There is tension between communities but little integration. And so, in our context, having freedom to preach the gospel assumes a component of promoting social cohesion. Walls of suspicion broken by friendship and caring gain you a hearing.

Lately, George has been walking in the evenings with Muslim neighbor “Danny” in order to gain such a hearing (mentioned in a previous post). Karen spends her days loving her Muslim ladies by helping them to read. May God grant them all faith.

“Faith comes from hearing the message” (Romans 10:17).

Your prayers and support are much appreciated!

Yours ever,

George and Karen