CRC Has New Muslim Ministry

[Chris Meehan <cmeehan@crcna.org>]

>New Muslim Ministry for CRC

September 12, 2011 -- Rev. Greg Sinclair, a Christian Reformed Church
pastor who worked among Muslims in West Africa for nearly a decade, has been
named the first training coordinator of the CRC's new ministry Advancing
Ministry Among Muslims (AMAM).

"Rev. Greg Sinclair . . . has a passion to see the CRC reaching out to
Muslims in North America and around the world," said Joel Hogan, director of
international ministries for Christian Reformed World Missions and one of
the driving forces behind the formation of AMAM.

"Greg will be tasked with training of trainers to serve CRC congregations to
better understand Islam and to develop a response of love for Muslims to
better be able to serve them in Jesus' name."

AMAM will focus on training people who can in turn train congregations and
other groups about the Muslim faith and how to reach out to Muslims in love,
says Hogan.

"We want to do training in churches so that, rather than default to the
stereotypes (of all Muslims being fundamentalists and terrorists) that the
media and others build up, they will learn to better understand Islam and
learn to love Muslims in Jesus' name," he said.

Sinclair has been pastor of Iron Springs CRC in Alberta for the last six
years.

"I am excited to be working with AMAM helping CRC people to reach out to
Muslims with the love of Jesus Christ. Muslims today are the Samaritans of
Jesus' day. They follow their faith back to Abraham as we do but are often
misunderstood and even despised," said Sinclair.

Sinclair, a former Christian Reformed World Missions missionary, gave an
illustration from the Bible (John 4:22-26) reflecting his hopes and prayers
for the new ministry.

He recalled how Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, "You Samaritans worship
what you do not know, we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the
Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers
the Father seeks..."

The woman said, "I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When he
comes he will explain everything to us."

Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he.'"

"My prayer is that Muslims worldwide would come to this same realization,"
said Sinclair.

The Muslims that he and his family lived among and worked with were
influenced by Sufism, a branch of Islam, as well as animistic beliefs and
"so it was a kind of folk Islam," he said.

Since he and his wife, Nelly, lived there the number of believers in West
Africa continues to grow – "evidence that God's Spirit is working among
Muslims."

He and his wife have four children, one in college, one working and two
still at home. He will be serving the church in Alberta until the end of
October, he said.

Representatives of all agencies of the CRC have spent more than two years in
forming AMAM.

"In understanding Islam from a biblical and historical perspective, we would
like people to respond to their Muslim brothers and sisters out of
compassion and love and not fear and hatred. Out of that Christian love can
come actions," said Hogan.

AMAM is a response in large part to CRC congregations that over the years
have asked the CRC f there was a way to learn more about Islam and outreach
to Muslims.

"All sorts of people in our churches are eager to learn about Islam and how
Christians can respond," Hogan said. "In fact, I see a groundswell of
Spirit-initiated interest in our churches of people who want to know Islam
better."
Christian Reformed Church News has done a series of articles looking at how
the church has responded and what people have learned since September 11,
2001. To view the stories, visit:
www.crcna.org/news.cfm?newsid=2967&section=1

>--
>Chris Meehan
>News & Media Manager
>Christian Reformed Church in North America
>1-616-224-0849