Cousin Bertha and the Muslims

I want to share a story I heard yesterday after my Uncle Perry's funeral--from J---, who is married to my cousin L----.  They live in eastern Ontario and work among many immigrants.  After having lived and worked for many years in Turkey, they have language skills and cultural insights that add to the effectiveness of their work.  Many of their friends and neighbors are Muslim. 

One of the community leaders among the immigrants is a Muslim man from Somalia.  I don't know his name, so I'll call him Mohammad, for convenience's sake.  He has been extremely welcoming to L--- and J---- and invited J----- to join a small group organized to provide assistance to struggling members of their community.  "I want you at the table," he said.  Mohammad reiterated this welcome even after J---- reminded him that, while she is happy to share in helping the Muslim community, she does so personally as a follower of Jesus rather than as a Muslim. 

Later, after a Christian who is a former Muslim began to conduct meetings to share his faith with others, a need developed for a new meeting place.  In another astonishing act of generosity, Mohammad allowed the facility he was in charge of to be used for this purpose.  I'm almost as impressed with the transparency of the Christians as I am with Mohammad's generosity and goodwill. The Christians made very sure Mohammad knew who was asking for the meeting place and what kind of activity would be conducted there. As J---- told  more of the story, I marveled at what I was seeing.  Humble acts of service by Christians, for Muslims can be extremely effective and far-reaching, with both immediate and long-term positive outcomes.  Political influence and maneuvering compare poorly with this approach.

As J-- told more of the backstory of Mohammad's  surprising openness to Christians, his family's story intersected with mine and L----'s, via a cousin of both my mother and L----'s father (siblings).  Their cousin, Bertha Beachy,* had served for many years at a hospital in Somalia, under Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).   Other non-government organizations (NGOs) were also active in the country at the same time.  Then a Marxist government came to power in late 1969, and all the NGOs fled, except the Mennonites. 

Staying, however, to keep the hospital and other help available to the Somalis could happen only if the Mennonites relinquished all control of the work they had begun and the facilities they had built.  What happened next was apparently retold for many years.  Mohammad was born perhaps 30 years later and heard the story from his elders. 

Instead of being in charge, the Mennonites became servants to the Somalis in every sense of the word.  The new leaders had few skills and little training in medicine or administration, but they stepped into their roles with the full support of those who had once been in charge, and the work went on.  As Mohammad heard the story, for seven years the Mennonites were the only NGO's in the country.  The Muslim community never forgot this powerful demonstration of humility and love. 

"Why did you stay?" Mohammad asked later of former Mennonite missionaries to Somalia, whom I will call James and Martha.  He was visiting a couple in a nearby nursing home in Ontario, with L----- and J----- having connected them and being present at the visit.

I don't know how James and Martha answered, but for L---- and J----, the answer provided one more reason for hope that someday the Muslim community in Ontario will have a Christian leader in Mohammad.   Humble service by faithful Christians all those decades ago in Somali had planted a seed that sprouted half a world away in Canada.  L--- and J--- are nurturing that plant, and someday God may cause it to bear fruit. 

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*I remember when my mother hosted Bertha Beachy in Kansas.  Mom had served on a committee that planned a World Day of Prayer observance in cooperation with other Mennonites in the area.  At her suggestion, this committee asked Bertha to speak to this group.  On the Day of Prayer, the group met at Yoder Mennonite Church.