Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
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Refugees’ time of vulnerability seen as “a perfect storm” of opportunity to those bent on their conversion
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 8, 2011
A suburban Chicago church, the Wheaton Bible Church, partnering with the World Relief refugee resettlement contractor has found a “window” in their efforts to convert Muslims to Christianity. They term this conversion strategy “immigration engagement theology” and are implementing it via their MOVE Initiative. So committed are they to converting the refugees, several staff and church members have moved into the Wheaton apartment complex where World Relief placed 15 Iraqi families, claiming they want to foster deeper relationships with the refugees. The story is found in the September 2011 issue of Christianity Today:
Shortly after our son Paul graduated from high school this spring, we put him on a plane with seven other students for a two-week trip to France and Italy. Their trek, led by four adults, was a small piece of Wheaton Bible Church’s (WBC) MOVE Initiative, a relatively nascent project defined by its mission and ministry to Muslims both in suburban Chicago and abroad…
…Locally, the MOVE Initiative reaches out to about 15 Iraqi families in a nearby apartment complex through a partnership with World Relief. Several staff and church members have moved into the complex to foster deeper relationships, which typically begin with relatively simple tasks when the refugees arrive: picking them up at the airport, stocking their fridges, running errands, and meeting other practical needs involved in resettlement.
“We’re just meeting needs and building relationships,” says local-impact pastor Chris McElwee. “They’re not strangers to us. They know us and trust us, and they’re interested in spiritual things.” At least a couple of the Iraqi men have been visiting WBC in recent months, attending worship services (with their Arabic/English Bibles in hand) and taking part in a discussion group.
Our new MOVE missionaries, who recently arrived in France, will take essentially the same approach: helping refugees resettle, meeting needs, and building relationships. The hope is that as the friendships grow, so will opportunities to share the gospel…
…Greater Europe Mission president Henry Deneen says the relatively recent influx of Muslims to Europe has affected his ministry’s overall strategy. It still reaches out to native Europeans, but “there’s a window of time here, especially with all the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, that immigrants are flooding into Europe.
“Several European governments—particularly France, Germany, and the UK—are saying that the experiment of multiculturalism … has failed,” he says. “So you have a perfect storm—immigrants flooding in, and governments saying it’s not working. We’re saying, what a great place for the Lord Jesus to be.”
Thus, Wheaton Bible’s efforts to reach out to Muslims in France. Says Bugh, “It’s all part of a larger immigration engagement theology that’s worked for us.” Read more here
Gedlu Metaferia said
Religious tolerance and dialogue are what we need instead of conversion. This is what Whabi Islam is doing in Ethiopia. The proponents of Whabism give food , shelter and money to the poor before they convert them and build Mosques near churches. I am not against informed conversion. Converting refugees in the time of their vulnurability and early self-sufficiency by providing token rewards is the wrong path to assimilation. At some part of my cultural history in my country of origin both Islam and orthodox Christianity used to convert the “unbelievers” by coersion and force. Protestants also use devious method of providing token and “dolls” to convert Africans during colonialism.With all good intentions of churches there has to be a dialogue in this crucial issue. It negates American exceptionalism, 220 years of the American experiment and the values of religious freedom. It is also contrary to our constitution for a taxpayer-funded agency to be even remotely associated with proselytization and conversion.
Christopher Coen said
I might be for informed conversion if it wasn’t done when others are vulnerable, but if people really think their particular religion or spiritual way is better than other people’s then others should be able to see that and be drawn to it. No proselytizing, conversion, or pressure would even be necessary.