Mission Bite #98: Learning to love better

"I've spent time interviewing Muslim migrants on a nearby island. For them, 'halal' describes things permissible within Islam while 'haram' refers to forbidden things. Often these terms refer to food.

Moving to a place where most of the population isn't Muslim, many of these migrants face the dilemma of where and what to eat. Their Christian neighbors welcome them and invite them to their celebrations. Unfortunately, ignorance on both sides is often misinterpreted as insult. The migrants attend, but don't eat, which offends other partygoers. The migrants, expecting their Christian friends to understand, feel disrespected and hungry.

I wonder how many times our hospitality is misunderstood by our neighbors from different backgrounds. I pray that we would all learn more about our neighbors, their cultures and their faith, so that we might better know how to love them."

- Brooke and Mike, CBF field personnel, Southeast Asia