New From Seven:Nine.

Holy Book Group Launch.

Last week, a small group of us gathered over light refreshments in a comfortable café. Invited by some Christians, local Muslim friends joined us for our first Holy Book group meeting. We enjoyed meeting new people and exploring how we thought the group could work; venue, time, frequency and discussion topics.

After getting to know one another a bit, we tried out our first Holy Book discussion. We read two short passages, one from the Quran and one from the Bible. (Q.16.125, 1 Peter 3:15.) Everyone contributed their thoughts, ideas and questions; “Christians have hope that they need to be ready to explain.” “The Quran says that people should speak in the ‘best’ way - this implies taking time and thought.” The discussion was rich and yet relaxed.

We agreed we’d like to do this again and hoped that others we had invited would join us next time. At a time when the news is filled with fear and division, particularly around religious differences, God is moving in our little group to demonstrate his goodness and love.