Tom speaking at the National Mosque in Washington, DC, this past July 2021.

Reactions to our Book Launch:
God Needs no Defense

Since our July book launch at the Nation’s Mosque in Washington, a German colleague, Esther, has been tracking the media response. Though less than a hundred people attended due to Covid restrictions, she has counted about 40 news reports in nine languages (English, German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Korean, Portuguese, Indonesian, and Norwegian). It is interesting to see myself quoted in a newspaper I cannot read! The level of media reaction shows, I believe, that millions of people around the world are eager for better approaches to the role of religions in society, and this desire has increased since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.

While making recommendations on this topic I have consistently tried to articulate normal Christian beliefs so that no one thinks of me as a neutral philosopher of religion. Our attempt to replace violent jihads and crusades with serious discussion flows from the best version of Christian beliefs. I attempt to follow 1 Peter 3:15, “In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense [apologia] to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” Apologetics must replace warfare. Christianity Today caught the spirit of our efforts in the title of their report: “Christian and Muslim Leaders Agree on Legitimacy of Evangelism.”

With the Muslim scholar who was the co-editor of the book, we released an interview about the book as a podcast. It can viewed or heard here. We arranged a transcript of the multiway interview entitled Muslim-Christian Relations: Becoming Good Neighbors. And I have prepared the text of my speech at the mosque, Future Relationships among Muslims and Christians.

The key texts are also available as free downloads:

1. God Needs No Defense: Reimagining Muslim-Christian Relations in the 21st Century, Festschrift for Thomas Schirrmacher edited by Thomas K. Johnson and C. Holland Taylor.
2. Humanitarian Islam, Evangelical Christianity, and the Clash of Civilizations, Thomas K. Johnson, WEA World of Theology, vol. 20.
3. “The Case for Ethical Cooperation between Evangelical Christians and Humanitarian Islam,” Thomas K. Johnson,  Evangelical Review of Theology (2020) 44:3, 204–217.

Since this event our Muslim/Christian joint group has been discussing what to do next. It would be premature to say much. Thank you to the many who helped in various ways. And praise the Lord for the opportunity to talk about the Christian faith in such an unusual situation!

Tom: Other news

After the mosque book presentation, I was exhausted, partly from hard work for several months, partly from pain in my right leg, injured in a mountain bike accident 20+ years ago. I had a CT of my knee and an MRI of my hip, leading to seeing the right specialists in the coming month. I am eager to hear what treatments they propose. I hope the recovery time is not too long, though I expect to take some rest time this winter.

Recently I participated in the Christian World Communions conference on zoom. This group has been meeting since 1957 simply to help communication among all the groups of people who are called Christians. About 30 people participated, as usual. Major church bodies send one or two people, such as the Catholic Church, the Mennonites, Baptists, Lutherans, Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Quakers, Adventists, Methodists, etc. For several years I have represented the WEA at these meetings.

Over the last few months, I have received about a dozen articles on the Ten Commandments from Christian authors around the globe. We are calling this “The Decalogue Project.” There should be a book or two, many website articles, a few academic journal articles. I hope this will become quite beneficial. In the coming weeks I also hope to finish the text of volume two of my project Christian Ethics in Secular Cultures. Volume one is available here as a free PDF and here as a paperback from Barnes & Noble.

From Leslie:

ACSI EU Student Leadership Update

The ACSI EU team hosted a virtual Student Leadership Conference (SLC) in September. We had 255 participants from 18 different countries and 24 schools from around Europe and Africa. The theme of the conference focused on how each of us can contribute to building and sustaining a Christ-centered community. Our keynote speakers (Roslyn Barnes and Tim Totten) shared on what a Christian community is like, and how our faith, love and hope affect our relationships to the communities we live in. I gave three workshops early in the morning here in the US/late morning or early afternoon in Europe. It is an honor and privilege to work with the ACSI EU team serving these students. Thank you for your prayers. (To read more about what is happening through ACSI EU, here is the September update.)

ICCM Cohort Update

My ICCM Cohort had our first in-person retreat in September. It was a blessing to meet my fellow participants in person. I continue to read, watch, participate in cohort meetings, and learn, but my learning is taking a new direction.
As you may remember, this past summer the practicum I had arranged last year fell through. I prayed; I sent out a letter for possibly working in other schools; and I had a thought – to write the people who are connected with We Welcome, a ministry to support refugees and immigrants connected with World Relief. Though I never heard from the schools I wrote, I received a response from the women who work with We Welcome – NC (North Carolina) who wanted to talk. Immediately.

The next day, I talked with these women that work and network between different ministries serving refugees in the Raleigh/Durham, NC, area. Then I also contacted Pat Hatch, who is the Director of Refugee and Immigrant Ministry for the Presbyterian Church of America’s (PCA) Mission to North America.

Between these two organizations, I now have exciting work ahead. The We Welcome – NC and I are planning for future training opportunities for their volunteers in the Raleigh/Durham area, as well as churches who are interested in refugee ministries. One of the women also works with a ministry there called Welcome House, which is a ministry to developing short-term housing for refugee families as they look for more permanent housing. One is just opening here in Fayetteville and the first Afghan family arrives Tuesday, October 19. The church sponsoring the Welcome House Fayetteville has asked me to train their volunteers about cross-cultural challenges that will come up working with refugees.

I also have been asked by Pat Hatch to join her team working in the Refugee and Immigrant Ministry for the PCA’s Mission to North America. I will be a “Cross-cultural Training Specialist,” training churches and volunteers involved in ministering to refugees and immigrants. I will also help Pat with some administrative work.

Between these two new opportunities, I will have plenty of work to apply to my practicum for my ICCM cohort. Thank you for your prayers that I would find a good practicum. I am excited to see how the Lord leads and uses me to be an encouragement to others doing cross-cultural work right here in the US. Please pray for the Lord’s wisdom as I prepare and teach people about cross-cultural understanding.

A Much-Needed Time for Rest for Tom

You have watched and read and seen the fruit of Tom’s work these past few years with the Humanitarian Muslims. The amount of energy and work he has put in is, from my (Leslie’s) perspective, immense. Now that the jointly produced book has been launched, Tom needs to stop and rest.

We know that God does not want us living a life of exhaustion all the time. There are times to push hard; but then there are times to stop and re-gain strength by resting.

Additionally, Tom is having hip and knee problems again and may be facing 1 or more surgeries over the next year. We will know more early in December exactly what the prognosis is.

This has led us to think it is time for Tom to take a sabbatical. He needs to stop and rest his body and his brain. And he needs to have his hip and knee treated appropriately.

Thus, we are planning on Tom taking a year-long sabbatical. The first few months are to be complete rest and medical work, a deep sabbath, allowing God to rejuvenate his body and soul. The next several months would be a time of praying and studying, researching, and writing what he is called to write.

Probably in those last few months, he would be working again with the Humanitarian Muslims, preparing for a big event next September 2022. But this would be at a slower, less intense level than he has had over the last three years.

Twice Tom has had extended times for research and thinking, a research grant 35 years ago and a partial sabbatical 18 years ago. Much of what he has done on the international stage arose from what he learned during those times. People we trust have recommended that he not retire anytime soon because there is a more for him to do. We want this to be a time of equipping for the future.

Please join us in prayer that he could completely pass off current duties for this season. Pray, too, for him to truly rest. (We all have a hard time with that, don’t we?) And pray for the Lord’s wisdom about his next writing projects.

Special Refugee Update

We have no news to report. The paperwork for the refugee family is still stuck in the system. Please continue to pray the paperwork gets processed SOON so they can transition from the refugee camp to the new country as soon as possible.

For the first time since covid hit….

We are behind in our support account. It is a bit concerning since we are currently not traveling at all to Europe or other places. In the past, travel is what drained our support account. And we have not been to our supporting churches. Additionally, many of our individual supporters are getting to that age of retirement and are unable to continue to support us, and rightly so. The Lord is the provider God who will take care of our needs. Please be praying for new supporters, and opportunities to speak at churches about our work.

Cross Cultural Communication

Are you looking for help in understanding cross-cultural communication? Leslie is trained in the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), which assesses a person’s intercultural capability, as well as the Cultural Intelligence/Cultural Values assessment. (For more information on the IDI assessment, you can look at it here.) If you or your team would like help growing in your cultural sensitivity, feel free to contact Leslie to discuss options.

If you are interested, please contact her at lesliepjohnson@lesliepjohnson.com. Thanks!

Praises:
We thank the Lord for:

• A successful book launch of God Needs No Defense. Their jointly authored book is available on websites and should soon go to bookstores. (See Tom’s report above on the response to this book with links.)
• A gifted colleague has taken over for Tom to advise the State Department.
• Leslie’s opportunity to continue working with her ACSI EU and Global colleagues to strengthen Christian teachers, administrators, and schools.
• A well-attended virtual Student Leadership Conference. (See Leslie’s report above.)
• Leslie’s new opportunity to join local and national ministries (see her report above) training volunteers working with refugees about cross-cultural values and communication. This is in answer to the prayer for wisdom to find a new practicum for my ICCM cohort program.

Prayers:

Please join us in praying for:

• Pray for protection from discouragement for the refugee family we have been helping. Their government paperwork is still moving slowly. Pray for the paperwork to get finished and for them to move to the new country safely and efficiently.
• Also continue to pray for the refugee family’s transition to a new culture. They will need tremendous courage to face huge challenges in their up-coming transition.
• The Lord’s purposes for COVID-19 to be accomplished around the world and that he would end it. Soon. Lord willing, by the end of 2021, since it still has an impact on a lot of ministries around the world.
• Creative ideas to help persecuted Christians around the world and safe places for them to go.
• Tom to effectively pass on his current responsibilities for a season of rest, research, and writing.
• Tom as he considers which books to research and write next, particularly during his sabbatical
• For Christians around the world to be strengthened to serve God and others in their communities, whether those “others” are different in beliefs, color of skin, nationalities, etc.
• Leslie as she starts training volunteers who are working with refugees.

Thank you for your faithful prayer for us as well as your financial gifts that allow us to do the work He has called us to.

Tom & Leslie