News from Tom and Leslie Johnson
Refugee Special Request Update
Thank you so much for your generosity toward our refugee friends!
Because of gifts from many in the US, Canada, and Europe, the budget need has been met. There is a little left over to pay forward toward the needs of another refugee family coming under the care of the same organization in Ontario.
he Canadian paperwork for the family is moving slowly, which is common for refugees, but the fact that this paperwork is in motion should protect them from deportation to their country of origin. (Tom is copied on many of these communications.) But there are many things that can go wrong in such a large transition! And even if the legal, financial, and travel matters go okay, they are facing countless changes: new country, new church, new school, new jobs, new friends, etc.
Please mention them to our Heavenly Father regularly.
A Successful Book Launch –Tom’s Update
Giving a speech at the Nation’s Mosque in Washington, DC, now that’s something I didn’t expect when I graduated from a traditional Protestant seminary 40 years ago! But then I did not expect to spend years on religious freedom, did not comprehend that old Muslim/Christian conflicts would become globally important, nor expect that the world’s largest Muslim organization would want to work with the world’s largest Protestant organization to set a new direction. The occasion was the launch of a book I coedited with a Muslim counterpart, God Needs No Defense: Reimagining Muslim-Christian Relations in the 21st Century, available as a free download here, during the International Religious Freedom Summit called by Senator Sam Brownback
The title God Needs No Defense is a response to the way many people in several countries think they are defending God by means of violent jihads, whether they are in Afghanistan, Nigeria, or Somalia. This title was first used for an essay by that name which is famous in parts of the Muslim world, published by Abdurrahman Wahid, who was the first democratically elected president of Indonesia (1999-2001), as well as a leading Muslim theologian. We included that essay in our book, along with another pivotal essay by Wahid; then the Muslim scholars working on this book asked me to write essays from the perspective of Protestant theology that parallel the themes addressed by President Wahid, so that this group of four essays by Wahid and myself became the philosophical core of the book. In this way our joint Muslim/Christian team is setting a new role model to replace the model of jihads and responding crusades, that of serious theological discussion of the ethical foundations for life together in multi-religious societies.
At a nice dinner at the end of our first long meeting with this group of Muslims in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2019, I made a mini speech in which I said I would be disappointed if the Muslims at the table did not try to convert me to Islam because we Christians are always trying to convert Muslims to Christianity. We are all trying to convert each other; I am convinced Christianity is true and our Muslim counterparts are convinced that Islam is true. At the same time, we want our grandchildren of both faiths to be good neighbors to each other, and it is our job as theologians of both faiths to explain how and why Muslims and Christians can be good neighbors and friends. Jointly we are responding to both religious extremism and secular extremism.
The book was a festival volume (Festschrift) presented to Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher (from Germany), the new head of the World Evangelical Alliance, by Pak Yahya Staquf, head of the world’s largest Muslim organization (from Indonesia). The event was hosted by Imam Talib Shareef, head of the Nation’s Mosque, the first American mosque built by descendants of American slaves. This group of American Sunni mosques is embracing the type of Muslim theology represented by Yahya Staquf.
It has been fascinating to see how the media reported on this event. Christianity Today used the title, “Christian and Muslim Leaders Agree on Legitimacy of Evangelism,” Religion Unplugged used the title, “The World’s Largest Muslim Organization Just Honored Evangelicals.” James Dorsey, an expert on religious and ethnic conflict at the Middle East Institute commented, the “recent unprecedented alliance between Muslims and Evangelicals takes on added significance in a world in which human rights are on the defensive.” And the prominent German newspaper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine, contrasted the models of relating to Muslims used by the Vatican and by the WEA.
“The encounters [of the Vatican with Muslim leaders] were important simply because of their symbolism. However, they have not produced a sustainable Christian-Islamic dialogue. In 2019, Pope Francis issued a declaration on the fraternity of all people with the Egyptian Grand Imam Ahmad al-Tayyeb, and in 2021 he visited the Shiite Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Iraq. As early as 2007, the then Saudi King Abdullah was a guest of Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican State. However, this has not led to theological cooperation.
“Greater hopes are attached to the dialogue currently led by two large independent organizations: the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), whose national member organizations include several hundred million Christians, and the Indonesian Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the world’s largest independent Islamic organization with more than 90 million members. A year ago, they founded a joint working group that wants to be a voice against religiously motivated violence and religious persecution.
“They reaffirmed their cooperation at an event on July 13 at a mosque in Washington and with a book on Christian-Islamic dialogue published by both sides. WEA Special Envoy for Engagement [with Humanitarian Islam] and co-editor Thomas K. Johnson said that despite all the differences between the two religions that continue to exist, it is possible to live peacefully together, beyond the paths of jihad and the Crusades. That doesn’t rule out proselytism from either side.”
I would like to thank all of you who have been praying, giving, and encouraging to make this kind of effort possible. I would also like to thank the US State Department, which, at my request, issued special travel documents to allow the Schirrmachers to travel to the US in spite of Covid travel restrictions “as a matter of national interest.”
Click HERE for the link to get to Tom’s academic website.
Leslie’s Update
The ACSI EU team is planning the Student Leadership Conference (SLC) which will be held September 22-24. Though we had hoped to be in person, once again it will be fully online. Though in Europe covid restrictions were lightening, the countries were often not allowing students to travel without parents. Schools were then unable to sign up their students for an in-person conference. Then the delta variant started having an impact. Thus, we had to make the decision to be completely online again. Please pray for wisdom for the team as we work through preparation for this event. Pray especially for the speakers and workshop leaders, as well as Roslyn Barnes as she works with student discussion leaders.
My studies with the Institute for Cross-Cultural Mission (ICCM) has continued throughout the summer months and I continue to read, watch, participate in cohort meetings, and learn. A problem has come up with my practicum. It got put on hold in January due to COVID. In mid-July, I learned that it needed to be completely cancelled. Please pray for me to find another practicum that helps me apply what I am learning. Pray for me to also manage time well so I can continue to delve into books and webinars about topics of cultural sensitivity.
Leslie is still looking for a few more “guinea pigs,” people who are willing to take the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), which assesses a person’s intercultural capability. (For more information on the assessment, you can look at it here.) It costs $30 and about 20 minutes to take the assessment. After you take the assessment, Leslie would offer free of charge a debrief that would take about an hour to an hour and a half.
You would be expected to pay for the assessment, but the debrief would be free. It would help me get some practice in a skill I am interested in developing.
If you are interested, please contact me at
lesliepjohnson@lesliepjohnson.com. Thanks!
Click HERE for the link to get to Leslie’s website and blog.
Praises:
We thank the Lord for:
- Fantastic financial help which arrived for the refugee family, and they are fully funded!
- A successful book launch of God Needs No Defence. Their jointly authored book Is available on websites and should soon go to bookstores.
- Tom’s opportunity to coordinate a team of Evangelicals and Indonesian Muslims.
- Continuing opportunities 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.
- Leslie’s opportunity to study theology and intercultural competence to contextualize her training and experience to the US setting.
Prayers:
Please join us in praying for:
- The refugee family’s transition to a new culture. They will need tremendous courage to face huge challenges in their up-coming transition. Pray for protection from discouragement. Their government paperwork is moving slowly. Pray for the paperwork to get finished and for them to move to the new country safely and efficiently.
- 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.
- Creative ideas to help persecuted Christians around the world and safe places for them to go.
- Leslie’s work with ACSI Europe as the team plans the Student Leadership Conference for September 2021. Pray especially for the school chaperones as they lead their students through yet another online conference.
- Leslie to find a new practicum for her work in the ICCM cohort program.
- Continued wisdom for Tom as he (on behalf of the WEA) engages the world’s largest Muslim group about religious freedom.
- Wise next steps for WEA-Vatican relations. Covid-19 has caused serious delays in meetings.
- Tom as he considers which books to write next.
- 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.
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.
As summer has kicked in, the Marion Youth center numbers have decreased to about 20-30 kids when we gather. For the summer Marion Youth center is taking a slight break. We are gathering with youth once a month to grill, eat, and play games. We feel extremely blessed that the Second Reformed Church in Marion opens up its church to these kids. The church always is quick to give to the kids and provide whatever the kids may need that could create a fun and safe place to ultimately allow an opportunity to share the gospel. For our summer gatherings, the church has been lending us grills to use to make hotdogs for the kids. This has been a blessing to gather in more of an informal setting and further connect with the youth in the community.
For the first time ever, the Clyde Youth Center is able to operate two days per week throughout the summer. The ongoing partnership with the Clyde Savannah after school program has continued to facilitate outreach to an ever increasing number of students. Jacob, the pastor of the hosting church along with the school staff have not only facilitated the program for the school year, but will remain committed to the site for the summer! The site will operate Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-4pm for the summer. The school has also planned a community wide celebration in the fall that will use the interactive bounce equipment STM provides for school and community outreach events. We are thankful for the momentum we all share in this community based partnership!
