News

SHARING BEST HELPS "UNDERSTANDING ISLAM"
by Nathan Brown

A conference hosted by Avondale College has explored the realities of Islam in the world today and the common beliefs the world religion shares with Seventh-day Adventists. Held from January 18 to 22, the "Understanding Islam" conference attracted 185 church leaders, pastors and members from Australia, News Zealand and the South Pacific, as well as Thailand and the United States.

The conference was chaired by Dr William Johnsson, special assistant to the General Conference president for interfaith relations. In his opening address, he reflected on his experience of working and talking with Muslim leaders and academics over the past two years. "I have been learning and unlearning a lot," he said. "There have been many surprises."

According to figures presented to the conference, about one in five people in the world are Muslims, including some 270,000 in Australia and smaller groups in other South Pacific nations.

"Islam and Adventists are everywhere in the world," said Dr Johnsson. "They are our neighbours. We need to understand them as fellow human beings-and for mission. They are children of God-spiritual children of Abraham-as we are, and the everlasting gospel that God has said to take to the whole world includes them." Describing this as "a time of divine opportunity" to reach out to Muslim people around the world, Dr Johnsson warned of the tendency to compare the worst of another group of people with our best, urging that this is not helpful in building understanding.

This theme was picked up by fellow presenter, Dr Ganoune Diop, director of the General Conference Global Mission Study Centres, who grew up in a Muslim family in his native Senegal. "Finding the best in Islam is important because we want to take them from their best to God's best," he says.

"Encouraging people to discover their best is the best platform possible to lead them to further light, because every religion has gems of truth here and there. Showing appreciation of what is good in others was Jesus' method and what the apostle Paul did when he went to Greece." Dr Lucile Sabas, president of Cosendai Adventist University in Cameroon, spoke about the specific role women can play in reaching out to Muslim women. "Adventist women need to understand the past to know that women all over the world have had the same experiences Muslim women have today," she explains. "With this in mind, they can understand them better and we can behave differently toward them. Adventist women need to understand how to overcome barriers with them, how to build bridges and how to present the gospel to them."

Dr Johnsson was enthusiastic about the sharing and progress made over the four days of the conference. "I rate the conference highly," he reflects."It is one of the best seminars I have been involved with, particularly in relation to the quality of presenters, quality of participation and open exchange of opinion. It has been very worthwhile."

Organisers at Avondale College were also delighted with the success of the 'Understanding Islam' conference and are planning that this will be the first in a series of summer conferences addressing cutting edge topics from an Adventist perspective. "I was impressed with the quality of the participants," says Lorin Bradford, director of Advancement for Avondale College. "It has been great to bring together administrators, pastors and church members. And that we could attract the best speakers in the world on this topic proves Avondale has a lot to offer to the church. I believe Avondale should be on the forefront of Adventism. This is a way for us to contribute to the wider church, to ensure the relevance of the college and the relevance of the church."

Avondale College will continue seminars of excellence in the future. Next year a Bible Prophesy seminar is planned with exceptional presenters who range in expertise from theologians, evangelists, church pastors.