VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 12/8/16)—American Baptist Women’s Ministries announces a virtual mission encounter, May 8-12, 2017, “See Me As I Am,” on Baptist-Muslim Dialogue. This virtual mission encounter offers women the opportunity gain tools and inspiration for effective interfaith dialogue and understand more clearly the need to create Beloved Community.
Bishop Desmond Tutu has said, “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together,” in explanation of the South African concept of Ubuntu. For Christians and Muslims to truly live together in a peace and just world, we need to get to know one another, to talk to one another, to have real relationships with one another. Through daily activities and evening conference calls with special guests, participants will experience and explore interfaith dialogue, and understand their calling by God to transform their communities through their relationships with one another.
Each night’s conference call will have two special guests, one Baptist and one Muslim. They will dialogue with one another on the evening’s topic. Conference call participants will then be invited to join in the dialogue. This will provide participants the opportunity to both learn from and participate in interfaith dialogue throughout the week, gaining important skills for developing dialogue opportunities in their own communities.
Guest speakers for the “See Me As I Am” virtual mission encounter include Rev. Carol McVetty and Taalibah Haasan, Dr. Safiya Saaman and Rev. Dr. Suzanne Kershaw, Marcia Street and Munira A. El Bearny, and Rafia Syeed and Rev. Elizabeth Congdon. On the final evening of the virtual mission encounter, participants will share in conversation about their learnings and plans for engaging in interfaith dialogue in their communities.
Virtual mission encounters are an opportunity to experience mission education and inspiration in participants’ own homes and within the requirements of their own schedule. Participants receive daily emails with suggested activities to deepen their understanding of the topic, and each evening of the encounter includes a conference call with special guests with experience and expertise to share.
“My faith has personally been enriched by experiences in Baptist-Muslim dialogue,” said Virginia Holmstrom, executive director of American Baptist Women’s Ministries. “Becoming a bridge to connect women with one other to seek understanding and respect for one anothers’ faith stories, traditions and values has been deeply satisfying, and I believe it is pleasing in God’s sight. I am thrilled that AB Women’s Ministries is offering this unique opportunity to American Baptist women.”
Registration for the “See Me As I Am” virtual mission encounter is open now through April 21, 2017. For more information, visit http://www.abwministries.org/vme.
American Baptist Women’s Ministries is a Christ-centered ministry with a commitment to encourage and empower women and girls to serve God.
American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with approximately 5,000 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.