The City of McKinney, a northern suburb in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, approved a site plan for a proposed mosque on Aug. 4 — an issue that drew area residents and political figures to speak to the city council.
The Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, Michigan / Wiki Commons
U.S. Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, expressed concerns about the mosque. “The freedom to choose our faith or not does not exist in political Islam. Ask any Muslim what the penalty is for leaving political Islam. It’s death. I have any number of videos of imams in America, modern-day America, preaching sedition, open sedition, against the U.S. Constitution and the laws of this land,” he said, according to CBS News.
While zoning and local political decisions are not areas MinistryWatch typically covers, we reached out to Christian ministries that encourage Christians to engage with their Muslim neighbors and asked for practical advice.
Several themes emerged from the responses: pray, offer friendship and talk about your faith without compromising your beliefs.
Shah Ahmadi is a former Muslim who came to faith in Christ and now works with Iran Alive Ministries in McKinney. He says his desire is to help Christians engage with their Muslim neighbors.
“I want them to see Muslims as people, not enemies,” Ahmadi said. He acknowledged there are radicals among Muslims and that some Muslim beliefs are not compatible with the American system of government, but he says radicals make up a very small percentage of Muslims in the United States.
He also believes treating average or “normal” Muslims as radicals will rob Christians of opportunities to share the Gospel and recognize that they have a mission field right here at home.
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Ahmadi encourages Christians to understand that Muslims are open to the Gospel. He came to Christ after hearing the Gospel in the United Kingdom when someone approached him and loved him. It took about six months, but now 32 of his family members are Christians.
His practical advice to Christians comes down to three words: pray, care, share.
Pray for Muslims in your community. Search your own heart and pray against hatred and anger. Ask the Lord to make your heart open to your neighbors and for their hearts to be softened by the Holy Spirit.
Care for your Muslim neighbors. Be welcoming. Invite them for a meal. Offer to pray for them. Offer to help them learn English, or invite them to join you for a cultural experience.
Share the Gospel with them. Ahmadi said Muslims expect Christians to talk about the Gospel. He suggests focusing on Jesus rather than Muhammad’s teachings.
Ahmadi said Iran Alive Ministries offers churches free training for their members to help them reach Muslims.
While Ahmadi’s approach emphasizes evangelism, Love Your Neighbor Community (LYNC) focuses more broadly on building relationships across religious and cultural lines that may eventually lead to opportunities to share the Gospel.
LYNC’s mission is to foster free, safe and pluralistic societies and extend the love of God practically and tangibly.
LYNC started as a religious freedom advocacy group, and while advocacy delivered some results, the group found that relational diplomacy, cross-cultural literacy, and multifaith relationships brought about cultural shifts and reduced tensions between neighbors.
After observing these successes overseas, LYNC decided to implement the idea in the United States, starting in Miami.
Wade Kusack, founder and CEO of LYNC, approached his pastor at Crossbridge Church Brickell about reaching out to Muslim neighbors. Kusack said the effort was not a specific plan to evangelize, but to create friendships that could become a bridge for sharing the Gospel and allowing the Holy Spirit to work.
The church started in 2022 with a picnic for church members and Muslim neighbors. There were bounce houses, food trucks, basketball, and a chance to engage with each other. Kusack said the event helped build relationships between the two groups.
Kusack said Christians don’t need to water down their beliefs to engage with their Muslim neighbors. “Stay true to your beliefs. Just be curious. Be quick to listen,” he said, adding that love should motivate the relationships.
Kusack said he has seen genuine relationships lead to natural curiosity about Jesus, and that Muslim neighbors often respond with openness when Christians approach them with curiosity and wisdom.
International Muslim Outreach (IMO) takes a more explicitly evangelistic approach, offering a short, free online training for Christians to share the Gospel with their Muslim neighbors.
IMO Executive Director Matt Walter encourages Christians to pray for Muslim neighbors, extend friendship and hospitality, give them a Bible, and invite them to church.
He said the main obstacles preventing Christians from reaching out to Muslim neighbors are fear, apathy and resentment.
Walter offers the following advice to Christians:
Pray first. When God brings a Muslim across your path, pray.
Pursue friendship. Be warm, bold, and generous, and aim at friendship. If you are rejected, you have not failed; you have been faithful.
Share your faith. They will respect you more, not less, when you gently and respectfully make the truth about Christ known to them.
Despite differences in approach, the ministries emphasized that Christians do not have to choose between being faithful to their beliefs and being good neighbors. Prayer, friendship, hospitality, and respectful Gospel conversations can provide opportunities for Christians to build relationships with Muslims and point them toward Christ.
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