'Salaam Project' Kicks Off

The Salaam Project, the Christian Reformed Church’s new educational ministry focusing on Islam, will hold its first training conference on April 28 at Calvin Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Mich.

“The Salaam Project Conference,” which runs from 8 a.m. to noon, will be the first public event sponsored by the new ministry.

After the conference opens with a time of worship,  Rev. Greg Sinclair will give the plenary address. Sinclair, a former Christian Reformed World Missions (CRWM) missionary in Africa, now serves as the training coordinator for the Salaam Project.

As it was being developed, the Salaam Project had the working title of Advancing Ministry Among Muslims (AMAM).

Sinclair says he will speak in his opening remarks of why CRC agencies have found it important to form the new ministry. He also will discuss ways in which congregations can link with and share the love of Christ with Muslims in their communities.

Sinclair’s address will be followed by four workshops. Since the same workshops are being offered simultaneously at 9:45 a.m. and 11 a.m, each person coming to the conference must choose which two workshops they want to attend.

Cost to register for the conference, which includes workshop materials and snacks, is $10 for adults and $5 for students.

One of the four workshops features a ministry that is working with refugees from Africa who are living in North America; another addresses Christian and Muslim understandings of Jesus; another is for those who are interested in serving as a trainer for the Salaam Project, and the last workshop discusses the question of whether Christians and Muslims worship the same  God.

“At the conference, we are going to discuss why this is the time and the place for God’s church in North America to wake up to our new reality – the presence of a large unreached population right in our midst – our Muslim neighbors,” says Sinclair.

A 2010 study released by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life estimates that there are about six million Muslims living in the United States and Canada, and that that number is likely to double over the next 20 years.

With this reality already in mind, representatives from several CRC agencies and ministries began working together about two years ago to develop an educational project to help North American churches reach out to their Muslim neighbors.

Those agencies involved in the formation of the new ministry were Christian Reformed World Missions, Christian Reformed Home Missions, the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, the CRC’s Chaplaincy and Care Ministry, Back to God Ministries International, Calvin College, and Calvin Theological Seminary.

They changed the working name “Advancing Ministry Among Muslims (AMAM)” to better reflect the nature of the ministry.

“Salaam is the Arabic word for peace — like the Hebrew word Shalom — and is a popular greeting among Muslims from all over the world. The word peace sums up well the philosophy of Salaam Project,” says Sinclair.

The logo for the Salaam Project, for instance, features a dove, which represents the Holy Spirit.

“It is the Spirit who guides us  in our conversations and who reveals truth. Our hope is that the truth of the gospel of Jesus will be revealed  in the coming days to many who know Jesus as prophet, but not as God’s promised savior,” says Sinclair.

The overall focus of the project says Sinclair, is “to help members of the CRC to peacefully and lovingly learn about Islam and get to know Muslims.”

Sinclair served for nine years as a CRWM missionary among the Fulani people of West Africa. The Fulani are a Muslim people group numbering around 30 million across West Africa.

After pastoring a CRC congregation in Iron Springs, Alberta, Sinclair began his new role for the Salaam Project in November 2011.

Rev. Steve Van Zanen, CRWM’s director for Missions Education & Engagement, recently posted a blog in the Global Missions section of The Network, encouraging people to attend the conference as well as posing some questions.

“Are we prepared? Have we learned enough about Islam to engage with our Muslim neighbor in a sensitive, honest and friendly way? Do we have the tools to talk about our faith in Jesus with them?” writes Van Zanen.