Tim McDonell has recently joined us as our Southern California Regional Director, and we wanted to let you get to know him better by sharing with you a bit of his personal story. Here's what he has to say about how he first started building friendships with Muslims in his hometown.

Both Christians and Muslims are compelled to share their faith. Muslim da’wah (the Arabic term for Islamic outreach) and Christian evangelism takes place in both directions. Muslims are coming to Christ and Christians are converting to Islam. The reality of da'wah and evangelism is one of the most important peacemaking issues we face in Christian-Muslim relations. The issue is HOW we bear witness.

In my previous blog I described the Spectrum of Peacemaking, a consistent and comprehensive peace ethic for the individual believer. By contrast, the Six Spheres of Peacemaking relate to the church universal. It is something that God’s people from around the globe are involved in.

World peace is no joke. Beauty queens who want world peace are not silly. They voice what most of us yearn for deep down inside: peace. And it is God who puts that desire in us.

On December 27th Erika Menendez, a woman who has had numerous encounters with the mental health community, pushed Sunando Sen onto the New York subway tracks, where he was crushed by a train, because she thought he looked like a Muslim or Hindu.

There are so many books I haven’t read yet. But out of the ones I have read, I consider these to be the top ten books on peacemaking and conflict resolution (as of the end of 2012).

As I wrote about in my last post, there were some uncomfortable moments when the former Christian, now turned Muslim, tried to convert us. Overall, though, I appreciate the opportunity to have experienced what it's like to be on the receiving end of evangelism. I learned some things. Here are some lessons I learned from the Muslim evangelist.

Insulting another person’s faith is usually not a good way to kick off a relationship. I thought of the golden rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” I did not like having my faith insulted. Maybe I should not be condescending about other’s concepts of God. Maybe we should think twice before we go into attack mode and attempt to dismantle another person’s faith.

Douglas E. Noll’s Elusive Peace: How Modern Diplomatic Strategies Could Better Resolve World Conflicts provides a profound overview of the field of peacemaking. The heart of the book, though, is his rigorous critique of diplomatic peacemaking methods and robust apologetic for the importance of emotions in peacemaking. Noll’s detailed illustrations and solid research make this one of the best books I’ve read this year!