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Religions and mission in the Arab world
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Dear visitors
It
has been said that the average number of years served my a Christian
worker in the Middle East is 5.6, though those statistics may have
changed with the more recent events of workers being asked to leave,
increased unrest, revolutions, instability, risk and suffering.
In my
own experience, if we did not have the few workers who have spent 20 or
more years in the region, those statistics would be even more
challenging. Given the resources expended on preparation, and helping a
new worker establish cross-culturally, we might expect more for the
investment of time, money, support, training, prayer, etc.
This issue of
St Francis looks at issues of longevity and resilience. It asks us to
explore spiritual, practical, emotional and practical issues that might
increase resilience and help workers live with increasing insecurity and
change. The articles offer the individual and mission organisation
guidance in developing wholeness of life to build for the long term.
May God help all of us live whole lives that reflect him in today’s realities of chaos and challenge.
The Lord be with you
John Stringer
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Let me know about new issues
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When Civilizations Meet: How Joseph Ratzinger Sees Islam |
Benedict XVI is probably one of the few figures to have profoundly understood the ambiguity in which contemporary Islam is being debated and its struggle to find a place in modern society.
At the same time, he is proposing a way for Islam to work toward coexistence globally and with religions, based not on religious dialogue, but on dialogue between cultures and civilizations based on rationality and on a vision of man and human nature which comes before any ideology or religion. This choice to wager on cultural dialogue explains his decision to absorb the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue into the larger Pontifical Council for Culture. >> Read complete article
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