Dearborn, MI
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This report is the first in a two-part story from evangelist Mark with the National SPSE team:
Four evangelists recently went to the Dearborn Homecoming, a public festival in a Muslim-majority suburb of Detroit. We didn’t want to start a confrontation, but we certainly were prepared for that to happen. A first-time evangelist, Tom, joined three experienced evangelists: Carol, Bob, and Mark. Carol brought her cart with rosaries, medals, holy cards and pamphlets. We went to one of the two streets leading down to the festival and set up under a shade tree, next to the sidewalk. I anticipated possible questioning from police, and several did pass by and glance at us, but they never stopped to talk to us, much less tell us to move.
The overwhelming majority of Muslims, 90% or more, completely ignored our outreach. A young Muslim man walked passed us twice. The first time, he was preoccupied and didn’t pay attention to us. He walked by again a few minutes later, then saw our sign saying “free rosaries and medals.” He looked at me, surprised and slightly upset, then asked, “What is this?!?!” I responded and said that we were giving away rosaries, encouraging people to pray and to go to church. We identified ourselves and he introduced himself as Adnan. We talked for 10-15 minutes with the Divinity of Jesus Christ.
Bob referenced John 8:58, where Our Lord declared in the temple: “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.” This parallels how God revealed Himself to Abraham as “I AM.” Bob went on to say that the Pharisees want to crucify Jesus because He called Himself God. Bob also said that we don’t follow the Bible alone, that the Catholic Church has a teaching authority, a magisterium, that interprets the Bible and teaches definitive dogma. That last part seemed really appealing to Adnan.
I talked about how the Quran tells of ‘Miriam’, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the virgin birth of ‘Issa’, Jesus Christ. I asked Adnan, “If Jesus’ mother is a virgin, then who is His father?” He tried to explain the Muslim theology—that God caused the conception of Jesus but somehow that didn’t make God the father. He said that there’s an Arabic term but he was unable to explain it in English. He became flustered and didn’t know what to say. I replied, “Since God caused Mary to become pregnant, doesn’t that make God the Father?” Adnan was still at a loss for words.
In the end, Adnan thanked us for our time but remained persistent (for now) in his Islamic beliefs. He rejected offers of sacramentals but accepted a pamphlet about the Mass as well as a business card. I recommended that he look into former Muslims who converted to Christianity, namely Daniel Ali and Nabeel Qureshi. After he walked away, Tom and I said a prayer for his conversion.
Praised be Jesus Christ!