SePUM Rolls Awareness Campaign on Adventist-Muslim Relations
The Southeastern Philippine Union Mission (SePUM) Adventist Mission office, under its director, Pastor Jonathan Hemoroz, launched the Adventist Muslim Relation Awareness for Pastors Seminar at Davao Mission, a regional headquarters of Seventh-day Adventist Church in Davao City, Digos City, Island Garden City of Samal, Davao del Sur, and Davao Occidental, held at DM Conference Hall on March 20 – 21.
God’s mouthpiece during the devotional meeting was Pr. Eugene Dela Peña, Adventist Missions Director of South Central Mindanao Mission (SCMM), stressed that all people are candidates for heaven (Jannah). Muslims should be included in our ministry, and our biases and prejudices should not govern us. As a pastor who, in his youth, had numerous linkages and associations with the leaders and communities of the Muslim world, he shared important details about what the Adventist and Muslim cultures have in common, but deep respect and cultural understanding are needed to build an established and engaging relationship with each other; thus Adventist Muslim Relation (AMR) program was born.
Pr. Jonathan Hemoroz, Adventist Mission director of SePUM, who is currently finishing his doctorate and doing research on the Muslim way of life, emphasized that the Adventist Mission is an office linking all ministries of the church to administer to the unreached territories and unreached people groups either in the city, in mountain villages, or those along shorelines and marshlands. Pastors should understand the mission as the foundation of this unique ministry.
Pr. Harly Ybañez, Northern Davao Mission AMR Director, reminded every participant about Christ’s commission in Matthew 24:14: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Therefore, all tribes and cultures should be part of our ministries, whether our efforts are in the pioneering stage or amid reluctance or impediments.
Pr. Mike Antonio, Southern Mindanao Mission AMR Director, who gained much learning on cultural understanding, believes in knowing the Muslim language to break the enormous barrier and establish relationships. As Adventists and our Muslim brethren believe in the power and dominion of Allah and Yahweh, we also believe in dreams and visions, miracles, and the Second Coming of Jesus; we also admire the practice of cohesive family bonds and the desire to achieve social justice. Most of all, all the haram (prohibited food) and the halal (allowed) in the Quran are religiously adhered to and practiced by Adventists, providing us numerous gains of belongingness.
Syncretism, better explained as the union, unification, or fusion of different systems of thoughts or belief, could only be achieved when we let the character of Jesus mingle with people be applied, and the approaches of Paul in introducing Jesus will be exemplified.
Pr. Asher Tipan stressed at least three cultures to be understood in fulfilling the mission:
• The Culture of the Bible
• The culture of the missionaries bringing the gospel
• The culture of the receptor people
Proclaiming God’s eternal gospel to the world’s nations presents a demanding challenge. Ellen G. White, one of the pioneers of Adventism, wrote in 1895: “The people in every country have their own peculiar, distinctive characteristics, and men must be wise so that they may know how to adapt themselves to the peculiar ideas of the people, and so introduce the truth that they may do them good.” – Testimonies to Ministers, p. 213. (SePUM Communication)