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Ramadan Reflections: the many faces of Islam - Day 17 (Indonesia)

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It's a Party...

 

The little kids in my neighborhood love baking pizza with me. Pizza is a foreign food that they've all seen on TV but for the most part have never tasted. Whenever I am willing to have a pizza making party, there are no shortage of happy participants.

 

Last week I decided to invite four of my pre-teen girlfriends for an afternoon of pizza-making and breaking fast together at Magrib (6pm). The girls were very excited, insisting on going to the grocery store with me to buy the ingredients. Giant, the local grocery store, is only a ten minute walk away, but it is a completely different world than the local markets. To the girls, the supermarket is an adventure, a luxury. There's AC, automatic doors (!), and rows and rows of food in colorful packaging!!

 

It was a funny mixture of cultures: making pizza in a slum in Indonesia in order to wait for the Arabic call to prayer to break fast together. It's a strange world.

 

One of the girls, an eleven-year-old who has already dropped out of school, also wanted to cook kangkong (a vegetable much like spinach), so we bought hot chilis and kangkong at a local corner store. She cooked the veggies herself, proud to show me she knows how to cook.

 

While we waited for the pizza to rise, we played UNO (another weird cultural mix! UNO cards with Hello Kitty pictures on them), colored drawings, and sang songs.

 

My teammate and I have been reflecting recently l on the 'theology of poverty' or the 'theology of scarcity.' Our neighbors often function out of this mindset: there is never enough. Not enough food. Not enough attention from adults. Not enough anything. Hanging out with my young friends shows me this reality; they are starved for positive adult attention. Whenever they are with me they are constantly calling for my attention: "Kakak!" (which means older sister). And when it comes time to eat the pizza and divide some to take home, it seems like no matter how much there is, it will not be enough for the hungry stomachs that are waiting at their homes. Their brothers, cousins, parents, friends...

 

I wrestle with the question: what does it mean to embrace a "theology of enough" in this context? To declare the good news that the Lord is a good God- a God of abundant love that never ceases. Love that is more than enough for every single person on this planet. Jesus said that he came to bring life, and life in abundance.

 

Pray for the girls of my community in Indonesia. Pray for better opportunities for education. Pray for health. Pray that they would come to know their good Father, and His abundant love.

 

[Written by a member of the Servants Team in Jakarta]

 

[Servants works in a number of Islamic settings, including India and Indonesia. This month is the month of Ramadan (also known as Ramazan), the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts about 30 days. It is a month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating and drinking during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and submissiveness to God. Each day this month we will be putting reflections, stories, and information about Islam on this website to help you learn more and pray for our Muslim friends.]

 

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