Reflection On A Mission Trip To Greece

This summer, I went on a mission trip to Greece, where I worked with Syrian refugees. Working within a community of muslims, began to spark a passion in me for this people group and their beliefs. Near the end of the trip, I began to realize that I knew nothing about the Islam religion besides what I had seen in the news here in the United States; which the majority of the time is not a true spotlight into their culture or religion. What we hear on the news can be very misleading, and brings about stereotypes in our country because it is so focused on the negative more than the positive. As one could imagine, coming home from my trip was difficult in many aspects. Although, the hardest part was telling people stories and only hearing negative responses back because of the people I was working with. Coming into this semester, I was so confused about how Muslims could be so discriminated against and I just could not bring myself to understand because they were so compassionate, and amazing. This challenged me to …show more content…
As I mentioned earlier, when I came home from Greece it was so difficult to come back to negative talk about a people group that my heart had grown so fond of. Still to this day, I have a very difficult time when I hear the news or friends speak about Muslims in a way that is not completely true. The difference today is, that I now have a better understanding and the wisdom to prove that not everything we hear is true. I know that I can always learn more about the religion, but I can confidently say that my understanding of Islam has grown abundantly this semester. I know with confidence that I am better equipped to love the Muslim community without fear of offending and ultimately eventually coming to a point of deep relationship. I pray that God continues to apply what I have learned in this class to eventually use me as a vessel for the gospel in the Muslim