Although there is just 0.2 percent of the Muslim population in Thailand, Asia-Pacific International University (AIU), an institution run by the Adventist Church in Muak Lek, Saraburi, Thailand, enrolls a large number of students from Southeast Asia, which carries 25 percent of the Muslim population. AIU plans to host a chapter of the Global Center for Adventist Muslim Relations (AMR) to better comprehend Islamic ideas, culture, and customs.
The decision to start an AMR chapter was made after a two-day colloquium in November 2022 by the university's Faculty of Religious Studies (FRS). The colloquium's guest speakers included Abner Dizon, director of Muslim, Secular, and Postmodern Ministries for the Southern Asia-Pacific Division (SSD), and Petras Bahadur, director of the Global Center for Adventist-Muslim Relations for the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
Initiatives for Adventist Mission have included the AMR. However, many Adventists might not understand the idea of the church’s mission to Muslims and its accompanying techniques. The FRS colloquium communique stated that understanding the concepts relating to the Adventist mission to Muslims and its techniques are necessary so that members might take personal initiatives to reach out to their Muslim neighbors.
"There was much material on Islam, and the significance of the mission to Muslims presented at the AMR Colloquium. Both of the speakers were authorities in their respective fields, and as followers of Jesus Christ, they enthused us to be enthusiastic about carrying out God's job. They also pushed us to put what we had learned into practice by starting the AMR chapter and AIU Missionary Movement,” said Alfredo G. Agustin, Jr., dean of AIU's Faculty of Religious Studies.
The two-day conference attracted several university staff members and students. "Adventist Identity," "Understanding Islam," "Biblical Truths and Islamic Sources," and "God's Plan before the End of Time" were some of the subjects covered in the colloquium.
"I see a new perspective in our approach to carrying out church ministry because reading the Scriptures through the eyes of Adventist Muslim Relations (AMR) is so beautiful and profound,” Dr. Abner Dizon said. "Why should someone hear the gospel twice when others have not even heard it once.” The AMR colloquium challenges the church to actively pursue its mission to reach the unreached because it is enlightening. Mahaingam Varah, senior pastor of the AIU church, concurred: "We have hundreds of 'Samaritan ladies' right here on our campus, and it is time to present ‘Who’ Jesus is to them."
All of the courses were really educational and novel for some individuals. "A lot of innovative information and methodology were offered. The speakers' firsthand accounts of reaching out to Muslims are eye-opening. The fact that the Muslim people can be traced back to Abraham's ancestry is one significant feature,” said Franklin Hutabarat, an instructor at the Faculty of Religious Studies of AIU.
At the conclusion of the colloquium, the presenters assisted AIU's pastoral team and theology faculty in identifying several outreach needs and strategies, including the decision to establish a section on Buddhism and Islam in the university library and launch a separate Sabbath School, church service, and week of prayer specifically for non-Christian students.
The original article was published on the Southern Asia Pacific website.