Change Fall 1987

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It could have been any one of a dozen Saturday night church basement suppers I have been to over the years. Metal folding chairs on a linoleum floor. Long rolls of white paper for tablecloths. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas served on paper plates.

When I arrived, one of two hundred invited guests, the church members were standing nervously in small groups. Leaders whispered encouragement for them to greet us and start conversations or direct us to literature-laden tables where we could select free tracts-or a copy of the Quran.

There were other differences between this and other evangelism suppers. The banners on the wall read "Allah be praised" instead of "Jesus Saves." After dinner, the program featured not reformed drug addicts telling how Jesus had turned their lives around, but Chicago suburbanites relating mind-opening experiences with one of the world's fastest growing religions, Islam.

Actually, I wasn't an entirely naive attendee of the dinner. While doing research for an article on the growing number of Muslims in the United States, I visited several mosques. A mosque member invited me to this Idd-Ud-Adha banquet, a yearly celebration of the prophet Abraham's example of sacrifice and obedience to God.

As I listened to the chanting of the Quranic texts, the explanations of Muhammed's life, the testimonies, and the questions and answers, I realized there is a great deal of spiritual hunger among my friends and neighbors in this metropolitan area. I thought of Mother Teresa's statement: "Suffering is increasing in the world today. People are hungry for something more beautiful, for something greater than people round about can give. There is a great hunger for God."

Could that be why two hundred had gathered ...

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