Author David Shenk to speak on Islam and peacemaking June 10-11

The Lewes Presbyterian Church will host David and Grace Shenk for two presentations and discussions. David will speak on What is the Mission of the World-wide House of Islam at 6:30 p.m., Saturday, June 10. Following a light lunch at 12:30 p.m., Sunday, June 11, he will speak on Stories of Lively Peacemaking and Accounts Restoration. Both events will be held in the fellowship hall of the church at 133 Kings Highway, Lewes.

David and Grace Shenk have served many years in Somalia and Kenya as well as in the United States, giving special attention to bearing witness to the peace of Christ in a world of religious and ideological pluralism. David has written several books including "Christian, Muslim, Friend," winner of the 2016 Christianity Today Book Award for Mission/The Global Church; "A Muslim and a Christian in Dialogue"; and "Surprises of the Christian Way." Shenk was born and raised in a Christian missionary home in Tanzania. For 10 years, he worked in education in Islamic Somalia and, more recently, he has been a tireless advocate for peacemaking across the globe. He is now based at Eastern Mennonite Missions headquarters in Salunga, Pa.

Shenk says that when people listen to their Muslim neighbors, they hear two different voices. One is the voice of Muslims who are committed to the conviction that God's mercy is paramount as they strive peacefully to bring every area of life into submission to his will as "the most merciful and compassionate" God. The other voice is that of Muslims committed to doing whatever they can to impose God's justice and judgment, as understood in Islam, on the rest of the world. People hear both voices and are often confused about Islam and how it is practiced.

Everyone is invited to come and learn of Shenk's lifelong work of hospitality and dialog between Muslims and Christians, all along maintaining his own Christian faith.