From Heartbreak to Holidays

“Heartbreak” is the word that both Tom and Pam Sisk use when asked what motivated them to get involved in a ministry of friendships with Muslims. In 2007, they found themselves grieved by a daughter’s decision to abandon Christ and embrace Islam. They sought counsel from a local Christian pastor from India and from the Crescent Project. They found other Christians who would surround them with prayer. Pam and Tom say they were torn and presented with the choice to either try and keep open communication with their daughter, love her unconditionally, befriending her new Muslim friends or shutting them out and risk pushing her into the arms of Islam. They decided they needed to embrace this cross and invite the Muslim friends and their families over for meals and develop friendships with them. This rippled out to include students that they met through The Language Company (TLC) at IUSB and through the Red Cross. They have hosted students and family members for holiday meals. On Easter 2011, they invited Iraqi and Japanese friends to come to our church with them and spent time before the service explaining why Christians celebrate Easter and then welcoming them back to their home for dinner. Tom and Pam both say that they never would have sought out these ongoing friendships if they hadn’t been faced with heartache in their own family. It was a matter of embracing the challenge God put in their lives. They say that they took comfort from a pastor who told them that the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 didn’t know how it was going to turn out and were just as scared as Pam and Tom have been. They say that you don’t have to be perfect to do God’s will.

— Cathy Parker