“Love–they need to see that you love them, care about them, and have a genuine relationship with them… be involved in their lives.”
For many members of Pastor Hesham Shehab’s congregation, life in the United States is a “social desert.” Many are homesick refugees newly navigating a country and culture very different from their own. As the name proclaims, however, Salam Christian Fellowship offers a place of peace. The “collaborative Gospel outreach ministry” which serves Muslims and Middle Eastern immigrants in the greater Chicagoland area is a surrogate community—a home when home is too far away.
Having grown up a devout Muslim in Lebanon himself, Pastor Shehab understands the world from which many of Salam’s members come. He knows the shame culture and bitter animosity that can exist between Christians and Muslims. He knows the price of conversion well.
“Most Middle Easterners are tribal in their origins and loyalties.” Therefore, it takes time for them to become comfortable in a new fellowship or a community of friends. When Pastor Shehab moved to the Chicago with POBLO–People of the Book Lutheran Outreach–a mentor told him to go, explore, and find the neighborhoods of Chicago where the Muslim populations live. Once he did that, he simply began building relationships. He met many Iraqi families and LCMS pastors in the western suburbs. He began officing out of Trinity, Roselle and learned from his peers there. One day, he met with a Palestinian woman in Wheaton when he was distributing a food basket. The woman was a Christian and he asked to be introduced to her neighbors. She was friendly and kind. With the woman’s friends and neighbors, in Easter 2007 Pastor Shehab started a Bible study. An Iranian girl was the first to be baptized. Six others followed that summer.
In partnership with pastors and congregations from Peace, Lombard; St. John’s, La Grange; and Trinity, Roselle, in June 2010, under the name Chicagoland Lutheran Muslim Mission Association, or CLMMA, Pastor Shehab began having regular worship services in addition to the individual and group meetings he and his partners have with members of their community.
Today, CLMMA is known as Salam Christian Fellowship. Serving a very transient community of people from around the Middle East, they preach all of their services in Arabic and English. They read scripture in Arabic, Farsi, and English. One member of the congregation who comes from Nineveh–modern day Mosul, Iraq–chants the Lord’s prayer in Aramaic. After each service, Salam hosts a Middle Eastern lunch and continues to build relationships and teach their congregation–people who know tribal ties well–the main thing to do is to become a part of the tribe of Christ.
Salam’s relationships go much further beyond Saturday services. Serving a population with many asylum seekers, they have the privilege to be the body of Christ in the congregation’s lives in many unique ways. For those who need legal services, an attorney who is a friend of the ministry donates his time. For those who are learning English, Salam has partnered with another organization to host English as a Second Language courses in an apartment in Wheaton where many refugees live. Knowing English well helps individuals find jobs. The leaders at Salam are involved in their congregation member’s lives. When people need help, whether it be a ride to a clinic, counseling, a car, or help out of an unhealthy situation, they know they can ask Pastor Shehab and leaders at Salam for help. Through their partnerships with organizations like Lutheran Church Charities, they can do even more–from donating cars to individuals to creating a women’s shelter.
In all that they do, Salam actively works to show the love of Christ. While their community is regularly changing due to visas and current events, they are able to provide a link to something which never changes: the love and salvation in Jesus Christ.
One woman summarized how many feel after coming to know the active body of Christ at Salam, saying, “we found home here at Salam. How can we leave? We’ve never been treated like this. We found a family and a home.”
This is our Northern Illinois District! #OurNID