From the moment they met at a church-mosque dialogue in late 2011, Michal and Sondos were struck at the similarities—physical and otherwise—between them. “You two could pass for twins!” people at the dialogue exclaimed. After exchanging brief information about each other, the two realized that even their birthdays were mere days apart–twins, indeed!
From that serendipitous meeting, it seemed as though God was intent on bringing these two ladies together to work for His cause. Although Michal came from a practicing Christian background, and Sondos came from a practicing Muslim background, they found their personal and professional paths intersect over and over for the next three years, primarily at multifaith functions.
Over a shared love for coffee, Michal and Sondos began monthly get together at a local cafe to connect over their respective leadership roles and personal lives. After building a strong foundation of friendship, the two began adding theological discussions to their conversation. What they discovered was that they shared many common goals and passions.
In the recent weeks, with the increase of violence committed by individuals claiming to be Muslim or Christian, the two decided to act on an idea that had been brewing for some time: creating a space where they could share their collaboration with the world. If these two ladies from observant backgrounds could cultivate respect, love, and cooperation between them, what was stopping everybody else?
On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Michal and Sondos launched their blog, Miss Understanding, and enjoyed over 800 visitors from over 40 countries in the first three days alone. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and requests for assistance in Christian-Muslim peacemaking came in from all over the world.
Through their blog, Michal and Sondos share narratives about their friendship and peacemaking collaboration with the hope that others will follow. With all the tension rising between religions around the world, they wish to do their part in changing that, one friendship at a time. Already stories are flooding in from others that are following their example and take ‘the other’ out to coffee or lunch. Some of their peacemaking projects, therefore, include organizing Muslim-Christian Friendship mixers (their first one had 110 people in attendance), posting stories of neighbors reaching out to each other, and creating videos that share these stories with the world. Their prayer is for God to use them to see Muslims and Christians worldwide to reach out to each other in love.
