Glen Waverley Uniting Church, through its church council and our Indonesian fellowship led by Mr Lucky Kalonta, hosted a small dinner of about 25 people to share an Iftar meal – the meal that breaks the fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Despite it being Mother’s Day, May 9, we gathered in our fellowship area where at 5:27pm we each ate a date and drank water or tea. Our Muslim friends then retired to pray before we all came together again for a halal meal. The grace was said by Rev Dr Apwee Ting from the UCA Assembly.
Bonds of friendship grew with guests including Ibu Moniroh Rahim, the Acting Indonesian Consul General, Dr Mohamed Mohideen, the President of the Islamic Council of Victoria and a member of the Monash City Council Multicultural Advisory Committee, and Mr. Teguh Iskanto, representing the Indonesian Muslim Community of Victoria and Mr. Nuim Khaiyath, the former Head of Indonesian Language Broadcasting on Radio Australia along with local representatives of the Faith Communities Council of Victoria.
We thank everyone involved for blessing us with their presence. Next year, we’d like to expand the event perhaps by collaborating with a neighbouring congregation; with an interfaith dialogue around fasting or another suitable topic.
Glyn Howells, Glen Waverley Uniting Church
