Effective Church Communications

Free Islamic-looking (English letters) font for Ramadan publications or other times it might be appropriate

By Leave a Comment

Ramadan alone--share a kind note
I don't know the challenges of celebrating Ramadan alone, but we can acknowledge that we care to our Muslim friends.

Current note April 2020: it is currently the time of Ramadan for our Muslim neighbors and it is an especially challenging time because of the intensely social nature of Ramadan and the current restrictions because of the social distancing requirements many are wanting to follow. A kind note to a Muslim friend might be appropriate. I recently received an email from a Muslim friend and though I honestly didn't know what to say, I wanted them to know that I was acknowledging the challenges they were facing—it was meant as a gentle virtual hug and I hope accepted that way.

You don't have to use the fonts below to write the note, but in case you want to use them at some time for a related topic, this seemed like a good time to share this again.

Past post:

Whether it is for the month of Ramadan or any time that you want to create communications about the Muslim religion, a font that has an Islamic look while still using English letters, is useful. Below is a very short video that shows the website for a variety of useful Islamic looking fonts and below it is the link to the site.

Here is the link to the fonts:

Islamic looking fonts--for free downloads of fonts:
http://www.dafont.com/theme.php?cat=202

Do check out the site for other fonts that look interesting--there are a lot of them.

Video of how to download them:

 

 

Islamic looking fonts--for free downloads of fonts:
http://www.dafont.com/theme.php?cat=202

 

Bulletin insert and links to Christian resources about Ramadan

By Leave a Comment

Ramadan Resources bulletin insert, color image
The image here and the one below illustrate ready-to-print and editable church bulletin inserts for Ramadan that are FREE to members of Effective Church Communications. The downloadable file is at the end of this article.

In trying to practice Christian disciplines, I've fasted at various times in my life for short periods of time and always only from food. It is never easy. From my feeble experiences I am in awe of Muslims who during the month of Ramadan fast from sunrise to sunset not only from food, but from water (and that includes coffee and tea--which to my mind are essentials of life at the computer).

Currently, theological debates rage over the internet as to whether Christians should observe Ramadan, and though I come down on the side of those who believe that a Christian should no more observe Ramadan with a Muslim friend or neighbor any more than we would ask a Muslim to take communion with us--it is a very good time for us to pray FOR our Muslim neighbors and the Muslim world.

It is also a good time to learn and understand the differences between the Muslim faith and Christianity. If you don't understand the differences, you can't knowledgeably share the uniqueness of the Christian faith. In my personal experience as a Sunday School teacher, one of my students came up to me one week and shared a conversation he had with a Muslim student that he and his wife were sponsoring as an exchange student. We'd been sharing life and discussions about the Christian faith with her and he said, "We finally found something in common because Christians and Muslims believe in the same God of the Old Testament and Abraham." I was very concerned, but before I answered, I realized I needed to do quite a bit more study. CLICK HERE for the study that resulted. (Update: it's been over 2 years since that lesson and after much more interaction, many more lessons, discussions and prayers--last weekend our formerly Muslim friend was baptized as a follower of Jesus.)

Following are some resources to help you communicate understand the Muslim faith and pray for Muslims. [Read more...]

Free Islamic Images and Clipart, a video tour

By Leave a Comment

 

Free Islamic Images and Clipart Video overview
Free Islamic Images and Clipart Video overview with links to download sites.

It is not easy to find good Islamic images and clip art that are free. I found lots of sites that charge a lot for images. Though the images were beautiful and very nicely done, the prices were not realistic for church communicators who want to create materials either in print, PowerPoint or on the web  for the upcoming Muslim festival of Ramadan or any time that your church wants to teach about the Muslim religion.

On the other hand, many of the sites that say they are "free" really aren't or have so many rules, regulations and usage guidelines they are unrealistic.

The video below will give you a tour and preview of some sites that have good quality, respectful and correct images. In addition all of them are FREE and they don't have restrictive usage guidelines. Below the video are three links. There is a fourth site illustrated, but the link I had no longer works and I do apologize for that in the video. [Read more...]