CHRISTIAN WOMAN WEARS HIJAB FOR LENT

**A Christian mother of two announces her decision to don hijab throughout 40 days of lent.** (Photo: On Islam)

Illinois, 15 Jumadil Awwal 1436/6 March 2015 (MINA) – A Christian mother of two has announced her decision to don hijab throughout 40 days of lent, putting herself in the “other” shoes.

“I want to remind myself what it feels like to be an outsider – ‘the other’… So, I’m practicing hospitality this Lent by getting into the shoes (or hijab) of my Muslim friends and neighbors,” Jessey Eagan, children’s director for Imago Dei Church in Peoria, Illinois, was quoted by Christian Today on Wednesday, March 4.

“I feel this is especially important now as there is increasing animosity once again from (white) Americans towards Muslims in our communities, which honestly makes me nervous about the idea.” On Islam quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

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Eagan, a blond Christian woman, said the idea was suggested by a Muslim friend. Writing on her blog, #40daysofhijab, Eagan says that she was inspired to undertake the challenge after living in Amman, Jordan.

“To say that I didn’t quite fit in in my new surroundings would be a major understatement. I was an outsider. I stuck out like a sore thumb,” added Eagan, who moved to Jordan seven years ago with her husband for 18 months.

“Being blond haired and blue eyed in Jordan was like standing up and screaming in a library.”

She hopes the experience would teach Christians how to see difference, embrace it, and engage with it. “Jesus said to love our neighbors, strangers, and enemies. I think this is something that is not often taken seriously by many Christians,” she said.

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“We are so influenced by the media, that we allow fear to take over, and forget to love. Fear is the opposite of love.”

Similar plans were announced last month by Muslims who decided to take part in Christians’ lent by abstaining from personal “bad habits” such as watching television or eating too much sugar. Using #Muslims4Lent, Muslim youth tweeted photos of themselves in which they declare what they will be giving up. (T/P011/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)