Al Amana Centre Newsletter 08/2025

Director’s corner

Greetings from Muscat, Oman, where the temperature exceeded 125 F this past weekend and I’m sipping my cup of karak. With this hot weather Al Amana continues to have high hopes for this coming season where we will welcome seven groups between September and December. Groups will come from the USA, Finland, Afghanistan and Palestine. We work hard to make sure these groups get the best experience in Oman.

While the rest of our team are back in their hometowns visiting our supporting partners and creating new opportunities for our Center, I was busy enriching our local relationships with our Omani educational organizations. We hope to sign a new MoU with Sultan Qaboos University, where we had many great opportunities in the past. We also work with the college of Sharia and other local schools to strengthen the relationship between our Center and them. During the month of July some guests visited our Center to get to know more about the work of Al Amana and the history of the American mission in Oman. I met with one visiting researcher who is conducting research on pluralism in Oman. We are also waiting for a documentary about Dr Thoms to be aired on Oman TV this summer. 

We continue to plan for our groups and programs because we believe in the importance of Al Amana in this current instability of the world, as we seek to bring people together and build peace with everyone.

Mohammed Al Shuaili 

Associate Director

Reflections from participants

We value staying connected with our participants as we continue to learn and grow from each other. Sampo Alanko visited Al Amana Centre in 2024 with a group of young adults from Helsinki Parish Union. He graciously shared his thoughts before the start of the program, immediately after and again about four months post-program. We love hearing that our programs impact individuals and communities around the world! 

Pre-Program: As Finland is traditionally a Christian country, and Islam has come here from abroad, it is hard here for some people to understand Islam. This is mainly because the representation of Islam in the media is pretty homogenous and people generally don’t know a lot about Islam.  

Immediately Post-Program: Getting to know Islam. Talking about Islam and the Qur’an with Muslims. Going to Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. Experiencing life in a Muslim world first hand. Islam has intrigued me for many years now, and I think this experience has opened my eyes a bit more still.  “I think I will be more open to people with different beliefs than me, and I can now also teach more people about the Muslim world and Islam.” 

3-6 months Post-Program: I have talked about Islam and my trip to Oman to many, many people, and with my understanding of interfaith living in Oman, I have been able to talk about interfaith possibilities in Finland to Finnish Christians.