Africa (MNN) — It’s the month of Ramadan, and as Muslims all over the world seek spiritual truth, what if they found the God of the Bible instead?
That’s the dream of Peter* with Global Disciples. He believes that since “God reveals Himself to those who seek,” now is the perfect time to be praying God reaches the Muslim world.
“This is a great harvest time God has given us, and the vision of Global Disciples is to see everyone have the opportunity to choose to follow Jesus Christ,” he says.
And they’re following through on that vision. Take Ethiopia, where a friend of Peter’s is working in a Muslim-dominated area.
Photo Courtesy Global Disciples
“Two years ago, one of the imams came to argue with him,” Peter says. “They talked, and that led to the imam committing his life to follow Christ.”
That imam found seven other imams who were major leaders in Islam and the other mosques in the area, and “… those seven came during his training, discipleship mission training we helped him develop.”
“He sat down with all those seven imams and they talked for a couple of days, and all of them surrendered their lives to Christ.”
All seven went back to their mosques and started ministering to their congregations. Most even began fellowships in their mosques. Now, there are over 3,000 Muslim converts in that area.
They’ve also made progress for the Gospel in Chad. Global Disciples trained a leader in that area three years ago and recently went back to follow up on his ministry progress. They learned that he has sent disciple-makers and church planters all over the place.
A year ago, the leader reported, a group of church leaders came for leadership training. One of those leaders reached a Muslim woman whose family was infuriated by her conversion. Her father took the church leader to court, and all of the woman’s relatives, most of whom were in the military, came to see what would happen.
Photo courtesy of Global Disciples
When the case began, before her father could say anything, the woman stood up and shared her testimony. She was not abducted, she said, but instead found peace and a second chance in Jesus that her abusive father would not give her. Her relatives and the court were astonished, and the case was dropped.
But what makes the Gospel so appealing to the Muslim world?
“The god of Islam is a god who scares people away from one another, but when they hear about the God we worship, He’s a God who is concerned about each one of us and a God who loves,” Peter says.
He says that since Muslim holy texts actually record the love of Jesus, all believers have to do is fill in the holes. Often, Christians can use the Quran for most of the conversation.
But if they’re going to continue this ministry in hostile areas, they’re going to need your prayer and support. Peter says every church can play a part, be it through financial support or prayer partnership, and it’s going to take a globally united Church to continue this ministry.
“Focus on our one mission rather than on our differences so that together, we as a Church can celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ.”
*Name changed for security purposes.
