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One of the first things you will see if you try to find "evangelize
Muslims" stories is that there are (and should be) very few of them.
If you look at most any of the mission organizations that work with
Muslims and you will see that they shy way from terms like "convert"
and "evangelize." Those are terms that are looked upon very badly from
the Muslim perspective.<br>
<br>
I have three short stories from one organization I can share.<br>
Gobal Recordings (globalrecordings.net) has the Gospel in over 5,800
languages and dialects, in audio-tract form (cassette, CD, mp3). Here
are three shortened stories about some of those.<br>
<br>
Working in a Muslim nation:<br>
In one predominantly country where Christians are persecuted, there was
a completely bizarre Christian outreach. It turned out that there was
a people-group minority within that country that was considered
"Christian." For generations these poor people, when they were born,
had the word "Christian" put on their birth certificate. They did not
know Christ, they did not attend church, they did not have a
relationship with the Lord. They did claim to be Christians, but it
was simply because they were supposed to do so legally. They were
considered Christian by the government, and therefore a persecuted
people. Global Recordings had a great outreach to those people. Even
though they were in a Muslim country, the people they were reaching out
to were already "Christians", so the Muslims did not do anything to
stop the outreach. I do not remember the numbers, but it was a very
effective outreach.<br>
<br>
Working in a Muslim neighborhood (a not-so-good story):<br>
My brother was working in England once, trying to do some testing on
some of the recordings they had tried to distribute in the past with
little success. He went into a Muslim neighborhood and passed them
out, saying he would be back with a questionnaire to see if they liked
them. The next day, he came back through the neighborhood. Some of
them would not open their doors, but most yelled at him. The best came
when a few of them threw the cassettes at him. My brother was able to
play the cassettes to see where the people had stopped listening to
them. He found that the script was very "western" and went about it
the wrong way. After talking to a Muslim who had accepted the Lord,
they came up with a different script that was called "Wise sayings."
It contained many proverbs from the scriptures, many of which they knew
already (the Bible is considered a holy book, and many of the Biblical
characters are known and respected). Towards the end, they had a
number of wise sayings from Jesus, one of which is, "I am the way, the
truth and the life. No man comes to the Father, except through me."
This new message really gripped the various people when he tried it
out, and many people came afterwards to ask questions.<br>
Standard Christian practices of evangelism do not work, but that does
not mean God is not capable of softening their hearts.<br>
<br>
Working outside of their comfort zone:<br>
By far, the most effective place to meet with a Muslim is outside of
his environment. Campus Crusade, Navigators, and other college
ministries are probably the most effective ministries to Muslims,
simply because they target college students in neutral countries. They
also focus on "friendship Evangelism", which seems to be the most
effective approach. Groups like the Crescent Project have a number of
ministries towards Muslims in the USA. The same brother I mentioned
above recently was part of a very interesting outreach over the 4th of
July in Washington DC. The Islamic Society of North America had 45,000
Muslims gather at Washington DC on the 4th of July, 2009. A number of
Christian ministries used that opportunity to share the Gospel, passing
out the Jesus Film, Bibles, tracts, and the Global Recordings
materials. Handing out many of these things on their home turf usually
results in them shunning the giver. But while they were outside their
comfort zone, they at least accepted the gifts.<br>
<br>
It is not my personal ministry to work with Muslims. So I do not have
names of individuals who have accepted the Lord that I can share.
Various family members of mine do. And I have worked at organizations
that had various staff who had been Muslims, but they had found a faith
in Christ. The work with the Muslims is definitely slower than when
working with "seekers", but every mission for the Muslims that I have
worked with has had their stories of success, both within closed
countries, and within the borders of the USA.<br>
<br>
Anyway, I guess these are not "easy to replicate" stories. But they
are stories. I have a number of stories that I cannot relate, as I do
not have permission to share them. :( But I have some other good ones.<br>
<br>
- Tim Young<br>
<br>
Fred A. Miller wrote:
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Show me some good ones, Ed! I know of VERY LITTLE success! I'd like to
read them.<br>
<br>
Fred<br>
<br>
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