The Call for Muslim Evangelism

Today, I had the privilege of speaking to a group of about 45 young people during an all day activity outside of the city.

Most of those that went are already members of the church, but a few others just came with their friends.

The Lord blessed the preaching and all of the events that took place afterwards.

Gretchen stayed behind to finish the last lesson of the final book in Spanish classes.

She and I now only have a few more lectures/stories to read and discuss in class before we are completely finished with language school, but for the most part it’s over.

 We set a goal to finish before Norah is born, and unless she comes unexpectedly between now and our next class on Tuesday, we’ll have done just that! As you can imagine, we’re pretty pumped up about it!

The formal classes are almost over, but the real language learning is about to begin as we try to implement what we have learned and build on that foundation. Pray for us as we take that next step and begin focusing on using the language to do the ministry.

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve been able to write on the blog. I know all of you have been racing to your computers every morning in great anticipation of another exciting post on the blog only to face the devastating reality that another 24 hours have passed by with no update.

Okay, so that probably isn’t how it really went, but I’m finally back, and I’m excited about it at least!

Since the last post, Gretchen and I traveled to Santiago, Chile and back, had three great Bible studies, I’ve been able to preach four times in Spanish, and we will be finishing language school this week. Not bad for a three and a half week span if you ask me.

We had a great time with our friends Jason and Lori Holt in Chile. It took a while to get there (about the distance from Boston to Jacksonville), but it was definitely worth it! The ministry has really taken off since they arrived there a few years ago, and we had the privilege of taking part in on of their biggest days of the year. The Sunday that we were there, they had over 164 in Sunday school and over 500 attend their Independence Day celebration. Gretchen helped make the empanadas while I tried not to step on any kids swarming around the park. The Lord blessed the preaching and the fellowship that took place that morning.

The Thursday night that we got there, Jason let me preach their mid-week service. It was the first time I had ever preached a full message in Spanish, so you can imagine that I was a little nervous - more like scared out of my mind. After getting up on the platform, I got a little more relaxed and just started going. It was a lot of fun! Not too sure if it made any sense in Spanish, but I enjoyed myself.

The Holt’s were a huge blessing and encouragement to us, and Gretchen and I are already making plans to go back down at least one more time before we leave South America. God is already doing huge things through them, and you can have a part in what He’s going to do through them next. Be praying for Jason, Lori and their kids Katie, Joshua, and Andrew.

Ramadan is kind of like Christmas for Muslims - at least that’s how my friend Ahmed put it. Ahmed owns his own ”halaal” supermarket in Atlanta and is devoted to Islam. About this time last year, I went to visit him in his store and when I got to the counter he was beaming. The store was absolutely packed with customers from all over the Muslim world, and out of curiosity, I asked him, “What in the world is going on here”?

“It’s Ramadan!” he exclaimed.

“Yeah, I know. So why are there so many people buying food during the one month of the year that is supposed to be dedicated to fasting and praying?”

“This is actually the busiest time of year for me here in my store!”

“Really?!”

“Yeah, this is the biggest celebration we have all year. The way it works is that every morning we wake up early and eat a predawn breakfast known as ’suhoor.’ From then until sunset we are not supposed to touch a woman, smoke, eat, or drink anything. We do this to teach ourselves self-control and self-restraint. It’s a time for us to reflect on our spiritual lives, pray, show generosity to other people, and spend time with our families.

“When the sunsets, we are allowed to eat again. Our bakery can’t put out enough bread and pastries for the customers each day, and we sell more dates per hour than you could possibly imagine.

“Everybody’s in a good mood and looking for an opportunity to do something for somebody else.

“At the end of the month we have a huge feast called ‘Eid-ul-Fitr.’ We give out gifts and make donations during this time as well. It’s kind of like Christmas for Muslims. This is the best time of the year!”

All I could think of is that my Muslim friend has “a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” What a warrior for Christ he could become!

This year Ramadan begins on September 13.

It’s a perfect time for Christians to fast and pray for the Muslim world. We should ask God to show people like Ahmed that their hope of eternal life doesn’t depend on all of the good things they do, but rather in the sacrifice Jesus Christ has already made for them. Salvation is by grace through faith alone, and the Muslim people need someone to love them enough to take this message to them.