English Intercede

One out of every five individuals on the planet is a Muslim, and 70 percent of the world’s unreached peoples are Muslims. If the Great Commission is truly about making “disciples of all nations,” then making disciples of Muslim Background Believers (MBBs) is an integral part of the charge. Considering the vast differences between Muslims and Christians, one soon realizes the challenge. Islam has zero tolerance for any other religion, and seeks to isolate those who have converted to Christianity, silence their witness, and pressure them into reverting to Islam.

In mid-2014, ISIS was rampaging through parts of Syria and Iraq, leaving in its wake beheadings, rapes, and murders, all under a black and white flag bearing the words in Arabic script, "There is no deity except Allah and Muhammad is his messenger." A panicked Saudi Arabia reissued a call of desperation to the West for help in slaying the beast. It was too little too late, and as the saying goes, "The rest is history." This article looks at the problem from the strategic sectarian viewpoint of Sunni Islam versus Shia Islam.

This is what we have been interceding for. Slowly but surely, they are coming. Men, women, and children are leaving behind Islam for the Lord Jesus Christ and His eternal kingdom. At Global Initiative, we believe God is positioning the Church to receive a great harvest of Muslim souls.

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” (Hebrews 13:2)
The response to my question, “What comes to your mind when you hear the word “Muslim” or “Islam”, rarely elicits the answer “hospitality.” Yet, the practice of hospitality is an integral and endearing part of Muslim culture that Christians and Muslims can share. It is adopted from ancient practices that predate Islam.

It was the month of Ramadan and the time of Tarabiii prayers,” says Rafiqueiii. “I had been fasting for more than three weeks and tonight was the special night called Lailatul-Qadriv, the night of a thousand nights to seek the special blessings of Allah. I was sitting lined up and ready to begin my prayers. I looked to see the imam who was going to lead the prayers that night, but found that none was in front. While I was in a trance-like state of consciousness, I wondered in my mind, ‘We are all ready for prayers, but where is the imam who will lead us?’”

Sometimes a church or individual comes to what seems to be a “closed door” and there seems to be no way through. If we can see with spiritual eyes; change can present itself as the entrance to the closed door. Are we willing to press through the difficulties or distractions that keep us stymied? Are we willing to “press on” in order to find the entrance to the future by embracing “change?” If so, God will give us the “keys” to be a church that touches the nations.

Cubans in Waiting. M. and Y. are young church planters in Cuba. In the fall of 2013 God used a local prayer for the nations event to call them beyond their community to share Jesus with the Muslim world. Their new passion has since driven their prayer lives and has become the focus of their plans for future and mission. There is irony in their passion. The spiritual burning that wakes them up in the morning and seals their prayers in the evening is a call to mission that would seem foolish outside the dynamic of the Holy Spirit's leading. In spite of the fact that travel bans and economic hindrances currently impound Cuba's global outreach, the national church's fledgling world missions program proactively anticipates the day when Cuba's closed doors will give way to God's will for the nations through them.

Our family landed in Islamabad, Pakistan on Aug. 15, 1995. We were the only non-Pakistanis that stepped off the Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 747. As my wife and three children disembarked through the door of the huge aircraft, the smell of jet fuel, dirt and jasmine flowers hit my senses full on. As the five of us walked the two stories down from the 747's door to the tarmac of the airport, waves of heat radiated off my face. I saw no one who looked, dressed, or spoke like me. It seemed that all eyes stared at our family — not to be rude, but because our family was as unique to them as they were to us. We were now officially in Pakistan — “The Land of the Pure (Islam)” — and we were thrilled!

Ahmad shuffles through the deserted streets of his village in the dead of night echoing over and over the summons, “Get up, O faithful believers! Arise, for this is the blessed festival of Ramadan. Get out of bed and cook, eat and pray — for prayer is better than sleep.” The 3 a.m. “caller” implores the faithful, shouting through his tattered megaphone, “Eat and drink now before the sun comes up. Dine and drink now, then exercise discipline and self-control during daylight hours.”

I don't know that I had ever seen a more exquisite garment. It didn't hurt that the bride wearing it exuded beauty even when she dressed casually; but in this attire, my lovely Muslim friend beamed like the moon. There she sat, poised beside her turban-topped prince, whose own regalia and calm confidence intensified my awareness that this event represented the culmination of an entire community's regard for values, tradition and dignity.

God is not the author of confusion, not in the orderly universe he created, not in the Church he bought with his own blood, and not within the soul of his redeemed children. Yet many converts to Christ who come from Islamic families face significant and even overwhelming confusion. To the convert the source of their confusion seems to be their new relationship with Jesus Christ, when in fact it is the result of a combination of natural and demonic effects. This confusion militates against joy, peace and confidence in the Lord and can deeply shake the faith of the new believer leaving Islam.

On October 4, the North American community of Muslims will celebrate the most important holiday of the Islamic calendar, The Feast of Sacrifice. As more and more Christians begin to reach out to Muslims, they will meet up with this holiday. A conversation with a Muslim acquaintance about this holiday could sound like the following conversation between Peter and his Muslim friend, Azim.