In our forthcoming issue of Persecution, ICC explores Islam’s War on Christianity. The image above displays attacks from radical Muslims that resulted in the death or injury of innocent lives.
When you understand the history and foundation of Islam, this map is not shocking. For example, did you know that after 10 years of ministry, the prophet Muhammad had only 100 followers? But after developing the concept of “jihad” (meaning, “holy war”) his followers quickly multiplied.
Followers were instructed to subjugate pagans and propagate Islam by force. In addition, Allah and Muhammad allowed followers to keep the goods of any people that were attacked, and for those Muslims that died in jihad, eternal paradise awaited them.
Each new generation of Muslim is told by Fundamentalists that the reason the world is not at peace is because they are not living faithfully by the Quran, Sharia law, and Muhammad’s instructions. And how to you spread Islam? By the tip of a sword.
To learn more about this subject, sign up for the latest issue of Persecution.
Our Regional Manager to Africa, Jonathan, is in Northern Nigeria. In the city of Kafanchan, the majority is Christian, but still they suffer the most lost in terms of damage to personal property and churches.
Jonathan reported that there were two anti-Christian attacks by Muslims last year, that resulted in the destruction of 1500 Christian homes. A Christian couple was killed in this Assembly of God church pictured above. It is one of the few remaining churches, as dozens of churches were burned down by Muslims.
Please pray for protection for Northern Nigeria’s Christians, and that Christians and Muslims would live in peace.
Part of ICC’s mission is to advocate for the persecuted church and to “Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering” (Hebrews 13:3).
Even when suffering behind prison walls, God uses His children to testify to His name, enhance His kingdom, and give Him praise. While in jail, the great 17th century writer and preacher John Bunyan wrote: “I never had in all my life so great an inlet into the Word of God as now: those Scriptures that I saw nothing in before are made in this place and state to shine before me; Jesus Christ also was never more real and apparent than now…”
As we remember those who are chained for the sake of the Gospel, let’s pray that God will embolden their faith, give them rest and peace through His Spirit, and enhance their witness to the lost and hurting. While we pray, remember how God used the apostles to strengthen the church during their imprisonments (read Acts and the Epistles). In a similar way, God is using imprisoned Christians today for His purpose and glory. During a recent conversation with Said Musa, an Afghan Christian who was imprisoned for nine months in Kabul, ICC heard about the tremendous work of God in the darkest of places:
“I want to tell you. A person who’s accused of murder, he’s sleeping in front of me in the corridor of jail,” Musa said. “He’s a hundred percent extremist and has discrimination with my religion. He’s a Talib person [reference to the Taliban]. One night he wants to suicide himself… I prayed for him more and more. I told him please be patient… Please believe in Jesus Christ, he’s the only person to forgive you and save you and release you from this jail… The first time he began screaming and insulting me. He told me, ‘You’re not clean, you’re not a Muslim.’ But I told him, ‘Oh my friend and brother, please think about my word…’ Then I prayed for him since the middle of the night. He woke up from sleep. He came near my bed and sat and told me. Please forgive me brother. You’re really true person. I have seen wonderful dreams. A very light person spoke with me. He was an amazing person. I fell down on my knee and to the ground. He told me, please believe in your friend Said Musa. I am Lord Jesus Christ. I forgive you now. I couldn’t speak at that moment and was shaking from fear and then I woke up. He told me, now I have believe in Jesus Christ.”
Musa also told another story about two prisoners chained next to him:
“Two guys were addicted to opium,” he said. “Their hands were in the chain. The commander tied them beside me in the corridor. He told me, Musa you are a true man, you are a right man, don’t let them smoke opium or hashish. I said, ‘I’m not a good man, God is good, but I will advise them.’ [The prisoners] spoke to me little by little. ‘Musa, I did many right things in Islam. I read the Quran, I prayed, but my life has become a bad thing. Despite everything I did, everything bad happened to my life.’ I told them, ‘If you want eternal life, if you want to become good, then you believe in Jesus, the Son of God.’ And I spoke to them little by little, and both of them believed in Jesus.”
Representatives from ICC meet with Congressman Peter Roskam from Illinois
Over the course of just three days ICC held 26 meetings with members of Congress, the State Department, and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. This intense series of meetings was to advocate for 35 Ethiopian Christians who are still languishing in a Saudi Arabian prison 4 months after being arrested for holding a private worship service.
During this intense series of meetings we asked for congressmen and senators from both sides of the aisle to make this case a priority, and to put in a call to the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, Adel A. Al-Jubeir, and ask him about this issue. The response we got was very positive, and several offices immediately agreed to contact the Saudi ambassador.
Over the next couple of weeks ICC will continue working with these offices and coordinating efforts by our government to demand the quick release of all 35 wrongfully imprisoned Christians.
On April 20, more than 100 Muslims armed with clubs and machetes attacked a Church in Burqa, Ethiopia. Miraculously, no one was killed during the attack but the Muslim mob smashed musical instruments and sound system of the church. The Muslims were enraged because the church is established by a convert from Islam. Please pray for the body of Christ in the city of Burqa.
Khalid* is a father of two, a devoted husband, a farmer, and a respected leader in his community. Today, Khalid is also a Christian, having been introduced to a saving faith in Jesus Christ through satellite Christian television. Even within his Islamic society, Khalid strives to be an example and bold witness of Christ.
“Everybody, especially the young men, wonder why I don’t go to the mosque to pray with the older men,” Khalid told an ICC ministry partner. “They ask me, ‘how do you love God if you don’t go to the mosque?’ I reply, ‘I fear God,’ and then I share my testimony with them.”
“In the beginning of 2006, I was looking through the satellite TV for the World Cup football, and stumbled upon a Christian TV channel and I started watching. At that time, it seemed like the person was talking to me personally. He seemed to say, ‘These words are for you and you alone. Listen, stop a moment. Here you will find your salvation. Here you will find your real joy.’
Many months passed. Little by little, I started looking for information about the message of salvation, the sacrifice, grace, and the love of the Lord Jesus Christ that was given freely to people like me. The shock was very strong when I was watching this program. God drastically changed the direction of my life.
Now I am not bowing to Mecca anymore – not bowing like the Muslims. Now the direction of my life is in following Jesus Christ. He is the way, the life, and the truth. I will never go far from him, and he has promised also not to neglect me.”
Often times, watching Christian television and listening to Christian radio are the only times Muslims hear the Gospel of Christ. The difficulty can be getting Bibles into the hands of new believers and connecting them to a local church.
“My thirst and knowledge grew,” Khalid continued. “But, I want to have a book of the gospel and know other brothers and sisters. I want to get baptized. I want to talk to people who are spiritually dead, to give them life.
I was in a conversation with a group of young people in the café, and we were talking about the life of the prophet and I talked about Jesus. Everybody was surprised at my words and about the knowledge I have about Jesus’ miracles and the work that he did. They have never been informed about this even though they read the Quran. But a 14–year-old boy was confirming my stories about Jesus, saying, ‘You are right. You are right.’
I asked the boy, ‘Where did you read all about this? You confirm what I say.’ He said, ‘I have a book called The Gospel in my home.’ I asked him to borrow it and he gave it to me. God answers prayer in wonderful ways!
Now I am keeping the Gospel in a very secret place in one of the big trees on my farm. Each time I am thirsty, I go to that place and drink of the water of life in the shade of that tree. Thank God for the grace of salvation and his abundant love. I am so thankful that God answered my prayers.”
ICC-supported satellite television and radio is sharing the love of Christ to Muslims throughout the Islamic world. In many countries, Muslims rarely have opportunities to hear the Gospel. Please pray that new believers like Khalid grow in faith and find a church body to fellowship with.
*Khalid’s name has been changed for security reasons.
Wow! It has been a long journey to get to this point. Starting tomorrow, our Advocacy Officer and Regional Manager to Africa will be heading to Capitol Hill on an advocacy tour, speaking up for the 35 Ethiopian Christians imprisoned in Saudi Arabia (you may have read about them in our April issue of Persecution.)
Would you continue to join us in prayer as they advocate on behalf of our brothers and sisters in prison?
Please pray:
- that God would touch the hearts of the government officials who they are meeting with;
- for the immediate release of the Ethiopian Christians;
- that God would comfort and strengthen the Ethiopian Christians in their time of need.
Thank you so much for being a part of this journey with us!
Right now, as I write this, there are 35 men and women sitting in a jail in Saudi Arabia for committing a “crime” that, not only is nonexistent in most countries, is not even on the books in Saudi Arabia. A little more than four months ago, these 35 men and women gathered together for a prayer meeting in a private residence and emerged to find the Saudi “religious police” waiting to arrest them.
They were accused of “illicit mingling” between genders, which as I mentioned, is not codified in Saudi law. But no one is really fooled by the official explanation. The fact is, the men and women arrested are Christians and they were arrested for having the audacity to hold a prayer meeting.
Since their arrest, they have faced everything from strip searches to violent interrogations. They have been accused of being “unbelievers” and pressured to convert to Islam. Worst of all, they do not know when or if they will be released. This completely flies in the face of official Saudi policy, which is supposedly to respect the private worship practices of all faiths.
Next week, ICC is going to Capitol Hill, the State Department, and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in order to draw some attention to this case. Over the course of three straight days we will be meeting with at least two dozen congressional offices, explaining what took place, and asking for senators and congressmen to start exerting serious pressure on the Saudi Arabian government to respect basic human rights, like the right to worship according to the faith of your own choosing.
In the past, we have seen Christians set free after advocating on their behalf, so join us in prayer as we go to our nation’s leaders and speak up for the Christians who can’t.
Throughout the Islamic world, Muslims are coming to Christ like never before. How? Through radio broadcasts and satellite television. Just take a look at these revealing 2012 statistics from ICC ministry partners. In January through March, Muslims were told about Christ by ICC-supported ministers almost 4,000 times by phone, over 50,000 times by e-mail, and over 100 times during face-to-face visits. In all those conversations, over 300 former Muslims were led into a personal relationship with our Lord Jesus. Praise the Lord!
How does it work? Many Muslims respond to a Christian media broadcast by calling the number that is given at the end of the broadcast. They are then directed to an ICC partner who will share the Gospel to them. It is only through your generous donations that ICC is able to support Christian television and radio broadcasts as well as ministers in the world’s most persecuted countries to share Christ with Muslims.
“I left the darkness of Islam and came to the light of the Lord Jesus after watching a Christian television broadcast,” a new Egyptian believer recently told an ICC sponsored representative. “Even though my life is threatened and my husband has thrown me away and does not support me financially and in spite of all my problems I am facing after coming to Christ, yet my life is full of joy because I belong to Jesus and I am God’s daughter.”
Month: January February March 2012 Totals
Calls to Muslims: 1,150 1,100 1,679 3,939
E-mails to Muslims: 9,135 13,352 29,903 52,390
Face to face visits with Muslims: 54 31 32 117
New believers connected to church: 14 11 12 37
Declared salvations: 126 93 89 308
Note: the statistics are given to ICC from ICC ministry partners. The numbers are only those that our partners are aware of, but do not account for all of the Muslims who receive Christ as a result of ICC-supported media broadcasts or through ministries not supported by ICC. Just think of how much more God is doing that we’re unaware of!
The Lord is doing amazing things through our missionaries in India. In the past three months alone, 34 people have come to Christ.
One of the converts is a former Hindu priest. Kumar* was well-known Hindu priest in his village as well as other surrouding villages. When he was tormented with the evil spirit, he came to realization that he needed help. One of our missionaries fasted and prayed for Kumar.Praise God for salvation of souls!
*name has been changed for security
Follow Us on Facebook
