Widow Turned Evangelist
by Jonathan Racho
“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!” Deuteronomy 30:19
Selome is an amazing woman of God whose story grips our hearts, as in the midst of her sorrow, she chose life over spiritual death.
During the Muslim-Christian attacks in Nigeria of 2003, Selome’s husband was tragically murdered. Devastated, Selome was faced with raising their four children as a single mother.
As she grieved the death of her beloved husband, the Spirit of God comforted her, and healed her heart from the hatred she felt towards her husband’s murderers. Instead of choosing hate and revenge (which many would find justifiable), Selome chose to commit herself to the salvation of her husband’s murderers. She is now an active evangelist in the Muslim community, bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to her neighbors.
ICC was able to assist Selome by providing her with funds to start a small business, which allows her to support her growing family.
Please keep Selome in your prayers today. If you would like to support women like Selome, please donate today, and designate your gift to “Suffering Wives and Children.”
One of the primary goals of ICC is to be used by the Lord to reach the lost with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One tool we use to do so is radio and internet ministry. The Lord is using this ministry to touch the lives of Muslims in several countries where evangelism and proselytizing is a life-threatening activity. A Muslim writer told us, “…now I am in contact with your broadcast’s website… the Bible is still next to my bed, and before I sleep, I read it. It is necessary that I follow what benefits me, but—sorry—I am still not a Christian.”
Another individual who came to Christ said:
“For a very long time I was one whose conscience was always questioning, ‘Will I have the good luck to go to heaven, or will I go to hell?’ Today I am not worrying… I am now following the path of light…having left the path of darkness, I am feeling joy… this evening I finished the first lesson that you told me to start. I am a free man now…in the past…my conscience was in eternal punishment, but this year I felt a change. …I accept and follow the Messiah…that is the only right path…I cannot figure out what sort of gift to give you, today I love you as part of the one family sharing the same religion.”
Praise God for lives that are being touched with the gospel of Christ!
Every year, our ministry puts together a report on the top persecutors of Christians around the world. While North Korea always tops the list, almost every other country (with a few exceptions) is Muslim-dominated. If you delve further into the report, you’ll discover that the Muslims in these countries also commit some of the most horrendous acts of violence against Christians. While this can be a frightening reality, as believers we cannot allow fear or hatred to enter our hearts. So how can we guard our hearts?
ICC’s president recently posed this question to one of our partners in the Middle East who is a former Muslim and a leading figure in reaching out to the underground church in Iran via Satellite TV. He re-directed the question perfectly, telling us that when he became a Christian he asked, “God, what is Your heart?”
Ultimately, it is only the grace of God and being able to see people through His eyes that will enable us to put away our human instincts to fear and hate what we don’t understand.
The Father has clearly shared His heart for Muslims with our brother over the years, giving him a passion for and a perspective of the Muslim people that we think is invaluable. Below, we’ve pulled some excerpts from our interview to help us answer this important question.
Getting God’s Perspective
“God’s heart is that all should be saved. We’re talking about 1.5 billion people that Jesus loves. … When you look at the news, it’s very easy to think that Muslims are all evil. But I’m telling you that even some of those who die as suicide bombers are sincerely searching for God. They want to reach the unknowable God. They desire so much to know God that they think that if they die in jihad, at least then they will be with Him. In Islam, there’s no assurance of salvation aside from giving your life.”
“I’ve been in that place. It is like bondage. How would you feel if you saw people being bound as slaves in chains? How would you feel if you saw the slave master beating people who wanted to step out of that chain, but knew if they did, they would be killed? Many Muslims want to escape Islam, but they fear death. … It is by fear and by lies that our enemy, which is Satan, has billions of these precious souls in bondage. He is beating them, controlling them, and sending them to die.”
“This is what most people don’t know. There are millions of Muslims crying out to God like slaves in Egypt. They’re crying, “We want to know You, but we are in bondage. …We were born into this religion and there’s no way we can get rid of it without losing our life.”
“Jesus came to set the captives free. We have to see Muslims as captives, have compassion for them, and believe they are precious in His eyes. What I pray is that Christians will not fear or hate, but have compassion. The greatest power against Islam is our love. That’s why our broadcasts are powerful. The love that they share breaks through the lies of the enemy and the power of fear.”
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