God has given my family and me the privilege of ministering to Muslim peoples. I want to share a few thoughts on witnessing to Muslims and also on the challenges we face in this line of work. What I am about to write comes from our short life experience working among Arabs in North Africa.
When we witness to Muslims, we find these things helpful:
- Praying (before, during, and after)
- Reading or quoting the Bible
- Talking about Jesus (His life, miracles, and parables/teachings)
- Explaining God’s unfolding plan of redemption from Creation to Chr
When we witness to Muslims, we find these things NOT helpful:
- Arguing/debating Christianity vs. Islam
- Saying anything negative about Islam, the Qur’an, or Muhammad
- Discussing the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
We really believe the Gospel is cross-cultural. We trust that God will work on Muslims’ hearts if we will just relay the simple Gospel message to them. With that in mind, it makes sense to let the Bible do the talking when we are witnessing to Muslims.
Our cold-call approach usually sounds something like, “Hi, I’m a Christian. Have you ever met a Christian before? We believe the Bible is the Word of God. It teaches us all about who God is and how we can live our lives to please Him. May I read you something from the Bible?….” Another way we start spiritual conversations is by connecting physical objects or themes around us to God or the Bible (e.g., using a sunset to talk about God’s creation; using a rainbow to talk about Noah and the Flood; using the activities of local fishermen to talk about stories of fishing from the Gospels; using a sheep or other animal to talk about Old Testament animal sacrifices and the New Testament Lamb of God). The Word of God is powerful. The Bible has been and will continue to be used of God to change peoples’ lives regardless of their religious affinity or social status.
We have found that witnessing to Muslims is time consuming and often discouraging. Not only do we face physical opposition but also spiritual oppression. Those are not good enough reasons to avoid witnessing, though. Muslims are turning to Christ and it is exciting to play a role in that.
I am convinced that what is needed most in the Muslim world are simply proclaimers of the Gospel. We are happy to be involved in such a ministry.
