Spain/North Africa: quiz night fundraiser

Give thanks for a quiz night taking place this Friday evening in the Cotswolds to raise money for mission partners Miranda and Tim Heathcote’s ministry of providing essential debriefing, spiritual direction and more for mission workers. P

ray for all guests to feel welcome and at ease, especially those who may be less comfortable in Christian settings, and for people to be encouraged by the impact of Miranda and Tim’s ministry.

Pray for Miranda as she travels to their ministry house in Spain this weekend to host two consecutive weeks of debriefing, hosting and catering. Pray for energy for Miranda and for each person being debriefed to encounter God’s love for them in the way most needed.

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North Africa: drawing close to God this Lent

Please stand in prayer with mission associates leading a church in North Africa as they host a Lent course looking at forgiveness. The course includes a range of activities designed to deepen course participants’ understanding of the Scriptures. Please pray for each member of the group to be able to draw close to God through this course and to experience and celebrate his forgiveness this Lent.

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Spain/North Africa: ministry house rewiring

Following an unusually wet winter in Spain, it has become clear that the wiring in Miranda and Tim’s ministry house in Spain needs a complete overhaul. Pray for obstacles to be removed so that this work can be completed quickly and easily so that mission workers across the Middle East and North Africa can continue to receive essential support through leadership development, debriefing, spiritual direction and retreats.

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North Africa: God’s Word for those who need it

A mission partner couple in North Africa disciple local Christians, teach healthcare and first aid and share God’s love in everyday contexts. They share that they recently reconnected with a Scripture project they worked on 10 years ago following a request to reprint a PDF children’s Bible. Praise God that he is making connections to get his Word into the hands of those who need it. Pray that the culturally appropriate artwork produced for this Bible will be used for neighbouring language groups and benefit them, too.

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What if God called you to a place where in 20 or 30 years you might see two or three people come to faith? If you knew this, would you still go? Mission partner M reflects on how to keep going in tough contexts.

My family and I live in North Africa, in an area where it is really hard to follow Jesus. Local people can’t be open about their faith.

Our aim is to be a blessing to the people around us here, particularly more remote communities in mountainous areas. We’ve been here for 10 years, living alongside local communities and sharing day-to-day life with them – experiencing the ups and the downs along the way.

My wife is training as a counsellor, to be better equipped to sit with women in these communities and help them to walk through the most difficult times. The local culture has quite a fatalistic approach, so people tend to take the view that if suffering comes you just have to live with it. However, for a lot of people who have been through really difficult loss and grief, or who have experienced traumatic things, they need help as they can’t just sit with that suffering.

If not us, then who?

Some aspects of our calling can be very challenging. We are quite isolated, and can’t share Jesus openly. Walking with our friends and neighbours through difficult times can mean carrying heavy burdens with them. Yet if we do not walk through this and show the light of Jesus, who will?

Following a call to mission in this context means learning to let go of a Western approach that is very results and productivity driven. That approach is to look for success in big growth and clear numbers. We simply don’t see that where we are.

Just stay faithful

Before living in our current area, I lived in West Africa, again in a place where mission was slow and hard. I had the immense privilege of spending time with an older missionary towards the end of his life. He had been thrown out of the country where he had served and longed to see people meet Jesus. He had stayed faithful to the call of God throughout his life. I have never forgotten his advice to me as I was beginning my mission journey in such contexts: “You just need to stay faithful to what God has asked you to do – don’t worry about the fruit, that’s up to him.”

In our work, we of course have times of wondering, “What are we doing with our lives?” In these times it can be tempting to think of giving up. However, then we come back to another question – who will stay if we go? Who will walk alongside our friends and neighbours? We don’t want to say that it all depends on us, but if the few of us who are following Jesus here leave because it’s too hard, who will remain?

Find refreshment

We have been learning how to manage too – finding Christian community with other foreigners here is really helpful. We have also learned that we need to take small breaks, to build in rest and refreshment, alongside debriefing with those supporting us. Knowing we have a network of faithful people prayerfully supporting us from afar is an encouragement. Over years working in this context, I have learned that one of my personal giftings is to keep going when things get tough – to put my head down and keep stepping forward. And I can do that literally too, hiking in the mountains close to where we live.

Walking with others

One of the ways God has been using me is also to walk alongside others, helping them to think through and discern God’s call. We are able to welcome young pioneers, people who are sensing God’s call to go and serve the Lord in tough places. We want to be able to come alongside them, to train and help them to fulfil God’s call on their lives. In that way we can seek to multiply the number of people being the light of Jesus in difficult places.

I’m able to walk with these groups in the mountains and be intentional about exploring the reality of this life. As we walk, I can listen, and I can talk, share stories and challenge people. A key question we often raise is, “What would you do if God called you, and you spent 20 or 30 years in a place to see two or three people come to the Lord in that time? If you knew that was what might happen, would you still do it?” Out of a team of eight to 10 people, maybe God will call one person to a place like this for the long term.

At the end of the day, as we consider the challenges for ourselves and with those who come to learn about our life, the question we come back to is: “What else do we live our lives for?” Jesus has called us to this work and we follow him. He never promised it would be easy, but we stay faithful, knowing the truth of his words in John 16:33: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

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More stories of Jesus equipping and encouraging

The post Miranda and Tim Heathcote, Spain / North Africa appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

For followers of Jesus from a Muslim background, isolation is a huge challenge, especially if their faith is secret. Basma longed for Christian community for many years, but recently met some CMS mission partners…

When she was a child, Basma (name changed) in North Africa was drawn to Jesus, even though she was born into a Muslim family. She had met Christians in her town and wanted to be like the Christian girls – though she wasn’t really sure why.

She learned the Lord’s Prayer and would say it sometimes. Like many other believers in Jesus from a Muslim background (MBBs), she had dreams about Jesus. And as she grew from childhood to adulthood, she gave her life to Christ.

Basma’s new faith was a secret, not shared even with those closest to her. She married a Muslim man, the marriage arranged by her family. Basma and her husband had two sons. Yet this marriage fell apart and the couple separated.

Craving community

The separation released Basma to explore and live out her faith in Jesus at home, though not in public. And that meant that while she could read the Bible and pray alone, she couldn’t meet with other Christians.

Basma has a good job to support herself and her sons, who now live with her, and the boys still see their father weekly. Basma is comfortable with continuing to wear a hijab and her family don’t know that she follows Jesus. She seeks to bring her sons up in the Christian faith, though she must be careful – their father could remove the children from her and bring them up himself.

Over the last 10 to 15 years, since first coming to faith in Jesus, the main place Basma has been able to grow in her faith has been through discipleship online. Yet Basma longs for community with other Christians and for the opportunity to discuss the Bible, and to connect with other MBBs like her to pray together.

CMS mission partners who know Basma comment, “She’s desperate… to talk about her faith and to be who she feels she is, rather than to hide.” But within that is a great tension – Basma needs to protect her children and is keen to keep relationships with her family.

Facing real risks

Secret believers like Basma risk losing their jobs, family life and connections with community, and in some places there are legal risks too. This makes MBBs whose faith is not publicly known reluctant to meet together.

The experiences of another MBB in Basma’s town, whose faith is not a secret, clearly illustrate those risks. This woman comes from another North African country, which she fled after she was beaten up and arrested for her faith, and her family disowned her. She had to begin life afresh with no connections in a new land, and still painfully misses the place and people she left behind.

Precious connection

Basma does know some Christians through her workplace, and they helped her to connect with someone who travels around her region meeting with MBBs and discipling them. Yet there was a challenge in finding a safe place for Basma to meet with this man, where she could go without suspicion and meet him with another woman present.

This is where the CMS mission partner couple stepped in – they offered their home as a safe place to meet. This couple speak Arabic fluently, and are able to welcome Basma and discuss the Bible and other issues with her, as well as hosting her discipleship meetings.

Basma and the man who disciples her arrive separately, and much of their time together is taken up with Basma’s questions about what she has read in the Bible. Recently she read through 1 Samuel, and had many questions about why God had done things and why people reacted in particular ways.

Inspiring hunger

One of the CMS mission partners observes, “Basma’s hunger for the Bible is inspiring. She absolutely devours Scripture and wants to discuss everything. She wants to understand everything in a way that lots of Christians don’t. That challenges me – when I’m following daily prayer and reading long chunks of the Old Testament, sometimes I just fly through it, I don’t think about it, but she is questioning everything she’s reading. She still really wants to learn and press in.”

Such is Basma’s desire to meet with other Christians to discuss the Bible that she will now come to see the mission partner couple even if the man leading discipleship cannot come too.

As their relationship with Basma has deepened, from time to time they have been able to take bread and wine together, at Basma’s request – hugely valuable to Basma, as she is unable to attend church.

While Basma’s friends and family don’t know about her faith, her mum does sense there is something about Basma and asks questions, such as “Where do you get your wisdom from?” Basma and her mission partner friends continue to pray for her mum, that doors will open up for Basma to speak about her faith.

Pray together

As we pray together, we can stand with Christians like Basma. Please pray for Basma to be encouraged in her faith, and that CMS partners will be able to show more people like her that Jesus never gives up on them.

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Our partners in North Africa are looking for an enthusiastic individual who can train others in delivering essential discipleship material to new Christians across the region.

This role requires the applicant to be fluent in either Arabic, Farsi or Kurdish in order to be fully effective in this ministry.

You must be a mature Christian with experience in discipleship and/or mentoring.

Safeguarding

We are committed to the safeguarding and protection of the people we serve, our partners, our volunteers, and our staff. We believe that every child or adult we come into contact with has the right to be protected from all forms of harm and abuse. Our recruitment and selection processes are in line with our Safeguarding Policy and the SCHR Misconduct Disclosure Scheme, which CMS is a member of as part of our commitment to safeguarding.    

Values

Our core values of being pioneering, relational, faithful and evangelistic are integral to everything we do, and we work hard to ensure that every member of staff is valued, supported and encouraged to continually learn and develop their skills.

Ready for the next step? Contact us today.

• Back to current opportunities

The post Discipleship in North Africa appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Ten years after deciding to follow Jesus, a huge portion of Muslim-background believers (MBBs) turn back to Islam or to atheism. CMS is announcing a new plan and a key partnership that will help MBBs continue to journey with Jesus.

“Adam” from Bahrain is 23 years old. His journey to faith in Jesus began about five years ago:

“I first started searching about Jesus when I was 18. I went to the church and told the priest I wanted to be Christian and to know more about Jesus, but he said he could not help me because of their policy.”

Adam persevered in his search. You can read his story on page 6, where he describes being tempted to leave and a stint in prison.

Adam kept pursuing Jesus, but for many, the road to faith is too rocky to stay on. Even after turning to Issa, Arabic for Jesus, a substantial portion veer away. There can be several reasons for this.

Persecution: only part of the problem

It is well known that in many areas of the Middle East and North Africa, Christians, including those who turn to Jesus from a Muslim background, are mistreated for their faith. In 2019, the Foreign Office commissioned Philip Mounstephen, Bishop of Truro and a former executive leader of Church Mission Society, to produce a report on Christian persecution.¹ The report’s findings are stark: “In countries such as Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia the situation of Christians and other minorities has reached an alarming stage.”

However, despite this systemic persecution across the region, interest in the Christian faith is growing as new believers are drawn to Jesus through dreams, visions and the love and kindness of Christians they meet. God is on the move but new believers face a barrage of obstacles.

Identity crisis

Even in places where there is less official opposition from the government, men and women who turn to Jesus from a Muslim background often face intense pressure and scorn from family, friends and colleagues. On a recent overseas visit, CMS mission director Andy Roberts described meeting a North African woman, two of whose sisters had returned to practising Islam after their two brothers had been killed for following Jesus.

“When a Muslim-background believer first becomes a believer, at minimum they will be kicked out of their family and disowned. It’s likely they will lose their job and face a life in constant fear of being discovered or attacked,” says Mamdouh, founder and president of Together Network (TN). TN works in over 22 countries, upholding MBBs in their faith.

Yet, Mamdouh says persecution is only part of the problem. “The biggest challenge MBBs face is internal, because they have no freedom to be themselves.”

This is particularly true among “secret believers”: Mamdouh describes a woman he knows whose everyday routine involves removing her cross and donning her hijab before returning home – in a sense, living a double life. Sociologists talk about anomie: a feeling of a lack of belonging, the inability to be authentic. Rejected by their communities, MBBs are unmoored, disorientated. There is a dramatic remaking of worldview. Furthermore, culturally Christianity can be seen as a western product, particularly if the church has adopted much that is western in terms of structure, music and vocabulary. This adds to an overall loss of identity for MBBs, which can be intensely painful.

“Nobody should have to figure out faith on their own… we want to see Muslim-background believers grow to become deep disciples of Jesus, who can in turn disciple others.”

Tanas Alqassis

Emigration temptation

The above factors have contributed to a notable exodus of Jesus-followers from the Middle East and North Africa. A century ago Christians comprised 20 per cent of the population in the Middle East and North Africa, but today Christians make up less than 4 per cent. This compounds the pressure and isolation experienced by those who remain, leading to further faith attrition. In his story, Adam describes the intense temptation to leave Bahrain and move to North America.

A cautious Church

Adam’s account of approaching a church and being rejected is not unfamiliar. Some churches across the Middle East, North Africa, as well as Europe and Britain, are hesitant to reach out to or welcome MBBs, out of suspicion of motives or fear of reprisal. In the Middle East, new believers are subjected to intense scrutiny in an effort to ascertain they aren’t undercover informants. In the UK, Muslim seekers are viewed with scepticism by some churches.

Keeping the faith

CMS has recently determined that a key focus for the coming years will be helping MBBs stay on the path with Jesus. This will happen in the following ways:

• Bringing CMS people in mission (mission partners and local partners) together to focus on discipling MBBs.
• Partnering with Together Network and supporting training events where MBBs come together to share experiences, encourage one another and take part in learning that will strengthen their faith and help them share with others. Like Amil, who Andy Roberts met recently: “Because of the discipleship course, he started a church in his own home, led his family to Christ and was seeing many more come to faith. He’s able to use the material to train up others from his house church to do the same.”
• Lovingly challenging churches to welcome and disciple new MBBs. CMS is in a good position for this due to longstanding relationships with churches in the Middle East and the UK.

Tanas Alqassis, CMS’s manager for the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, says about this key focus: “Nobody should have to figure out faith on their own. MBBs have to know that they aren’t alone. The foundation for our partnership with Together Network is that we both want to see Muslim background believers grow to become deep disciples of Jesus, who can in turn disciple others.”

“This is my dream, to share about God and truth with others so they can know freedom, too,” says Adam.

¹ Truro Independent Review of FCO Support for Persecuted Christians Final Text for the Libraries of Houses of Parliament 08072019 Final (christianpersecutionreview.org.uk)

Pray together

Please join us in praying for this new partnership and for all those seeking to follow Jesus in the face of great challenges.

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When we think about challenges facing believers in Jesus from a Muslim background (MBBs), we often consider persecution, violence or imprisonment. But what happens when the rejection actually comes from the Church?

From confidence to questions

Sultan* never expected to follow Jesus. But one day, at home in the Middle East, he came across a TV programme featuring a Christian from a Muslim background. He comments, “I used to say, ‘How come these people are so proud of their religion when it is not true?’

“I used to watch with confidence as I knew my religion and wanted to find a mistake in theirs.”

But there were some points raised that Sultan couldn’t answer. So, he asked the imams. “I was very disappointed as none of them gave answers for [my] questions. They just said, ‘Do not watch these shows.’”

After wrestling for six months, Sultan realised, “I had reached a place where I left Islam but not enough to join Christianity.” He read the Bible and found it compelling. “When I read, I knew this was the truth and the true God I was searching for…. So I gave my life to the Lord and I accepted Jesus as my saviour.”

“No one could help”

Sultan wanted to be baptised, but when he contacted a Christian organisation, they said they couldn’t help him and suggested he travel to America. Another pastor told him he couldn’t baptise Sultan for fear of getting into trouble with the government. “I was afraid that I would die without getting baptised, I got so upset.”

Eventually Sultan was able to be baptised and spent several months with a church community in Bahrain. “After that, I was so happy.”

But then Sultan started facing trouble in his community – from friends, family and colleagues – and his wife left him. Although this caused internal struggles, he cried out to God, and “the Lord answered me every time with a Bible verse, he always answered my questions.” He adds, “It has been and still is a difficult journey; the looks, the threats are not easy.”

It’s apparent that Sultan needed and still needs solidarity and support: “My message to Christians is, please open your churches and doors for people like me who need spiritual help. I was so hungry for baptism and it was so important for me. If a person wants to be baptised please do not shut the door on them.” Sultan is not alone in his experience of church rejection.

Online options

When Rania, a young Muslim woman in North Africa, started a relationship with a Christian man, she was also drawn to Jesus. Like Sultan, she approached several churches, but was turned away – they were afraid of helping a Muslim investigating faith in Jesus.

Rania found an online network helping seekers and believers from Muslim backgrounds, led by a CMS local partner. They connected Rania with a local volunteer. After a successful face-to-face conversation, Rania brought her sister to meet the volunteer’s wife and they talked for three hours. Later that night, as Rania and her sister prayed, Jesus appeared to them and light filled the place where they were – overcoming their hesitation.

The sisters continue to meet with the volunteer couple weekly for discipleship. The volunteers say the women love Jesus with their whole hearts.

“Send someone for me”

Adam in Bahrain started searching for Jesus at age 18. He explains, “I went to the church and told the priest I wanted to be Christian and to know more about Jesus, but he said he could not help me because of their policy. I asked God, ‘If Jesus is the truth, please let me know or send a sign or send someone for me.’”

One of Adam’s friends told him about someone online who could help him learn about Jesus. Adam contacted this woman, who lives in Egypt.

“She arranged for me to meet someone where I live…. The first time I met Mr M, he explained lots of things but I didn’t understand; I just thought he was crazy. But something inside me told me that Jesus, that Christianity, there is something there.”

Easy to accept Jesus

Adam began to read the Bible. “I read Matthew, and I found myself reading fast because it was so interesting. I learned about Jesus from reading the Bible and from talking about my questions with Mr M and the woman online. It was very easy to accept Jesus, because it was very logical when I read and understood what he did.”

But following Jesus hasn’t always been straightforward. One day, Adam was arrested after reading the Bible in public and discussing it with two men who turned out to be security officers. He spent a month in prison, which has made it hard to get a job, yet he still remains eager to share his faith with others: “I have walked with two new believers. I hope I will get to journey with others because I feel very happy when people come to know God and know the truth.”

Equipped to make disciples

With opposition coming from their families, communities and even some churches, many MBBs feel isolated and their faith fades. CMS recognises that if MBBs are going to continue growing in faith, there is a great need for people to journey alongside them. That’s why CMS is partnering with Together Network (TN), which focuses on discipling groups of MBBs so they can in turn disciple others. Both Sultan and Adam have taken part in a training conference run by TN. Adam shared, “I’m doing the training because the thing I love the most is to help new people to know God.

“A year ago, I was thinking about emigrating, but after trying many times, I think God…wants me to stay and to share the good news here, so that is what I want to do. I want to do God’s work.”

Give now

No one should have to figure out faith alone. CMS and Together Network are upholding MBBs in their faith and helping churches understand how to welcome and support seekers and new believers so they don’t disappear. Give today and together we will see more disciples making disciples across the Middle East and North Africa.

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The post “Please do not shut the door” appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

One mission partner reflects on his journey into mission, and how God has used Church Mission Society walking alongside him in remote and challenging contexts.

By M in Africa

Crying out for guidance

As a teenager I was disillusioned with a school that pushed me towards academic success and money-oriented careers. I moved to an agricultural college as I loved the outdoors, but this didn’t satisfy me either.

I was crying out for guidance and had a profound experience of knowing God’s presence with me for myself. As I began seeking my way in life, someone lent me a book called Bruchko, about a teenager who followed God’s call to work with tribal people in the jungle. He went alone, got attacked and shot with an arrow by the very tribe he was looking for, and then eventually was adopted as one of them. Once he had learned their language, he was able to reinterpret their mythology in the light of Jesus, and many followed the Good News. I’d never heard the term “mission”, but I remember a strong sense of God telling me, “Go and live like this.” I was ready to get on a plane the very next day!

Jesus loves all people

I began doing short-term trips with my church to run summer camps in the former Soviet Union. Then I began to travel to remote lands such as Siberia, Mongolia, even Timbuktu! I wanted to find out how the gospel is applicable to nomadic and remote peoples, and to learn from those who were trying to reach them. Traditional models of church buildings and weekly services simply don’t work when the people are nomadic, but I knew that Jesus loves all people.

Africa didn’t particularly interest me because of the heat and mosquitoes, but at the invitation of an African friend (who grew up as a nomad in the Sahara) I went to visit. I ended up working in West Africa among a nomadic desert tribe for over 12 years. I loved sitting around the campfire as the stars came out, telling stories from the Bible in their language. My heart is still there, but terrorism and kidnapping threats make it impossible to visit my friends in those nomad camps.

Walking a fine line

Now my wife and I work with a tribe of mountain people in another part of Africa. It’s a very restricted country so we have to be creative in how we live. We have a company taking tourists into the mountains.

This gives us the freedom to be in villages, to share God’s love with locals and especially to pray for them. No one from this region has ever refused us praying peace and blessing for them in Jesus’ name.

We are always walking a fine line between being ambassadors of the coming Kingdom and living in a country where open Christian witness is not allowed.

We want to communicate God’s presence and love while avoiding misunderstanding. We strive to be peacemakers, bringing the gift of peace and forgiveness Jesus offers.

It’s hard sometimes to see much fruit, as society is such a strong influence. People don’t have the freedom to think beyond what family and community require them to be. We have found that prayer opens the door and enables people to discover God working in their own lives, beyond our words or stumbling apologetics!

Sustained for a lifetime

As we enter mid-life, with kids in tow, we face very different challenges. CMS has the experience and capacity to help sustain us on the field for a lifetime of ministry. Through their rigorous selection process and training, we have felt reaffirmed in the call of God on our lives. For me, it’s 20 years since I first began to follow God’s call, so it’s been great to be examined and affirmed in this way.

CMS brings expertise in financial planning and thinking through long-term issues, something I was never very good at on my own. They have been good at raising our profile and at annually reviewing our work so that we can be equipped and thriving.

We appreciate the breadth of experience CMS brings. They have been a huge help in the practicalities of family life on the field. We know they have robust systems of debriefing and counselling, should we need them.

When we left West Africa (before joining CMS), I really struggled during that time of loss and difficulty and went through a “dark night of the soul”.

No longer isolated

I know that CMS has “got my back” to help us survive and thrive. They are very professional and quick to help out with our needs.

Recently I was talking with my field leader about the challenges of balancing family life, working from home and ministry. He quickly found someone with similar experience, who was willing to talk with me and counsel me through these issues. I don’t have to feel as isolated as I used to.

CMS has also put us in touch with more churches and networks of praying people, which makes us feel upheld during the difficulties we go through.

God is at work in remote parts of the earth and it’s a privilege to be a part of what he is doing. I am grateful to CMS for the partnership that enables me and my family to be sustained and effective here!

Called to serve?

If you sense God calling you to “go” in his mission, get in touch with our recruitment team on vro@churchmissionsociety.org

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Medhat is a local partner working across the Middle East. Here he tells how people have come to hear the good news of Jesus both in person and online, even during lockdowns.

“I was afraid I was on my own!” This was the first thing that A, a professional man in Cairo, said when we connected him with another Christian at his workplace.

My ministry is all about connecting those exploring faith with Christians in their local area. I build and maintain a network of trusted volunteers who connect with seekers near them. Our volunteers answer questions about anything related to our faith and connect people with other local Christians, and help source any materials they might need.

A’s faith journey had begun when some Islamic hardliners made references that A wanted to investigate further. As he researched those references, A came across some Christian programmes. He contacted the makers of one programme and subsequently said, “I accepted Christ as my Lord and now I feel like a newborn baby living a new life.”

On meeting A, our volunteer noticed the joy on his face. A expressed a desire to be baptised, though he was also afraid. Our partner encouraged him not to rush into baptism before some discipleship to prepare, and met with him twice a week to learn and study the Bible together. In one of his first discipleship meetings A brought his friend and started sharing about Jesus – A is very eager to reach people around him with the good news.

Network connections

Like A, many others get in touch as a result of TV and radio broadcasts, social media posts and other online material. Some have seen broadcasts from our organisation and contact us directly, others get in touch with media organisations with whom we work closely – we support those organisations by connecting seekers with our volunteers.

Another part of my work is in empowering local churches and home churches to use the internet – so this area of work has become very important in the last year.

Normally, I would travel to encourage our volunteers, as well as speaking to them regularly by phone. Although I have not been able to travel over the last year, I continue to be encouraged as our volunteers share stories of God at work. God is doing great things even in this pandemic – we see people coming to Christ and lives changed.

Finding a family

L is a university student from a Muslim background, studying in a different country to where she grew up. She lived there with her mum, but then her mum died and she was totally alone, far from family. L has been very lonely since her mother’s death, and has gone through trauma in her life.

Several years ago, L and her mother had been introduced to a church, but felt their faith was not taken seriously. A partner organisation connected with L online over several months, and now she is in touch with a female volunteer from our network. She reported that, “L is a wonderful girl and has a strong faith and loves the Lord Jesus a lot,” and L would like to be baptised. L is being linked up to a Zoom discipleship group and our volunteer meets her regularly and takes her to church, and they celebrated Christmas together.

Our volunteer hopes to see her get to know faithful believers in her city who can encourage her faith and make her feel like she has family.

Small beginnings

One of our field partners, a pastor, met with an Iraqi refugee woman who had requested discipleship. As he met with her, he was also put in touch with another woman in the same city, a refugee from a different country who wanted to learn more about Jesus. After several visits, the pastor decided to start a house church meeting in one of their homes and encouraged them to invite others. Now there are over 25 members in that meeting excluding the children!

Developments online

During the pandemic, we have further developed the material we put online, to engage seekers and to support our partners.

Up to now, we have mainly given training and resources to our volunteers on the ground, to help them to answer questions as they meet with seekers. Now we are also giving that support to our media partners who are engaging with such questions online by creating a website bringing together relevant information.

We are also responding to the fact that people are having dreams and seeing Jesus, but not understanding what they are dreaming or why. We’ve created a visions and dreams Facebook page to help them explore this, and to connect them with the good news.

Pray

Please pray for Medhat, and for all of the young Christians and seekers his team meet virtually and in person, that they will find fellowship with local Christians and grow in faith.

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