Day One
When we entered the village of this Muslim dominated community we were overwhelmed by a sense of oppression and darkness. It was evident by the stares that we received that outsiders did not come around here too often. As we walked through the narrow street I started to sing out songs of worship, partially to ease my own anxiety, and partially to minister to the team that I was leading. I also prayed that the LORD would reveal to us a sign of receptivity. Just a few minutes later we sat in a dingy little restaurant eating our rice and one of the young ladies on our team noticed that she was being stared at by the women in the kitchen. Wearing the traditional dress of the women in that culture to show modesty and religious devotion, Cammi responded to the stares with a gentle smile. As a result she was invited back to the kitchen and greeted with smiles and laughter . . . a crack emerged in the darkness.
We had come to this Muslim stronghold with Luke 10 being our primary strategy:
1After this the Lord appointed seventy-two[a] others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
5"When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' 6If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. 7Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
8"When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. 9Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The
So as we split up and went out two by two, each team was accompanied by a believing national leader that would serve as translator. As Katie and I made our way down the street toward the village area to which the IMB field missionary had assigned us, a shopkeeper called out to us and invited us in for tea. At first I wanted to go in, but then I remembered the words of Jesus – “do not greet anyone on the road”. So I politely declined, but mentioned that I may stop back by on my return. It just so happened that in that moment a modified rickshaw driver approached and said he lives in the village we were going to and that he would be our guide. So we jumped on that “village Mercedes” (this is what our national friend “Jamal” calls the bicycle with a flat bed) and off we went. Jamal requested that the driver take us to the ruling elder in that village.
A short time later we arrived in the village and the driver walked us up to a rather large house set back in the lush green jungle of this rain soaked land. As we entered we were greeted by “Amos”, the ruling elder. We used the traditional greeting “A salam aley kum”, which means “May peace be upon you.” Amos responded, “Waley kum salam”, which means “May peace be with you also.” So we sat down and received the tra
ditional hospitality of food and drink. As we started to talk with Amos and a few other men in the home we noticed that the women of the house were behind a drawn curtain and so I requested permission for Katie to greet and visit with them there. As she tried to communicate with the women in the back of the house, I started explaining to Amos why we were visiting his village. I told him that we were followers of Jesus and that we had recently learned that the Koran contains some information about him so we wanted to gain a better understanding of what Muslims believe. They seemed very open to such a discussion so I continued by asking them to read a portion of the Koran that affirms the virgin birth, holiness, power over death, and even the presence of Jesus at the right hand of God. Granted, even with all of this information about Jesus, the Koranic witness to Christ is NOT sufficient for salvation, nor are we affirming it as a holy book. Instead, we use what the Koran teaches about Jesus as a bridge to a deeper conversation about the identity of Jesus’ claims of his own deity in the New Testament. Most Muslims are unaware that the Koran contains these verses and when they see it in their own book, they are open to further conversation. I was amazed as we discussed these verses and as I asked them their meaning, how the Holy Spirit began to elevate their view of Jesus from that of a prophet to being something much greater. This conversation allowed me to share my own personal testimony as well as some of what the Gospels teach about Jesus.
After about 2 or 3 hours we asked for permission to pray for their family and their village in the name of Jesus, to whi
ch they readily agreed. Katie prayed over the matriarch of the family that Jesus would bring healing to her body as she was suffering some kind of sickness. I prayed that God would reveal himself to this family through Jesus and that their home would become a lighthouse of truth for the entire village. After our prayers we presented each of the men present with a copy of the Bible in their own language, at which they were obviously moved. As we left Amos escorted us back to the road and motioned for us to follow him into the village center. As we approached with this prominent civic leader hundreds of men, women and children began to surround us asking Amos who we were and what we were doing there. In order to show the residents his approval of our presence there, he sat us in the seats where the elders met to discuss important matters and had tea served to us. As we talked more I asked Amos if he would mind if we gave New Testaments to each of the town elders and he agreed. When I pulled the stack out of my bag, the Holy Spirit impressed upon me that Amos should be the one to distribute them because he would know who th
e men of authority were – and also his authority would be behind the distribution communicating to the residents that it would be okay to read and discuss the things in these books. With pride Amos stood and spoke to the crowd explaining our visit and then he gave each elder a New Testament. Everyone seemed so excited that I grabbed a stack of the book of Luke out of Katie’s bag and told him that he could also present those to heads of household. In a matter of minutes the Word of God was the center of a buzz rippling out from this town center. People were reading and discussing it all around us. Just before we departed we donated our remaining copies to be given to all the high school teachers because the head teacher had arrived and joined us there. We asked if they had a video player and they responded that the village had one player and they have “movie night” once a week where virtually everyone comes out to watch whatever movie is being played. We gave them a copy of the Jesus Film, which incidentally follows the book of Luke, and they assured us that they would have a big party and show the film that very week so that everyone in the village could understand why we had come.
As we hopped back onto our village Mercedes and rode away, Katie, Jamal and I could not help but praise our God for being faithful to His word and opening the way so that this entire village would have access to the Gospel. We had made arrangements to send a national leader back there to discuss and further teach them and we are confident that many who will be studying the word there in the days to come will indeed become worshippers of the Living Word – Jesus – in due time.
When we arrived back at the van to regroup with the others teams the whole area was buzzing with excitement. Dozens were standing around listening to various team members share about Jesus. Many came to ask for copies of Luke. Even the local police Commander and several of his officers were there, each with a bible in hand, discussing the way of Jesus. Just before we left, our rickshaw driver came up and reminded me that we had told the shopkeeper that we would stop back by to talk about why we had come. This driver had been there for the entire visit in the village and had gotten a copy of the Scriptures himself. Ironically, he said to us that he understood that we had to leave but that he would personally deliver a copy of the New Testament to that shopkeeper and explain to him everything that he had heard us discuss that day! What an amazing day it was. God had opened the way and literally thousands had received the word of God in their hands. Now it is up to the Holy Spirit of God to convince them in their hearts. For faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
This was just the first day! Stay tuned for more stories from the field tomorrow . . .
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