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“I’ve been working among these people for 30 years, and I promise
you I’ve never seen anything like this,” marvels one Southern
Baptist worker.
They gather behind closed doors to study the Bible despite the fact
that professing belief in the Scriptures in Muslim areas can result in
violent attacks or worse.
This is not the kind of movement Southern Baptists are likely to see
covered on the 6 o’clock news. But Christian workers here are praying
and carefully trying to fan the fragile flames of faith which seem near
igniting into a mass movement.
As with most faith-related stories from the Middle East, neither the
Christian workers involved nor the new believers want names or places
publicized for fear of reprisals. Their fears are well-founded.
In May this year, radical Muslims firebombed the homes of four believers
in the West Bank. A teenage girl received third-degree burns over much
of her body. The girl now faces months of painful skin-graft surgery as
believers and workers from the West raise thousands of dollars to cover
her medical bills.
But the result has been more Muslims from her village receiving Christ.
One Muslim background leader who has taught the Bible was ambushed while
trying to visit the family. Radical Muslims pitched a gasoline bomb at
him, which exploded at his feet, giving him severe burns on his face and
shoulder.
Radical Muslims have burned the cars of other leaders, run down their
children, destroyed their crops, dumped raw sewage on one and committed
other acts of violence.
But these modern evangelists seem no more deterred by threats or suffering
than did Christ’s disciples in the first century here.
“Despite these problems, the Lord said, ‘Keep going,’”
says Phillip,* a new believer. “We may go to bed without supper for
a week or a month, but He gave His own Son.
“In this beloved book,” he continues, picking up an Arabic
Bible, “it says the cross costs.”
Muslims have also used money in an attempt to stop the gospel. One man
stopped attending Bible studies after local Muslims paid off all his debts
in exchange for his dropping out. He later returned to believers and begged
for forgiveness.
Distribution of the Bible and gospel tracts by Christian workers across
this region for decades is undoubtedly a factor in the new movement.
Phillip knew nothing of the gospel until he received a Bible and began
reading a few pages from it each day.
“After a month I got really attached to the Psalms,” Phillip
recalls. “Then I read the Bible from cover to cover. As I got deeper
in the faith, I realized the Lord was calling me to share the gospel,”
he says.
He kept reading the Bible for five years, but feared telling anyone
because of the violence or death which can await many Muslims who convert
to Christianity.
Finally a friend introduced him to a Southern Baptist worker who has
discipled and trained him for more than two years.
Despite his fear, Phillip began sharing his faith. “Of course I’m
still afraid even today,” he says, “but the Holy Spirit gives
me courage. The Lord is always with us and opens the way for us,”
he declares.
One worker says Muslim responsiveness to the gospel increased noticeably
after the Gulf War ended in 1991 and Christians worldwide began praying
for the 10/40 Window, which includes most of the Muslim world.
Another factor has been the years of violence between Israel and the
Palestinians; the recent months-long round of fighting left more than
500 dead by mid-May. The almost daily violence has left many seeking new
answers.
Among others who have responded to the gospel, most noticeable are the
Messianic Jews—Israelis of Jewish background who now believe Jesus
is the Messiah.
Christian workers estimate the Messianic Jews now number more than 6,000—and
the number of their meeting places is increasing by 30 percent a year.
Meanwhile, there are more than 1,500 Arab Baptists in Israel. They have
established 18 congregations. Most of these come from traditional Christian
backgrounds, such as Catholic or Orthodox.
Christian workers in Israel plead for Southern Baptists and other Christians
to pray for all believers here, whatever their background. True peace,
they say, will come to the Middle East only when people here follow the
Prince of peace.
*Name changed for security reasons.
The writer and photographer may be contacted by e-mail at commission@imb.org.
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