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Introduction:
I am so glad that the organizers of Korean World Mission '96 have included a consideration of the ways in which we can evangelize the Muslim world. These form the largest and the most neglected peoples groups in the world.
When I first saw the announcements of the Global Consultation on World Evangelization that was held in Seoul, Korea last year, I noticed that they did not have a focus on Islam. They did have a track on unreached peoples which of course includes Muslims, but there was no specific consideration of this religion which constitutes the largest block of people who are yet to be evangelized. I therefore wrote to Dr. Thomas Wang and Luis Bush who were in charge
about this. They therefore invited me to come to Seoul and to lead a workshop on Islam.
1. OUR LORD'S GREAT COMMISSION INCLUDES MUSLIMS
When the Lord Jesus Christ told us in Mark 16:15 to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, this includes the evangelization of Muslims as well. But why have Christians been so slow in doing this? One reason is that the Muslim religion is a heresy of Christianity and has a lot of truth. It came 600 years after Christ. Thus they believe in the virgin birth of Isa of Jesus, that He was without sin, that He raised the dead, gave new eyes
to the blind and new limbs to the lame. They believe He foretold the future and that He did many miracles. They also believe He ascended to heaven and is alive therenow. Furthermore they believe in the second coming of Christ.
The question comes then of whey are they not Christians? There are two main reasons. On that they deny the deity of Christ. The reason for this is that Mohammed did not have any of the Bible in Arabic which was the only language he knew. The Christian Scriptures were not translated into Arabic until 80 years after his death. Thus all he learned about Christianity was hearsay and from meeting and observing Christians who were following heretical practices.
For example, he saw them worshipping statues and pictures of Mary. Thus he concluded that the Christians Trinity was Gold the Father, Mary the Mother and Jesus the Son. Therefore the Qure'n condemns the teaching that Jesus is the Son of God, thus rejecting His deity. In I John 4:1-3 we read, "Test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come
in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus and His deity are foundational. Thus since Mohammed and Islam deny this, their doctrines are heretical.
The second reason that Islam is a heresy of Christianity is that they deny the death of Christ. They say that He was too good a man for God to have allowed Him to die the despicable death of cruxifixion. They claim that when the time came for Christ to be arrested, God caused His likeness to fall on Judas and he was crucified in place of Christ. In this way, the Muslim religion cuts the heart out of the Christian Gospel.
2. MUSLIMS ARE LOST WITIIOUT FATIH IN CHRIST
The present heresies of universalism or as it is often referred to as pluralism states that everybody will be saved, which includes Muslims. But Peter in Acts 4:12 says that there is no other way under heaven to be saved apart from the Name of Jesus Christ. Corrie ten Boom was a wonderful Christian who was put in prison by the Nazis for protecting Jews. After her release she was speaking in a university here in the States. A woman who was a professor said
to her, “Corrie, I hope you do not believe this terrible teaching that people who haven't heard of Christ are lost.”
She answered, "Let me tell you what Christ said about this. He said, 'I am the way, the trut6h and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Me' John 14:6. She added that if anyone is saved apart from Christ, then His words will be wrong. But He has said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away~ Matthew 14:35. The lady then thanked her for explaining it.
Yes, Muslims without repenting of their sin and receiving Christ as their Saviro are lost just the way everyone is. As the Bible says, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23.
3. THE IMPORTANCE OF SCRIPTURE WITH MUSLIMS
Muslims have a high regard for the written word of God. Also the Qur'an states that the Pentateuch of Moses, the Psalms of David and the Gospel of Jesus are the word of God. For this reason, it is important to get the Scriptures in their hands.
A friend of mine had a group of Muslim priests to come to him with many questions. He answered them all with opening the Bible and reading what it had to say. The next night, the leader of the group came to him privately and received Jesus Christ as his Savior. Also a survey was taken among Muslim converts to Christ to find out what had brought them to faith. Many of them said that it was reading the New Testament.
The Bible promises that God's word will not return to Him void but will accomplish what He pleases. (Isiah 55:11)
4. THE IMPORTANCE OF USING MEDIA WITH MUSLIMS
A friend heard two Muslims arguing as to whether Jesus died on the cross or not. One said that He did not die on the cross in line with the way most Muslims are taught. The other said that Jesus did die on the cross since he had seen His crucifixion in the movie Ben Hur. This incident demonstrates the importance of using media to reach Muslims for Christ.
The Jesus film which is being distributed by Campus Crusade for Christ around the world is also having a great influence on Muslims. Through the modem means of lip sink, they are planning to put it into 1,000 different languages. For example, the Uzbek version was shown over national TV in Uzbekistan and had a great impact on the people However the Muslims priests reacted against it and it is no longer to be shown over the national station. However, videos
are available and are in great demand by Muslims.
Last year I visited Uzbekistan and met Muslims who had become Christians. God is using Korean missionaries and tentmakers in a wonderful way there.
As you may know, Josef Stalin moved hundreds of thousands of Koreans from eastern Siberia near the border of North Korea into Central Asia. Many of these are now coming to Christ and churches are being started among them. For example, Operation World in its 1993 edition lists 20 Presbyterian churches in Uzbekistan. But now there are many more among the Korean people there. Since they are now Uzbek citizens, they know the language and can do much to reach
the Muslims population.
5. THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER FOR MUSLIMS
Dr. Samuel Zwemer was probably the greatest missionary to Muslims in history. He was invited to speak at the Keswick Convention in England in 1915. By then he had been working among Muslims in Arabia and Egypt for 25 years but could count the converts on the fingers of one hand, there had been so little response to the Gospel. He spoke on the text in Luke 5:5 where Peter says to Jesus, “Master, we have worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But
because You say so, I will let down the nets.” Dr. Zwemer said that he too had been working hard in the Muslim world for 25 years and had caught next to nothing. But he said that we must obey the Lord and continue to evangelize Muslims and the time would come when we would catch so many that the churches, like Peter, James and John's boats, would not be able to hold them all.
The Christians at Keswick were so touched by Dr. Zwemer's message that they asked what they could do. His answer was, “Pray.” This started an organization of intercession for Islam which is called the Fellowship of Faith for Muslims and it continues its ministry of this day encouraging prayer.
Because of prayer, Dr. Zwemer's prophecy came true a dozen years after his death. 1n the great Indonesian Revival which started in 1965 it is estimated that over two million Muslims came to Christ. Shortly after that revival I visited a Church in Indonesia that was being pastored by a former Muslim priest who had also been on pilgrimage to Mecca and therefore had the title of Haji. He had an overflow congregation many of whom were Muslim converts.
6. THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER WITH MUSLIM
It is not only important to pray for Muslims, but also to find out their needs and pray with them in the name of Jesus Christ. They are usually very happy to have you pray since they believe that Jesus is alive in heaven. I have done this often with Muslim friends and they have been amazed to see how God answers a prayer in the name of Jesus. Their prayer are mostly just a repetition of the first chapter of Sura of the Qur'an in Arabic over and over again
as they face Mecca. Thus they do not see an answer to these prayers. But when we pray with them in the name of Christ and He answers, they are greatly touched.
A friend of mine who is a Muslim convert to Christ finds that this is the most effective way he has to evangelize. He said that all of them have problems. You find out what these are and ask if the like you to pray to Jesus for these problems with them. They are happy to have you help them in this way. Then when the Lord answers, they come to receive Him as their living Savior.
7. THE IMPORTANCE OF SIGNS AND WONDERS
One reason answer to prayer are so effective with Muslims is that they are real miracles from God for signs and wonders of His power. For example, in Afghanistan we would have Muslims come to our front door wanting to see me because they were sick. I would tell that I wasn't a medical doctor but that I would give them a note of introduction to a friend who was a physician. They would answer that they knew that I was not a medical doctor but they knew that
I prayed and they wanted me to pray for their healing. I would do this in the name of Jesus and some of them were healed.
Muslims are usually very good debaters. They bargain over the potato. Thus it is difficult to convince them about the truth of Christ through argument. But when they see a sign and a wonder from God, they are quickly convinced of the truth in Christ.
8. THE STORY OF A MUSLIM WHO CAME TO CHRIST
When Betty and I went to Afghanistan is 1951 as "tentmakers” or self-supporting witnesses, we prayed that God would raise up a modem Apostle Paul from the people there. Little did we dream that the Load would answer our prayer in the person of a young blind boy.
During 1964, a youngster whom we will call Omega enrolled in the NOOR Institute for the Blind in Kabul when he was fourteen years of age. His blindness had come from a religious custom formerly practiced in Afghanistan. Because women were heavily veiled, a couple were not allowed to see each other until after the wedding ceremony had been performed. Then a mirror would be placed before them and the bride's veil would be lifted and they would see each other
face to face for the first time. Many did not want to take this chance. Therefore they married Crist cousins since they had seen each other in their homes, since their mothers and fathers were brothers and sisters. But this often resulted in mental and physical handicaps. Omega's parents were thus first cousins. He and his sister therefore had infantile glaucoma. He could see when he was born, but went blind when he was a small boy of five.
Even with this handicap, he was probable the most brilliant person I have ever met. At fourteen, he had already memorized the whole Qur'an in its original language. It would be like an English speaker learning the complete New Testament by heart in Greek, since Arabic was not Omega's mother tongue. He completed the six primary grades of the Institute for the Blind in three years.
While taking his classes in Braille, Omega also mastered English. He did this by listening and repeating what he heard on English broadcasts over a transistor radio. With the help of a small ear plug, he would tune in programs coming into Afghanistan from other countries. He then started asking questions about what he had heard, such as, "what do you mean by substitutionary atonement?" He had heard such theological concepts on Christian radio broadcasts
like the Voice of the Gospel coming from Addis Ababain Ethiopia.
Finally, he shared with Betty that he had received Jesus Christ as his personal Savior through listening to these programs. She asked him if he realized he could be killed for this, since the Islamic law of apostacy dictated death for anyone leaving that religion. He answered, "' have counted the cost and am willing to die for Christ, since He already died on the cross for me".
Omega then became the spiritual leader of the Afghan Christians. In the Institute for the Blind in Kabul, the students elected him as the president of their association. But the next year after it became known that he had become a Christian, he lost the election for this position. Betty expressed to him how sorry she was that he had lost. He replied by quoting what John the Baptist said of Jesus, "He must increase, and I must decrease.”(John 3:30) His
goal in life was not to seek prominence for himself, but to be a humble servant of his Lord. Omega's father said that before he had entered the Institute for the Blind, he had been like a cold piece of charcoal. But after his experience there, he had become like a red hot brightly burning ember.
Once he came to see me and asked to borrow an English Braille copy of the Gospel of John. He opened it and read with his fingers. Then he returned it and said that his question had been answered. I asked him what his question was. He replied that in John 14:34, Jesus said, "A new commandment I give you that you love one another". He had wondered why the Lord had called it new", since the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself had already
been given to Moses over a thousand years before, as recorded in the Old Testament book of Leviticus 19:18. But now he understood. I asked him please to tell me. He explained that until the time of Christ's incarnation, the world had never before actually seen love personified. He went on to state that the Bible reveals that God is love, and that Jesus as God in human flesh was love incarnate. This was what made the commandment new. Jesus said, •A new commandment I give you that you love one another as I have
loved you". In His perfect life, Jesus has not only given us a new model to follow, but He also indwells us by His Holy Spirit and therefore He bears the fruit of love through us.
Omega was the first Blind person to attend regular public schools in Afghanistan along with the sighted students. There he had a small tape recorder on which he took down everything his teachers said, so he could go over the lessons again and again and learn them thoroughly. He thus became the number one student out of hundreds at his grade level. Those who failed in their classes were given a second chance to take examinations at the end of the three month
vacation. Omega studied the next years courses during the break and then passed the tests with who had failed. In this way he completed High School, finishing two grades each year.
Each Christmas in Kabul, we used to have an outdoor pageant under lights in the garden of the house Church where we lived. This included a live donkey, cows, sheep and hybrid of Christmas for the first time, Omega narrated it in their Dari Language over the public address system. He also would come to see me in order to study Calvin' s Institutes, since he wanted to grasp the concepts of this Reformation leader.
He fell in love with an Afghan girl who was legally blind and was studying in the Institute. After a courtship, they decided they wanted to get married. As far as we know, this was the first Christian wedding between two Afghan Muslim converts ever held in that nation. He told me that he also wanted to study Islamic Law so that he could to defend Christians who might be persecuted for their faith. He therefore entered the University of Kabul, from which he
graduated with his law degree.
The Christoffel Mission for the Blind in Germany gave the Institute in Afghanistan an extensive library of Braille books in German. Since Omega wanted to read these, along with his other classes he went to the Goethe Institute in Kabul and learned German. As the top student there too, he won a scholarship to go to Germany to study advanced German. When the representatives found out that he was blind, they said they would have to give the scholarship to the
second student since they did not have accommodations for a person who could not see. He asked them what he would have to do. They replied that he would have to travel alone and take care of himself. He said that he could do that. Therefore they finally accepted him. While studying there with top students from Goethe Institutes from around the world, he was number one in this advanced course as well.
He also traveled to Saudi Arabia where he entered a memory contest on the Qur'an. He took first place in the competition there. The Saudi Muslim judges were so chagrined that a non-Arabic speaker had won that they had to figure out some way to keep from losing face. They finally decided to award two gold medals: one to the best Arab, and the other to the best non-Arab.
Omega along with a Finnish missionary lady also translated the New Testament from Iranian Persian into his own Dari dialect. This was published by the Pakistan Bible Society in Lahore. Its third edition was put out by Cambridge University Press in England in 1989, and is the translation that is being distributed to Afghans al around the world.
Because different blind students like Omega had become Christians, in March of 1973 the Muslim government in Afghanistan sent a written order closing the two Institutes for the Blind, one of which was in Kabul with over a hundred pupils and the other seven hundred miles to the west in Herat with over forty others. Betty and I were ordered out of the country in three days, after we had served there for twenty-two years. All expatriate teachers of the blind
along with their families were forced to leave Afghanistan within one week.
As these dedicated teachers left, God gave them a promise from Isaiah 42:16, 1 will head the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will tum the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them." The muslim government then destroyed the Christian Church building in Kabul, after previously having given permission to build it. President Eisenhower
had requested an agreement to construct this building from King Zahir Shah on his visit to Afghanistan in 1959.
Since a mosque had just been built in Washington, DC for the Muslim diplomats there, Christian diplomats and others needed a place to worship on a reciprocal basis in Kabul. When permission was finally given by the Afghan government, Christians from nations all around the world contributed toward its construction. At its dedication, the cornerstone carved in beautiful Afghan alabaster read: "To the glory of God 'who loves us and has freed us from our
sins by His blood' this building is dedicated as 'a house of prayer for all nations' in the reign of His Majesty Zahir Shah, May 17,1970 A.D. ‘Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Cornerstone'" When troops arrived and started knocking down the wall between the street and the Church property preparatory to destroying it, a German Christian businessman went to the Mayor of Kabul who had given the order and said, "'f your Government touches that House of God, God will overthrow your Government. This proved
to be a prophecy. The mayor then sent a letter to the congregation ordering them to give the Church for destruction, since that would mean that the Government would not have to pay compensation. They replied that they could not give it to anyone, since it did not being to them. It had been dedicated to God. They also added that if the Government took it and destroyed it, the officials would be answerable to God.
Soldiers, police, workmen and bulldozers were then sent to destroy the Church. The congregation, instead of opposing, offered them tea and cookies. Christians all around the world prayed and many wrote letters to the Afghan Embassies in the various countries. Billy Graham and other Christian leaders signed a statement of concern and sent it to King Zahir Shah. The Afghan Government received a secret service report that there was an •underground church"
in Afghanistan. Since they did not understand this terminology, they dug twelve feet below the foundation looking for the underground church.
On July 17, 1973, the destruction of the Church building and the digging up of the foundation was completed. That very night, the Afghanistan Government responsible was overthrown in a coup. Afghans who are quick to see omens in events say that Jesus Christ came down from heaven and overthrew the Government because it had overthrown His Church. It had been a monarchy for 227 years. That night it became a Republic under President Daoud. Then in 1978 his Government
was toppled by a Communist coup, followed by the Russian invasion just after Christmas in 1979. Millions of Afghans had to flee their country as refugees. One of them said to me, "Ever since our Government destroyed that Christian Church, God has been judging our country".
Under the Communists, the Institute for the Blind in Kabul was reopened and Omega was put in charge. He did a fine job in reorganizing it. He also took his Masters Degree in Education at University of Kabul by producing the first system of shorthand for Braille in Afghanistan. Since as President of Handicapped Education for the nation, he was an official under the Communist regime, pressure was brought on him to join the party. But he refused. One official
told him that if he did not join, he might be killed. He replied that he was not afraid of that since he was always ready. He then asked the Communist if he were prepared to die.
Finally Omega was arrested under false charges and put in the Pull Charkhi political prison outside Kabul where tens of thousands were executed. There was no heat in the jail to protect the prisoners from the cold winter weather. He had to sloop on the freezing mud floor with only his overcoat. A prisoner next to him was shaking with cold since he did not even have a jacket. Omega knew that John the Baptist had said, "The man who has two coats should
share with him who has none" (Luke 3:11). But he took off his only coat and gave it to his neighbor. From then on, the Lord miraculously kept him warm every night. He slept as if he had a comforter over him.
In prison, the Communists gave Omega shock treatments to try to brainwash him. The electric burns from these left scars on his head. But they could not break him. He then was offered an opportunity to study Russian in prison. He there mastered this language as well. The Communist authorities finally freed him in December of 1985.
Following his release from prison, Omega read Genesis 12:1-3 in his English Braille Bible, "The Lord said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your people and your father' s household and go to the land I will show you. I ... will bless you .. .and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." He felt God was calling him to leave Afghanistan and to
go to Pakistan as a missionary. He therefore got in touch with a friend who was a blind beggar. He then dressed himself in rags. On their way out of the country, he let his friend do all the talking. They thus were able to get through the Soviet check points along the main highway from Kabul. It took them twelve days to travel the 150 miles to the Khyber Pass and then on into Pakistan.
After Omega arrived in Peshawar, he typed us a beautiful letter saying that he had reached there safely. I answered and invited him to come to Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary to study Hebrew since he was then working on a translation of the Old Testament into Dari. He said he would have loved to come, but that he had so much to do among the Afghans and Pakistanis that he could not leave. He started schools for the blind in the refugee camps. He also learned
Urdu and preached in the churches in Pakistan in this language. He furthermore completed a book of Bible stories for children in Dari. Also his wife with their three daughters were able to join him in Pakistan.
Omega prophetically stated to a Canadian Christian friend that if Gulbuddin Hikmatyar who was the leader of the fanatical Muslim group called Hisbe Islami(the Party of Islam) captured him, he would be killed. He was taking law at the same time Gulbuddin was studying engineering at the University of Kabul. Thus they knew each other. It was probably then that Gulbuddin came to know that Omega was a Christian.
On March 23, 1988, Omega was kidnapped by this group and • accused of being a CIA agent because he knew English, a KGB or Khad spy because he knew Russian and an apostate from Islam Because he was a Christian. He was beaten for hours with rods. A sighted person can brace and flinch when the blow comes. But one who is blind cannot see the club coming and thus gets the full force, even like the torture the Lord Jesus Christ experienced when He was blindfolded
and struck (Luke 22:64).
When I heard of his capture, I went to Pakistan the summer of 1988 in order to see if I could help get his release. I talked with officials there, but all of their attempts to free him failed. He apparently was taken out of Pakistan and held in a prison inside Afghanistan. I met with his wife and their three daughters. Four months after Omega' s capture, his wife had a beautiful boy who looks like his father. No one knows whether Omega ever heard that he
had a son.
The latest word is that the Hisbe Islami party cruelly murdered him. This same group caught and tortured two Pakistani Christians who were taking relief items to needy Afghans. Before releasing them, their captors said, "we are not going to kill you the way we did Omega. But don't let us catch you doing this again." In addition, an Afghan news reporter in Peshawar claims to have evidence that Hisbe Islami murdered Omega in a very painful way.
Also the Pakistani governmental official in charge of refugee affairs for the Northwest Frintier Province admitted that an Afghan had been killed for becoming a Christian.
When Betty and I were back in Kabul for three weeks in the spring of 1991, and Afghan friend told us this story. He too had been captured for his faith and put into prison. But in the fighting between rival factions, a rocket hit and destroyed the building where he was being held. His guards ran for cover. And he walked out of the jail unharmed. This seems like a replay of the miraculous deliverance of the Apostles from prisons in Acts chapters 4, 12 and
16. This Afghan Christian then told us that friends who did not know that he was a believer had confided in him that Omega had been murdered for his faith in Jesus Christ.
The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights in article 13 states, "Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; freedom to manifest one’s religion or belief". Omega's experience is clearly an infringement of these human rights, He was denied these rightful freedoms and as far as we know has been martyred for his faith.
God does not force a belief system upon people. He has given them the liberty to choose. Therefore what right does an earthly regime or group have to impose a certain belief system? Our prayer is that Afghanistan in the future will respect the freedom of religion which is basic to all other liberties. There is a popular Dari Afghan proverb which substantiates this truth as it states, "'sa' i ba dini khud, Musa' i ba dini khud•. Translated it means, "Let
the followers of Jesus practice their religion and the followers of Moses theirs".
Before his capture, Omega asked a Christian friend whether he would take care of his family if anything happened to him. The friend answered in the affirmative, not realizing that a short time later he would been kidnapped. He was able to arrange for Omega' s wife and the two younger children to come to North America.
Jesus prophesied, "A time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God" (John 16:2). After His resurrection, He commanded His followers, "Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of eternal life" (Revelation2: 10).
If Omega has been martyred for Christ, he has gone to his eternal reward. And all of us of like precious faith will one day see him again. The Bible promises, "we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we (along with Omega) ever be with the Lord• (I Thessalonians 4:17). Then we will be able to learn the full story of his dedicated life. He counted the cost and willingly
offered himself up for Christ Who had loved him and given Himself up for him.
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