October to December 2018
‘I feel born again. I did not feel this when I first began to read the Bible. Now I read the gospel every morning and evening. I talk with Christ all day.’ (Dara*, Iran)
The hope of Christ
For the follower of Christ, hope is to see more than what the eye sees. Paul writes that ‘hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?’ (Romans 8:24 ESV). This is often the kind of hope our contacts have. Surrounded by the darkness of Islam, they may find it difficult to imagine a day when it will be easy for them to follow Christ. Yet, they know that Jesus will provide for their needs and, as they trust him, they see this being done.
We thank our Lord and King, Jesus Christ, for the hope that our Arabic-speaking brothers and sisters display, and pray that they would continue to see how good and loving he is.
The statistics: October to December 2018
- In this quarter, we were able to reach 6.5 million Facebook users, which is approximately 4% of the 173 million social media users in the North Africa Middle East region.
- 56.9 percent of visitors to our website came through Facebook.
- The top two countries for in-country follow-up requests were Turkey and Egypt.
The people behind the stats
People’s lives were truly changed when they discovered the hope of Christ. Here are a selection of quotes…
‘When I think about the teaching of Christ, I see him telling me not to do this or that. I’m not sure if I am imagining this or if it’s real, but I love Christ more than myself, and if I succeed in applying his teachings and commandments, I think I will have a great life.’ (Zaid*, Iraq)
‘You can not rid yourself of sin through good deeds, good morals or knowledge. You need faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as your personal Saviour. This is done by putting your trust in him and his work on the cross for you, that his death on the cross was in your place, personally, and that Christ is able to save you completely.’ (Masoud*, Palestine)
‘Hope remains in my heart and I will not back down from my Christianity, even if my body burns. Christianity is the right path and the key to happiness. The Lord will be with me and I will be patient – even though my family call me apostate and atheist – because I love the truth. Jesus is the Lord God.’ (Yanal*, Jordan)
‘Thank God you are with me’
There was also Ahna*, a 22-year-old Yemeni student. She became interested in Christianity through some friends. She wrote:
‘Hello. My name is Ahna. I was searching for the Christian religion and found your website. Is it possible for you to introduce me to the Christian religion? I only know that Christianity is a religion of forgiveness and there is no agression in it.
‘It is possible that my family would kill me if they find out these things. There was a time when I searched a lot but didn’t understand anything. I tried to go to the church, but in my country a girl has to wear a hijab from when she is ten years old, so I couldn’t go into the church.’
Ahna was afraid of what her family might do if they were to discover her faith, but she agreed to meet with a local believer. When Habib asked Ahna if she was ready to declare her faith in Christ as Master, Lord, King and Saviour, she said, ‘Yes! Yes! It is good to pray here. Thank God you are with me and helped me. The Lord will protect you’.
Some ways to pray
We love what God is doing among Muslims, and we thank him for the opportunities he provides for us to share his message of hope and forgiveness. But we need wisdom as we navigate the online world and ask you to pray this for us. Many are opposed to what we do and would like to see us fail. Join us in praying that God’s love would pour into their lives.
*Names have been changed.