April to June 2018
The truth in Christ
‘A brother in Christ visited us and we all prayed together. I felt an inner peace and so did my wife. For a few seconds, it felt like warm water was pouring on me from my head to my feet. What a wonderful feeling! I wish that all people would wake up from their ignorance and repent to their Creator, who redeemed them through the Greatest Lamb to remove all of their sins.’
Esa* wrote this after his first meeting with a worker. He is a Syrian refugee, living in Turkey. He already knew a few things about the Christian faith by the time he got in touch with us. When our responder explained salvation to him, he was ready to accept Christ there and then.
On average, one Arabic-speaking person discovers the truth in Christ each day while talking to or messaging a member of our response team. Every day at noon, our UK office team gets together to pray for some of these individuals. Their names and brief details are listed on a whiteboard. Hardly a day goes by when there isn’t a cross next to a name – an indication that a profession of faith has been made. We hope that in whatever way you partner with us, you feel honoured, as we do, to be a part of this ministry. Here’s a look at what’s been happening in the second quarter of 2018.
The statistics: April to June 2018
Low engagement
Things remained happily consistent in term of video views, website visits and post clicks.
Medium engagement
Compared with the first quarter, we had more engagements and more subscribers. Downloads of Bibles, films and books were down, but not by a level that gives us concern.
High engagement
This quarter, we had more active contacts, which are people who are in regular contact with our responders. Almost 200 more individuals were discipled online, which is great news. Face-to-face meetings remained at the same and professions of faith were slightly lower.
The people behind the stats
In the second quarter, 16 women gave their life to Christ, compared with ten in the first. We’ll have to see how things develop, but we wonder if God is doing something new among Muslim women.
We also noticed there was not one, not two, but three Shia background women who came to faith – each from different parts of the Arab world. One of these women is Layla*, an Iraqi refugee of Shia background who contacted us last month, saying that she wanted to ‘walk on the right path’. She told a member of our response team that she had become convinced that Islam could not be true because of the violence and killing she had seen and because of its oppression of women.
Christianity was totally new to Layla, but she had noticed peace, tranquility and honesty in the lives of Christians. As our colleague explained about salvation and new life in Christ, Layla realized that Christianity was completely different from Islam and began to cry. That same day she gave her life to Christ. She’s now studying the Gospel of Matthew with the responder.
There’s also Saya*, a Saudi Arabian woman in her mid-twenties. She made contact because she was interested in the Christian faith. It was not long before our responder was able to lead her to salvation. After confessing her faith, Saya said that she felt peaceful and at ease. This, she said, is because she made this decision on her own. She was not obliged or forced as she was in Islam. Saya continues to be followed up online.
Some ways to pray
Our responders are at the forefront of our ministry and need to be covered in prayer. Pray for wisdom and strength as they answer tough questions and come alongside people who are sometimes in very challenging situations.
We also have a number of creative individuals, who make content for our websites and social media pages. They need to stay in tune with the people of the Arab world, but also to find ways of challenging people’s views.
Each member of our team values the prayers and gifts that sustain our ministry, and we thank you for your part in this.
*Names have been changed. Stock images have also been used.