1 day ago

Monday 15th October

Afghanistan Pop: 36.4 million

The Afghan people have suffered greatly from over thirty years of conflict both from internal factions and external groups. A devastating civil war, followed by the oppressive rule of the Taliban, an extremist Islamic group, has created a society where over half the population has known nothing but war. These conflicts left over a million dead, an estimated 4 million children orphaned and approximately 2.5 million refugees.

Even though the Taliban were driven out and a democratic government established between 2002 and 2004, corruption remains rampant, and the still-prominent Taliban and tribal warlords continue to destabilise the nation. The government has struggled to rebuild its infrastructure and continues to rely heavily on foreign aid. With one of the world’s lowest living standards, most live in poverty and over half lack access to clean water. Additionally, Afghanistan’s destructive opium production is the highest in the world. These harsh conditions contribute to a life expectancy of only fifty years and a population where 40% are under the age of fourteen.

Under the oppressive Taliban reign (1996-2001), girls were often forced to marry as children, could not receive an education or be employed, were required to wear a full burqa in public, and could not leave the house unless accompanied by a male chaperone. Though conditions for women have improved, they remain a particularly vulnerable part of society.

Watch a video of this country here

• Let’s pray for God’s kingdom to come in this country.

• Pray for solutions to the threats of violence and for the political stability needed for a healthy economy and a just government.

• Ask for peace, protection and reconciliation in this beautiful country so torn apart by rivalry, revenge and unforgiveness.

Source: http://prayercast.com/afghanistan.html

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3 days ago

Saturday 13th October

When Families Forgive

My local friend Nassrin is a new believer. From the beginning of her faith, she’s been bold in sharing everything she knows about the gospel with her Muslim friends and family.

Nassrin is an oral learner from an oral culture. Reading is neither easy nor natural for her. She struggles with reading the Bible every day and growing in her understanding of the Word.

Recently I gave Nassrin a translation of the Bible that I thought would be easier for her to understand. She reads it hungrily. Last week she came on a number of occasions to discuss the meaning of different passages with me. God’s Word is taking root in her life and it’s transforming her relationships.

“I have good news,” Nassrin told me one day. Prompted by Jesus’ teachings on forgiveness, she had sat down with her mother and forgiven her for past hurts. After hearing Nassrin describe her hope in Christ, her mother received the Good News with tears.

“These words about Jesus must be true,” Nassrin’s mother said.

I can’t overemphasize the power of forgiveness in a culture like Nassrin’s, where grudges and resentment choke relationships in so many families. As Jesus transforms Nassrin and helps her forgive, walls are being torn down to make way for the Kingdom of Heaven.

• Let’s pray for Nassrin’s entire family to accept the gospel. Pray that their spiritual roots would go deep into Christ, so they can stand firm and reach out to others with the message of hope.

• Pray for Muslims to have their hearts opened to the wonderful truth of Jesus' life, death and resurrection and the power of forgiveness.

• Praise God for long-term workers who give up everything for the sake of making the gospel known to Muslims everywhere. Let’s ask God to bless them with a double portion of joy and of His Spirit for all they have sacrificed.

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4 days ago

Friday 12th October

A true story from Southwest Asia - Business and the Hope of the Gospel

Yunas lives in his childhood home, a small town surrounded by snow-capped mountains. His parents raised him to follow the teachings of Islam.

As a young man, Yunas moved away to a large city in the region. He struggled to find work. Then he got involved with a gang and quickly rose through the ranks to become a leader. He used his influence to start a business on the black market, and within a couple of years, he had grown quite wealthy.

Then Yunas met a believer who introduced him to Jesus Christ. As he read the Word, the Spirit transformed him into a dynamic and gifted evangelist. A few of his gang members turned to the Lord—but many others stopped following him. Yunas’ wealth dwindled and his status faded.

He returned to his hometown broke, but no one welcomed him. His family, relatives and friends had all heard that Yunas was following Jesus and told him not to darken their doorways ever again. They saw him as a traitor and suspected that foreigners had paid him to leave Islam.

Yunas was desperate. He needed to find work—a viable source of income that made sense to his community while also helping him reach Muslims with the gospel.

He heard about a Frontiers team’s training programme to equip new Muslim-background believers to run small businesses. Trainees learn about a community-based business model that blesses local economies—and which also helps them introduce the gospel to Muslim communities.

Yunas signed up for a three-week training course. Every day he travelled across mountain passes to attend the training. At the end he received a loan to start a small agricultural venture that would provide him with income and also give him opportunities to visit other communities.

The fruitfulness of his business has gone beyond what the Frontiers team members ever expected. Yunas has shared the gospel with hundreds of customers. He has helped plant over fifty house churches involving almost five hundred new Muslim-background followers of Jesus. Almost all his friends and relatives—those who told him never to come into their homes again—are now following Christ.

Yunas is financially independent and he’s also bringing economic blessing and spiritual hope to families and communities in the region.

“Starting my business,” Yunas says, “was a key component of my ministry.”

• Pray that Yunas’ business would continue to bear economic and spiritual fruit.

• Ask the Lord to equip local Muslim-background believers with tools and skills to advance the Kingdom in their families and communities.

• Pray for Frontiers workers in this region as they train new believers to make disciples and plant churches among Muslims.

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5 days ago

Thursday 11th October

From Wei in Southeast Asia - Friends in the Valley of Enemies

From our kitchen window, there’s a valley stretching just beyond the outskirts of the large Asian city we live in. It’s more like a village than a city, with simple houses lining dirt streets. Many of the people who live in the valley belong to a Muslim tribe called the Musuh, which in one local language means “the enemies.”

For years our team has prayed for opportunities to share the gospel with people from the Musuh tribe. We’ve walked along their streets and have tried introducing ourselves to men and women there. But they are a close-knit community of people who show little interest in outsiders. Not once did we find ourselves welcomed among them.
And so during Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, our team decided to hold a fast of our own and to pray for open doors and opportunities to share Christ with them.

As my husband Wei and I fasted we felt desperate. We were struggling with language learning. Many of our closest local friends had recently moved away and we had had little success in building new friendships. We were also home-schooling our two children, which on some days felt overwhelming.

We trudged through the first two weeks of our fast. Then we had a breakthrough, brought about by an unlikely member of our household—Hedgie, our beloved pet hedgehog!

Hedgehogs are native to this area. When we found him last spring, he was on the brink of death. Our children convinced us to take him home, where we began nursing him back to health.

One day, our family went out to explore the city’s old fort surrounded by gardens. It was hot, and there were only a few local families there since it was the middle of Ramadan.

Then, while wandering along a garden path, our children found a millipede. “A fresh meal for Hedgie!” they said excitedly, crouching down to take a closer look.

We searched for a container to capture the millipede. Wei grabbed one of our near empty water bottles and took the cap off to gulp down the remaining water. Then he stopped himself, remembering that it was Ramadan. During the daytime fast, it would have been insensitive to eat or drink in front of the Muslim families around us.

He quickly emptied the water into another bottle and bent down to scoop up the millipede. With Hedgie’s next meal secured, we looked up and discovered that the entire time an amused policeman had been watching our antics. He laughed as we explained that the millipede was for our pet hedgehog. His children would love having a pet hedgehog, he replied. Our children offered to bring Hedgie over to the officer’s house so his children could play with him.

As we continued chatting, we learned that Taufik, the officer, belonged to the Musuh tribe and lived near us in the valley we had long been praying for. We quickly became friends. Our children play football together and we share meals in each other’s homes. Taufik’s wife, a conservative woman covered in black from head to toe, is my new language teacher. When Wei was travelling for a week, Taufik’s family looked out for me and the children. This is truly the sort of family we’ve been praying to meet.

Recently Taufik invited us to a family wedding. Several hundred people from the Musuh tribe were there. They seated us in places of honour near the front of the room. And since then, it’s as if we’ve become friends with the entire tribe. Everyone now knows who we are.

With these new friendships have come opportunities to sow the Word. Taufik and several others in the tribe are reading the Bible with us and are being drawn to Jesus Christ. Even Taufik’s brother, a respected Islamic leader among the Musuh, is open to the Good News. If he embraces the Saviour, others in the community will probably follow in his footsteps.

• Let’s pray that the entire Musuh tribe will accept the gospel.

• Pray for protection and understanding for Taufik and his friends as they study the Word. Ask that the Word will not be snatched away, but will find good soil, take root and will bear fruit.

“But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” Mark 4:20

• Let’s ask God to pour out his blessing and wisdom on Wei and his family and all Frontiers’ workers as they serve God in Southeast Asia.

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6 days ago

Wednesday 10th October

From James and Kristin in Northeast Africa - Waheeda and the Word

When James and Kristin, a persevering Frontiers couple, relocated their family to serve a different Muslim people group in the region, Kristin resolved to do all she could to introduce more women to Jesus Christ.

She and James started praying for a Muslim woman who would help with household responsibilities and who would also receive the truth of God’s Word and help catalyse a movement of faith among women. After months of praying and searching, they met Waheeda.

A woman in her late thirties, Waheeda was already a grandmother and a respected matriarch in the community. She became a wonderful blessing in their home and as Kristin shared the gospel with her, Waheeda rejoiced and longed to hear more.

“She cried the first time she heard about God’s love for her,” Kristin recalls. “She stood a little taller when she learned that in Christ she could be a daughter of the King.”

One day, Kristin showed Waheeda a film called Magdalena by the makers of the Jesus film. It portrays the gospel message through the eyes of Mary Magdalene. Waheeda loved what the film and asked her husband to watch it. Afterwards he told Waheeda that if she wanted to start reading the Bible with Kristin, then she had his permission. The two women began studying the Word together over lunch several days a week.

Waheeda’s relationship with her husband was strained because he didn’t do the one thing a man is expected to do in her culture: provide financially for his family. The couple argued regularly, and Waheeda often nagged him for the money she needed. One night, while Waheeda and her husband were sleeping, she was awakened by an angelic figure that appeared in their bedroom and said, “Don’t ask your husband for money anymore.”

Her husband woke up and asked his wife, “Who are you talking to?” “You don’t see him?” Waheeda replied. He shook his head. Though baffled, the exhausted couple fell asleep. But Waheeda treasured the words she had heard as a special message from God.

When it was time for a relative’s big celebration, Waheeda didn’t nag her husband for money to buy a gift. Instead she prayed with Kristin and asked God to provide. The day before the celebration, Waheeda’s husband gave her the money she needed without her ever asking for it. This was a turning point for Waheeda. If the Lord could guide her husband’s use of money, then surely He could do anything she thought. She committed to following Jesus and determined that everyone needed to hear His Good News. Kristin rejoiced with Waheeda and they began praying together for boldness in sharing Christ’s message with others.

Waheeda started a Bible study with her own friends, family and neighbours. She started gathering several women and their daughters every evening to listen to and discuss passages from God’s Word. Two of Waheeda’s sisters, her adult daughter and several others started following Jesus, and many more women are on the path to becoming His disciples.

“It’s such a precious gift to watch Jesus Christ transform Waheeda’s life and use her in ministry,” Kristin says. “He’s given her a vision to tell others about Jesus. She shares God’s Word with as many people as she can and recently sat for three hours discussing the Good News with two of her brothers and their families.”

Life still feels overwhelming to Kristin at times. But witnessing such a spiritual breakthrough among Muslim women is filling her with songs of joy.

• Praise God for Waheeda as she shares His word with family, friends and community. Let’s pray for encouragement and wisdom for her.

• Ask God to protect and continue to inspire James and Kristin and other Frontiers’ workers as they reach out to Muslims in Northeast Africa.

“Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” Ps 126:5-6

Source: https://www.frontiers.org.uk/latest/blog/posts/2018-07-05-waheeda-and-the-word

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1 week ago

Tuesday 9th October

From the Middle East - Exactly What I’m Looking For

When Ragheed and I meet, we talk about everything under the sun—politics, the latest technology, religion and much more besides.

Recently when we met in our favourite café, he asked me about my faith. I shared some of my views of God and why my relationship with Jesus Christ is so central in my life.

As I talked, I saw Ragheed’s eyes get bigger and bigger.

“This is exactly what I’ve been looking for,” he declared when he couldn’t contain himself any longer.

Ragheed’s new-found interest in Jesus does not surprise me. Lately, several other Muslim men and women we’ve been sharing with have said similar things—that the words of truth we speak fill their hearts with hope.

In our team meetings, we’ve been talking about sharing the gospel in ways that are more strategic. In the process, we’re learning to reach into our friends’ hearts to answer their most pressing questions of faith. And we’re helping them engage more meaningfully with the hope of Christ.

Naturally, the most obvious tool for sharing the gospel is through language. Each person on our team has worked hard to learn the local language. And we all seek to grow in our understanding of the culture of the people we are trying to reach. These two things are making us more effective at entering into meaningful conversations with Muslims.

Now we’re seeing the Holy Spirit equip us with new ways to share the gospel. And it seems as though we have found a key—because our Muslim friends are listening to us in increasing numbers.

• Pray for the message of Jesus Christ to continue going out with power in the lives of Muslims.

• Pray for Ragheed and other new Muslim background believers. Ask God to prepare their hearts for the deeper truths of His Kingdom.

• Praise God for keys to reach Muslims in the Middle East. Let’s pray for workers to continue to persevere with learning the language and culture and being effective in reaching local communities.

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