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15 hours ago

Wednesday 24th April

From David, a Frontiers worker in North Africa

David is a Frontiers worker who is intentional about reaching Muslims in North Africa with the gospel message. This is his story about business as mission.

“As a former teacher, running an Arabic language centre and being involved in a local business was not what I thought I was going to be involved in when I came to North Africa five years ago. However, the Lord knew otherwise and this platform has provided me and others with many great opportunities to pour His love and truth into local peoples’ lives.

I recall one winter’s evening when I was getting ready for bed and I received a phone call from one of my employees. Even though I had known Mansoor for over three years, it was the first time I had ever been inside his house. I sat with him and members of his family as he poured out his fears and anxieties of working for our business and all the connections with foreigners it had led to. I offered words of encouragement and prayed quietly in my heart for the right words to share. I was able to communicate that we loved him and would be praying for his health and his family. That night was the start of a journey of coming along side Mansoor and supporting him in prayer and showing the practical love of Jesus to him and his family.

Along with the privilege of providing employment for six individuals over the last few years and the opportunities to connect with them and their families, there are also challenges. Managing people in a different language and culture who have different expectations and attitudes to work has been a steep learning curve. Standing in long queues in government buildings and waiting weeks or even months for necessary paperwork are everyday norms. Not seeing the spiritual fruit that we long for can at times cause me to question whether all the effort is worth it.

But I continue to be reminded that what is required is prayer and perseverance. This business is not mine but the Lord’s and He will do with it what He wants. There have been times over the past four years where I have been on my own trying to keep everything going. However, I have also had as I do now, like-minded partners to run this business with and that support and teamwork has been invaluable.

The identity that it gives me in the community along with the flexibility to manage my own time and be involved in other areas of ministry and family life are huge positives. It truly is a privilege to create a space for ourselves and others to share about life and faith.”

• Let’s pray for David and his family as they faithfully serve God in this part of North Africa. “May they not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time they will reap a harvest if they do not give up.” Gal 6:9

• Let’s ask that David and his team know God’s favour and leading in all they do and that their business will thrive and bless the community in which they have been placed.

• Let’s pray for God-led conversations as David and his team share about life and faith with those they meet at and through work.

• Pray for unity and that the team would continue to be a great support and encouragement to each other.

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1 day ago

Tuesday 23rd April

Can businesses be intentional about reaching the lost?

There are still many Muslim groups hidden from the gospel because of barriers of culture and language, mainly in Africa and Asia. We are talking about over 1.5 billion people.

But how can we be intentional and see communities of believers form as we do business?

Some ask, “Doesn’t business take so much energy there is no time to church plant?” Many Frontiers teams demonstrate it is entirely possible both to run a good business and see churches emerge as a result. If a vision is well thought through, a business provides meaningful context to share our lives and opportunities to engage with the community in a readily understandable way. They have found that if business and the church planting effort are integrated, then the business entrepreneur can be intentional about church planting.

One CEO of a language school takes an integrated approach to engage with the Muslim communities he worked amongst in Asia. That means he wants to bring godly values into the business arena.

God is on the table from the word go and, especially among Muslims, this often leads to further conversation.

The business policies of the language school are aimed at relating to families in the community. For example, they have a practice of meeting with the families of prospective employees during the interview process, using a phrase like: "We want your family to know us, to know we have your best interests at heart and will honour you, because God loves families."

They say that the phrase, "because God loves families" gives them a simple, appropriate way to reveal themselves to be spiritual people. This can open the door to deeper spiritual conversations with families and peoples of peace.
The church-planting team works in the business between half and nearly full-time. This gives them the time outside of work to run the Bible studies that result from the relationships built through the business.

• Pray for teams to develop business models that are integrated into the task of engaging with communities.

• Pray they are inspired to share their faith in an open spiritual context in culturally appropriate ways.

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2 days ago

Monday 22nd April

Business – a calling for many in Frontiers

Business has often been considered a second best option for Christians in reaching out to local Muslim communities, but it can play a vital role in building God’s kingdom here on earth. Business skills are as valuable as those of a pastor or a nurse; bringing blessing and fulfilling the creation mandate (Gen 1). A Christian entrepreneur can go anywhere, provided a legitimate, sustainable business can be developed in that area. Local people and governments are particularly receptive to businesses that employ local people.

Businesses run on kingdom principles can bring God’s material and spiritual blessings in the Muslim world; perhaps via a consultancy in the Middle East full of Christians who can share their faith and influence the business community, a women’s co-operative in an Indian slum or a business bringing a new avenue for employment amongst sex workers of Southeast Asia.

Paul’s business was making and selling tents and leather goods in the cities where he ministered and taught. In Corinth he was in a business partnership with Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18: 1-4) and they preached, taught and built the church at the same time. They toiled and worked in order not to be a burden to anyone while preaching to non-believers (1 Thess 2:9).

In the early 18th century Count Nikolaus Zinzendorf of the Moravian Church sent out teams of missionaries, principally to the Americas and Africa. They included Bible teachers, evangelists and business people. The business people could earn their living, support the gospel work, share their faith and be a good example to new believers. Shoemaking, trade and shipping were favourite businesses which they taught to the new believers. Such self-supporting Christian faith communities were established to preach the gospel, advance God’s kingdom and impact the nations in very practical ways. Many of these faith communities still exist today.

A business should be genuine, relevant and sustainable, strategically placed to meet real local needs. Through this, business leaders and others employed in the business can model and communicate the gospel of Jesus. Agriculture and aquaculture, engineering, business training, language schools, cafes, art galleries, sports coaching and fitness centres are all examples of businesses that Frontiers workers run; often bringing skills already acquired before they joined Frontiers in their new roles.

• Pray God would call more business people and equip others with business skills where business opportunities are among the most effective ways of engaging with Muslim communities in a meaningful way.

• Let’s pray for workers living across the Muslim world to find creative ways to set up a business to bless local people.

• Let’s pray for emerging businesses to find favour and support at local and national level.

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4 days ago

Saturday 21st April

Happy Easter

It’s special this Easter, because more Muslims are coming to faith than in any previous time. In numbers greater than ever before, believers from Muslim backgrounds are lifting their voices today, saying, “Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed.”

In one Middle Eastern city, a hundred new fellowships of Muslim-background followers of Jesus are starting up. This is a new day for which Frontiers field workers have long awaited.

It’s also special because there are record numbers of Frontiers workers on the field, inviting Muslims to believe in Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

But it’s too soon to celebrate. There are great expanses of the Muslim world where no Christians, no workers and no churches yet exist.

That should not be.

The promises of the Bible persuade us to keep going farther, to keep expanding the boundaries of God’s Kingdom into every tribe, language, people and nation.

Consider the millions of Muslims living in Uttar Pradesh, India.

Uttar Pradesh is the same size as the state of Michigan in America. But Michigan has 10 million residents, while Uttar Pradesh has over 228 million. There is no Easter among the multitude of Muslims in Uttar Pradesh. Not yet.

Think of the number of unengaged Muslim peoples in Northeast Africa. There are 184 unengaged Muslim people groups in Chad, Sudan and South Sudan.

Consider the Muslims in Arab countries of the Middle East. There are of 50 cities in the region that have no messengers of the gospel.

We will not rest until all have heard the Good News, until there are fellowships of disciples of Christ Jesus planted among Muslims everywhere.

Thank you for partnering with us in prayer for this great life-saving effort to recruit, train and send new teams of gospel messengers to the unengaged peoples of the Muslim world. Because of you, the light of the gospel is shining in more Muslim homes than ever before. Together, we can complete the work Jesus has given to His people.

• Pray this Easter that we all might glorify God by completing the work He has given us to do in the time remaining.

• One day a great multitude of Muslims will turn to Christ. Why not now? Why not this Easter? Pray that it might be so.

• Let’s expect great things from God, the One who gave His beloved Son to deliver a final blow to the curse of death. Together, we attempt great things for God, whose praise will be on the lips of Muslims everywhere.

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5 days ago

Friday 19th April

The King has another move

When we lived in Iraq, Easter morning meant a lot to our family. Our children coloured Easter eggs and my wife Jan and I would hide them for an old-fashioned Easter egg hunt.

Our Muslim neighbours showed great respect by visiting us on Easter Day. That was always interesting. Guests would start arriving in the afternoon and we would set out sweets and hot tea for them. In fact, our guests would bless us, saying, “may your holiday be blessed” and “may your family be blessed.” It still feels good to remember those blessings.

Easter was also a lonely time, far from family and familiar friends. We were greatly comforted by the new friends we made among fellow workers who lived nearby.

One year, a colonel in the US military invited us to Easter worship. A chaplain landed in a helicopter and greeted all of us before the service, which was conducted outdoors. It was thrill to sing “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” with members of the armed forces.

The chaplain shared a picture of Easter that I have never forgotten. I feel its power and goodness even now. He described to us a painting of a game of chess, hanging on the wall of an art gallery. The painting is called ‘Checkmate’ because it shows the end of a game. The king has been captured and the game is over.

One day a chess master visits the gallery and he sees the painting. He examines it, and then suddenly he shouts, “That’s wrong! That’s not true! It’s not over! The king has another move!”

In the story of the resurrection, Jesus Christ had breathed his last. He had been buried. His enemies had won. Checkmate.

Then came the totally unexpected. It wasn’t over. The king had another move!

• Watch and pray in the days ahead, because the King has another move to make in the Muslim world.

• Sometimes our workers are lonely and discouraged. Pray for them today, that they might have Easter faith to remember God has been good and He will continue to help them.

• We have victories to celebrate. We have stories of Muslims coming to faith in Jesus, our resurrected Lord. Let’s praise God for all He has done and all He is going to do!

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6 days ago

Thursday 18th April

Layla’s First Easter: Reaching Muslims through Language Learning

“I’ve finally found Someone who can satisfy!” thought Layla.

Layla had been searching for spiritual fulfilment for years. First, she tried Islamic extremism. When that failed to fill her emptiness, she tried New Age mysticism.

But Layla still felt empty. Little did she know that she was about to meet someone who could point her to the true source of spiritual peace and hope.

Layla met Suzanne, a long-term Frontiers worker. As an expert in language learning, Suzanne served other field workers in her North African host country by teaching them effective ways to learn various unwritten dialects. She knew that one of the most important keys to language learning was having relationships with native speakers.

“Language isn’t a thing that you get,” Suzanne instructed. “It’s a life that you live. You grow in the language by growing in your participation in the lives of those who speak the language.”

Suzanne had trained scores of Muslim language helpers, investing hours into each one. Eventually, Suzanne would connect her language helpers to potential clients, most of whom happened to be fellow messengers of the gospel.

Suzanne’s language helpers usually ended up in deep and meaningful relationships with followers of Jesus. The impact of these believers, humbly sharing their lives with their language helpers often had eternal spiritual impact, exposing Muslims to the transformative power of Jesus Christ.

When she first met Layla, Suzanne immediately recognised great language-nurturing potential in the intelligent and conscientious woman. Layla had just the sort of temperament and talent to help foreigners grow as effective communicators within the local culture.

Suzanne poured hours into training Layla, often incorporating stories of Jesus into their Sunday afternoon training sessions.

Layla loved hearing these stories. Sometimes, she and Suzanne would lose track of time discussing what it meant to obey Jesus. She’d leave these sessions with a distinct sense that she was encountering the very thing for which she had been searching for so long.

For the first time in her life, Layla was discovering the One who could fill her spiritual emptiness.

The week before Easter, Suzanne said to Layla, “We can’t meet this Sunday; it’s a special holiday for us.”

“It’s my holiday, too!” Layla said, surprising Suzanne as she professed her new faith in Christ Jesus!

• Hundreds of Muslim language helpers are involved in the lives of Frontiers workers who seek to grow as effective gospel messengers in the local language. Please pray for God to soften the hearts of Muslim language helpers to see Christ Jesus in the lives of these long-term workers.

• Pray that many will find, just as Layla found, the One who fills our spiritual emptiness.

• And praise God for His work of grace in Layla and so many other Muslims who have found the One who can satisfy.

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