Exciting developments in Asia for the Kingdom
I just returned from a men's retreat in Estes Park. Wow, what an incredible weekend. Our guest speaker is a missionary serving in Singapore who is doing ministry in China and southeast Asia.
In a seminar that he led, he shared along with another member of the church who recently returned from China some of the great things God is doing in China. Apparently, the Chinese government is paranoid about the spread of Islam in China. They view Buddhism and Hinduism as too weak and pacifist to stop it and thus are beginning to realize Christianity is not so bad. They have realized that 1) Christians are taught to respect their authorities and 2) that Christians will seek to evangelize the Muslims. As a result, the government is beginning to loosen its grip on the Christian missionary movement. The missionary said he was even invited to teach a course on the principles of Christianity at the Harvard equivalent in China, but the university sets the restriction of not being able to share specific Bible passages, just general ideas.
In another seminar I attended, there was a missionary who recently returned from Pakistan. He works in translating the Bible into the native dialect amongst nomadic sheepherders in the tribal region of the country. He was sharing about a number of Muslims who have recently converted to Christianity, including clerics. He also passionately shared about how the most effective weapon we have against Islam, even radical Islam is not guns/bombs, not evangelistic pamphlets, but PRAYER. He reminded us that the Enemy is "not of this world" and therefore none of the weapons of this world will defeat him. He also shared that most Americans have no idea that there is a huge underground Christian movement underway not just in Pakistan, but in Iran and Iraq and that the worst thing that could happen to Iran is for the US to attack it. He said they are on the verge of seeing masses of former Muslims become Christian missionaries and preach to their people. He pointed out Muslims view the US as a "Christian nation" and therefore assume all of the immorality that is part of our culture is part of the Christian religion, because that is the way Islamic nations are, with their culture permeating the beliefs of their religion. Because much of our immorality is outlawed in the Qu'ran, they violently reject it.
He also told the story of a cleric he heard of that used to be involved with terrorists and later converted to Christianity. He said the best thing we can do to Muslims we meet is to tell them to read their Qu'ran in their native translation because many times, they recite the key verses in Arabic, because of the supposed "bonus points" they will get in heaven. But, he said the Qu'ran is filled with contradictions that are obvious and that if they actually understand what they are reading, many times they have a feeling of emptiness and begin searching for something else. He also shared many Muslims ARE open to the Gospel, you just have to approach it without denouncing their faith or insulting them as this gets them defensive and closed off. This seminar was a huge eye opener for me in realizing how poweful God is and the work He is doing in the midst of so much violence and shrouded secrecy in the Middle East.
In a seminar that he led, he shared along with another member of the church who recently returned from China some of the great things God is doing in China. Apparently, the Chinese government is paranoid about the spread of Islam in China. They view Buddhism and Hinduism as too weak and pacifist to stop it and thus are beginning to realize Christianity is not so bad. They have realized that 1) Christians are taught to respect their authorities and 2) that Christians will seek to evangelize the Muslims. As a result, the government is beginning to loosen its grip on the Christian missionary movement. The missionary said he was even invited to teach a course on the principles of Christianity at the Harvard equivalent in China, but the university sets the restriction of not being able to share specific Bible passages, just general ideas.
In another seminar I attended, there was a missionary who recently returned from Pakistan. He works in translating the Bible into the native dialect amongst nomadic sheepherders in the tribal region of the country. He was sharing about a number of Muslims who have recently converted to Christianity, including clerics. He also passionately shared about how the most effective weapon we have against Islam, even radical Islam is not guns/bombs, not evangelistic pamphlets, but PRAYER. He reminded us that the Enemy is "not of this world" and therefore none of the weapons of this world will defeat him. He also shared that most Americans have no idea that there is a huge underground Christian movement underway not just in Pakistan, but in Iran and Iraq and that the worst thing that could happen to Iran is for the US to attack it. He said they are on the verge of seeing masses of former Muslims become Christian missionaries and preach to their people. He pointed out Muslims view the US as a "Christian nation" and therefore assume all of the immorality that is part of our culture is part of the Christian religion, because that is the way Islamic nations are, with their culture permeating the beliefs of their religion. Because much of our immorality is outlawed in the Qu'ran, they violently reject it.
He also told the story of a cleric he heard of that used to be involved with terrorists and later converted to Christianity. He said the best thing we can do to Muslims we meet is to tell them to read their Qu'ran in their native translation because many times, they recite the key verses in Arabic, because of the supposed "bonus points" they will get in heaven. But, he said the Qu'ran is filled with contradictions that are obvious and that if they actually understand what they are reading, many times they have a feeling of emptiness and begin searching for something else. He also shared many Muslims ARE open to the Gospel, you just have to approach it without denouncing their faith or insulting them as this gets them defensive and closed off. This seminar was a huge eye opener for me in realizing how poweful God is and the work He is doing in the midst of so much violence and shrouded secrecy in the Middle East.
posted by Jimmy Bollinger at
7:47 PM
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