Apri 19th, 2008
No doubt those who turn to this web page will have read that recently published figures indicate that Islam has now more followers than Catholicism. That does not surprise me. Birth rate among Moslems is high, whereas in some cases in the west the trend to smaller families has been the case. The percentage difference is likely to increase as Moslems multiply. Added to that has been the agitation in the UK that some laws be dealt with under sharia law. In other words for some violations of the law, the outcome would be decided according to sharia law. Which mean, if granted, that there would be two systems of law operating in the UK for certain offences. The present archbishop of Canterbury appears to favour this. This could be seen as just one more step whereby Islam calls the shots. I Can look back over 75 years and my opinion is that this trend will continue.
The fact is that Moslems for the most part do no assimilate easily. Even those born in western countries are likely to maintain an Islamic culture. I have never been in favour of multiculturalism. The evidence in many cities, especially in the north of England, demonstrates that multiculturalism has failed. There are what can only be described as Islamic ghettoes. Mosques have proliferated as protestant churches have closed down.
This raises the question I have introduced concerning the strategy of Missions to Moslems. If you wish to consider this scroll down a few paragraphs on this page. ....to be continued
The Situation in the wider Islamic world.
The news is that Gillian Gibbons has been released. Two members of the House of Lords went to the Sudan and achieved this. The incident reveals the sensitivity of one's dealings with Islam. That does not end the matter. It would be encouraging if it did.
The wider issue has been raised by Ayaan Hirst Ali, the author of Infidel. In the New York Times he reports the case of a 20 year old woman from Qatif, Saudi Arabia. She reported that she had been abducted by several men and repeatedly raped. But the judges found the victim herself to be guilty. Her crime is called mingling. When she was abducted, she was in a car with a man not related to her by blood or marriage, and in Saudi Arabia that is illegal. Last month she was sentenced to six months in prison and 200 lashes with a bamboo cane.
Two hundred lashes are enough to kill a strong man. Women usually receive no more than 30 lashes at a time, which means that for seven weeks the girl from Qatir, as she is described in news articles, will dread her next session with Islamic justice. When she is released her life will never return to normal. Already there have been reports that her brother has tried to kill her because her crime has tarnished her family's honour.
The author says. 'It is often said that Islam has been hijacked by a small extremist group of radical fundamentalists. The vast majority of Muslims are said to be moderates. But where are the moderates? Where are the Muslim voices raised over incidents like these?' Indeed one may well ask. It would take a bold and brave Muslim to challenge the system. The punishment for apostasy is death.
Against that background it takes a supreme confidence in the Gospel to proclaim it. For such missionaries it is a tough assignment. It serves to emphasise the nature of the cultural chasm that exists between Christianity and Islam
As I have said such events have made me think. As an ardent supporter of Mission I cannot close my mind to some of the facts that face the Christian Church in its approach to Islam. We pour hundreds of lives into this battle. We spend millions of dollars in our endeavours to broach the hard exterior of Islam. Let me play the part of the Devil's advocate and ask "What have you to show for all this? Isn't it all a waste of time and money? Why not admit that it is a failure? Of course, I know the answers a mission body would give to such questions. I have offered the same reasons myself over the years. We would fall back on the fact that Jesus told us to preach the Gospel to all men. The Muslim has a right to hear the Good News. But having said that have I said everything? In face of the fact that proselytizing is forbidden, how can Islam be reached? Why continue our efforts to do so when the results are so minimal, or even non-existent? We can argue that we must let our lives attest to the truth of the Gospel, and pray that some may thereby be influenced. Do we pursue this strategy without question? My mind went to a saying of Jesus. "Do not give what is holy to dogs. and do not cast your pearls before swine". What did he mean? I have consulted a number of commentaries, but in some cases there is little comment. Commentators often slide past the difficult verse. One offers this explanation - against 'pressing the claims of the Gospel upon those who despise it until they persecute you for annoying them'. Calvin says that it refers to the stiff-necked and stubborn enemies of the Gospel who are unworthy of having it preached unto them, ' I will leave it at that and continue musing on issue
Islam as Missionary Movement
News has reached me from a missionary in West Papua which highlights the way Islam evangelises, but also serves as an incentive to the Christian Church to be more active in evangelism.
A high Indonesian official in West Papua, has 'chosen' 2700 single young men who have just completed their 6th grade exams to go to a 'free' university on the island of Java. They are to commence school in August. It has been established that the 'university' is a radical Islamic school. No guess as to what they will be taught - how to become good zealous Moslems. Their mission will then be to return to their village or tribe, and evangelise there. The sad fact is that more than half of these young men will be Christians. Many will have been taught in mission schools. It is clear that their lives will be in danger if they refuse to conform to what is taught them in Java. They will be under immense pressure to conform to the schools' rules and to renounce Christianity.
Christians need to be alert to the threat of Islam, and place even more emphasis on our teaching of our young people.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Adjusting our Approach
See additional comment lower down the page.
I have commented elsewhere on the changes that have taken place as far as the Church in Mission is concerned. Career missionaries appear to becoming fewer than some years ago. Restrictions governments place on the entry of 'missionaries' means that some have followed the tent-maker method - with good results. The United Mission to Nepal is an example of one where believers may exercise their professional skills in the interest of the people to whom they may wish to reach with the Gospel, without breaching the requirements for visas.
One not-so-obvious way the Church may have to look at the question, is to appreciate that the lands it was traditionally regarded as mission fields may have markedly changed. Many of the African countries are far more Christian than lands which for many years have been regarded as 'sending' countries. They no longer fall within that term. Martin Thompson of the Church Mission Society makes the point that Europe is increasingly becoming a mission field. In France there are more mediums and occult practitioners than there are registered doctors. and practising Muslims outnumber practising evangelicals by 12 to one. For these reasons Third World countries are no longer seen as destinations for evangelical Christians. In some cases these lands are sending their own missionaries to the West. Looked at as a whole Africa is more Christian than Europe.
Demographics suggest that the way to reach the world of Islam is to target lands where there are sizeable Muslim communities - France, England for example - rather than seek to take the Gospel to the strongholds of Islam - where anything remotely resembling proselytising is impossible.
It may well be that converts from Islam in lands where Muslims have established themselves will be the ones far more able to reach Muslims in Islamic countries - those who are unlikely to be won by western missionaries. Has the time come with these ever-increasing movements of Muslims - especially across Europe -that the Church needs to explore new methods of 'Missionary work'?
********************************
France is already the target of the Hillsong Pentecostal Church in Sydney. Conducted in English and French they drew a capacity congregation of 300 in Paris - with a similar number turned away for lack of space. Francois Guernier, a Hillsong enthusiast since 2001 says, "There is a special need for something like this. People are looking for something. but they can't find it. Lots of the people here have been invited by friends and they just come and find God and it's cool." This was the first official Paris Hillsong night of worship. Berlin is now the location for a similar service. We need to pray that such approaches to evangelism may be multiplied..
******************************
My interest in overseas missions cam be traced to the fact that my two sisters were missionaries in the Congo. The eldest of the family, Minnie went out in the mid twenties. She was eleven years older than me, and I cannot say that I knew her well. She left before I was 12 for training at Mount Hermon, a Bible College for ladies in London. After two years there, she spent some time in Paris learning French, the language of the Belgian Congo. She died early in her second term on the field. My other sister, also trained similarly and went to the Congo some years later. Apart from being evacuated during the Simba uprising in the early 60's she spent her life in the Congo. During the time of the rebellion, she served for two years in Tangier, at the Hope Hospital . She returned to the Congo in the early 70's with Frank and Helen Manning to undertake literacy work.
Encouraging in Mission
It was during the days of my pastorates that I became involved in missions - since the churches , in every case, were churches where much of the focus was on overseas missionary work. The church I pastored in London had over 20 on the Missionary Roll. During the years I was in London I was privileged to serve on the boards of The Spanish Gospel Mission, the North Africa Mission, The Lebanon Evangelical mission, and the Regions Beyond Missionary Union. Being so involved brought me into touch with many missionaries. I thought it desirable to have some first hand knowledge of what was taking place, and spent some weeks visiting the work in North Africa, Spain, and later the Lebanon.
Spain
The Spanish Gospel Mission had been founded early in the last century by Mr Percy Buffard. His son, Frank a graduate of Spurgeon's College, continued as director. A few UK missionaries assisted in the work. The period in the sixties was one of persecution of the Protestants in Spain. One church at which I was able to share the Word of God in Madrid gave the impression of real zeal for the ministry of the gospel. I was able to visit some of the scattered groups of believers in small towns and villages south of Madrid where restrictions were imposed upon groups of believers. One visit stands out in my mind. About 30-40 people had gathered in the home of one of the Christians. The room was packed. The church building they had used had been closed by the authorities and they were denied its use. I wondered how believers in the England would have coped with such conditions. Today there is much more tolerance of Protestant missions in Spain.
Morocco