know you are surrounding me with a mission field right here on my doorstep. Remove my fear and enable me to be light to these people. I know you love them just as much as you love me. Help me, God!”
To counteract her own fear and do something proactive about the opportunity she was facing, Clair started a weekly prayer time with a few friends to pray for her new neighbors. Through this prayer time, God urged her to use the natural gifts he had given her. Clair began offering music lessons to the women and children in her building, which often resulted in deep conversations over cups of tea and casual English lessons. Clair began to realize that they had needs like other women she knew and that they needed desperately to hear about God’ s love. Clair wasn’ t sure how God could use her— an untrained secretary who knew nothing about Islam or Muslim culture— but she stepped out in obedience and found herself with new friends who delighted in talking about something that mattered deeply to her … God.
2 Timothy 1:7 declares,“ For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” Clair was overwhelmed initially as she realized how many of these immigrants lived in her building and the surrounding neighborhood. Yet, through much prayer and the realization she was to love her neighbor as herself, God equipped her with power to overcome that fear. He gave her love to overlook what she saw as their intimidating differences. And through him came self-discipline to invest long term in the hard work of sharing the light through her words and deeds.
Clair committed to not run away in fear, but instead, to engage in building relationships. She has grown to understand that her Muslim neighbors have deep needs that only Christ can meet. She has embraced the idea that God brought them to her neighborhood with a purpose, and she increasingly sees herself as a part of the plan.
For all of us, Clair’ s story is a challenge. God is bringing unreached peoples from around the world to our doorstep, and we are faced with a decision. Will we allow fear to cripple and paralyze us, or will we represent Jesus to them?
As the Muslim world grows and becomes more global, many ministries with a specific focus on these peoples have produced valuable materials to equip the local church for outreach. The JESUS film is produced in languages used by these immigrants, incorporating the majority of the languages spoken by Muslims worldwide. The JESUS film is available to watch on The JESUS Film Project( JFP) website or you can download the app and watch it on your mobile device. The JFP has several other films you could share, including Magdalena and The Story of JESUS for Children.
Another helpful resource is More Than Dreams, the true stories of five Muslims who share how their lives were transformed after they each saw Jesus in a dream or vision. It is available on the website as a download, or you can request a free DVD to share with a new friend.
Finally, Crescent Project offers a plethora of training and outreach materials to help Western churches and individuals to reach out to their Muslim neighbors.
So, will we close and lock the door as Clair originally did, shutting them out of our lives? Or will we choose to be light, reaching out through our words and deeds as faithful representatives of Jesus Christ?
27