“Lord, it would be really cool if we could evangelize to Muslims over the next 2 weeks.” This was my prayer as I rode, perched on top of my over stuffed pack, in the bed of a little pick-up truck, through the city of Tamale, Ghana. During that 10 minute ride I noticed mosque after mosque and countless women wearing hijabs. Clearly Islam was the primary religion in this region.
Last month God really gave me a heart for people who follow Islam. The Muslims here in Ghana believe that Christianity and Islam are basically the same. They believe we worship the same God, we just have different Holy Books. Oh, and they don’t believe that Jesus is God, or even the Son of God. To them He is just a prophet who was followed by Mohamed years later. Therein lies the problem. My heart has broken for those of the Islamic faith as I’ve talked to several over the past six weeks. What they believe about God is close to the truth, but they completely miss the best part, Jesus. They rely on their own good deeds to get into heaven, while we know that Jesus is the only way.
“Jesus said to him ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’”
John 14:6 (NASB)
God answered my prayer that day. Through a series of events my team had wound up in a primarily Muslim neighborhood for our two weeks of ATL (Ask The Lord ministry). Here our ministry has been going out into the neighborhood almost every day, forming friendships, sharing the love of Jesus and the Gospel. We’ve been here a week and so far my teammates have led two different people to Christ!
I am so excited about this ministry that God has given us to do! Personally, I’ve had several good conversations with people about Jesus, yet no one has decided to follow Jesus due any of these. So last night I prayed that God would allow me to see at least one person come to Christ. Today, He did just that!
This morning, while the rest of my team was busy, our squad leader, Luis, and I went out to evangelize. We specifically wanted to visit a man we got to talk to last week. However, when we got to his house, we learned he was out for the day. So, we decided to walk around the neighborhood and find other people to talk to. After playing “Duck, Duck, Goose” with a group of children and talking to a young man who wants to be a missionary after he finishes school, I found myself in front of a house. On the front porch of this house sat four people. I decided to approach and see if they’d be willing to talk for a bit. Before I even reached the house these people called out a greeting and one woman pulled out chairs so Luis and I to could sit down. Apparently they had time to talk!
Luis and I sat down and introduced ourselves to the woman, named Rama, I explained that we were missionaries from the U.S., here to talk to people about Jesus. Then I asked Rama what she believed about Jesus.
“I’m a Muslim,” She said, “but I want to hear what you have to say about Jesus.”
So, I started sharing the gospel with her, stopping every now and then so she could translate what I was saying to her sister and cousins, who didn’t speak much English. The Holy Spirit gave me the words to say as I spoke. Every question I was asked, about Jesus and how the Quran compares to the Bible, I was able to answer in a way that made sense to Rama.
I talked with her for over an hour. We talked about Jesus, the Bible, marriage, children, and life goals. Finally I asked her what she thought about Jesus. She told me she believed what I’d shared with her, about Jesus and who He is, to be the truth, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to change her religion. After all, her entire family is Muslim. I told her she could think about it and pray about it. Then her sister spoke up. She told Rama that if she believed what I said to be true, then she should become a Christian. This encouragement from her sister, who is still a Muslim, was exactly what Rama needed. She asked some more questions about what being a Christian meant. Was there any special place she needed to go to pray? (No, God listens no matter where we are.) Did she need to change her Muslim name to a Christian name? (No, Jesus came to save everybody, no matter what origin their name is.) Then Rama decided she was ready. Sitting there in her front yard, she bowed her head and prayed, accepting Jesus as her personal savior. After praying, she looked up, with a smile on her face, and asked where she could get a Bible. Thank You Jesus!
