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5. The Seeking Muslim
Situation: Some Muslims have, by individual turns of fate or the shocking acts of Islamic terrorists, lost faith in Allah, Muhammad and the Qu’ran and are in search of another spiritual home. Others have had unexplainable dreams, which then caused them to take an interest in Christianity. For many missionaries these are the ideal partners for discussion. They pray for a long time that they might find such seekers of truth. How might we help such a Muslim in his journey to Christ?
Suggestion: Give/loan him a New Testament to read. Be ready to discuss his questions and help him to understand what he is reading. – Tip: In an Islamic country it is often forbidden to distribute Christian Scriptures, so that one can only loan them out. Even when they are not returned, officially they have still been loaned out and were not distributed. In Europe, however, it should be no problem to give a Muslim a Bible or New Testament, preferably in his mother tongue. – If a Muslim has never read in it, he will in the beginning not understand many things, or even find some things to be blasphemy. Therefore we need to be ready to patiently answer questions and possible criticisms of the Bible, so that the word of God might gain room in his heart.
Helpful resource: Two language editions of the N.T. in Arabic/English or Turkish/English.
Testimony: My name is Ibtisam and I live in Northern Turkey, on the Black Sea coast. All of the members of my family are resolute Muslims. As a female student the path I walked to the university each day led me to pass beside a church which, however, I paid no further attention to. One night I dreamed about Christ. After the dream repeated itself a few days later, for the first time I began to take note of the church which I always passed by. At the entrance to the church there was a book stand with Turkish New Testaments, which could be taken without charge. I took a copy and began to read in it. Since my apartment was not far from the church, I began to visit the services and special church programs that were offered there. The matter with Christ and the gospel so occupied me, that for a time I went almost daily to the church to talk to the pastor and other Christians there. The result was that I came to faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. After a time of Bible instruction and introduction into the Christian life, I was baptized in the church in the summer of 2013.