Light the Darkness 24 April – 23 May 2020

Pray for Muslims during Ramadan and Beyond

With thanks and acknowledgement to all contributors

Compiled by Leonie Hansen

For Christians Concern for Muslims (CCM)

Distributed by a network of Churches, Christian organisations and workers concerned for Muslims

WHY PRAY FOR MUSLIMS: Because every Muslim is unique and wonderful in God’s eyes, it’s important to have a right heart attitude

concerning them.

Every Muslim is someone whom God loves and one for whom Christ died. And this is why we are praying: because Jesus shed His blood.

“Worthy are You… for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” (Rev. 5:9)

WHAT STOPS US? Many of us have not prayed for Muslims because of our own misunderstanding of their culture. But we should be

careful not to stereotype them or presume that all Muslims are the same.

Often we have held back from praying because of our own prejudices or fears, so we ask God to give us a heart filled with love and compassion towards them. We also need to pray in faith and confidence that God will hear us and move powerfully in answer to our prayers (John 14:12-14).

MANY MUSLIMS ARE TURNING TO CHRIST: According to researcher and missions strategist, Dr. David Garrison, there have been approximately 75 major movements to Christ among Muslims during the last three decades.

“We are in the midst of the greatest turning of Muslims to Christ in 14 centuries of Muslim-Christian interaction. More than 80% of all the Muslim movements to Christ in history have occurred in the past two to three decades, a time period that coincides with the modern prayer movement for Muslims.” — D. Garrison

Never underestimate the work of the Holy Spirit as you pray for Muslims. Allow God to teach you how to pray (Romans 8:26) and to feel His heart.

Vast numbers of Muslims have come to Christ as a result of supernatural encounters, and many have dreams and visions of Jesus. It is only God who can open blind eyes and soften hearts. Only God (John 16:8) can bring true conviction of sin and create new life.

This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim 2:3-4)

RAMADAN EXPLAINED

Why are more than a billion people around the world abstaining from eating, drinking, smoking, and sex from dawn

to sunset this month? They are Muslims who are fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.

FASTING Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of the religion of Islam and one of the highest forms of Islamic worship.

Abstinence from earthly pleasures and curbing evil intentions and desires is regarded as an act of obedience and

submission to God (Allah is the Arabic word referring to “the one God”) as well as an atonement for sins, errors,

and mistakes.

Called Ramadan (or Ramazan), Muslims fast as an act of faith and worship towards God, seeking to suppress their

desires and increase their spiritual piety. Fasting together as a worldwide community (Ummah) affirms the

brotherhood and equality of man before God.

WHAT’S RAMADAN ALL ABOUT? . The name Ramadan is derived from the Arabic word ramida or ar-ramad, denoting intense scorching heat and

dryness, especially the ground. From the same word there is ramdaa, meaning “sunbaked sand” and the famous

proverb kal mustajeer minar ramadaa binnar — to jump out of the frying pan into the fire. Some say it is so called

because Ramadan scorches out the sins with good deeds, as the sun burns the ground.

As Ramadan emphasizes Muslim brotherhood and community, all feel a particular closeness towards their Creator

and amongst their family and friends.

Muslims must adapt themselves both physically and emotionally during these 30 long days of fasting. A typical day

of fasting begins with getting up early, around 4:30 a.m. and sharing a meal called sahur together before the fast

begins at dawn, about 5:10 a.m. As dawn breaks, Fajr, the first of five daily prayers is offered.

As the day proceeds, fasting Muslims are constantly bombarded with messages from their stomachs that it is time

for breakfast, snack, lunch, and so on. And each time, Muslims remind themselves that they are fasting for the

sole purpose of pleasing God and seeking his mercy. They offer the second and third prayers during early and late

afternoon, respectively. Fasting helps one to experience how a hungry person feels and what it is like to have an

empty stomach. It teaches one to share the sufferings of the less fortunate. Muslims believe that fasting leads

one to appreciate the bounties of God, which are usually taken for granted – until they are missed!

Throughout the day Muslims are encouraged to go out of their way to help the needy, both financially and

emotionally. Some believe that a reward earned during this month is multiplied 70 times and more. For this reason,

Ramadan is also known as the month of charity and generosity.

RAMADAN IS MORE THAN JUST FASTING . To a Muslim, fasting not only means abstaining from food, but also refraining from all vice and evils committed

consciously or unconsciously. It is believed that if one voluntarily refrains from satisfying physical needs during

Ramadan, he will develop self-restraint and be more able to avoid unlawful things and acts the rest of the year.

The fast is broken at sunset. Muslims are urged to invite others to break the fast with them. These gatherings are

called iftar parties.

Just after breaking the fast but before dinner, Muslims offer the fourth of the five daily prayers, which is called

the Maghrib prayer. After dinner, Muslims go to their houses of worship, called mosques, to offer the Isha prayer,

which is the last of the five daily prayers. The day ends with a special voluntary prayer, the Taraweeh, offered by

the congregation reciting the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam.

Day 1

CLOSING THE MONTH OFF The last ten days of Ramadan are considered highly blessed, especially the 27th night which is called laylat al-qadr

– the “Night of Power,” or the “Night of Destiny.” It is believed that on this night the prophet Muhammed received

the first revelation of the Qur’an. For many Muslims, this 10-day period is marked by a heightened spiritual

intensity, and they may spend these nights praying and reciting the Qur’an.

After 30 days of fasting, the end of the month of Ramadan is observed with a day of celebration called Eid-ul-

Fitr. On this day, Muslims gather in one place to offer a prayer of thanks. It is traditional to wear new clothes,

visit friends and relatives, exchange gifts, eat delicious dishes prepared for this occasion, and wait patiently for

the next year.

https://www.30daysprayer.com/

How Can We Pray During Ramadan?

1. Father, we pray that as they set their hearts to worship their god Allah, that You might make them to

“know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). Help them see that

Jesus is Your eternal Son through whom they can have eternal life. .

2. We pray that as their bodies hunger and their tongues thirst, that You would show them Jesus who

promised “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never

thirst” (John 6:35). Help them see the insufficiency of their works and lead them to hunger and thirst for

the righteousness that only Jesus can give. .

3. Father, we pray that as they practice self-restraint that You would show them Jesus who, before He was

crucified for sinners, denied Himself and “prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from

Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will’” (Matthew 26:39). Help them believe that He truly died on the cross

and drank fully from the cup of Your wrath. .

4. As they give alms to the poor, we pray that You would show them Jesus who “though He was rich, yet for

your sake He became poor, so that You through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Help

them see and treasure the eternal glory of Your Son Jesus. .

5. As they gather together to feast in the evening, we pray that You would show them Jesus who invites

sinners of all sorts to abandon their false gods and by faith join “those who are invited to the marriage

supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 16:9). Show them the resurrected and ascended King of Glory who

desires them to draw near to Him in faith. .

6. We pray that You would give Your church a love for Muslims across the world. Make us like Jesus who “felt

compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34). Guard us against self-

righteousness that would lead us to have hard hearts toward those who do not know You. .

7. Give Your church the opportunity and courage to proclaim the Gospel to Muslims throughout the world. Lift

our eyes to Jesus who promised to empower us when He said, “I am with you always even to the end of the

age” (Matthew 28:20). Let us not fear any consequence of faithfully taking the Gospel to those who

desperately need Your grace.

By Garrett Kell http://garrettkell.com/

Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of prayer and fasting, is very special to all Muslims around the world,

because as families and communities they focus together on prayer.

The pandemic of COVID-19 around the world makes this year a unique year for Ramadan as people are

struggling with fear and uncertainties. This deeply affects our Muslim friends, as they will not be able to

practice their rituals, like group prayers in mosques, in a formal fashion. These rituals are a pillar of their

faith, and are very important to them as a community.

In Luke 10:27-28 Jesus says “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and

with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourselves’. Jesus exhorts us to love our

neighbour as ourselves. Mosque communities are often the target of hate and racism, but we are called to love.

Perhaps the most loving thing we can do is to pray.

Please pray:

That Christians in South Africa would not fear but understand Islam so that they can have meaningful

conversations with Muslims. Pray for hearts of compassion and love for Muslims.

Many Muslims love to talk religion and politics; pray for Christians to form relationships with

Muslim neighbours and co-workers and to have boldness to enter into these conversations.

Pray that the believers living in your community will exhibit grace, love, and boldness in witnessing to

the Lordship of Jesus before their Muslim neighbours and work associates.

Pray that Muslims will be open to learn from the Biblical accounts of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Aaron,

Joseph, John the Baptist and others that they respect as prophets of Allah. Pray that this openness will

lead them to respond positively to Jesus and His teaching.

Pray that God will start them on a journey to know the truth of His good news of salvation through

Jesus (Isa).

Pray that God would give them a desire to want to have assurance of their future with God.

That Christians from Muslim backgrounds might seek out and find discipleship, and have boldness to

publicly declare and share their faith.

https://lmtn.outreach.ca/

Day 2

Please pray for our ministry to Muslims in North-eastern Kenya and South Somalia, through a project

called “More than Words”. It consists of weekly teachings from the Bible to 16 classes of Muslims, all

conducted by 16 indigenous missionaries of ours (all Muslim background believers (MBBs)) in 3 different

languages – Swahili, Somali and Oromo. The teachings come weekly by internet in English from our team

in South Africa and are translated by the missionaries who speak the other languages. The people in

classes ask questions in their own language and they are sent back to us in English and we send answers in

English, which are translated back into the other languages.

Each class receives the same teaching which is taught by the class facilitators (our missionaries), and the

questions posed and their answers are transmitted to every other class. Since starting this project in

February, we have had 8 conversions and baptisms, and are looking to the Lord for many more, even

before and during Ramadan. All mosques have been closed in these regions since COVID 19 came on the

scene, but the government has not imposed any lockdown yet, so the opportunities of Muslims coming to

the classes are amazing. There is strict security around the classes and only people who have registered

can come in, and strict rules of social distancing, sanitizing of hands and furniture are applied.

Yours for a mighty harvest in Jesus’ name!

Keith Doctor

Day 3

Rosemarie and Ashley have been serving among Cape Muslims in Cape Town since February 1992.

Networking with colleagues has always been very important to them.

In the first years the couple ministered especially in the support and discipling of MBB’s in the

City Bowl and surrounding areas. The need for support of believers who had been suffering under

persecution, led to the start of a discipling house in 2001.

From 2003 they delegated the main part of their ministry among Cape Muslims to MBBs whom

they had served, to concentrate on reaching out to foreigners. In 2006 they started Friends from

Abroad to this end.

Prayer Points:

Praise the Lord that various foreigners were reached with the Gospel in different ways, for

example home churches and Discovery Bible Studies. Some of them are now serving the

Lord in different capacities.

Please pray for the ongoing follow-up and discipling of MBBs. In some of their countries of

origin believers like them are fiercely persecuted.

Ashley & Rose

Day 4

The need for disciple makers

Today, it is a commonly known fact that all over the world, many Muslims leave Islam on a daily basis and

embrace Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Their numbers are so high and every day so many more of

them come to Jesus that nobody really knows how many Muslim background Christians are around us. This is

purely the amazing work of the Holy Spirit. In the light of this great move of God, the challenge for the Church

of Jesus Christ is to welcome and disciple these countless new believers. Throughout Africa, America, Europe,

Asia and other parts of the world, more and more Muslims come to Jesus every day. Some of them publicly

renounce Islam and accept Jesus as His Saviour, risking their lives. Others keep their faith a secret for a while.

However, all of these new Christians are in desperate need for a loving fellowship and discipleship from the

Body of Jesus Christ. They are in need of your love, prayers and discipleship. They need you to welcome them

into your churches, pray for them, teach them the Bible, encourage, instruct and correct them in the ways of

the Lord Jesus Christ.

Please pray that God will prepare and use you as a disciple maker among these MBB’s. They

desperately need Christians who will love and guide them in their new life and new faith in Jesus

Christ.

Please pray that God will prepare the hearts of the leaders of your church and use your church as a

home and family for the MBB’s.

Pray that your church will welcome, love and gracefully disciple MBB’s.

Please pray that God will put a new passion and vision into the hearts of the Christian leaders in your

town/city concerning these MBB’s, so that the Churches in your town/city will reach out to every

Muslim and MBB with the intention to disciple them.

Day 5

Islam is alive and very active in the Eastern Cape. Two of the main cities where a large number of

Muslims live are Port Elisabeth and East London. However, Muslims also live in other bigger towns,

where many of them are business people. North of East London is a very large and rural area, the

so-called Transkei. For many reasons Islam is very active in these areas and it attracts little attention,

compared to other main centre's like Cape Town or Johannesburg. To use the Afrikaans expression,

"Dit gaan ongesiens verby" (It goes unnoticed).

To a great extent the environment is used to introduce Islamic immigrants, legal and illegal, from

foreign countries to learn something of the African cultures, languages and traditions.

Young foreigners learn how to do Dawah-Work, (Dawah means mission work) that are mostly done

through zooming in on one or more of the social needs and poverty of a local community or village.

Islamic Scholarships and bursaries are offered to young students that excel – provided they become

Muslims.

Mosques are built in many small towns and villages. Our reporter mentioned that a Mosque is just

completed in Maclear, almost in the heart of the Transkei. In other places in the Transkei Muslims

apply to put up "Muslim self-catering overnight guesthouses"

We received news of families that get persecuted because they do not want to turn to Islam after they

received what was offered to them. Sometimes people even get killed. The mothers of babies born

from Muslims men, mainly from foreigners, are forced to give the child a Muslim name and to bring

the child up as a Muslim.

Please pray for our few CCM partners in the Eastern Cape that not only reach out to Muslims

but also try to make churches aware of the need and the urgency to get involved with ministry

to Muslims.

Thank the Lord for our few very elderly CCM partners and missionaries from various

organisations that used to reach out to Muslims in the Eastern Cape for many years, but now

came to a point where they just can't do it anymore. We praise the Lord for their faithfulness.

Please pray for our CCM coordinator in Eastern Cape, his family and his team, that are trying

to get more workers involved.

Testimony:

Musa*, not his real name, told us that he was actively involved to be trained in a camp in the EC, to

be a Jihadi some years ago. An Islamic trainer stepped on his arm during a crawling training session.

His arm broke so severely in two places that he was rushed to hospital. Two elderly white Christian

ladies visited him every day, praying for him, telling him about Jesus and that Jesus can heal him,

and gave him some Gospel tracts. He said at that time he hated white people, especially ladies and

Day 6

he did not want to hear anything about Jesus. Somehow it boggled his mind to experience so much

love and concern for him from them. He listened to them, experienced the love of Jesus himself,

accepted Jesus as his Saviour and later they and other full-time missionaries became his spiritual

family and protectors against the Muslims that wanted to kill him. He furthered his studies, became a

Pastor and work and co-ordinate his heart out to win Muslims for Jesus. Please keep him in your

prayers.

Pray for the Church at Large

For many years the church at large depends on the fulltime missionaries to take the Gospel to the

World. With population explosion, migration and financial constrains churches will have to consider

the ordinary congregation member as their local missionaries. The ordinary congregation live

among Muslims, work with Muslims and rub shoulders with Muslims between Sundays where no full-

time church vocational worker can come. Those full-time missionaries that are still in the field find

themselves within an overload of work, an overload of cry-out for help and very little resources.

Please pray that local churches, not only in the EC but all over the country will see and accept

the paradigm shift and that they will realise that their own congregation members are God's

biggest unused task force.

Please pray for congregations to help their members get trained to share the Gospel with

Muslims in a manner that the Muslims will not only hear the Gospel, but will understand it

within their own context.

Please pray for Christian Concern for Muslims (CCM) that want to help and train churches

and individuals to get involved with Muslims without fear, in love and without compromise.

Masizahle

Eastern Cape

From Muslim immigrants to Christian preachers

During recent years more and more Muslims, mainly men, have been legally and illegally immigrating to non-

Muslim countries.

South Africa has been the favourite destination of immigration, especially for the Pakistani and Bangladeshi

Muslims. They have been swarming into this country in great numbers during the recent years. They have

been opening up cellphone repair shops, spaza-shops and small scale grocery shops almost in each and every

town, township, neighbourhood and shopping mall across the country. They have been charming and

marrying Christian South African women and converting them to Islam as well as Islamising poor and needy

people in the communities in exchange for groceries and other goods.

In general they have been very resilient in rejecting friendly approaches of Christians and Christian attempts

to share the Gospel with them. So far they have been silent but stubborn agents of Islamisation in this country

as well as exploiting the unsuspecting people, the economy and the infrastructure of this nation.

Please pray that each and every one of these Muslim immigrants in South Africa will meet Jesus Christ,

the King of kings, and will give their hearts, lives and even their treasures to Jesus Christ.

Please pray that God will raise countless new believers, prophets, preachers and missionaries from

among these Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and other Muslim immigrants in our country.

Please pray that all the women they have married and converted to Islam, all the needy people that

they have tricked into Islam, will be visited by the Holy Spirit and will be saved out of Islam.

Day 7

Gateway to the African continent – South Africa

Although the current local Muslim population is estimated at 3% of the total population in South Africa, the

growth and influence of Islam presents both enormous challenges and opportunities.

In October 2018 the first ‘Africa Halaal Week’ was hosted in the heart of Cape Town, which by now is named

the halaal capital of Africa. Although this event has come and gone unnoticed to most people, the effect on

the rest of the 97% of South Africans has not. Since then the Islamisation through halaal certification of food,

cosmetics and pharmaceutical products has increased dramatically. Because of this, South African producers

pay hefty amounts towards Islam to have their products certified - unlike other countries in the world where

nothing like this exists, to cleverly fund the spreading of Islam in both South Africa and Africa.

Yet, there is another unexpected side to this which opened the door of opportunity to reach nations which

could never be reached before! Since then flights from the UAE have increased with fourteen additional flights

per week to the major airports in South Africa.

“…lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.” John 4:35

Ahmed and Ayesha are a honeymoon couple from Saudi Arabia. They chose South Africa as their

destination and are on their way out of the airport, when someone presents them with a New

Testament in Arabic. They have never seen one before as it is forbidden literature in their own country.

‘Yes, it is free!’ Ahmed and Ayesha are both surprise and uncertain; but curiosity and opportunity get

the upper hand.

‘Shukraan!’ ‘Thank you!’

Amir in turn is from Dubai and on his way out when somebody also offers him the same Gift. He almost

grabs it, holds it close and utters “thank you” repeatedly. He tells the other person how long he has

been looking for this Gift.

Others from North and West Africa, the Middle East and even Iran and surrounding countries file

through at ‘arrivals’ and ‘departures’. Many are grateful to receive a New Testament in their own

language which is unattainable in their own countries.

Prayer points:

For the Church in South Africa to stand up to both the challenge and opportunity through prayer and in

wisdom.

For many to answer the call to be a labourer in the field at airports and other destinations where these

visitors typically gather. (John 4:35)

That the eyes of these people be opened to the Truth, and as they read the Enjil, that the lies and

arguments be dismantled (2 Cor 10:4); that the love of Jesus will cast away fear (1 John 4:18).

Gulf Partnership Outreaches

Day 8

It is a Tuesday morning. I arrive at 11h00 at the home of my friend, Anar. She and her husband, Mirza, live in a small 1

bedroom apartment with their twin baby girls, Nabila and Zahida. We exchange warm greetings with the usual kisses on

the cheeks. Anar is having nashta (breakfast) and without asking, she makes me paratha and halwa. (In Anar’s culture it

is considered rude to ask someone whether they want to eat or drink something. Asking a person means that you don’t

really want to give them something.) On the breakfast menu is also dudh pati, the traditional milk tea that is always a

favourite with foreigners. We enjoy our breakfast in the living room, on the toshak set (seating mattresses), while

talking about Anar’s family. .

Anar and Mirza are from Pakistan. They came to live in South Africa with the expectation of a better life to be able to

care for Mirza’s extended family in Pakistan. Anar has five sisters in Pakistan. It is the duty of sons to provide for their

parents. Today, Anar is very worried as to what would happen to her parents once all her sisters are married off. They

have no son who can provide for them. Mirza is working in a mobile phone shop. Anar desperately wants to visit her

family in Pakistan as she had not seen them now for three years. Her ami (mother) had become sick of not seeing her

for such a long time. She is also anxious to show them the twin girls who were born 13 months before.

We speak in a mix of English and Urdu, which happen to be the two national languages of Pakistan. Their home

language is Shina and Burushaski, which is spoken in Gilgit-Baltistan in Northern Pakistan; only two of the 74 languages

spoken in Pakistan. Anar is from the Wakhi people group in Northern Pakistan, while Mirza is from the Burusho people

group. (There are more than 400 people groups in Pakistan.) Like the majority of people in Northern Pakistan, Mirza and

Anar are also Shia Ismaili Muslims. The leader of the Ismailis is prince Karim Aga Khan. He is the 49th hereditary Imam of

the Ismaili Muslims and they trace his lineage directly to the Prophet Muhammad. He succeeded his grandfather in 1957

at the age of 20. He lives in Portugal, has a British passport, graduated from Harvard University and is among the top 15

of the world's wealthiest royals, with an estimated wealth of $1bn (£640m) in 2008.

As I’m spending time with Anar, I ask her about her religion, which she eagerly explains to me. I have many questions.

The conversation leads to her asking questions to me. I tell her about the Father heart of God, how I know that He loves

me and how He speaks to me. I share with her struggles of my own life and how I find the solutions in His gentle

answers to me. I share from the Word. She is eager to listen. I ask her whether I could pray for her, like I always do

during our visits. She is very open to me praying for her. I pray that Father would make a way for her to visit her family

in Pakistan. I thank Father for the precious person that she is and for plans and purposes that He has for her life, and for

her family.

As I leave, I know that the Truth was spoken today. I pray to Father to bring His revelation in Anar’s heart.

Prayer:

When God sends people from unreached people groups to our doorsteps, then it is our responsibility to receive them as

strangers among us.

Ask God forgiveness for our lack of reaching out to the strangers in our country. When we realize what a

treasure the Word of God is and how powerful it is, we will break out of the chains that keep us from

witnessing. No other spiritual book can compare with the Word of God. Let’s share it!

Please pray that the Holy Spirit would reveal to people the truth of Jesus being the Way, the Truth and

(everlasting)-Life.

Laudium

Day 9

Treat foreigners with love

After my return from Germany, where we handed out Bibles to the people from the Middle East, I was

really encouraged to study and learn more about ministering to Muslims. The “Gospel Comes with a

House Key” concept, written by Rosaria Butterfields, has stuck with me.

The summary of her book: “What did God use to draw a radical, committed unbeliever to himself?

Did God take her to an evangelistic rally? Or, since she had her doctorate in literature, did he use

something in print? No, God used an invitation to dinner in a modest home, from a humble couple

who lived out the gospel daily, simply, and authentically.

With this story of her conversion as a backdrop, Rosaria Butterfield invites us into her home to show

us how God can use this same “radical, ordinary hospitality” to bring the gospel to our lost friends

and neighbours. Such hospitality sees our homes as not our own, but as God’s tools for the

furtherance of his kingdom as we welcome those who look, think, believe, and act differently from us

into our everyday, sometimes messy lives―helping them see what true Christian faith really looks

like.”

Over the last 30 years, hundreds of thousands of people have fled Somalia because of political

instability and a dangerous civil war that broke out in the 1990s. Today over 750,000 Somali refugees

remain in neighbouring countries.

In South Africa alone are about 26 000 Somali immigrants. Together with Somalis we have

approximately 80 000 Pakistanis living in South Africa and as many people from Bangladesh.

In Leviticus 19:34 God says: “But the stranger who resides with you shall be to you like someone

native-born among you; and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of

Egypt; I am the LORD your God.” God has set a high standard for treating those who are foreigners.

His people are to love them like we love ourselves and to treat them as citizens. And the reason given?

Because God — the “I am” — commanded us to.

One of the best ways to share the love of Christ is through hospitality. Matthew 25:35 says: “For I was

hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was

a stranger, and you invited Me in…”

Please pray that believers will develop soft hearts towards these unfamiliar cultures.

Pray that Muslims would be prepared to have friends and build relationships with believers.

Ask God to soften the hearts of these immigrants and open them to the truth of the message of

the Gospel.

Day 10

One can compare the people groups of the world with fruits on a tree. The lower hanging fruits

are already plucked and similarly the people groups that we have easier access to have already

been reached. The groups that are now left are like the fruits that are not easily accessed,

because they are higher up in the tree.

However, it is as if God is pulling the tree branches closer to us, by sending unreached people to

us and to other “reached” countries. So, it is an opportunity for us to reach out to them.

Last year we started the network UPGRAYDE (Unreached People Groups Right At Your Doorstep

Everyday) which consists of various churches and organisations. We meet from time to time and

pray and plan together how to reach these groups and how to mobilise people to reach out to

them.

Please pray for the following:

Unreached people in our country.

For churches and church members to see and use this opportunity.

For former unbelievers: for their protection, growth and that they will be powerful

testimonies among their own people. Pray for their trust and teamwork with each other.

For creative and effective opportunities for Christians to meet and build relationships with

unreached people.

That the Good news will spread, not only to the unreached people in our country, but also

to their home countries and further.

https://world-outreach.com/za/

Day 11

Prayers answered in God’s perfect time

Investing in a Muslim as a person brings Jesus close to people who at that stage have not discovered who

Jesus the Messiah really is. The Apostle Paul writes about this to the Corinthians that they are letters of Christ,

written not with ink, but by the Holy Spirit on tablets of human hearts to be read by every person (2 Cor 3:3-

5).

God wants us to wait upon Him to let the “tree bear fruit” at the right time. This however is very often not the

time we expect or desire it to be. Most of the time we desire immediate results without allowing God to have

His way in drawing the old ways of Islam out of a person. But God is patient with the people He calls.

Please pray that:

God will guide and teach us to be patient intercessors for our Muslim neighbours.

We as followers of Jesus Christ learn to persevere in just “being there” for and among people

(especially Muslims) to be used by God at His right time.

May we enjoy the “surprises” of God when we are with Him at last!

Day 12

Let them be courageous

Islam is a religion of fear. It rules by fear. Most Muslims never decided to be a Muslim. Since the day they

were born Islam has been forced upon them. They were told again and again that if they ever question or

oppose Islam, they would be severely punished. Islamic doctrine and practice all over the world dictates that

those that question, discredit and oppose Allah and his religion shall be severely punished and even killed.

That is the reason why it is both the law and practice of Muslim countries to arrest, persecute and even

execute people who question, criticize and abandon Allah and his religion.

The religion of Islam does not allow Muslims to think for themselves and to choose for themselves freely.

Furthermore, according to Islamic law, those that leave Islam and embrace Jesus Christ and His Gospel shall

be punished by death. Accordingly, in most cases, when a Muslim becomes a follower of Jesus, he gets

rejected by family and friends, loses his job, and even properties and possessions. Furthermore, he might

even have to run for his life.

All of these Islamic regulations and practices ensure that Muslims live by fear and never find the strength to

question or abandon Islam. Only if they had the courage to face it all, they could step out of this fear-based

religion. Unlike the evil Islamic spirit which intimidates people all the time, The Spirit of our God, the Holy

Spirit gives love, power and self discipline (2 Tim 1:7).

Please pray:

That the Holy Spirit will today, even now, visit and minister to millions of Muslims, giving them love,

power and self-discipline so that they may have the strength to walk away from Islam.

For yourself and other Christians you know so that the Holy Spirit may empower you to disciple and

evangelise Muslims with love, power and self-discipline.

Day 13

Testimony

Aaftab Hussain was a student of and memorized half of the Quran; he also has Apologetic skills.

He belonged to the Bralvi Islamic group and his parents are very active in doing Islamic activities in the community.

They are very strict and don’t want anybody to talk against Islam or their denomination. His uncle is a Muslim

missionary and serving in Zimbabwe.

He saw an advertisement to obtain books so he contacted us through Facebook. I discussed with him things about

his faith and in return he asked: what is the best thing in Christianity. Afterwards he asked lots of other question

which we could answer in a simple way and he was surprised to hear some things he did not know and nobody told

him. All he heard was that the Bible has been changed and there is no truth.

After some time he was convinced and open to accept Christ. Now he is reading books and the Bible that we sent

him and I am continually doing follow-up with him. I also have been training him to ask good questions to his

parents which can bring an awareness of our faith.

He asked his father: “Have you ever missed any prayer” (5 times compulsory prayers). He said uncountable. He

asked so what is the punishment and what do you think about it. His father was shocked and thought about it. He

said no one can always pray without missing it and I know there will be punishments which is to burn in hell for 70

years by missing one prayer intentionally, because it is a major sin in Islam. Aaftab asked so what assurance do you

have that you will get to heaven? Why don’t you look for some substitute to forgive your sin since you know that the

very things that are compulsory and required of you, you don’t perform regularly and don’t do good works all the

time.

His father was surprised and since has been silent. Aaftab is still asking questions that are making his father less

religious.

Vision:

Our vision is to see at least 100 000 pastors, apostles, evangelists, missionaries and even untrained

believers become equipped to reach out to Muslims for Christ in the most effective ways possible.

Mission statement:

Our mission is that everyone and specially Muslims may know Jesus Christ for who HE truly is!

How we do it:

1. Through training

Day 14

2. Dialogue/Debate and discussion

3. One on one

4. Seminars

5. Apologetics training

6. By tracks/Outreach/ visiting Islamic places

7. Social media

Why Muslims: Because Jesus died for them too.

Islam is the religion that directly attacks our core belief such as Divinity of Christ, His Sonship and Lordship, denies

Crucifixion and therefore no resurrection, accuses Christians of being idolatrous, accepts Jesus only as a prophet but

rejects HIS claims for being God, etc.

So we are trying to equip the body of Christ to reach out to Muslims with confidence and effective ways to answer

their questions.

Our prayers requests are:

1. For protection

2. For leaders and Pastors to see the need of Muslim evangelism.

3. That Christians see Muslims as friends and not an enemy.

4. That each country in Southern Africa will have at least one full-time missionary who focuses on equipping

the Body of Christ on Muslim evangelism. So pray for their salary provision as well.

5. That God will provide us with a reliable vehicle for the mission.

6. That God will encourage people who have resources and give them vision to connect with us.

7. That Muslims come to know Christ not as a prophet but as the Divine Son of God.

8. We need a mission centre where we can weekly train people.

9. We need a safe house to provide ex Muslims in need, with safety.

Rehan

+27 71 345 2967

www.fazalerabministry.org

How does a father act in Islam?

Oftentimes people think that all people on earth have the same perception of the role of a father at home and

in society. There are however indeed many different views of the role of a father between the followers of

Islam and Christianity. Jesus told his disciples that He and the Father are one (John 14:9). He spoke to his

Father in Heaven (John 17) with reverence and intimate love. Jesus’ life and deeds demonstrated the absolute

authority He received to act on. Jesus showed how a father should be honoured and in that way revealed the

character of the real Father. The disciple Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father. Jesus’ answer to Philip

gives us a very good guide to what a good father should be like. Jesus told the disciples that He, Jesus,

modelled the Father to them. Thus, knowing Jesus is to know the Father.

On the contrary in Islam it is blasphemy to speak of Allah as “father”. According to Al-Bukhari, Muhammad

said he is only a slave of Allah ("Sahih Bukhari", Volume 4, Book 55, Number 65). There is thus no loving and

caring relationship between man and Allah in Islam. The concept of Father implies a sexual relation between

the different sexes and Allah is above sex. None of the 99 names of Allah resembles that of a loving and caring

father.

Prayer requests:

Ask God to help Christians resemble the love of God as Father to and among Muslims.

Pray that the deep-felt need for love among Muslims as human beings, be answered by the message

they see and hear from us and in the lives of Christian neighbours.

Pray that Muslims will be able to look away from the carnal idea of a father and see God as He really

desires to be seen.

Day 15

The story of the gospel told through film

The Jesus Film Project® app is a full digital library of more than 200 full-length movies, mini-series, and short films

produced to help the world know Jesus better. Everything on the app is free to watch, download, and share with anyone

you meet, wherever you meet them.

With translations of the “JESUS” film in more than 1,800 languages and our growing library of movies and

short films, you can experience and share the story of the gospel anywhere with anyone.

Some of these videos that minister to Muslim women are “Magdalena: Released from Shame”, then

“Reflections of Hope” follow-up Bible studies, followed by “Rivka”.

“So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” Exodus 4:2

Download the Jesus Film App www.jesusfilm.org/app when in an area where there is Free Wifi.

Search for films or search for film clip in your language.

or Select your language.

Download film into the App

View offline: anytime, anywhere.

Select the information icon to access Bible verses referring to film clip.

Answer Discussion Questions (use point 5, 6 & 8 to start your own Bible Study group).

Link to God Tools App to reach others.

Video Clip Segments - see point 6

Share the links via Email, WhatsApp or Facebook

Please pray:

That God will give us favour in creating awareness of the Jesus Film digital resources.

That churches will sign up for training.

That churches will train their members to use the app among their networks and in their

neighbourhoods.

That the Holy Spirit will touch every user with the material and bring HOPE and CHANGE in people’s

lives.

How to use your phone to share your Faith: Watch this Clip

jesusfilm.org.za

Day 16

What is truth?

Muslims claim that Islam is a religion of peace. In this way they capture the attention of many people. Naïve

Christians easily take it to heart without asking questions about the history of Islam as a religion. The concept

of truth in Islam differs vastly from what Jesus taught his disciples about truth. The Gospel author, Matthew,

documented that Jesus taught his disciples not to turn back on their word (Matt 5:37). Followers of Jesus

should always be consistent in all their dealings, not saying yes to anyone when they actually mean no. This

also includes their enemies!

Truth and love are also inseparable. Later the disciple John emphasized this when he wrote that a follower of

Jesus must not take oaths because their yes is yes and their no is no. This is because Jesus Himself once

explained this reality shortly before his crucifixion when He confirmed that He is the Way the Truth and the

Life …” (John 14:6). No one can reach the Father except through the Truth. The wonderful truth now is that

Jesus opened the way to God our Father by being the Way, the reality (Truth). This Truth is no fable, He is a

reality. Jesus and his atonement are a reality, “The Truth”! In this way Jesus set his followers on the way to

real life!

Please pray:

That God reveal Himself through dreams and visions to Muslims even in Mecca on Hajj and especially

during Ramadan.

May the learned Muslims (Ulama) start to ask intriguing questions about the Bible and seek honest

answers from their Christian neighbours.

May the Holy Spirit guide followers of Jesus Christ to always live truthful and trustworthy lives in all

their actions and in all their daily activities.

1. Please pray for INcontext, all their staff and co-workers that painstakingly do research to make sure that we, the

church at large, get the correct news (not fake news) as to what is going on in the world and especially in the

Islamic/Muslim World.

2. Pray for their staff that go into the Middle East and other places to visit migrants from Syria and other places

and always come back to the church to share what is really going on in other countries where Christians and/ or

converts from Islam are persecuted.

Day 17

Day 18

Exodus from Islam

Many Muslim leaders, as well as non-Muslims, have been claiming that Islam is the fastest growing religion of

the world. Is it really true? Is Islam indeed growing? It is a fact that the birth rate among Muslim people is

higher than other people groups such as Western Christians. Due to this higher birth rate, and Islamic

immigration into non-Muslim countries, Islam seems to be growing in some parts of the world.

However, in spite of these factors, Islam is not growing at all as a world religion. In fact Islam is a religion in

very serious crisis and danger of collapse. It has been consistently declining since 1500 AD, gradually losing its

military, political, geographical and economical prominence. Further-more, during recent years, the decline of

Islam has gained an unprecedented speed in an unexpected way:

Muslim people began to leave Islam in great numbers. In our age of the internet and information, millions of

Muslims easily read and learn about the evil nature of Islam, they see what Islamic groups such as ISIS do in

obedience to Allah’s instructions. They read the Quran, Sira and the hadith for the first time and see how evil

this religion is. As a result millions of Muslims leave Islam all over the world. Islam is busy declining very fast

and is facing a very serious danger of a slow but sure death.

Some of the Muslims that leave Islam turn to Christianity and accept Jesus as their Lord. However many

others, embrace atheism and other philosophies.

Please pray:

1. Pray that Christians shall not believe in nor proclaim the lie that Islam is the fastest growing

religion anymore. It is an evil religion based on lies and it is busy slowly dying as people are set

free by truth.

2. Pray that Christians reach out to Muslims that are leaving Islam and lead them to Jesus. Only

Jesus can give them complete freedom, restoration and eternal life.

Day 19

Matthew 10:42 “And whoever gives a cup of cold water to one of My humble disciples, I promise you, he

will not go unrewarded.”

As I was reading Matthew 10:40-42 recently during the lock down, God reminded me of all the Muslims

who were loving and hospitable towards me and my family during our outreaches to them. They went out

of their way to accommodate us, to serve us with food and beverages and showed us the highest honour

during their birthday parties or celebrations. I felt lead by the Holy Spirit to share this particular Scripture

with them and told them how they could call on Jesus to remind Him of His love and generosity towards

us in order to get their reward from Him - their reward being the true revelation of who He is. These

Muslims accepted my message with gratitude and said that they would indeed do that.

~ So let us pray for all those who call unto Jesus - whether from selfish or pure motives - that Jesus will

reveal Himself to them as the One who can save them and give them the true reward; everlasting life in His

presence.

In one particular Muslim household, three people from that family gave their lives to Jesus. The lady of

the house stands undecided. After a long break away from them, I contacted her again and to my surprise

she admitted that she was recently married to a Christian man.

~ Let's pray that Christians will be salt and light especially during this time; that Muslim family members or

neighbours see the difference in the Christ-followers.

God called me back home after many years of outreach to Muslims in Muslim countries. I wondered how

to minister to the lost while at home. I decided to use what I had - my cell phone: without saying anything

directly to any Muslim on my contact list, I started using my status to depict images or wise writings about

the attributes of God - attributes that the Muslim god doesn't have. I sometimes even quote Scripture

from the Bible. The Muslims on my contact list read my status every day. Some phoned me to thank me

for posting such encouraging verses and or writings, some thanked me via whatsapp. I see that a lot of

my own friends or family members who are not entirely devoted to Jesus also read it every day.

Use what you have for the glory of God. Even though we can't "go to them"(especially now), we can use

social media to minister and spread the Good News.

Always pray:

for the wisdom to exalt His name and

to use social media as a platform to spread His love with positive messages;

that people would acknowledge their need for Jesus and

to draw people towards God.

Jacomien

Delft

Day 20

Jameelah

Jameelah is an Arabic word which means: “beautiful”. The motto of Jameelah is: “A Christian friend for every

Muslim woman”.

Jameelah is made up of groups of Christian women who come together once a month to fellowship. Branches

of Jameelah are nationwide.

At Jameelah we pray for Muslims, we talk about various Muslim ministry challenges, we have a Bible study,

designed to either encourage the believer, or to share with a Muslim lady or Jameelah, we laugh and cry

together, we encourage one another.

MBBs also join in this fellowship and are being discipled and prayed for.

We all have one thing in common: to share the love of Jesus with Muslim women, and to therefore equip one

another with courage to go out and talk.

Please pray:

For God to send more Christian ladies who are willing to be used in the lives of Muslim women.

That we at Jameelah will continue diligently to minister and pray for each other as well as for our

“Jameelahs”, and that those who minister to MBBs will have patience and the love of Jesus to continue

with their work.

That God’s Name will be glorified at each branch of Jameelah.

For love and unity in each branch to continue.

For the leaders of each branch, to persevere and to be strengthened by the Lord.

Day 21

Use Social Media to share the Gospel

With our KoFie-projek we put various posts on Facebook and then share such posts on 11 different pages to mainly

share the Gospel with unreached people. No pressure, no hate speech, totally free!

One of the more successful posts recently: Do the Qur’an and Muhammad affirm or reject the Bible?

Results for this specific post:

People reached (those that see the posts): 28 123

Post engagements (those that engage with the post): 4 759 (16%)

Link clicks: 3 800

Comments: 132

Shares: 20

Somebody once made the following comment to me: “Why Muslims? They are a small minority in our country. Why

not rather use your ministry time to focus on the other bigger needs in our own country? The fact is that very few

Muslims ever accepts the Good News ”.

Firstly I don’t agree that this statement is correct. It is a fact that many Muslims came to Christ. But while I was busy

rethinking this question I came up with the following answers:

Why Muslims?

The short answer is: Although we may not be very interested in them, they are very much interested in us; in you

and me! They have a plan for the whole world.

The international Halaal initiative whereby Islam organisations try to dominate all business and trade with

the Halaal certification of food products, is one proof of a planned strategy behind the scenes.

Islam's Dawah (missions) strategies e.g. a national Quran drive was driven in South Africa during 5-9 August

2019. This was a joint project between Islamic Dawah Movement (IDM), Fusion Inyameko Foundation SA

(FIFSA) and Light of Guidance Islamic Centre (LOGIC). The aim was to distribute 20,000 Qurans and gift

packs to various communities across the country whilst aiming to achieve the promotion of Islam and

distribution of Islamic literature.

Missions ARE ALL ABOUT maximum honour and glory to God; praising God as our Creator, our King, our Heavenly

Father. Therefore we need to share the gospel to every person on this earth. They must join in being His disciples,

the church, the heavenly choir of Revelation; those that will sing praises in Heaven to Him who sits on the throne

and to the Lamb (Rev 5:12-13).

Therefore Muslims can’t be ignored!

- Please pray for Muslims that are searching for the truth about Jesus on the internet that they will find all the

information they need.

Chris Visser

https://koninkryksfokus.blogspot.com/

Day 22

Muslim Background Believers

Over the last 25 years more Muslims have come to Christ than in the total history of missions together.

Many Muslims at large are not satisfied with Islam. Islam does not address their spiritual needs. Just like us

Muslims listen to the news and read the papers and many of them are confronted with radical Islam and they

are not prepared to also become radical.

Many Muslims just become nominal, secular or really seek a new spiritual meaning for their lives. Many will

testify that they had a supernatural experience or encounter with Jesus. Many experienced a miracle and/or

healing in their lives. Many testify that Jesus appeared to them in person or in their dreams or during a crisis

in their lives.

Against this background many decided to become Christians. They left Islam and, in faith, they accepted Christ

as their Saviour. Due to this they are confronted by friends and family who accuse them of blasphemy against

God and Islam. Many times Muslims will use age old arguments and the Quran to endorse their confrontation

of these new MBB's.

Please pray:

- For the new MBB’s who came to Christ in a supernatural way. They do not have the knowledge about

Christianity or the Bible in order to be able to answer their family and friends on these attacks.

- For the MBB's that we, as the Church, will take care of them and protect them and also teach them as

how to answer Muslims on their doctrinal misunderstandings.

- Pray for us as Christians that we will learn how to answer Muslims when they use these same

accusations with us. Pray that we will accept, love, disciple and teach every MBB.

- Pray that Christians will be there for the MBB’s to support them.

Day 23

PRAYER POINTS FOR RAMADAN

1. Pray for the awakening of the Church to their need to witness to the Muslims of our country.

2. Pray for Muslims, many of whom experience the guilt of not completely fulfilling their fast. Pray

that this guilt will lead them to the gracious Saviour who has removed every guilt.

3. Pray for Jameelah, the ladies’ friendship evangelist group in Durban, to be effective and creative

to reach out to Muslim ladies with the Gospel.

4. Pray for MBB’s in Christ who oftentimes experience rejection from their biological family and

neglect from their spiritual Christian families.

5. Pray for secret Muslim believers in Christ that they would take the bold step of embracing Christ

and leave the consequences to Him.

6. Pray for Muslim refugees coming into the country for employment that they would encounter the

Gospel.

7. Pray for God to pour out His Spirit upon this country that there will be a major revival of

outreach to Muslims.

8. Pray that God raise up Bible scholars & evangelists to take the baton over from the pioneers of

Muslim evangelism (men like John GilChrist, Gerhard Nels, Andries Maurer).

9. Pray that Muslims in South Africa would see the futility of the fasting of Ramadan and seek a

real relationship with the living God.

10. Pray for Haggai ministries in SA and worldwide that seek to raise up and train leaders that would

spear-head Muslim evangelism.

11. Pray that Bible Schools and Seminaries in our country would offer Muslim evangelism courses to

prepare students as they enter into ministry.

Ivan Krishna

Penticostal Outreach Fellowship

Day 24

Let them know the truth

One of the key characteristics of Islam is that it is a religion of lies and deception. So much so that, Allah, the

god of Islam, introduces himself as the “best of deceivers” in the Quran (3:54; 7:99 and 8:30). Additionally,

one of the pillars of the Islamic theology is the doctrine deception, also known as the doctrine of taqiyya. This

doctrine teaches that Muslims should lie, cheat and deceive people — other Muslims and non-Muslims — to

promote Islam and to discredit Christianity as well as other religions. This deceiving of people has always been

one of the prime objectives and occupations of Islamic leaders and scholars. We see this practice of deception

in the very words and deeds of Allah and Muhammad as recorded in the Quran and Hadiths. Additionally,

both throughout the Islamic history and even today, Islamic leaders and scholars do their best to deceive

Muslims and non-Muslims in order to promote Islam and discredit the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As a result of these widespread lies and deceptions of Allah, Muhammad and contemporary Islamic leaders,

millions of Muslims are kept in slavery to Islam. What will set them free is truth. As Jesus said, they shall know

the truth and the truth shall set them free.

Please pray:

- That the Holy Spirit will open the eyes of Muslims to the lies and deceptions of Islam; that they shall

see what a deceptive fake god is Allah and his so-called messenger Muhammad.

- That the Holy Spirit will also reveal the truth about Jesus Christ and His Gospel to Muslims. They shall

see how much Jesus loves them and how much Jesus has sacrificed to give them an eternal life in

abundance.

- That the Holy Spirit shall transform Muslims into bond-servants, pastors, preachers, prophets and

ambassadors of Jesus Christ so that for the rest of their existence, they shall proclaim the Gospel of

Jesus Christ.

Day 25

Conversations

Pray that Muslims will start to discuss their religion with each other; that they will ask one another the

hard questions about the Quran and their rules.

Pray that they will discuss eternity and ask if there is perhaps more to life than what they experience?

Pray that as they have these discussions, the Holy Spirit will be in their midst to direct them to the right

questions and give them a deep hunger for truth and the meaning of life.

Pray that in these discussions, they will ask the question: Is violence really the way to live?

https://jwipn.com/

The Bible says that “… we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against

the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” Eph 6:12.

To work in people’s lives we need to be totally dependent on the Lord.

In 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 we read that “even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the

god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory

of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord. For God, who said,

“Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the

face of Jesus Christ.”

It is God who removes the blindfolds,

It is God that shines into our hearts,

It is God who spoke light into their realities,

God speaks into the hearts of people that they would see the glory of Christ.

Satan had blinded the mind of the unbeliever.

The first blindfold that is a reality in every Muslim’s life is the fact that Satan has blinded their minds to the glory of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Pray that God would be saving people, that He would remove blindfolds and that they would see the glory of Jesus Christ.

Day 26

Day 27

Pray for believers to engage more faithfully

We need to know more about ministry to Muslims. We need to share the Gospel which is the power of salvation. 1 Corinthians 1:21 speaks about how it is through the message of the Gospel that people are saved. So whatever methods we use in engaging with Muslims, it must incorporate the core principals of the Gospel – Christ’s death and resurrection and that a person should repent and trust in Christ’s death and resurrection.

Pray for believers to be faithful in being witnesses for Christ with Muslims.

In dealing with Muslims you need to be sensitive to where they are at.

Pray that people won’t be offending them unnecessary, that the only thing that causes people to stumble should be the cross and Jesus Christ and not the methodology of how we hand things over to them. Certain things are defiling for a Muslim e.g. right hand is clean, left hand is dirty. We need to understand a bit of the culture, understand the high values on cleanliness, and not being defiled.

The honour and shame culture is also a big reality.

Pray that people would be sensitive as they present the Gospel in the honour shame culture of the Muslim.

Pray specifically that churches from a pastoral perspective would be faithful in praying for unbelievers and will be equipping their church members to be faithful ambassadors for Christ as they interact with Muslims or any unbeliever for that matter. Churches often struggle in the area of prayer and evangelism and these are two key areas to pray for.

With the Corona virus and living in lockdown, people will become self focused and people will be recuperating after this experience. Pray that people will be faithful to pray for the salvation of Muslims, for the unity among believers and that people will be united around the doctrines of Christ.

Not many people engage in Muslims evangelism in South Africa. Most churches focus on church growth and on discipling their members and so to have an output perspective and to actually see the unbelievers.

Pray that churches would grow strong in the area of church planting and focussing on the unreached people groups.

Pray for godliness amongst Christians, especially those who reach out to Muslims, that their lives wouldn’t be a stumbling block.

Pray that they’ll grow deeper in their understanding of Theology especially when engaging Imams, Maulanas and Muftis which are your Muslim leaders. They often ask deep questions and unless you’ve gone through a bit of systematic theology you’re not going to be able to answer some of those questions.

Pray that Christians would be able to explain or define what is faith – faith isn’t just intellectual content. Faith involves an emotional acceptance, faith involves a total dependence, a trust, a wholehearted commitment towards Jesus Christ. Sin is not just sin against the law, but sin is against God and we offend an infinitely holy God. Pray that people would learn to depend upon God and His word and be faithful ambassadors of the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

What it costs to become a Christian

Jesus said in Luke 9:23 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Pray for those who come to salvation from Islam. Often they face persecution and suffering. Pray that they would embrace this reality and that God would give them the strength to do so.

Carl Buchan-Smith

Christians and Jews according to the Shari’a

Since the time when Muhammad had to flee from Mecca to the then city of Yathrib (now Medina) in 632 after

the demise of his wife Khadija, Muhammad’s attitude towards Jews and Christians changed for the worse.

When the Jews and Christians of Medina did not want to submit to his leadership, he slaughtered the men

and took their wives and children as booty. The principle is that when Islam becomes dominant in a

country/region, then Islam and the Shari’a will dominate all affairs. The Western idea of separating religious

and secular life disappears. Within Islam all religious and secular affairs are ruled as one. All non-Muslims,

including Jews and Christians, then do not effectively have a secure footing to stand as equals to Muslims and

are then subjected to unequal treatment by Muslims. All the property of Jews and Christians in fact becomes

the property of Islam when Islam becomes the majority religion of a country or region. Jews and Christians

then have to pay a “poll-tax” (jizya) to be “protected” second class citizens who, in future, still want to farm

on their previously owned property. Non-dhimmi’s (religious people other than Jews and Christians) are

however in a worse situation because, if they do not convert and submit to Islam, they surely face death.

Against this background many Jews, Christians and disillusioned Muslims have fled Muslim territories to

escape the clutches of Shari’a. The situation in the West is definitely not a utopia, but at least gives more

freedom of worship than in Muslim countries.

Please pray:

Many Western countries do not or cannot see the severe challenges of Islam – may they in time realise

what is happening and listen to the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

May our Father guide Christians to be fearless witnesses of the love of God in Jesus the Messiah.

May God stop the influx of militant immigrants into Christian countries or change their hearts.

Day 28

I was exposed to mission work among Indian people on the South Coast of Natal. I learned about the people, their culture, food and different traditions and especially their religions. It was all new to me.

Prayer Point: Pray that the ordinary average Christian will learn and accept that Witnessing, Evangelism, Missions, Sharing the Gospel with others is a non-negotiable obligation for each one who accepts Jesus Christ as his/her Saviour. 2 Corinthians 5:14 to 20, Ephesians 4:12, Matthew 28:19

For the majority of people in South Africa all Indians was just part of one great large Indian culture group – sad to say for many people it is still like that today. To my own great surprise, I learnt very quickly that the Indian people mainly formed two main groups, namely Hindus and Muslims.

Prayer Point: There are Muslims in every town and city today, especially in the business areas. Many of us hunt for bargains among these Muslim businesses. Pray that the Lord will give us a passion to learn more about these people, their culture and they beliefs etc. but most of all to learn how to share the Gospel with them. You may not know it, but Muslims are more open to talk about God, religion and spiritual matters than your average neighbor or even yourself. Pray that we as Christians will not shy away because of our own ignorance and lose a golden opportunity to lead someone to the Lord.

At that time, I was blessed to learn that there already exists a large number of churches, independent and denominational, in the Indian communities. Excited to learn about so many Indians that became Christians, I also learnt that almost 100% of them came from a Hindu background, only a few came from a Muslim background.

Prayer Point: Pray for the predominantly Indian churches of which the majority are in Indian communities close to Mosques and Hindu temples. Pray for these Christians that the Lord will give them a heart and a zeal to reach out to the Muslims in their communities.

Receiving some Anti-Christian Islamic material from some Muslims, mainly material from the late Mr. Admed Deedat, I learnt that the International Islamic Propagation Centre International (IPCI) is just opposite the Grey Street Mosque in Durban. From here Islamic Anti-Christian material goes out by the tons internationally, and thousands of Muslims from all over the world used to get trained there to argue and debate with Christians regarding The Bible, Jesus as the Son of God, Jesus as God, The Crucifixion and the Trinity among a number of other literature to refute and ridicule Christians and Christianity.

Prayer Point: Pray that Christians will not be offended about these objections that appear to oppose the very essence of Christianity. Pray that Christians will make the effort to learn why and what is the essence of these objections against Christianity. Pray that Christians will learn HOW to answer Muslims regarding these objections without going into a debate or long theological discussions. Pray for Muslims that they will not accept the teachings from people like Deedat and other likeminded, but that they will make a point to study the Bible and Christianity to get the TRUE answers to these objections that stand between them and receiving true salvation in Christ.

Prayer Point: Pray for John Gilchrist and Gerhard Nehls whose substantial material resources and answers are all over the internet available. Please pray for Fred Nel who train and teach people how to answer this objections all over the country, and internationally, without getting into a debate and who's "Gold Nuggets for Communicating the Gospel" which are also now available through https://www.tencourses.org/goldnuggets/

Today the general news is that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. Taking in consideration that Muslims can have four wives, it is obvious that populations that endorse Islam as a religion is growing fast, but there are no great numbers of people that convert to Islam. The average Muslim is therefore more culturally a Muslim leaving it to the clergy to explain and know the religion.

Prayer Point: Pray for Muslims all over the world who experience such legalism and hatred from among their own communities that they had to flee their countries to the Western World. Pray for these people as they do not want to be Muslims anymore. Because they do not know Christianity, they become agnostic and don’t want to have anything to do with religion. Pray that the Lord will send in workers amongst this harvest that HE brought to us as immigrants to show them that true Christianity is not a religion but a relationship.

Day 29

Prayer Point: Pray for Muslim and converted Muslims and Christian immigrants from Muslim countries that flee to Europe, Canada, USA, other countries and here to us from all over Africa.

It made me sad to learn that since the Lord called me into missions' way back in the early eighties, that there were just a handful of people in the whole of South Africa that really reach out to Muslims with the Gospel. In 1985. Those of us who were concerned about the Muslims gathered to encourage one another, we were less than 20 people, and we formed Christian Concern for Muslims (CCM) as a partnership to encourage one another and to work towards multiplying the workers.

Prayer Point: With the influx of immigrants into South Africa as well as population growth the need for more Christian workers among Muslims has become an enormity. We can do Missions and Evangelism right on our doorstep. Please pray for the local churches' Pastors and Dominees that they help their congregation members to see and use the potential to make Missions and Evangelism to Muslims part of their life style and let us CCM at large help them to teach their congregation members HOW to reach out to Muslims with the Gospel.

In 1987 three of us, John Gilchrist of "Jesus to the Muslims", Gerhard Nehls of "Life Challenge Africa" and my self of "Eternal Life Outreach" attended an international conference in Zeist Holland presented by the Samuel Zwemer Institute for Islamic Studies. Among other things we learnt that there were only 750 full time missionaries in the world that work among Muslims. Less then 2% of the church at large missionaries work amongst Muslims.

Prayer Point: Pray for the Muslims who are still today the largest unreached people group in the world. Islam spread over 550 major cultural groups in 75 countries. In many parts of the World as well as in Indonesia, the largest Islamic country, there are people groups where there are no Christian workers at all. Please pray for Indonesia, South East Asia, The Middle East and the Muslims in the 10/40 Window. Use the Joshua Project material and prayer points to pray for specific countries and specific people groups https://joshuaproject.net/resources/articles/10_40_window

In the same year, 1987, I was appointed in a Synodical Ministers position "2de Indiër Leraars pos" for the Northern and Eastern Transvaal Dutch Reform Church - a very vast area.

I started with a new paradigm – training ordinary congregation members on how to reach out with the Gospel to local Muslims.

This ministry took off in many towns in these provinces and mainly in Pretoria where a large number of Christian students became trained and involved in reaching out to Muslims in Laudium and in towns nearby Pretoria like Brits, Bronkhorstspruit, Witbank, Middelburg, Warmbath and many more.

The training on "How to reach Muslims" grew and in 1989 I found myself involved with the Lausanne movement and with the Haggai Institute - emphasizing and training on "How to present the Gospel to Muslims"

The work of Eternal Life Outreach spread, and I found myself training people in our neighbouring countries to reach out to Muslims in their own countries. I took teams to Malawi, reaching out to the Yao in Malawi, an unreached Muslim people group.

Pray Point: Pray for Muslims and Christians at large who live for so long beside each other but still know so little about one another and one another's beliefs and practices. As the Lord entrusted the message of reconciliation to us as Christians (2 Cor 5:17-20) pray that Christians will accept the responsibility to make missions part of our daily lifestyle and reach out to Muslims. Pray that we do not get influenced or distracted from our Christian responsibility by the information regarding Islam at large. Pray that we as Christians do not get confused about what is real Evangelism and Missions towards Muslims verses "showing the contradictions etc" in Islam, the Quran and their Prophet – take note those who do it, are not busy to win Muslims for Christ, but are maybe breaking bridges to Muslims instead of building bridges.

Through the Haggai Institute I have been training people since 1990 to present the Gospel internationally - from Africa to the Middle East, India, Pakistan, South East Asia - especially Indonesia which is the largest Muslim country in the world, Russia and many other parts of the world.

Prayer Point: Pray for the Haggai Institute internationally and locally. The Vision, Aim and Goal of the Haggai Institute is Advance the Leadership, Evangelism and Mission skills of Christians from developing countries. People who qualify for the training are committed Christians, have a proficiency in English, a heart to train others in their own countries and make a commitment to train at least a 100 other people in their own countries or community after their Haggai Training. Please visit Haggai International for more prayer points. https://www.haggai-international.org/

Pray for these Haggai Alumni who live out their commitment to the Lord, most of the times in extensive hostile environments, especially in predominantly Islamic countries.

Today my training on how to reach Muslims with the Gospel is known as, "The Gold Nuggets of Communicating the Gospel to Muslims – Telling Muslims that Jesus loves them" It is now available on DVD in 8 sessions including a workbook. It is one of the elective courses of Teach Every Nation (TEN) and can be downloaded from the internet at https://www.tencourses.org/goldnuggets/ together with the workbook, or can be ordered from Eternal Life Outreach as well.

Prayer Point: Pray for Teach Every Nation (TEN). Their focus is to help churches to disciple their congregation members as well as to train new pastors all over Africa, South East Asia, the Philippines and many other countries. TEN already developed full training courses with 5 main courses and 5 electives in each box, called "The Bible School on Wheels" red and blue box – they are working on a third box. In Africa and all over the developing world there are Christians who really experience the calling of the Lord in their lives to become full time involved in the pastorate and even Church planting. One of these people's greatest obstacles is the fact that they do not have the money or the means to go for fulltime theological studies. The Bible School on Wheels train these people to go into the pastorate with sound Biblical knowledge.

Pray for our TEN African leaders where there are people busy with the training material in English as well as in French. Pray that the Lord will open a door that we will be able to have Gold Nuggets translated soon into French as well, as a large number of African countries are predominantly French speaking where there are also large numbers of Muslims in their countries.

On invitation Fred presents the Gold Nuggets training on how to reach Muslims with the Gospel to churches all over the country and internationally.

With a total lockdown now because of the covert-19 virus this year Fred started presenting the Gold Nuggets training LIVE to individuals as well as to groups interactively through the Internet and Zoom. This opens the doors for the future to present the training LIVE and INTERACTICE to Churches and groups in small, far off places where there are a few people who really have a burden from the Lord to share the Gospel with the Muslims in their town but the travel cost of the past just made it impossible for them to have brought the training to their town. Now it has become absolutely possible and they can get firsthand training to present the Gospel to their local Muslims so that Muslims not only hear it but also understand it.

Pray for Eternal Life Outreach and Fred who are:

i. Researching more material to make available for those who want to work among Muslims.

ii. Working on the development of new tracts for Muslims.

iii. Pray for the presence of Eternal Life Outreach on the internet through a website, Facebook, Zoom and YouTube.

iv. Training others to reach out to Muslims.

v. Reaching Muslims with the Gospel.

Fred Nel

Cell: +27 81 762 8134 Email: frednel2010@gmail.com

Sharing the Good News as Christ commanded

We who have been privileged to be born into the spiritual family of God need to know that with privilege

comes responsibility. We must become good stewards of our spiritual gifts and blessings to accomplish the

purposes of God. The purpose and will of God is that no man should die without Christ and spend eternity in

hell. To this end all Muslims are on their way to hell as Islam denies the deity of Christ and salvation through

His name.

Those who have been born into Muslim homes naturally become Muslims without choice and all of them

should be a target of mission and evangelism. Apart from the fact that we must be motivated to evangelize

them because of their lost condition we must, like Paul, have the desire to engage them because their

devotion is misdirected and futile (Rom 1:21).

When ministering to Muslims we must do like Jesus and Paul to start by saying something good about them to

open a way to share the Good News of Christ, John 1:47; Acts 17:22. To follow the reasoning of Paul in Acts 17

to its final conclusion we can find Islamic truths to lead Muslims to the fullness of that truth. As Paul found the

altar that was dedicated, “…to the unknown God” we must look for truths that the Muslims believe in part

and build on it to get to the ultimate Truth.

Please Pray:

- That Christians will become burdened with the desire to reconcile Muslims to God through the truth

found in Christ alone.

- That God will reveal Himself to Muslims who, through Islam, have a corrupted and distorted image of

God.

- For discernment when speaking to Muslims in order to look beyond what they say and do and speak

truth into their lives.

Day 30