Over the last 4 months we have been doing the most open preaching campaign of our ministry. We have been broadcasting live on internet radio for 3 hours each week. We have had over 13,000 listeners in Morocco alone and over 3,000 responses in writing and 100 phone calls. Our radio program is a mixture of testimonies and Gospel presentations covering different subjects. We do not speak of Islam or the Koran so as to avoid unnecessary offense.
I started twice to translate the comments and responses from the listeners at one time because I thought it would be good for people back in Western world to see what missionaries and native preachers among Muslims face for the proclamation of the Gospel. However, both times I stopped the translation because I felt it would discourage Christians from sending more missionaries and that it might further the hate between the two.
After further thought, I have decided to translate just a few of the most recent responses. I have not chosen the responses to translate but just started at the top one by one. The reasons I think its important that you know how Muslims respond to the Gospel is:
1. To cause you to pray for the missionaries and national believers boldly proclaiming Christ in Muslim contexts. Great opposition to the Gospel should elicit great prayer.
2. To help you see the darkness of lies that they are under from birth.
3. To motivate the cross-bearing Christians to come as missionaries and discourage the rest.
4. To see the glory of God so much greater in the lives of Muslim background believers. Despite all of the ugly comments you’ll read below we have seen scores come to Christ out of this hatred and be baptized.
Can you think of any causes of translating these messages for you? Here then, are the most recent comments to our radio program:
Zineb- “I testify there is not God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet.” (This is the Muslim Shahada (testimony that makes someone a Muslim) and the most common response accounting for at least half of the feedback.
Abdallah- “So you are saying that I’ll be forgiven all sin and entered into heaven if I just believe that Aisa (Muslim name for Jesus) is the Son of God? Aisa (PBUH) is a prophet of God and not God or the Son of God. For how can God die and be killed by a group of people?”
Adil- “He among you who turns from his religion is to die for he is a kafr (infidel) for they belong to those who will burn in fire.” (quote from Sura The Cow verse 217)
Malak- “We are the people of Mohammed (PBUH)”
Jamal- “I laugh at your mother.” (strong insult in Arabic)
Khalid- “Jews, Muslims, and Nasara (Muslim name of Christians coming from the world Nazarenes) all kill. The Jews killed their own who rejected the Chosen one of God and the Nasara killed the Muslims in the crusades (literally, Cross War)
Abdel Asdaf- “Go (blank) yourselves. The religion of Morocco is Islam.”
Chaik- “The prophet Aisa (Jesus) told of a prophet that would come after him named Ahmed (a derivative of Mohammed) and that we should believe on him this great prophet named Mohammed (PBUH) the Seal of the Prophets and Messengers. I will not follow any religion but Islam. May you all repent.”
Nabil- “The religion of God and the country for all is of utmost importance to allow other religions and respect each other for the good of our dear country.” This is the first comment among 3,000 that encourages the other commentators to respect the Christians.
Abdellah- “Your books says that the prophet David fornicated with his neighbor’s wife and that the prophet Solomon is a son of fornication!” Muslims generally believe that all of the prophets were sinless. It is a man-worshipping religion.
Taha- “May God curse you until the day of judgment. Morocco is an Islamic state. Long live Mohammed (PBUH)!”
Ali- “I spit on you!” (This is a rough one to end on but one that we hear daily as a response to our Gospel preaching on the radio.)
Tonight on the radio we’ll discuss how Christians should respond to this sort of hatred and attacks. This is important not only for Christians from a Muslim background but all Christians in the West as well as we face news of not only hateful hearts but also murderous actions from Muslims all over the world.
Here is what we’ll say about how Christians ought to react on an individual and church level ought to respond:
Matt. 5:10-12- “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
Matt. 5:38-39 “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
Matt. 5:43-48 “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
Rom. 12:19-21 “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Here is how Christians or non-Christians in government and law enforcement ought to react:
Rom. 13:3-4 “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.”