Project North Africa

A professionally done video by Arab Christians highlighting the life of Paul the Apostle recently aired in President Bashar’s personal cinema. Over 1,000 religious and political leaders attended. Very interesting to see what God can use in the Arab world. Who can judge what the Holy Spirit could do in the hearts of these men to bring them to repentance and faith?

If this doesn’t sting then you’re not pointing it at the right person:

“Most of us use “I’m waiting for God to reveal His calling on my life” as a means of avoiding action. Did you hear God calling you to sit in front of the television yesterday? Or to go on your last vacation? Or exercise this morning? probably not, but you still did it. The point isn’t that vacations or exercise are wrong, but that we are quick to rationalize our entertainment and priorities yet are slow to commit to serving God.” -Francis Chan, Crazy Love

I recently talked to my friend Roger from Jacksonville, FL on the phone who just returned from a trip to North Africa where we spent about five days together. He told me that shortly after his arrival to the States he was doing a job at a fellow believer’s house and had told this man about his recent trip to the land of the Moslems. According to him, his friend shuddered at the thought. An exact quote is, “Every time I talk to one of them Arabs it makes my skin crawl.”

Of course Roger faithfully reprimanded this man’s admittedly godless attitude toward the lost. Something Roger told the man was, “You know, not all Muslims or Arabs are terrorists. Most of them are just really nice people.”

Roger spoke from experience and was right. But what if they all were terrorists? Should that lessen our love for them?

The Bible tells us that while we were enemies of God that he died for us. That means that Jesus knowingly came to, lived among, and died for his mortal enemies. He loved us while we were unlovely. He taught us in turn that real virtue is not found in loving those who love you but in loving those who hate you. Can we really be Christians without being like Christ. This man that Roger spoke to shows no sign of having a life transformed by Christ. He is, in fact, just like the Moslems himself: religious… loving those who love him…having no real concept of God’s love.

So Roger has motivated me to help you all get to know Muslims better. My wife and I talked about it today and have decided to start work on a book that will give you the life stories from beginning to present of 4 or 5 new believers from North Africa that we know intimately. We love them because we know them. I have a feeling you may not know how to love them because you have no idea of what their lives have been like, what their hopes and dreams are, and a plethora of other things that make us who we are.

if you think you’d like to read this story, drop me a line (leave a comment) and let me know it. It would be an encouragement to us as we start this monumental project.