Last week, Muslims around the world began the Holy month of Ramadan. This period of strict fasting and prayer lasts for about thirty days. People abstain from food, drink and other pleasures from sunrise to sunset to cleanse the body and circulation attention to spiritual needs. Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam that are common to all Muslims, but it is also a time when Christians pray for the Islamic world, asking God to reveal to Muslims the truth about Jesus Christ.
“In this period we need to pray that God the God of the Bible opened the eyes of the Muslims during their prayer for God’s favor, and in fact they give it to them, that is opened to Muslims the gospel of Jesus Christ. I think in many ways, the violence that we see in the middle East, is a physical manifestation of the spiritual battle for the souls of men in the Muslim world. So this is a very important month in which to pray and to serve the people in the Muslim world,” says writer Joel Rosenberg. The journalist of “CBN-News” spoke to Joel about an unprecedented move of God in the Muslim world and discussed its causes.
MAN: Joel, in his blog JoelRosenberg.com you cite research results showing that in the period between 1960 and 2010-years came to Christ more Muslims than any other historical period. Tell us why.
Joel Rosenberg: Interesting question, isn’t it? We have gone from less than two hundred thousand converts to Christianity Muslims in 1960-m to year to more than 10 million by 2010. Since then it’s been six years, and we think that this trend is increasing.
See how many things have happened over the last 50 years in the middle East: revolution, war, upheaval, impoverishment. And I think particularly over the last 10 or 15 years, many Muslims increasingly disappointed in Islam and its representatives such as LIH or the leadership of Iran, or Assad. Many Muslims say: “If this is Islam, if this is the real Islam, then I renounce him, he won’t do.” And they begin to look. They experience so much sorrow, pain and hardship that they begin to doubt the truth of the system that they have always known and accepted.
MHN: Muslims feel frustrated in Islam?
Yes, very much so. Moreover, in the last few decades throughout the Islamic world those researchers of Islam that had not yet converted to Christianity, ask the question: “What went wrong?” In the past the Islamic world was a strong military power, has been at the forefront of science and technology, culture and art, architecture. But now you will not see among Muslims Nobel prize winners or Pulitzer. You will not see as they do high-tech discoveries. You will see only oil and war. And this is accompanied by poverty and illiteracy. And Muslims ask: “What happened to us? If God is with us, why do we suffer so?” And they differently react to it. Some Muslims say: “God is not with us, we must become more radical, aggressive and commit Jihad” — Holy war. But others say: “no, No. Maybe we’re not right”. And they begin to look for information on satellite TV, the Internet, radio and from other believers, which they somehow collide. And they come in dreams and visions about Christ. God in different ways brings the gospel message to Muslims in the bypass of the clergy and representatives of the authorities, while the Muslims are experiencing such a great revolution in consciousness and introspection.
MHN: would You agree with the assertion that now more service opportunities in the Muslim world than ever before?
I think, Yes. Although, in my opinion, in many ways this has intensified since 11 September. In other words, when radical Islam attacked the United States, followed by the reaction. Obviously, when we went to war against them, followed by a new reaction. Many Americans, and Christians in General, is very angry at Islam. But others began to say: “Listen to what makes them so hate us? Maybe we — as the Church in General and the American Church in particular — ignore the opportunities to convey to them the glad tidings that there is hope, there is salvation, one doesn’t have to ruin yourself? Somebody already died for the sake of our sins were forgiven.” And so I think that should work missions in the Muslim world with the use of new technologies that would have allowed even fewer people to take the gospel to even more people. In my opinion, still not enough people engaged in evangelism among Muslims. I think it’s still our weak spot, but I also believe that God is moving very powerfully, using dreams and visions. They Muslims see a Man in white, Jesus Christ Himself. And they begin to look for Him — even when the Church is not ready to preach to them. And now all these factors converge at one point, which leads, in my opinion, to the great spiritual openness among Muslims. Recently received data confirming what we all already felt: there is a huge wave of Muslims who turn to Christ. But again, remember, it’s ten million converts, and even if they become, say, twice, that is, 20 million, given the fact that everything in the world more than a billion Muslims, we still have a long way to go. Therefore, if we want to fulfill the Great Commission and bring the Good news to every nation, make disciples of all Nations, we must move to a new level of service to be much more faithful in the preaching and strengthen pastors and Ministry leaders in the region to enable them to take the gospel to their people.
By the way, Joel also talked about the brutal persecution of Christians in the Muslim world and how they even strengthen the Church. Go to the website cbnnews.com so more to hear about it.
Also on the website of “30 days of prayer for the Muslim world” presented materials on Islam, tips on how to pray for them, as well as evidence of the power of prayer to change life in the middle East.