What would you be willing to give up for others’ good?
By a member of SEND’s Diaspora | North America team — As the ship left the wharf, two of its passengers shouted to those gathered to see them off, "May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!"
Those were the words of the first Moravian missionaries who went to the West Indian island of St. Thomas in 1732. As the story goes, when they heard that the slave owners of the island were not going to allow them to come as missionaries to reach the slaves with the gospel, they volunteered to sell themselves into slavery. When I read that, I thought, “That’s a bit above my level of commitment.”
I need to ask myself, and perhaps you do, too: “To what lengths am I willing to go, so that people who have never heard the gospel story could hear it for the first time? Am I willing to be inconvenienced? Am I willing to give up a day or a weekend or a week night to go and share the love of Christ?”
Sometimes we are so busy just hanging on to what we have that we don’t even see the need beyond our own four walls. But Christ would have us lift our eyes and see that the harvest is ripe. Christ, in the midst of ordinary life, took the time to interact and share with people. He told stories that gave people a chance to see things a bit differently, a chance to think about things differently, because we all can fall into ruts. We can get so used to seeing and saying the same things day in and day out that we can miss what, or who, is passing right by in front of us. And who is passing by in front of us? Muslims who have never had a meaningful conversation about Christ with a Christian.
For those of us who struggle to sacrifice in order to share the gospel, here are some first steps to take:
- Pray. Did you know that the Moravians set up a 24/7 prayer chain, and it lasted for over 100 years? Ask God to give you eyes to see the world as he does, like sheep without a shepherd. For great prayer ideas, check out www.Prayercast.com.
- Go find a Muslim to talk to, a neighbor, a colleague, a shopkeeper. Ask questions about them, about their family, their country, their food, what they think about God. Perhaps you could ask them to teach you how to cook a dish from their country. You might be the only Christian they will ever talk to, so be sure to bring God into the conversation. Don’t worry, most Muslims love to talk about God and won’t be offended. Many Muslims’ names relate to God’s attributes, so ask about their name, too. Listen more than you talk. Before you know it, you will feel much more comfortable than you were when you first started!
Perhaps memorize a short parable from the Gospels or a proverb and discuss it with your new friend. Ask them what they think it means? The next thing you know, you are sharing your faith and you didn’t even have to board a ship, because God is bringing the nations to us!
10/10 Prayer Initiative
- We continue to pray for 10% of the Muslim world to come to Christ in the next 10 years. The 10/10 website has lots of information and prayer ideas
- Ramadan begins April 13. Pray that this year will be the time for many Muslims to come to realize what true fasting means. Don’t forget to order your 30 Days of Prayer guide book. These little booklets are great resources for learning new things and places to pray about concerning Islam.
- Pray for missionaries who have given up so much and gone to other lands to share the love of Christ. May the Lord sustain and uphold them in a difficult world.
- Pray for creativeness on the part of missionaries to find new ways to share and interact when so many things have changed due to COVID-19.
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