Loving, Not Fearing, Your Muslim Neighbor

TEAM - The Evangelical Alliance Mission • Feb 01, 2016

As Muslims continue to migrate to the United States, the opportunity for Muslim ministry is greater than ever.

Today, we welcome a long-term worker in the Middle East to the TEAM blog. He shares his thoughts on the unprecedented opportunity North Americans have today to engage in Muslim ministry. Because of governmental opposition to the Gospel and gospel workers in his region, his identity will remain anonymous.

When I was a newcomer to the Middle East 30 years ago, I quickly realized that effective communication requires interpreting language through the filter of culture. For example, the common phrase “Bukra, Insha’Allah” is easily translated as “Tomorrow, if Allah wills.” But with time and experience, I learned that in application, the real meaning is more like, “Maybe tomorrow, maybe not, maybe never, and if not, it is not in my control.” On some occasions, it could also mean, “Probably not, but it wouldn’t be polite to tell you so.”

Today, we no longer have to travel to the Middle East to experience firsthand the many differences between Western and Muslim cultures. The Muslim people and their culture are at our doorstep.

And this is an answer to prayer. For many years, Christians have prayed for the Islamic world to open up to the Gospel. The popular call was to “pray for the 10/40 Window.” Most of us never imagined the Lord would answer those prayers by bringing the 10/40 Window to North America. The Lord says in Isaiah 43:19 (NASB), “Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.”

It seems that there is now a two-way wilderness roadway, bringing the Muslim people to Christians in vast numbers and in a variety of ways. For example, there are currently over 100,000 students from the Arabian Peninsula in universities all across the United States. Coming from one of the most closed Muslim regions, many of these students are eager to explore new ideas — including the claims of Christ. Even more than these are the large numbers of immigrants and refugees settling in North America.

How do we as Christians seize this unprecedented opportunity? How do we effectively engage with the Muslim people around us?

Pray Earnestly

We must be vigilant in prayer for Muslims and the Muslim world, including those right here in America. Many of us remember with amazement how Communism in Russia finally crumbled without a shot being fired. How long had Christians around the world prayed for that land to open up to the Gospel? Earnest prayer is essential to the spread of the Gospel among the Muslim people, both here and abroad.

Learn through Listening

Effective missionaries in any culture are learners, not just proclaimers. We need to learn all we can about Muslims and Islam. In Islam, religion and culture are inseparable. Did you know that Muslims often equate American culture with Christianity? Such propaganda is commonly taught in their schools. No wonder Muslims are often unwilling to consider the claims of Christ.

When we understand what Muslims think Christians believe, more fruitful spiritual dialogue results. In addition, knowing what Muslims believe about their own faith earns their respect and is a powerful tool for effective communication.

Knowledge can also disarm fear and alleviate suspicion. In light of recent developments around the world, fear of Muslims has gripped many Americans, even Christians. Violent retaliation has been offered by more than one prominent Christian as the solution. Conversely, a close Muslim friend recently told me that many Muslims in America are also afraid — that they can see and feel the resentment toward them as they walk down the street.

But that doesn’t mean Muslims don’t want to engage. I heard of an Arab student who arrived in America with a suitcase full of gifts for the families who would surely invite him into their homes. Four years later, he returned to his homeland with the same bag of gifts. Sadly, this scenario is the norm for most visiting Muslim students and even immigrants.

Build Authentic Friendship

Befriend Muslims the way you would anyone else, with intention and sincerity, but not with an agenda. If you see them as a project, they will sense it and pull back. When a Muslim observes that you have an authentic interest in them as a person, talking about religion and culture is a natural outcome. In many cases, it is much easier to talk about God with a Muslim than with the average American.

Helping them with conversational English is also a great way to show them love practically. There are many testimonies of Muslims who came to Christ because they experienced the genuine love of Christians.

The battle for the soul of a man or woman never has been and never will be won by human strength, but rather by God’s Spirit. We are called to be peacemakers, not slaves to fear, representing God’s love for the Muslim people by praying for them, by understanding and befriending them and by showing them love and respect.

No other generation in the history of America has seen such potential for making disciples of all nations right here in our nation. What a great way to train for overseas work, if that is your goal. Unprecedented opportunities abound to present the unchangeable Gospel of hope in an ever-changing cultural landscape.

There are many Muslims who want to find God. Let us seize the day, in God’s strength and for His glory! As Peter said in Acts 10:34-35 (NLT), “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. In every nation He accepts those who fear Him and do what is right.”

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Bridging Dissonance: Finding Connection in Music and the Gospel

By Emily Sheddan • 18 Jul, 2024

TEAM worker Luke Standridge and his fellow musicians use music to build connections to faith in Japan. In music terms, dissonance creates movement or even suspense in a song. It invites tension. That tension is what helps grab our ear’s attention and the interchanging of these notes with pleasant melodious parts is what makes music such a delight. In a similar way, God is using music to grab people’s attention and catalyze Gospel impact in the largely unreached nation of Japan. TEAM Global Worker, Luke Standridge moved to Japan in 2019 with no clear direction on how he was going to use his passion for composing music while doing ministry. However, after Luke got involved with a local church and began developing deep friendships, the Lord opened unimaginable doors for Luke that in time, coordinating his creative skills with sharing the Word. “People Need to Come to Japan!” Growing up as one of ten kids in a family that was heavily involved in ministry and missions, Luke never considered that it would one day be a part of his own journey. In 2016, via a Japanese language learning class in Indiana, Luke and his brother had the opportunity to travel to Japan. Hearing, learning, and using the language in the context of Japanese culture was the goal. While it was Luke’s first international trip – even his first trip on a plane - it was also his first time hearing about the spiritual condition of the Japanese people. “And just through that, God did a huge 180 change on my heart,” says Luke. “More people should come here as global workers. People need to come to Japan!” The call God was laying on Luke’s heart is echoed when looking at the spiritual landscape of Japan. The nation is home to the second largest unreached people group in the world. It is one of the most difficult places for the Gospel to take hold and grow. Japan is also home to a deep and rich culture that prizes creative arts from pottery to ink to music to anime – a fact that would help Luke find his niche in life and ministry. God’s Guiding Hand In the short three-month timespan of that first trip, Luke found that opportunities came naturally to share about life, and people’s curiosity for Christianity grew. “I left Japan knowing I just had to come back,” Luke shares. “Even if I didn’t get back to the same area, I knew Japan was where God wanted me to be.” The Lord is good all the time and all the time the Lord is good. His plans do not fail. Luke returned to Japan in 2019, and less than a week after arriving, he was put in touch with a renowned composer in Japan. The composer saw some of Luke’s music and invited him to help write the music for a beloved in-country animated show. But God wasn’t finished yet! Fast forward a year, and more connections and opportunities allowed Luke to help with music for Pokémon - a franchise that has brand recognition around the world and was being developed into a TV series in Japan. Luke recalls how the Lord began using these connections in the production world to open doors for Gospel conversations. One night while having dinner in downtown Tokyo with famous artists and composers from all around the country, Luke was asked about his ministry-focused visa. This was a rare opportunity in a setting with people otherwise uninterested in Christianity. Luke shares, “The whole time I could see God’s hand in guiding the entire thing.”

Connecting in a New Kind of “Neighborhood”

By Lorena de la Rosa and Suzanne Pearson • 13 Jun, 2024

Through creative arts and other forms of innovative outreach, “The Neighborhood” is creating connections to the Gospel and the love of Jesus. CONNECTION. It’s a common word with powerful implications. Dictionary.com defines connection as a joining or linking together; a relationship between people or objects that unites or binds them together. God has created each of us with a deep need for connection with Him as well as connection with others. Hebrews 10:24-25 speaks to this, as the writer exhorts, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” This God-given need for connection lies at the heart of a creative and innovative ministry in Japan known as “The Neighborhood.” TEAM Japan global worker, Kelly and her family created The Neighborhood as a place where connections are formed through creative arts, educational opportunities, and simply just providing a space for people to be together. A Family Calling The journey to the creation of The Neighborhood began over 5,000 miles away from Tokyo, in California where Kelly, her husband Jeff, and their five children were living. The kids were the first to sense God’s calling to missions, and asked why their family wasn’t serving in this way. How Kelly and her family came to TEAM is a God-story in and of itself. “God placed a TEAM Japan worker at our lunch table the same week that the kids posed that question to us,” Kelly recalls. “We had never heard of TEAM and so we thought, ‘let’s check this out.’ After that, God just kept confirming that we were supposed to be here.” After a period of fundraising and with much excitement, the family of seven moved to Japan in 2014. For the first five years, Kelly and Jeff served as a part of other TEAM ministry initiatives, but they began to sense a stirring for something new. Creating The Neighborhood Kelly and her family truly have a deep gift for hospitality, and regularly opened up their home to others they met in Tokyo. They saw a great need for people to have a place to gather and connect, and they wondered what doors the Lord might be opening for them to meet that need. “About a year before we were to return the States on home assignment, we were just really thinking about our future in Japan,” Kelly says. “We saw a need for people to have a ‘third place’ – a place that’s not home and it’s not work. They didn’t have a church community or any other place where they could meet people and just connect.” Kelly goes on to explain that in Japan, the culture is such that people don’t generally invite each other into their homes, but as her family did so, people embraced that opportunity. “This idea formed in all of our hearts of a student ministry center – a place where we can create community and learning,” says Kelly. “It was born out of what we were already doing in our home, but seeing how we could expand it and have better space.” God’s Provision What happened next is a true testament to God’s provision. Kelly, Jeff, and the kids returned to the States and began sharing their vision for The Neighborhood with their supporters and churches who responded generously. Upon returning to Japan, the search was on for the right space. “We had a Christian realtor that we told our dream to, and he just went looking for it,” Kelly recalls. When the realtor found a 5-story apartment building, he said, “It’s kind of out of your budget but it has what you need and want.” The Lord provided the funds and the family moved into the space in November 2019. They now occupy all but the ground floor, with living space for their family as well as classrooms, areas to study or hang out, and guest rooms for exchange students or others who need a place to stay overnight. The first floor is occupied by a pizza shop – a welcome amenity for the many groups and students who visit The Neighborhood. “It’s very convenient!” Kelly says with a laugh. The Neighborhood began to see lots of activity right away until the pandemic hit in early 2020. During the height of the quarantine, Kelly and Jeff used the time to redecorate the space and plant gardens outside the building. Then as the restrictions eased, they invited individual students or families over for meals and fellowship. It wasn’t until March 2023 that The Neighborhood was able to fully open again as intended. Kelly shares that despite the setbacks of COVID, the Lord continued to provide the funds to pay the rent.