Posts by: Staff Writer

Hockey is an exciting sport! In fact, the games are known for engendering disputes and violence – both on the ice and among spectators.

Most hockey violence is unavoidable: players hurl across the ice at top speeds resulting in high-impact collisions. Pucks are propelled to tremendous speeds by sticks which could serve as weapons in peasant uprisings. Woe unto those who get into the path of either!

Dr. Cynthia’s mother was Canadian with a typical fondness for hockey. Understandably, several members of the family play hockey. As a result, not only have they dedicated much of their free time to games and practices – after school and summer camps – but their bodies bear the scars.

 Broken bones and teeth, a ripped ear, and concussions with overnight hospital stays were taken as part and parcel of playing – even for teens. After decades of playing, a brother needed hip replacements because they were worn out from forceful skating.

Being a mother, aunt, and medical doctor, Dr. C recoils at such injuries for a mere game. Her dismay is in stark contrast to what one nephew told her a few days before he left town to join a minor league hockey team,

“I expect to get broken bones and teeth, and head and flesh injuries. But then, I play hockey.”

His casual acceptance of bodily injury shocked Dr. C. She couldn’t help thinking then, and still now, that Christians are such wimps in comparison to hockey players!

How many of us say, “Yes, I expect broken bones and injuries, but then, I’m a Christian?” or “I am an extreme sport Christian and do outreach, so I know I’ll get hurt.”

No! In America we never expect such kickback from practicing or sharing our faith. Even Dr. C admits she has had very little physical persecution.

As we reflect on the dedication of hockey players and the risks that they take for sport, let’s ask ourselves, “Are we willing to take risks for our Savior?”

Did you know that several times in history Christians came close to Muslim leaders and were invited to stay and teach their people, but left? If they had stayed with Muslims, how might the world be a different place now?

Let’s look at three examples:

SAINT FRANCIS: is famous for his gentleness and love of animals. In 1219 A.D. Francis crossed battle lines to take the gospel to Muslims. He was captured, insulted, beaten, and nearly killed. But he reached his goal: the Sultan of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria – al Malik al Kamil.

Francis showed love for the Sultan. But he was also bold. He preached the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Because Francis had suffered to deliver this message, the sultan defied his imams and refused to behead him.

Francis stayed there a few days. The sultan implored him to stay longer. But Francis left to write up the rules for the Franciscan order – and he also wrote a manifesto for evangelizing Muslims. The church accepted his rules, but it smothered his manifesto. Muslim evangelism was shelved for centuries.

MARCO POLO: The second example occurred a few years later on the other side of the globe where Marco Polo, his father and uncle spent years in the court of the Mongol Chinese Emperor Kublai Khan.

The Great Khan had an enormous realm which included peoples of many races and religions. Despite his violent past, the khan was always looking for ways to better his kingdom. Himself an idolator, Kublai Khan nevertheless was interested in all the religions in his ream. Islam, he felt, provided a legal basis for the practice of vices that he did not want in his empire. He decided that Christianity was the best of all for the fairness of its teachings and the lives of its people.

And so, he requested that the Polo family return to Italy and have the pope send to him 100 missionaries to teach him and his people, answer their questions, and lead mass conversions into the faith.

Sadly, the Catholic Church lost this opportunity. The request came during a change of popes. When they finally sent missionaries, only two went. Guess what? They turned back fearing war – far from China. In this backwards situation, the Polos, who were only merchants, had more courage than the missionaries. Despite the risks, they went back to China.

Kublai Khan said if they had sent the missionaries, he would bring more Christians into the fold than those already in it around the world!

MARY FISHER: She never attained the fame of St. Francis or Marco Polo, but then she wasn’t trying to. Like St. Francis, Mary also sensed God calling her to share the gospel with the sultan of her day. Already persecuted in England and America, she was prepared for difficulties. After many adventures, in 1658, Mary arrived on foot in Turkey where the sultan was stationed with 20,000 men.

Boldly, Mary claimed to be an emissary from the Most High God. She claimed and persisted and claimed and persisted until finally, the Grand Vizier allowed her to meet Sultan Mahomet IV.

Mary shared salvation through Jesus. Impressed, the sultan invited her to stay; with his people and teach them more. But as with St. Francis, she also departed. The regional English authority then forbid further Muslim evangelism in the region.

Did these brief encounters bring any benefit? After all, the leaders and their people did not clearly convert.

Actually yes! Even these brief encounters made a difference. Sultan al Kamil and Mahomet IV treated Christians better after his meeting with St. Francis. One report even claims that al Kamil made a deathbed conversion.

What if St. Francis had stayed with the Sultan? What if 100 missionaries had gone to Kublai Khan? What if the church had been more interested in Muslim evangelism than monasticism? What if Mary Fisher had stayed? What if others had followed in their steps? Isn’t it possible that the world would be different now if they had?

Muslims are willing to lose their lives to promote Islam. What risks are we willing to take to share the gospel? We are assured of heaven. Can we be faithful where others have failed?

“In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths… Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations…Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Proverbs 3:6, Matthew 28:19, Joshua 1:9

Has anyone tried to discourage you from going on outreach or mission work?

We have found it’s not uncommon for well-meaning people to try to stop us from what we think God is calling us to do. How do we approach this? Dr. Cynthia addresses the situation in this video.

Dr. C starts with the example of when a local missionary told her and another volunteer not to go to a mosque, because it was too radical and dangerous. The team was in a strange big city and already nervous. Getting this call shortly before they left was very unsettling. Since the missionary was experienced and knew the city well, naturally his word was to be respected. But the team was committed and had distribution material ready to go. What to do now?

Cynthia and Joanna prayed more. They reflected that they had:

    * come to the city for outreach

    * researched the opportunity and prepared materials

    * prayed seriously about it for days

    * and were doing this for God, not in any way for themselves

They decided that all this being the case, it would be best if they followed through with the outreach.

Praise God that they did! The Muslim worshippers were very open and accepted hundreds of Jesus videos. Some people went back and reported inside the mosque that Christians were distributing outside (this is usual), so an imam came out to confront them. But he was for the most part respectful. He stayed for over an hour and asked Dr. C many questions, which she answered. His questions also gave her more insight to the Muslim way of thinking.

A similar thing happened when an Arab missionary told Joanna and Cynthia not to do an outreach in a Muslim country. But the two were convinced that it was God’s will and went ahead, with success.

From these events and others like them, we have learned in our ministry that when we step out of the box, people – even good Christians – will try to stop us. This is usually because they are thinking first of our safety, or an inconvenience it may cause them.

Mark 8:33 is a perfect verse for these situations:

“You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

Therefore, WE ADVISE:

    * pray in advance about outreach and other ministry decisions

    * sincerely seek God’s will, not your own

    * research and adequately prepare

    * listen carefully and respectfully to advice from others

    * but realize that usually people trying to stop you are reacting without thought

DECIDE: If the person obstructing you has not given as much prayer and submission to the will of God as you have, continue in faith along the path that God is directing. If they have bathed their advice in dedicated prayer, weigh their advice more heavily.

Another “Oh No! Don’t Go!” response is one that every Christian can expect from their family and friends. Again, these people are speaking with good intentions; but they are usually not seeing the situation with a kingdom view.

Dr. C tells of a volunteer whose father-in-law had a heart attack the morning that she was leading an outreach team. Her husband was understandably upset. His father was an unbeliever who had rejected the gospel for decades. The husband told her, “If he dies it will be your fault that he goes to hell!”

Wow! How would you like to hear that?

With little time to decide, the volunteer prayed for guidance. God gave her a wise reply, “If you are getting the plane tickets right now, I will cancel the event. Otherwise, if you are waiting, I will finish this commitment first.” It was the right decision. The father lived; many Muslims got the gospel and new team members were trained.

We hope that our experiences will make it easier for you to accept when these kinds of obstacles come your way. We hope that you will be able to put in perspective the advice of those who would discourage you from doing God’s will, and give you tools for making the correct decision.

What is in a name?” In this video Dr. Cynthia encourages us to look for the meaning inside names and use it to share truth and teach. We can do this with our family and friends; but it is especially helpful for teaching our international friends and “pre-disciples” from Muslim, Sikh, and Hindu backgrounds.

PLACE NAMES: In the Western United States, many places have the names of saints. If living near one of these cities, it is easy to start conversations about what these people did, like St. James for San Diego, or St. Francis for San Francisco. When the time is right it can be an opening to explain to a “pre-disciple” differences in denominations – such as that Catholics pray to saints, but Protestants do not.

USE SACRAMENTO: Sacramento, the capital city of California, is not its most famous or largest, but it is a special favorite of Dr. C’s. Through this name, she explains that it refers to the sacrament of communion, and how Christians use it to remember the sacrifice of Jesus’ body and blood for us, and the gospel. After explaining it in English, she once called an Arab co-worker to repeat it in Arabic to a new student from Saudi Arabia. A few years later, that student became a Christian.

Even if you do not live in California, you can use place names to lead to Sacramento and the gospel. For example, Corpus Christi in Texas, means the body of Christ in Spanish. If you leave on the East Coast there may be fewer religious city names, but you can transition from explaining that English settlers usually named places in the New World after those in the Old World, like New York or Plymouth, whereas the Spanish used religious names. Then you can point to cities with saint names, ending with Sacramento.

PERSONAL NAMES: Muslim names, besides Mohammed, often are the Arabic version of Bible names, and these make a good bridge to the Bible and/or gospel. You can point them to passages in the Bible about them. So, if you want to talk to Muslims, it would be good to learn the Quran’s version of these names.

For example, men’s names:

• Abraham = Ibrahim
• Moses = Musa
• Joseph = Yusef
• Job = Ayub
• Soloman = Salman
• Jonah = Yunas
• Yahia – John the Baptist
• Essa or Isa = Jesus

Probably the most important names to respond to are YAHIA and ESSA. For Yahia, Dr. C shares how important John the Baptist was – that he was the prophet sent to prepare the way for Jesus, and to confirm that he was the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Yahia was one of the 3 top proofs that Jesus gave for his ministry in John 5 – a living prophet who testified for him. No other prophet has had this, especially not Mohammed (be careful how you say this to a new Muslim friend).

With Essa (or Isa), you can gently challenge and suggest “Wouldn’t you like to read the words of Jesus in the Injeel?” You are in America (or Europe) and can easily do that. I could get you an Injeel (New Testament) in your language!

Women’s names are perhaps less powerful but can still connect.

For example:

• Miriam or Mary = Maryam
• Sarah = Sara
• Hagar = Hajar

With Maryam you can connect to Mary in the Bible, and share the Christmas story, especially Luke 1:35 which explains what “Son of God” means.

Hannah is similar to the Muslim name Hanah, although the characters might not be the same, it can be used as a bridge to the story of the birth of Samuel.

SALT SHAKER Method: We like to teach internationals that we mentor, or have relationships with, through things in everyday life – like ordinary activities, and events. This is what Jesus did in his teaching: he drew the people’s attention to things that surrounded them, like flowers and sheep, or common occupations, like farming and fishing.

Likewise, this is what we do when pointing to the meaning behind places, and personal names. The Salt Shaker seasons as with salt, bringing a short but important message. We call that a Type 2 Bridge.

TYPE 1 & 2 BRIDGES: In closing, Dr. C explains that names can help us build bridges to connect with a Muslim (Type 1 Bridge) and connect that Muslim to the gospel (Type 2 Bridge). We talk more about these bridges in our BUILDING BRIDGES lesson.