There seems to be certain key moments in a person’s life when the stark reality of a situation becomes clear; a moment when time seems to stand still and the memory of where we were and what we were doing is seared into our minds. One such moment for us happened in 2000. We were on a ministry trip to Xingjian, the north-west province of China dominated by a dozen Islamic people groups. While there we had a spare afternoon were our group decided to spend a few hours doing what foreigners are expected to do. We went shopping at the Erdaoqiao Market, the largest retail and wholesale market for ethnic minority goods in Urumqi.
It was during the month of Ramadan when Muslims the world over fast every day until sunset. As we neared the end of our shopping excursion we could see the outskirts of the massive sprawling city of Urumqi, home to 4 million people. All of a sudden as the sun went down a loud cacophony of noise swarmed all around us. The loudspeakers of thousands of mosques across the city all started in unison, calling Muslims to prayer and announcing that the fasting for the day had come to an end and people could now eat and drink.
In that poignant moment we were struck with an awful awareness of the lostness of the Muslim world, with over a billion people blinded by their man made religion and self-righteous legalism, heading to hell with little or no knowledge of Jesus, the only hope for their eternal salvation. For some minutes the novelty of looking at the Mosques vanished and a tremendous burden for the lost Muslim world enveloped us. Oh, how God loves the Muslims! He longs to give them a changed heart, washed in the Blood of His Son. He longs to be a loving shepherd to the millions of families, little Muslim boys and girls, who are trapped in hopeless darkness. The One who said he would leave 99 sheep that are safe to rescue one that is lost, so He loves the Muslims that He gave his life, that whoever would believe in Him would not perish, but have eternal life!
Since Islamic terrorism sprung to prominence in the West several years ago I sense that many Christians have a kind of hopeless attitude towards Muslims. Many figure they are impossible to reach, while some even view them as evil and not deserving of God’s grace. This, of course, is just the point. None of us deserve God’s grace. The only thing you and me deserve is hell. We want to encourage you not to give up on the Muslim world, because Jesus hasn’t! In fact, great things are happening in unexpected ways throughout the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
The gospel is going forward and tens of thousands of Muslims are being exposed to the life of Christ every day. In every single Muslim country the church is growing – not in huge numbers, yet slowly and surely. God is being glorified, and the nations of this world are becoming the nations of the Lord! “The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever.’” (Revelation 11:15). There will surely be worshippers from every single tribe, language, nation and people around the throne of the Lamb of God (Revelation 5:7-9), including from the thousands of Muslim ethnic groups!
If God is able to reach fanatical Muslims in China in the most dire and anti-Christian atmosphere imaginable, then be encouraged! God is able to reach them everywhere, and He is able to reach into your own community, and your own needy heart. The Lord Jesus is still busy winning the lost to His Father, and seeing people’s hearts renewed and made pure. This is surely Good News for us all!
China - in His image 