"MIRACULOUS MOVEMENTS" by Jerry Trousdale -- Chapter 9

 "MIRACULOUS MOVEMENTS" by Jerry Trousdale  (published in 2012)

Chapter 9  "OF WHOM THE WORLD IS NOT WORTHY"

Learning from Heroes and Heroines of Faith


If any Muslim is going to follow Christ , he will suffer.  I will advise him to depend on the Lord, not on men.  I will tell him to pray 
much.  He has to be strong in his faith because eternal life is awaiting him.  The lions are awaiting, but you must love them.
                                                --A leader of pioneer teams among Muslims


THE MIRACLE AT THE IMAM'S HOUSE

In one community, an imam named Sa'id became a Christ follower and began sharing his new faith in the community.  Neighboring
Muslims demanded that he abandon this new religion, but he refused.  So the threats began.

    Sa'id had heard that his life was at risk and began to pray about whether or not to abandon his home and escape to a safe
place.  He finally decided to make preparations to leave.  But the night before he planned to leave, a group of Muslims surrounded
his home and set fire to the thatched roof.  The flames began to spread rapidly, and the noise of the animals staying near the house
alerted Sa'id to what was happening.  Sa'id and his family were nearly trapped by the flames, but they narrowly escaped and rushed to rescue the animals near the house.

    Sa'id looked up.  Half of his roof was gone, and the rest of the house was being enveloped by the flames.  He had seconds to get
a safe distance away from the burning house, but before he did, he remembered the stories of God rescuing His people from trouble,
so Sa'id prayed, "Holy God, I don't have anyone to come and help me now.  So please help me!"  Within seconds, the fire extinguished
itself, leaving only half of the roof destroyed and the house still standing.  Amazed and in shock, Sa'id brought his family back inside
and spent the balance of the night there.

    At first light, the neighbors saw the destruction and were sure that the family must have died in the fire.  But Sa'id and his family
emerged unharmed, and the neighbors realized in amazement that, miraculously, the fire had stopped in the middle of the thatched
(and very flammable) roof.  When Sa'id shared what had happened, how God had spared his family, animals, and home, the 
community knew that the God of Sa'id was able to save them too.  Many of the community became Christ followers after that, and
the persecution of Christians in the area stopped completely.  


THEY GAVE SEVEN ANSWERS TO "WHY RISK YOUR LIFE?"

I had the privilege recently of meeting some courageous men whose lives were in danger for spreading the gospel in a particularly
volatile Muslim region.  I knew from the first minutes with them that they would do whatever Jesus asked them to do.  They were 
all former imams, and they came to be Christ followers by questioning some of the things they read in the Qur'an.  When they turned
to the Bible for more information, their lives changed forever.  Later, when these men discovered the principles of Disciple Making
Movements, their own movement began to accelerate.

    Today, you would see no sign that there is a single Christian in their people group, as the men have chosen to avoid drawing
attention to their faith in Christ in order to have more opportunities of safely sharing the gospel with Muslims in their community,
but thousands of underground Christ followers faithfully worship God there in secret meetings.  These intrepid leaders have already
begun the process of taking the gospel of Jesus into different regions of the Islamic world that we would not think possible.

    All of these men have been in prison at one time or another for following Jesus, some of them for long periods of time.  Some of
their colleagues are still in prison after many years.  Those who were with us on that day face high risks of being arrested every day,
 yet they persist and are not discouraged.

    We asked these men why they remain in that dangerous region, putting their lives at risk by continuing to frequent their 
mosques to find new people of peace, facilitating hundreds of illegal, underground assemblies of Christians, when they could 
easily move to a safer area and live openly for Christ.  Here are their answers, in their own words:

    We could leave the Muslim community and live comfortably amidst other Christians, but we would not be fulling the
    Great Commission if we did that.  By putting our lives at risk, we can reach out to our fellow Muslims.  And this is an
    unfinished task!  There are more than two billion Muslims who need to hear the gospel.  But more important, we have 
    a command from God.  We know that we put our lives in danger, but we accept that.  For the sake of obeying the command
    of God, we pursue this vision.

    Mankind is created in God's image, and we are very precious in God's eyes.  The soul of one man is very precious to Him.
    If by putting our lives in danger, we can rescue a soul made in His image, then it is worth that cost.

    We have a unique love for these people, because we all came from them.  It is we who can understand them, and we know 
    that Muslim people have a great unsatisfied hunger for salvation.

    Every day their daily prayers open with, "Show us the right path,"  from the first chapter of the Qur'an.  We are the answer
    to that prayer!  We want to be there to show them the right path.

    Those people who accepted Christ before us lost everything.  They changed their names, their dress, their tribes, their people,
    and much more.  And that is genuine suffering, being alienated from their own people and losing their own identities.    Those
    people are persecuted, not just for the cross of Christ, but also for changing their culture.  God's word does not tell us
    to do this, and we only bring suffering on ourselves and on others by doing something that God did not command.

    In prison, we get a double blessing.  First, we get to stand and tell others that we are followers of Isa, and we get to tell them
    the truth of God's Word.  Second, we see many leaders of violent Muslim groups in prison, and we get to share the gospel 
    the gospel with them.  Then they get released and become committed leaders of Isa, sharing the gospel with people we couldn't 
    reach otherwise.  So now many Muslim leaders are saying, "Keep them out of prison, because they just multiply there!"


THE BIBLE AND PERSECUTION

The Bible clearly teaches that persecution is an integral part of being a follower of Jesus Christ.  In fact, the New Testament actually
addresses the subject of persecution more than it addresses the subject of love.  Christians living in the West have been tremendously
blessed for centuries with the freedom to follow Christ without suffering any dramatic persecution or hardship, but that blessing
has perhaps come at a price.  Persecution tends to refine and strengthen faith, and even create an environment of greater growth.
And, in many cases, Christians' responses to persecution can result in the salvation of others, often including the perpetrators.

    Of course, no one wants to suffer.  A healthy Christian does not go around looking for trouble, trying to get himself martyred.  
However, it is not possible to describe the amazing willingness of those who have suffered grievously for the gospel to again and 
again put themselves in situations where they suffer for the privilege of rescuing a few more Muslims from their despair to freedom 
in Jesus.

    We have documented story after story of firsthand experiences in such suffering:  people who have lost homes, loved ones,
and personal freedom in exchange for souls.  We have known many who have endured severe beatings and imprisonment for the sake
of the gospel, many more who accept the fact that their lives might end tomorrow.  These men and women have learned to imitate
Christ, "who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of
the throne of God.  For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged
in your souls"  (Hebrews 12:2-3).

    In one case, we have seen a Christian leader in a country with less than one thousand known Christians tormented to the
 point that he reverted to Islam and thus damaged the cause of the gospel greatly.  But unlike that one tragic case, we observe
awe-inspiring courage of many thousands of new Christians enduring very difficult persecutions for the sake of their Lord.  Believers
whom we interviewed have watched as their homes were burned to the ground by angry Muslim mobs.  One leader's family had hands
severed, many had their spouses and children taken away, and others have been thrown in prison without a trial and left there for
many months or years.

    In some very challenging Muslim areas of Africa, many Christ followers are martyred every year.  And as this chapter was being 
written, several new Christ followers who hosted a low-profile Disciple Making Movement training were tragically martyred after the
event.  For our brothers and sisters, most of them former Muslims, who are taking the good news of God's love to more Islamic
communities, there is often an enormous sacrifice required for that privilege.


THE CHURCH THAT WAS SUDDENLY THERE


At about the time that Sa'id's story (with which we opened this chapter) was taking place, another Muslim community in that
 same region discovered that four people among them were telling the stories of the Bible and speaking of Jesus.  A leader of the 
community had become a Christ follower, along with his family, and he had shared the gospel with another man, who in turn took the 
gospel to his sons, who then went to another family, and soon there were many people sharing their faith in the town.  

    And that's when the local officials decided to stop this movement.  The four men were arrested and forced to stand
in an area of the town center for ten days awaiting their public punishment for abandoning Islam.  The homes of these men
were damaged and some were burned, and the men were forced to stand all day for many days in the sun.  When the day of 
punishment came, the whole town assembled.  Some people had urged the local officials to have mercy on the accused, and
the leaders feared that there might be more people in the community who were secret Christ followers, so they said, "Today these
men will receive their judgment for leaving Islam.  But if there are any of you who are also following Isa al Masih, then you should
let that be known and join their punishment.  We will discover who you are, either way."  

    No one moved.  A hush had fallen over the crowd, as people shifted uneasily on their feet, some impatient to get on with the
spectacle, others fearful and undecided.  The seconds ticked away. . . then a hand was raised in the middle of the crowd.  A collective
gasp was heard as an elderly man pushed his way to the front.

    "I also am a follower of Isa al Masih!"  he declared boldly.

    The officials gnashed their teeth in fury, but before they could speak, a young man on the other side of the crowd raised his hand.
Then two women raised their hands, then a young married couple.  And almost instantly, hands shot up throughout the crowd.  The
leaders stood aghast:  half the community were secret believers in Jesus Christ!

    The officials stared at one another, not knowing what to do or say.  One of the bolder officials finally put on a stern expression
and challenged the crowd:  "Are all of you with these four?"  He pointed to the doomed men.
    "Yes!"  was the unanimous chorus.

    The leader looked around in consternation as half the village stepped forward, their hands sill raised.  "How is this possible?"  
he cried.  He turned to his fellow leaders, hoping for guidance on what to do.  "there have been no outsiders here to bring this about,"  he said.  
    "Well,"  answered one of his fellow leaders, "we cannot do anything now. . . can we?"
    
    The perplexed officials separated the people and said to the Christians, "Since you have made your choice, you can no longer 
attend the mosque.  But no one will harm you.  You can have your own mosque, and you are now free to practice your religion
in a mosque of Isa al Masih."  And that is what the Christ followers call the place where they now openly worship God.


THE SHEIKH WHO ARGUED WITH JESUS

Jamil was an influential Muslim sheikh in an urban area of Africa.  His specialty was working with teenage boys, teaching from
the Qur'an and training them in the countless daily rituals required by Islam.  But he also taught them more practical things, such
as how to persecute the infidels who preach Christianity.  He would frequently gather a select group of boys late at night, and they 
would travel through the sections of the city where Christians lived, throwing rocks through their windows and vandalizing their homes.
"If you attack a Christian,"  he would tell the boys, "you will go straight to Allah when you die."  And the next morning, he would 
rejoin his teenaged followers and resume teaching them from the Muslim holy books

    One day, Jamil was scheduled to meet a large group of men in the middle of the night in order to go burn down a Christian church.
That afternoon, he had been training teenagers in the ways of Islam at the mosque, and he decided to take a nap until it was time to
burn the church.  But a deep sleep came over him, and with it came a dream.

    In Jamil's dream, he saw a huge stone sitting by itself.  As he watched, that stone began to change shape and grow taller, until
it took on the form of a man, a very handsome man who seemed to radiate light.  This man was looking straight into Jamil's eyes as
though he could see his very soul.

    "Do you know the Qur'an?"  the man suddenly asked in a loud voice.
    "Yes,"  said Jamil with some pride.  "I know the Qur'an."
    "Then answer me this:  who is Isa?"  the man demanded.
    "Isa is a man."
    "Can you show me where in the Qur'an it says that Isa is a man?"

    Jamil dreamed that he began turning page after page in the Qur'an, but he could not find any passage saying that Isa is a man.
It seemed as though he searched for a long time, but somehow, as is common in dreams, none of the words made any sense.  Then the glowing man spoke again.
    
    "So. . . you think you know the Qur'an?"
    "Yes,"  Jamil answered, but defensively this time.  "Yes, I do know the Qur'an!"
    "Then who is Mohammed?  Is Mohammed the way, or no?  Who is he?"
    "Yes,"  Jamil cried, delighted at knowing such an easy question.  "Our prophet is the way!  We go to heaven by his teaching!"
    "Then show me in the Qur'an where it say that Mohammed is the way."
    "Yes, I can show you that,"  answered Jamil.  But once again he searched in vain.

    This dream went on for some time with Jamil's confusion regarding the Qur'an growing.  Finally, Jamil awoke in the darkness.
He found a flashlight and began to read the Qur'an to see if what he had dreamed was true, and to his astonishment, all the verses
quoted by the man in the dream were accurate, even though he had no memory of reading them before.  To shorten our story, God 
led a disciple of Christ, a man who himself had once been a sheikh, into contact with Jamil, and this man explained the Scriptures 
to him and led him to salvation.

    But like Paul on the road to Damascus, Jamil's story didn't end with his salvation.  The man who had persecuted Christians
for their faith, who had threatened the very lives of believers, began to understand the principle of suffering for one's obedience
to Christ.  He had been a very influential sheikh in his Muslim community, and word spread quickly that he had become a Christian
follower.  Wherever he went in his city, people recognized him as "the sheikh who betrayed Islam,"  and he found himself shunned
and avoided, if he was fortunate.

    There were many times when Jamil went out in public and a group of angry Muslims would begin to follow him, waiting for an
opportunity to do violence.  On more than one occasion, he had to flee for his life under a shower of rocks and broken bottles.  Two
or three times, his family were awakened in terror to the sound of their windows being smashed.  "But the more they persecuted me,"
he observed, "the stronger my faith grew in Christ."

    As time passed, Jamil became convicted over the many teens whom he had led toward darkness when he'd been a sheikh, and he
began a ministry of preaching the gospel to those same young men.  Over a period of a few short months, more than half of those
teenagers became Christ followers themselves.  This alarmed the Muslim leaders in Jamil's city, and they began making announcements
in the mosque of five thousand people to harm or even kill Jamil for his "betrayal."  "If you find this man," they would cry, "kill him!  He
is misleading our women and children.  Wherever you find him, destroy him!"

    Late one night, Jamil stepped out of the home of another Christian where he'd been attending prayer meeting, and he stopped
short.  There were many people--hundreds, as it turned out--milling about on the streets and in alleyways, waiting for him to come
out.  He was very frightened, but he decided that it was better to make his way home than to go back inside, lest the mob burn down
the house and kill his fellow believers.  So he prayed, "Lord, let your will be done in my life,"  and started walking toward home.

    He did not get far.  Another knot of angry men emerged in front of him, brandishing sticks and clubs and blocking his path.
Jamil immediately found himself surrounded, as his enemies began picking up rocks.  There was a tense moment of silence, very
brief but long enough for Jamil to recognize a man that he'd known for many years.  Their eyes met, and the other man looked
ashamed.  Then the circle tightened as people got ready for the stoning.

    "Wait!"  someone shouted.  It was an old friend of Jamil's, a man whom we will call Mohammed.  "We do not need to kill him.  
Why should we kill him?  Let's just talk with him and tell him the truth about Allah.  He is a good man inside;  we can make him 
come back to Islam!"

    A murmur of dissent rippled through the crowd.  A burly man facing Jamil could see the fear in his eyes.  "No!"  he shouted.
"This man deserves to die!  He has betrayed Islam."  Some of the people nearest him chorused in agreement, hefting their rocks and
encouraging the speaker.  The crowd was becoming divided in its intentions, which only made the situation all the more volatile.
The burly man added one more incentive to violence.  "We have been commanded by the imams to kill him!  He will not return 
home tonight alive!" 

    And with that last thought still on his lips the burly man threw his stone at Jamil with all his strength.

    But Jamil ducked.

    The stone flew over his head and struck someone full in the face on the other side of the circle.  It was none other than Mohammed,
the very man who had urged for mercy for Jamil.  His knees buckled and he crumpled to the ground, blood pouring from his forehead. 
Instantly, the hostile circle surrounding Jamil divided itself into a second circle surrounding Jamil and another who knelt beside him: 
Mohammed's brother Ali. 

    "What have you done?"  Ali screamed at the crowd, leaping to his feet.  "Instead of correcting this man [pointing at Jamil], you end
up attacking my family!"  And he lunged forward, charging enraged at the man who threw the stone.  Instantly, Jamil's persecutors
forgot about him and turned on one another.  Pandemonium ensued, with men and women shoving, swinging, cursing, shouting,
trying to get away, and trying to strike out.

    And in the confusion, Jamil fled.  "The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,"  he later quoted, "My God, my strength,
in whom I will trust;  my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. . . He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who 
hated me, for they were too strong for me."  (Psalm 18: 2, 17)


THE COURAGE OF MUSLIM-BACKGROUND BELIEVERS TODAY

The narratives in this chapter give evidence to a simple truth:  new Muslim-background Christ followers in Africa are giving the
Christians of the world a standard of courage to strive for.  Their acts of courage are so many, it was difficult to choose which stories
to share.  In one region of Africa, extreme persecution of Christians is almost a daily affair.  In recent years, more than fifty different 
ministries adopted Disciple Making Movement principles and began to target that area, and today there are more than three hundred
new underground churches in that region.  Tragically, some of these new Christians have lost their lives, but that has only served to
increase the determination of their brothers and sisters in Christ.  These sorts of men and women are described by Scripture as those
"of whom the world was not worthy"  (Hebrews 11:38).

    When Muslims discover that God really loves them, no power in the world will stop them from sharing it with other Muslims.
I do not know any men and women of faith today who are more courageous than my former-Muslim brothers and sisters in Africa.
They are facing down persecution on a daily basis with a commitment to do whatever it takes to achieve the goal of seeing God
glorified among their brothers and sisters who are still in the mosque.