New Believers at Risk
There’s a battle going on in the Middle East, more than just the political battles reported on network news. As more people are coming to faith in Christ through the media ministry of Back to God Ministries International, our staff—and the new believers—face serious risk.
“We have been receiving requests from some ‘listeners’ and chat room members to tell them more details about those who with whom they connect through our website,” reports BTGMI Arabic ministry leader. “They want names, addresses, nationalities. We ignore the requests because we know that some are spies for radical Islamic groups.”
We’ve been seeing a growing number of visitors to our website chat room in response to the Dardasha radio broadcast. Many are Muslim seekers asking honest questions about faith, the Bible, and Jesus Christ.
“MT” from Yemen wrote, “I need to learn more about what Christianity teaches about life after death. There are many confusing and disturbing ideas and teachings in Islam.” Posting those words of doubt puts MT’s life at risk, especially if his identity were to be discovered. Yet he is honestly searching for truth, and our chat room staff was able to engage him in a secure conversation about the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ.
“AB” who lives in Egypt heard our broadcast, accessed our website resources, and testified, “After many struggles I have come to the conclusion that what the Injeel (Gospel) teaches about religion is the truth. I now fully believe that Issa (Jesus) is true and full Word and Spirit of God for all human beings.” Even in a country like Egypt, where the constitution provides for freedom of belief, the Government places restrictions on these rights in practice. Islam is the official state religion, and Shari'a (Islamic law) is the primary source of legislation. AB’s testimony puts his life at risk.
“Please pray for groups of believers who meet secretly for Bible study and prayer in places like Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Algeria,” asks Back to God Arabic ministry leader. Many of these believers also look to our website for discipleship resources.
“SB” sent these words of gratitude: “I want to greet you on behalf of all the brothers and sisters in our group. We thank God for what you do and are learning a lot from dardasha7.com. The books and articles about the study of Al-Kitab (the Bible) are very valuable to all who are not only new to faith in the Savior, but also to those who lead the teaching.”
Faith groups like these are very supportive to new believers, but because of the risks we are extremely cautious about connecting listeners who inquire about discipleships groups.
Please pray for wisdom for our staff in the Middle East as they respond to and disciple those who visit our ministry chat room. Pray that God would continue to use the Arabic outreach of Back to God Ministries International to serve the needs of these brothers and sisters in Christ.
Back to God Ministries partners with Words of Hope (the media ministry of the Reformed Church in America) and MERF (Middle East Reformed Fellowship) for Arabic-language outreach in the Middle East.
