God Opens Amazing Doors in a Resistant Community

This exciting story was told to me by a YWAM Frontier Missions trainer from South Asia. “We were living in an Islamic community. I had put my son in a school run by a Muslim lady. Every day I did prayer walks in that area of my city, asking God to work among the unreached people groups there. As I walked, I saw so many nursery schools and kindergartens that were run by Muslims. I prayed that God would one day bring a Christian kindergarten to that area.

“Some years later, we had planned to run a School of Islamic Studies (SIS). The SIS is specialized training for YWAMers who want to reach out to Muslims. When we didn’t get enough applicants to make it worthwhile to run the school, we felt we needed to refocus. We asked God what to do. We decided to train people through a Neighbors Extension Course. It would be a shorter training specially designed to serve local believers. We would equip those who wanted to reach their Muslim neighbors. Our staff shared about the course in the various churches they attended in the city. Seven people signed up for the course.

A Trainee God Had Chosen

“One the first day, we excitedly met the different students. When one lady introduced herself, she mentioned that she was the principal of a Kindergarten. It was located in the very area I had done prayer walks! She had a staff made up of six Muslim ladies and one Hindu lady. There were about 75 children in the school.

“As she took part in the training she embraced the vision of reaching the Muslims around her. She began to plan what she would do to share Christ with those she met every day in her normal work.

“After the training time completed, we wanted to be sure to follow up with the students. To do this we decided to meet with them every 15 days. In that time, we had a Discovery Bible Study together and practiced the principles we had taught them. Each time we met, we could see them growing in their understanding of God’s heart to disciple the nations. We used the Muslim term for this kind of meeting- it was called a jamat.

A Holiday Idea

“As Christmas time approached, this lady shared an idea. The holiday was an opportunity to share more with the children and their families. She wanted to run a Vacation Bible School type of program for them, though we would not call it that.

“We got behind this idea and recruited two Sunday School teachers from our church and one other lady. Eventually, two other teachers also joined our group in preparing for this program.

Training the Staff First

It would be best to involve the staff of the school in the program, we decided. To do this, we first ran training for the staff. We shared the stories which would be shared in the program with the kids. We had decided to emphasize the story of Jesus’ birth and some stories of His power to heal and do miracles. This would help them understand that there was great authority and power when we prayed in the name of Jesus. He responds with love and action when we call on His name.

We decided to demonstrate for them how to pray in a way that was adapted to Muslim culture. We used terms that would make sense to them and not put up barriers of resistance.

As we were training the staff, there was a man who was sick that we prayed for in this way. He was healed! This went a long way in building the faith of everyone involved.

Something of Great Significance

The program began. For several days we worked together to teach the children and their families about Jesus. The staff prepared a drama together with the kids that told the story of His miraculous birth. On the day the drama was performed, the parents and guardians of the kids came to watch. The room packed out with about 150-200 people.

We had then asked one brother to share a bit more about Jesus birth. He told how the angel appeared and announced His birth to the shepherds. We were a little nervous about how the crowd would respond. But when they heard this, we were surprised to see that the audience burst into loud clapping. They understood that something of great significance had taken place.

For most of these children and their parents, this was the first time they had ever heard about the life and love of Jesus. It is a beginning and we are continuing to follow up. We hope to start a Discovery Bible Study (DBS) with the staff who participated in the program with such open hearts. We believe one day many of them will choose to follow the way of Jesus.”

Praise God for the incredible way He answers our prayers. Years before, this Frontier Missions worker asked God to bring Christians to start a school in her area. Her prayers were heard. God responded and led a woman she’d never met to start a kindergarten in that very place. He then sovereignly brought her to the training and put this staff person in contact with her. As she equipped and cast vision, the lady responded. Now many seeds have been sown and hearts are responding to the message of the gospel.

Do you have Muslims, or people of another faith, in your city? Why not do as this worker did and start praying regularly for God to work? Then begin to train others who are interested in how to share the gospel with them in a culturally appropriate way.

YWAM Frontier Missions offers training on how to share the good news with Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists. Find out more about the School of Islamic Studies or School of Hindu Studies here.