Christians Use Ramadan for Muslim OutreachCBN News
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Many Christians see the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as an opportunity to pray for the Muslim world, and to launch their own 30 days of prayer and fasting.
The Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins Aug. 1 this year. Ramadan requires daily fasts of food and water and Muslims see it as an opportunity to draw near to their god.
But Michael Youssef, who hosts the television program "Leading the Way," suggests Islam does not offer the personal relationship that Christianity has.
"The most desperate need of any human being who doesn't know God is they want to know that they can really relate to God. In Islam, you can't relate to their god. He is so far removed," he said.
Youssef's KINGDOM SAT channel broadcasts the gospel to more than 60 Arab countries.
He said it's important that Christians pray for the Muslim community during Ramadan.
"I believe that is a prayer that Christians, particularly during the month of Ramadan, must be praying that God would reveal Himself to them," he said. "That that longing in their heart to know God will become a reality when they come to His son, Jesus."
The 30-Days Prayer Network has an online guide for Christians wanting to pray and reach out to Muslims during Ramadan. Visit the group's website for more.
CBN News also spoke with Tom Doyle, vice president and Middle East director for e3 Partners", a group that often does ministry and outreach in Muslim nations.
Islam is a fast-growing religion and there are nearly 50 Muslim-majority countries in the world.
In some of those countries, people are oppressed by the strict interpretation of Islamic law imposed on society. Women often suffer the worst treatment.
"Women in Islam are treated as half of a man," Youssef explained. "Just by virtue of making women less than a man is very oppressive in itself, let alone placing them in the back and not allowing them to drive, in Saudi Arabia for example."
"They have to be seen basically as a piece of flesh so they have to cover themselves," he added.
But Youssef said God is on the move in the Muslim world and they are turning to Christ like never before.
"We just talked to an imam, one of the leaders in the mosque, who saw Jesus in a dream and woke up and got into the call number on our channel the KINGDOM SAT," Youssef recalled.
"He talked to a person who led him to Christ," he said. "And now he is a wonderful servant of the living God."
"This just happened on Good Friday this year," he continued. "And I could tell you many, many stories like this."
Testimonies like this inspire Christians around the world to keep praying for Muslims. Youssef said that Ramadan is an important reminder that the time for Christians to act is now
"We need to pray for them because the only way that wall of Islam will be broken is through the power of prayer as men and women come to the truth," Youssef said. "And there are hundreds of thousands of them coming to Christ."
"For a long time, it was done secretly," he said. "But now, some of them are coming in the open, so the wall is beginning to crack."
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