Monthly Archives: October 2025

It seemed like it would be weird to publish Muslim Connect on Halloween and not make mention of it. So I began composing in my head and quickly realized I was rewriting a post from seven years ago! Here it is, if you’re interested. I will say the asterisk reference in the title still makes me laugh! (Fair warning: You might not share my sense of humor.)

In much sadder news, a tactical shift in the two and a half year war in Sudan has resulted in an increase in atrocities. (“How long, O Lord?”) A retreat by the government military made way for the dominating paramilitary to move into the last key holdout city in the west part of the country. They (the Rapid Support Forces or RSF) celebrated the end of their 18 month siege of El Fashur with a fresh rampage of death and destruction. 

The near term outlook is not good and the stats are devastating: Perhaps as many as 150,000 killed, 12,000,000 displaced (including 4,000,000 refugees), 30,000,000 require urgent humanitarian aid, half of whom are children. 

Silver linings are few and hard to find. But there is this: The other guys who didn’t win the Nobel Peace Prize this year are the Sudanese Emergency Response Rooms. They are “a grassroots, community-led network that has become the backbone of the country’s humanitarian response amid war, displacement and state collapse. Building on local traditions of mutual aid, ERRs operate in all 18 states, providing healthcare, food assistance, education, civilian protection and psychosocial support where many international aid organizations cannot reach. Their work has sustained millions and champions a model of decolonized humanitarian aid that restores dignity and decision-making power to local communities.”

I suspect the Church has much to learn from ERRs and encourage you to look into their efforts and successes as we continue to pray for all of God’s truth and goodness to grow in Sudan, this land that he loves so much. (Here’s a link to a chatgpt overview with links to sources.)

I’m writing this morning on the seventh anniversary of rock star Eugene Peterson’s death. I love the fresh way he rendered the first chapter of John: 

The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn’t put it out.

The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.

These words resonate in my mind as we wrap up our Guatemala trip. Thank you to those who prayed. God heard and answered. 

As you probably know, whenever you venture outside your home culture, certain things, both good and bad, catch your eye. For me, coming from the beige, high desert of Colorado where you pretty much have to beg the ground to grow anything, I’m struck by the verdant splendor of this country. 

It seems grass will grow on any surface not washed weekly, the mountains are lush with life and, though Guatemalans are the second shortest people on earth, their corn is the tallest I’ve ever seen! (Which is something, coming from an Indiana boy!)

 And here’s the life that I love: Guatemalans are receiving and sharing the light that “darkness couldn’t put out.” In response to last week’s Muslim Connect, I learned of a Guatemalan student in the US taking steps to serve Muslims and of an international organization setting up a recruiting and sending office here to help Guatemalans move into Muslim neighborhoods around the world. Such good news. 

Remember back in the good old days, when all the cool missionaries came from England and the U.S.? We are now clearly in the “better now” days when workers go from all over to all over and God is continuing his good work of calling laborers into Muslim harvest fields. 

If you have moved into a Muslim neighborhood, if you’re sending others, if you’re praying Luke 10.2 prayers for laborers, good for you! We’re partnering in God’s “yes” to Jesus’s prayer request that God’s “kingdom come, [his] will be done on Earth as in Heaven.”

I’m writing this afternoon from the colossal IAH airport in Houston! Our family, some church friends and I are en route to a week of medical outreach, earthquake rebuilding and elderly care. We’ve been resourced on our way by the kind and generous gifts of many Muslim Connect readers. For this I’m very grateful. 

The dozen of us are joined in the gate area by at least two other mission teams (judging by the folks with matching Christian t-shirts!) and a couple of LDS missionaries (judging by the name tags that say “Elder Braden” and “Elder Jayden”) 

I’m confident we’re all doing God-ordained, helpful work (Well, maybe not Braden and Jayden!). But get this: If there are 20 of us on this flight, that puts the missionary to Guatemala resident ratio at roughly one to a million! If you’ve been around the mobilization world for a while, you’ll remember that was for a time the ratio of any workers among all Muslims globally. Of course there are additional scads of full time workers in Guatemala, as well as a vibrant healthy church. 

I believe with all my heart that God calls who he wants where he wants to do what he wants done. 

That said, we need more laborers to the Muslim world where the ratios are not so hopeful. Tons more! Maybe some Guatemalans! In fact, I’ll miss two of the favorite medicos from the place we’re going because they’re off in the Middle East scouting long term opportunities! May God connect them and use them as a vanguard of growing numbers of workers from Central America. And may some from somewhere find God leading them to the remaining 1500 unengaged peoples who still wait for the first ambassadors to arrive. 

As God brings us to mind, I’d value your prayers for God’s success for our group, for good health and good attitudes. 

Have you ever wracked your brain for the next thing to say, the next question to ask? You know, you’re trying to impress a young lady or guy. Or maybe, “If I asked the right insightful question right now, I will kill this interview!”

If you love Muslims, want them to find life in Jesus and have been nurturing some good friendships, you might find yourself thinking, “There’s a helpful, spiritual conversation waiting to happen with this friend, if I could just figure out how to turn the corner.”

For starters: That’s a good thing to keep wondering about. It’s possible to plateau in friendship and fail to ever get to an invitation to meet Jesus. 

For seconds: I’ve never been good at this. While you’re looking for experts to learn from, I’ll share some ideas and things I’ve tried.

1. Ask your friend, “How can I pray for you?” Then do so.
   If you stick around long enough in someone’s life, there will be days when they’re sad, hurt, broken or confused. Jesus seemed happy to minister to people like that, so we’re on good ground asking a friend if we can ask Jesus to help them. When Jesus comes through (and I know he doesn’t always do so just as we’d like), your friend will likely be more open.
2. Question the Quran
   You can use the Quran to deepen the conversation. One, emphasize and discuss the overlap between it and the Bible. Or, if your tastes tend toward the polemic, you can kick around some of the challenges found in the Quran. For instance, “The Quran affirms the inspiration, authority, and preservation of the New Testament Gospels; yet the Quran also contradicts the Gospels on major theological and historical points. Therefore, the Quran cannot be reliable.”
3. Ask if you can tell a story Jesus told.
   Many Muslims are from cultures with a blend of values that incline them to like stories and make them loathe to tell a friend no! Plus, after one or two, you’ll remember and they’ll discover the guy told some amazing stories. Here are a couple dozen to get you started. 

I’m writing this week from a very happy place. While God has been exceedingly kind allowing me to live in a very beautiful setting with an amazing family, our community is way low on the diversity scale.

This week, however, I’m participating in a gathering of the Global Alliance for Church Multiplication (GACX). It is so cool! The crowd is made up of “Implementers,” those who are actually involved in church planting efforts in the U.S. and around the world. The other category is “Accelerators,” those who are resourcing and cheering on the implementers. 

If I hadn’t already told you I was present here, I’d say this looks a little bit like Heaven must. 

For example: 
I had lunch yesterday with a Bengali grandpa who’s recently moved from Bangladesh to NYC. He drives for Uber and fills his days sharing Jesus with the 200,000 Bengalis there. 

A younger Bengali man shared his vision for 10% of his homeland following Jesus by 2042. (To save you a trip to Chatgpt: 20% of the population of Bangladesh is nearly 18 million people!) 

A guy from northeast Africa drives for 11 hours across Ethiopia to train pastors who travel six hours to the venue. . . by horse! 

An Indian researcher shared with me (in the only language that I know) that he speaks seven languages! A decent estimate says he could chat with 30% of the planet’s population! 

A guy from northwest Africa got booted from his country’s special forces when his conversion became known. Threats and persecution compelled him to the U.S. where he now leads a ministry for Muslim background believers. 

And so many Americans are here who’ve lived abroad for years, who raise money from family and friends to simply put bread on their tables. 

I have been surrounded by saints. I’ve heard so many encouraging stories of God’s good work around the globe. Take courage: We live in hopeful days. God’s promises are coming to pass.