Missionaries Under Cover (Should Christains Convert Moslems?)

Time Magazine ^ | June 30, 2003 | David Van Biema

[Grand Old Partisan]

Growing numbers of Evangelicals are trying to spread Christianity in Muslim lands. But is this what the world needs now?

By David Van Biema

Posted Sunday, June 22, 2003; 12:31 p.m. EST She wasn't a Muslim, but she would do for now. Last March, at just about the time American troops were massing outside Baghdad, she shuffled, dressed in a dark burqa, into a cramped schoolroom in the New York City borough of Queens. The class she was addressing was organized by the U.S. Center for World Mission and packed with eager evangelical Christian students wanting to learn how to be missionaries in a foreign country. The black-clad "Shafira" was gamely trying to explain her faith.

[GoLightly]

There's a lot to what you say, though it's not anything new. It took Rome over a 1000 years to own up to a portion of it's past foolishness.

[Gritty]

Muslims are "lost", like so many others. Only the Good News of Jesus will save them.

So, surely evangelization is not only "right" but imperative they are able to hear the Good News and thereby have the opportunity to make their own decisions on just who Jesus is, what He has done for them, and what they need to do about it!

The only "sword" that need be used in this process is the Sword of The Holy Spirit used when they hear the Word of God.

Scimitars and cutlasses are completely unneccessary.

[Grand Old Partisan]

Thank you for the fine posting.

[Grand Old Partisan]

Thanks. Most of the former Moslems I know are Iranians.

[Dilly]

An interesting story, and sad if true. But I’m not sure I’m going to believe the story is as simple as "Christian Solidarity Worldwide" would have us believe. This hardly sounds like an unbiased source, and usually things are a lot more complicated than those with obvious agendas make them out to be.

[Tamar1973]

An interesting story, and sad if true. But I’m not sure I’m going to believe the story is as simple as "Christian Solidarity Worldwide" would have us believe. This hardly sounds like an unbiased source, and usually things are a lot more complicated than those with obvious agendas make them out to be.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide is not the only venue reporting this story.

Other venues include:

http://www.domini.org; www.jubileecampaign.nl;

www.persecution.org/humanrights/jordan.html

This story was also covered by Worldnet Daily:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30749

Even the BBC, the liberal washrag that it is, reported this story.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/2317267.stm

It actually is as "simple" as Christian Solidarity Worldwide stated it. Don't let your obvious admiration and affection for the country of Jordan prevent you from seeing the truth about the way they treat Christians as second-class citizens.

[Tamar1973]

Compass direct--May 30, 2003 The case against Mrs. Siham Qandah (see below) has taken an interesting turn. Lawyers have obtained proof that Mrs. Qandah's brother, who was appointed legal guardian of her two teenager children, has embezzled more than half of the children's UN trust fund (around 13,000 Jordanian dinars). The guardian is thus being taken to court and will be jailed if he cannot pay back the money. In addition, if found guilty, his guardianship will be cancelled. Unfortunately, under the law Mrs. Qandah still needs to find a Muslim guardian for her children until they turn 18. At that time they will be able to choose their own religious status. (Compass Direct)

[GoLightly]

I appreciate your kind words. If you're at all interested in more about the complicated regions I was referring to, here's a small start:

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=5230

[Grand Old Partisan]

Thanks! It's all heading to a disaster of, shall we say, Biblical proportions.

[LionsDaughter]

Yet a classroom scene at Columbia International University in South Carolina reported last year by Mother Jones magazine demonstrates an unnerving ethical elasticity. "Did Jesus ever lie?" asks a lecturer. His class replies, "No." "But did Jesus raise his hand and say, 'I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?'" Again, 20 voices call out, "No!" (The instructor confirms the quote but says that it was taken out of context.)

This quote really jumped out at me for a couple reasons. The first being, Time admits that the quote may have been taken out of context but makes no effort to clarify what the correct context was anywhere in the article.

The second is, while this may indeed be out of context, I'm not so sure that what most people are going to take it for is really wrong. Christians are required to tell the truth. Christians are not required to tell every miniscule detail of their knowledge or to even answer every question posed to them. People will make what they will of what they hear and that is on the head of the hearer, not the speaker. If a Christian doesn't tell the guys at customs everything, that is not a sin! And if that gets one more person into the kingdom, then I'm all for it.