Guts

Our man, let’s call him “Z,” from the Middle Eastern country I won’t name has guts, and an unwavering faith in, and commitment to, Jesus Christ. If only 2.5% of your country was Christian, you’d have to have faith too. Here’s a story he told us during his praise report time in Rwanda.

Z grew up in a nominal Christian home, and as he entered his teen years he came under the influence of Muslim friends who, through their encouraging, convinced him to convert to Islam. The further he grew in Islam, the more irritated his parents became. The irritation grew to the point that Z joined the army to get out of this house and away from his family.

As a convert from a Christian family to Islam, he stood out. He stood out enough in his army unit that they made him the unit’s Imam, or spiritual leader. I guess you could equate this to a chaplain in the U.S.; however, Islam would be the only religion allowed in this army. The position encouraged him to learn more and more about Islam, although a recent convert, he had a responsibility that he took seriously and he needed to become educated further in the faith. But a funny thing happened.

The more he learned, the more discouraged he became. Where was the assurance of going to heaven? Where was the hope? Mohammed wasn’t even sure he’d go to heaven, how could an Imam in the army fare? That’s when he found Christ, the giver of hope, and began following Him.

Z speaks matter-of-factly of the death threats on his life, but he is totally undeterred. He’s a pastor now and our national leader in his country, so his mission is to plant churches. He said the Jesus Film http://www.jesusfilm.org/ is the most effective tool in his country. When he first began to show it, they only played it in Christian schools and churches. No Muslims were seeing the film—a problem.

Our man Z above passing out a Jesus film. Note the mark on the man's forehead sitting on the street. That's from praying.

A problem Z sought to rectify. He rented a movie theater and printed 500 invitations. He took his invitations out on the street (a not totally legal maneuver), and froze.

After a few minutes, he ginned up the courage to pass out the invitations. Four hundred Muslims came to the movie. He printed a thousand invitations and ran the movie on two days the next time. Then he did it again, and again. After the movie, he and a few other believers would stick around to answer questions, show the Evangecube, and share the gospel (good news). He repeated this for a year and a half until the government shut him down.

Muslim in the theater lobby.

So what to do now? Z is a creative guy who serves a creative God.

The poor people in the rural villages have no means of personal transportation, and will hitchhike rides. Z shared his plan with an American. The American financed the purchase of a minibus for Z. Now Z and his disciples drive the minibus throughout the countryside and pick up folks who need a ride. Once inside, they play the Jesus film on a mini DVD player and use the Evangecube to share the gospel. They stop along the road at service stations asking for mundane, totally unnecessary checks just for the opportunity to share the gospel. He is indefatigable.

On the bus.

In the villages.

Since 2001, the Lord has used him to plant about 60 churches. Hallelujah!

I made it home last Thursday night. Coming home required about 37 hours of travel time. Who doesn’t love airplane seats? I have a few more dispatches brewing from my notes to get to you. I’ll space them out over the next few days.