In This Issue...

Celebrating Progress in the Muslim World

Simple Clues Lead to Treasure

Salvation and Healing

Faces on the Frontiers

Celebrating Progress in the Muslim World
Worldwide

It was 26 years ago that a group of YWAM workers met together and began what is now known as YWAM Frontier Missions. The following year, the Lord spoke to some of them specifically about His concern for Muslims. Church planting teams were soon sent into Muslim South Asia. Similar developments occurred in North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

In 1992, there was an accident and a desert meeting that would change YWAM internationally. The North Africa regional director was carrying an armful of tent poles down a hillside when he slipped and fell. One of the poles went into his eye, and it was blinded. Shortly after, for the first time in our history, YWAM's global leadership gathered in the Middle East. While praying in the desert, the group felt strongly that God was saying that YWAM had "turned a blind eye towards the Muslim world." They traveled by bus to the edge of the Red Sea, where each leader chose a rock and, together, they assembled an altar of remembrance before the Lord and made a commitment that YWAM, as an organization, would love Muslims, pray for them, and be more intentional in reaching out to them. They wrote and signed the Red Sea Covenant, which remains one of YWAM's formational documents.

YWAMers in Australia and India birthed the Ramadan Prayer Guide, "30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World", producing the first print edition in 1992. The prayer guide is now a multi-agency project, published each year in more than 40 languages in print and electronic versions. It is used by millions of Christians to pray fervently for Muslims.

Another event sprang from that meeting in the desert. YWAM leaders organized a "Reconciliation Walk", in which over 2500 Christians walked the more than 1500 miles of the First Crusade to the Holy Land, proclaiming verbally and in printed form their regret for the way the Crusades misrepresented Christ. The Walk marked the 900th anniversary of this Crusade and culminated in Jerusalem in 1999. Wherever they went, the walkers were met by overwhelmingly positive response from media and individual Muslims, Orthodox Christians and Jews. In Turkey alone, an estimated 70 percent of the population heard the message. The deputy mayor of Istanbul commented: "This project is very important to Turkey. You can see how much it means to the Turkish people when they line both sides of the road and applaud."

Every five years, YWAMers working in Muslim ministries gather to share updates of their work, learn from each other, and receive fresh direction and insight from the Lord. The first gathering took place in 1996 in Turkey, then in London (2001), and then Egypt (2006). In September 2011, YWAMers from around the world came together in Pune, India, for the "Mela", which means "a festival of diversity". The event featured times to honor and embrace YWAM's diversity in seeing God's love expressed by and among so many nations and cultures. The Mela celebrants reviewed the Red Sea Covenant together, and veteran workers were moved as a new generation of coworkers committed themselves to fulfilling the pact. Participants signed a copy of the document to renew this important pledge to the Lord.

Over the last 25 years, YWAM has steadily grown its workforce in the Muslim world, along the way developing specialized training programs, like the School of Islamic Studies, and support systems for those workers. A new leadership role was created in YWAM Frontier Missions as the first "Muslim Ministry Coordinator" was appointed. There are currently 1200 full-time YWAMers living and working among Muslims, many of them from non-western countries. Thousands are now following Jesus as the fruit of their efforts. Hundreds of new churches have begun. The Lord Jesus Christ is being worshipped and praised!
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Simple Clues Lead to Treasure
Middle East

Effectively sharing the gospel with Muslims seems like a daunting challenge; there are so many barriers of culture and belief that it's hard to know where and how to begin. Some of our workers are finding encouragement in a simple practice they call "treasure hunting". Before going out, they spend time in prayer, asking God to give them words, pictures or impressions that will lead them to people that He has prepared for the Good News. Then they search for those clues and follow up as best they can. A team in the Middle East reported the following experiences:

As Imran and his team sought God, He gave them the name "Ahmed" and the impression that Ahmed's son was sick. They searched for "Ahmed" for some time, without success. As they regrouped near a police station, Imran asked a uniformed officer for directions. Then Imran felt lead to ask the man if his name was Ahmed. He verified that it was. When asked if he had a sick son, he said, "Yes; how did you know?" Imran responded, "God told us." Ahmed was skeptical and requested that the team wait while he went into the police station to change his clothes. When he came back out, he expressed suspicion at the team's knowledge about him and was clearly frustrated at their continued insistence that they had heard from God. Imran offered to go home with him in order to talk more and to pray for his son, but Ahmed refused. The team prayed on the spot for the son and gave Ahmed a contact number, and he left. The next day, Ahmed phoned Imran and said, "My son got healed just after you prayed. Who told you about my son and me?" Then he told Imran that two years ago he had received a Bible but didn't understand it. When he would open it, he felt electricity going through his body. He had been praying for two years that God would send someone to explain the word to him.

On another occasion, Imran's team was praying and got a picture of an old man in a black and blue jacket and the impression that he was lonely and sick. The weather outside was warm, and no one was wearing a jacket. The team searched the city for a man who matched their image, but to no avail. Imran finally decided to give up and go home. Just then, a tall man wearing a black and blue jacket passed him. He hurried after the man, following him through one alley and shop to another, trying to decide how best to approach him. Finally Imran just stopped the man and said, "Do you know that God loves you? He has sent us to tell you that. Are you lonely?" The man said yes, he was lonely and that his life was troubled. Imran shared how much God loved him and cared for him and that he could put his life in God's hands. The man had tears in his eyes, and so did Imran as they hugged each other.
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Salvation and Healing
Southeast Asia

The 1000+ inhabitants of an island village practice Islam mixed with much older witchcraft. Two field staff visited the island to follow up on a family that has remained open to them for several years now but are not yet followers of Isa (Jesus). The female worker led a 60-year-old woman in a prayer to place her faith in Isa. Following this, she held the woman's head and prayed again, this time that her failed eyesight would be restored. The lady was instantly healed. While her visitor was still holding her head, she exclaimed, "I can see you! I can see you!" She had been blind for almost 3 years due to uncontrolled diabetes. Now she was able to see her newest grandchildren. She was also physically strengthened and could walk around freely. There was great rejoicing in her family and among her neighbors.

The family, especially the woman's husband, is reluctant to acknowledge that this healing is from Jesus, as they are heavily into witchcraft. The story has just begun...
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Long-term workers celebrate Christmas with friends in the Middle East (Photo: I.O.)