Hanging Out with the Lord

Values. Everyone has them, whether they are expressed, or not. In the Old Testament, the word we translate as 'value' means heavy or weighty, referring to precious metals or the heavy wheat being separated from the lighter chaff. It is the important, weighty things; the things that matter.

When we talk about our values at ReachAcross, we are talking about the things that God has built into our work that reflects who He is. Our most important value is prayer. We have a personal God who makes it possible for us to connect with him constantly. To use modern slang, we’re ‘hanging out’ with Him all the time! We get closer to other people by spending time with them. The same is true with God. Because He has promised to be with us always(Matthew 28:20), we can always be spending time with Him in prayer. Through prayer, our relationship with God can grow deeper as we discover what is on His heart for us and other people. We can not only lay out our own burdens before Him, but those of others as well. The work of ReachAcross was born in prayer, and it is prayer that continues to make this service for Muslims possible.

Recently we experienced a very evident answer to prayer—a pretty hopeless visa situation suddenly changed, and only God could have done it. We were reminded again that it is He who opens doors. As the Apostle Paul wrote: 

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. (Col. 4:2-4)

Open doors are always a miracle, even when we don’t realize it. Whether God’s Lordship changes the life of an individual, or a family, or a whole clan—continued prayer is the key. That is where our partners have such a vital role to play.  Just like the men who brought their friend to Jesus, and let him down through the roof when there was no other way to get to Him, so our prayer partners bring Muslims to the Lord through their prayers.

“And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 3:5)

It was not the paralytic’s faith, but the faith of his friends that impressed Jesus so much. Not only that, they wanted their friend to be in the presence of the Lord, so they went to extreme lengths to bring him to Jesus. We can do the same for those we care about, by praying for them. All of us, workers and prayer partners, are in this together.

Let us follow Paul’s advice and “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), continually lifting up our concerns and those of others to the Lord.

If you would like to pray with us for the Lord’s work in the Muslim world, please follow @ReachAcrossPray on Twitter for prayer updates.

ReachAcross U.S. Director

God Speaks My Language!

from the Reach Across U.S. Director

We don’t know why God allows certain things to happen, especially when they seem to be contrary to His own will—a case in point is the disruption in many Middle Eastern countries which has cost the lives of many people in countries like Syria. In another country, an English teacher was shot dead as he drove to his language school, and another European worker, who had roomed until recently with one of our own ReachAcross folks, was kidnapped, and has not been heard from in several weeks. In all the anguish caused by these happenings, one good thing that has happened has been that several long-term ReachAcross members have relocated to new places and started new ministries. One of them who recently moved from the Middle East to a European country, relates the following:

A plan formed in my heart to give a Bible to someone I had met. Along the way, I popped into a computer shop to buy a USB stick. It was a very tiny shop, with just enough room for 3 people to enter. As I chatted with the shop owner, I happened to use words like “Alhamdulillah” (praise to God) and “Insha’Allah” (God willing) in the conversation. Soon he asked me if I was a Muslim. I replied that I was a “follower of Jesus”.

He paused to think, and then asked me again, “Are you a Muslim?”

“No, I'm a follower of Jesus, a Christian.”

He was taken aback by my confident tone and said, “I didn't know that Christians said things like Alhamdulillah or Insha’Allah.”

I told him that yes, we do say such things; these phrases are written in the Bible. He was quite amazed. I then asked him if he had ever read the Bible. He said he hadn’t, but then with an interested expression, he added that his dad used to read it when he was a young boy. A smile of pride grew across his face as he remembered. He admitted that he couldn't read the Bible because it was in English, but his father loved reading it. (He made sure to confirm that his father was a Muslim even though he read the Bible.)

I asked him if he would like to read the Bible and he said yes. So I told him that God had brought me to his shop that very day for a special reason. I told him I had a Bible with me and said, “God wants you to have this Bible.”

He was stunned and his mouth dropped open. But his expression quickly changed and grew a bit sad because, though it was nice to see a Bible, he couldn’t read English. So I told him that actually the Bible is in Arabic too. Again his mouth dropped in amazement. He couldn't believe it! I took the Arabic Bible out of my bag and handed it him. He was thrilled and started flipping through the pages. He asked about the price but I told him it was a gift. “It's free, because God's word is free.” He was so excited! Then some other men entered the shop and he quickly hid the Bible behind the counter so they wouldn't see the new treasure that God had provided.