Radio, text-messaging, Internet infiltrates borders
CAMBRIDGE, ON—Media has the power to break through traditional barriers to Christian evangelism, according to Amal Gendi, Canadian director of Arab World Ministries (AWM).
"Some countries have closed borders," Gendi says. "However, the skies are open to receive the words of God."
AWM has been involved in Christian work in the Arab world since 1881, much of it in countries where evangelism is restricted and those who convert face pressure and persecution.
In 1959, a group of missionaries in North Africa first started using radio to spread their message into more remote parts of the region. Today, as AWM celebrates 50 years of AWM Media, this media work now includes television, video production, text-messaging and the Internet, while still using radio to reach remote areas. AWN Media production is now run from four media centers dotted around Europe, Africa and Asia.
The latest AWM Media expansion has been to use both text messaging and internet chat rooms to help Muslims find a safe place to enquire about the Christian faith.
AWM Media now also uses the Global Response Management System (GRMS), which feeds inquiries from the websites, email, and text messages into a central database, where potential seekers are matched with appropriate response staff. This provides an added level of security for both the seeker and the responder, while helping weed out those who are merely contacting AWM staff to cause problems.
"Our new global response messaging system allows us to follow up with genuine seekers without putting people at risk," Gendi says. "Genuine seekers are also able to receive daily Bible readings by text messaging."
Sometimes this dialogue is a long-term investment. He gives the example of teenager named "Omar" from a restrictive Muslim country, who has exchanged more than 50 messages with AWM workers. Omar had never met a Christian when he found AWM's website via an internet search engine. He has since taken a Gospel correspondence course.
Gendi says that through this dialogue AWM is giving Muslims the opportunity to ask questions and wrestle with questions of faith.
"Muslims are struggling with the view that Islam is untouchable and unquestionable," Gendi says. "They are taught that even if you do not understand the word of God you can not ask any questions. Our approach is to show the love of Christ to them and also be very apologetic."
He adds that the team receives hundreds of messages from Muslims each month. Recent messages include a young man from Saudi Arabia who wanted to know if it was possible to get closer to Jesus while remaining a Muslim, and a teenager from Jordan who asked their advice on how to tell his parents he wanted to become a Christian.
Many ask how they can safely get a Bible or more information about Christianity, such as a man in his late twenties from Morocco who begged the team to send him literature in a way that would not "make the person at the post office suspicious."
"We are in the harvest time," Gendi says. "We need more workers. I am praying to God to provide more workers in whatever capacity they are able."
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