Sixteen folks from Charis Fellowship attended a conference last weekend (Nov. 1-3) that helped to hone ministry skills and open opportunities to engage Muslims for Christ. This was the national conference for a ministry called Crescent Project. The conference also coincided with the ministry’s 25th anniversary.
Crescent Project’s founder Fouad Masri never could have imagined 25 years ago how God would bless his passion to help believers from his adopted country in North American to reach Muslims. Back then, in 1993, there was very little movement of Muslims to Christ, but look what God is doing since then!
God alone knows what has triggered the tsunami of Muslim-conversions since the late 1990s, but there is no doubt that ministries like Crescent Project, which mobilize millions in prayer for the least-reached of the 10/40 window, have played a powerful role. Missiologists such as author David Garrison (A Wind in the House of Islam) have documented that more Muslims have come to Christ since the year 2000 than since the founding of Islam 14 centuries ago. Many more, in fact.
Among the hundreds attending the conference were 16 people (pictured) from seven Charis Fellowship churches in the region. We were challenged by plenary sessions and practical workshops, but the highlight for many was the keynote speaker, Nik Ripken. Ripken shared from his deep experience of 20+ years of documenting the stories of more than 700 persecuted believers from 72 countries. His book, The Insanity of God, recounts many of the harrowing stories of our persecuted family in Christ around the world. Nik Ripken’s presentation was especially poignant as this conference came on the eve of this year’s International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.
May God bless us and use us all to take the gospel to the world — to those who are near and those who are far, to those who are receptive and to those who not.
