Breaking Barriers
Reaching Muslims in a Majority-Islam Context(Names & Places have been withheld for security reasons)
Having served in a majority-Muslim country for nearly twenty years, I have an even greater burden for reaching Muslims for Christ. However, the methods used have developed significantly over time.
One of the greatest challenges in reaching Muslims is overcoming the objections they are taught from a very young age against Christian teaching. These barriers are built to keep them from ever seeking the truth of Christ. I will never forget my first year on the field. I was practicing language skills with a group of twelve-year-old boys by reading through a Bible storybook together. When we came to the life of Jesus, at the mere mention of His name, the boys stood to their feet, plugged their ears, and chanted in unison, “God has no Son, God has no Son.” In that moment I understood that resistance to the Gospel is ingrained into Muslim children at an early age.
A Ministry Built on Christ’s Model
When we first arrived, we modeled our church planting efforts on the ministry of Christ Himself: pouring into individual disciple-servant leaders while also engaging in mass evangelism. Our vision was to mentor national leaders and at the same time make the Gospel accessible to a far wider audience.
In partnership with a dedicated national leader, we planted a church in an Islamic stronghold. A few years later, we began producing evangelistic content in the primary local language. Additional Christian leaders were recruited and our outreach expanded into several regional and trade languages. Today, our web pages have a massive following and our videos have been viewed by millions, not only in our region but around the world. Even in places where there is no Christian witness, Muslims have confessed Christ after encountering our content.
A Season of Preparation
The first phase of ministry was, in many ways, a season of learning and preparation. Before launching a church plant and media outreach, I immersed myself in the culture, learned the local language, and built relationships. I asked countless questions and invested deeply in understanding the people we longed to reach.
When my local partner and I began working together, we spent five to six hours a day for months on end discussing culture, evangelism, church planting, Islam, and the needs of our region. Interestingly, I did not begin a serious study of Islam until more recently. Islam in our context is something of a paradox: it lies at the very center of a person’s identity, yet the average individual often cannot explain the basic teachings or doctrines of the faith. It became obvious that many are trained far more in how to reject the Gospel than in understanding what they are supposed to believe.
The Power of Media
Online media has become our most effective tool for making first contact with Muslims who are seeking. Removed from the social pressures that attending a Bible study might bring, a Muslim can watch our content in the privacy of his own home and reach out with questions without fear of exposure.
This approach to media evangelism is not polemical but informative. We train men to teach through the Scriptures, using stories Muslims already know from the Quran. Working verse by verse in the local languages, we teach through the Gospels and address the objections Muslims commonly raise, always in light of the text at hand and never in a spirit of aggression or antagonism toward Islam. This content is now reaching millions, not only on our field but across North Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.
Looking Ahead
Our vision is to build on what the Lord has done over the past two decades and to expand it further. We long to train more men to create Gospel-centered content and to saturate the internet with material relevant to Muslims. I continue to study Islam and to engage Muslims both in person and online.
Ultimately, the goal is to equip believers around the world to reach the Muslim community with both compassion and knowledge and to prepare church members across our region to meet Muslim seekers online and then welcome them into in-person Bible studies. We currently assist a new church plant in the broader region and have been invited to other areas to train churches and pastors to use media to reach souls and plant churches.
The work is far from finished. But we have seen firsthand that the Gospel can break through every barrier, even in the most resistant communities. With prayer, perseverance, and a commitment to both truth and love, we believe an entire generation of Muslims can come to know Christ—one life, one conversation, and one story at a time.
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