Missionary: World has come to Texas; includes Muslims who need Jesus

The world has come to Texas.

That fact has not been lost on the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, which is sponsoring a series of “SENT” missions conferences designed to equip laypeople for gospel work at home and abroad. The next conference is scheduled Oct. 6-7 in Grapevine.

An ever-burgeoning immigration to the United States has brought the world’s people groups into Texas businesses, workplaces, and neighborhoods. Reaching internationals is no longer something only foreign missionaries do.

One of the most timely aspects of the conference will be a Friday evening session on how to engage Muslims in spiritual conversation, said Tiffany Smith, SBTC missions mobilization associate.

In recent years Southern Baptists’ International Mission Board and North American Mission Board have recognized the international mission field has come to America. In May 2005 IMB representatives met with pastors, associational leaders, and laypeople from around Texas to introduce techniques overseas missionaries use with specific people groups. Those applications are now being used to reach first- and second-generation Texas immigrants, including Muslims, Smith explained.

Jesus’ commission from Acts 1:8 to begin witnessing in Jerusalem can end up reaching the ends of the earth with a phone call, text message or e-mail.

Raised on the foreign mission field where his parents witnessed among a predominantly Muslim population, *George Adidas said at eight years of age God gave him a heart for reaching Islamic people. A short stint on the mission field as an adult with the IMB International Service Corps solidified that call and today he is using what he has learned from his upbringing and IMB training to teach others how to share the gospel with Muslims.

Adidas spoke at the first SENT Conference in Austin last April and will give another presentation and field questions at the October event.

His predecessors have seen the mission field move from the lands abroad to the homes next door. And that, Adidas said, is where he feels called to witness. During his mission work, Adidas worked as an English as a Second Language teacher in a large European mosque and would, under the guise of teaching English, use Bible stories in the process.

The most important thing a Christian can do, Adidas said, is to become friends with those Muslims in their lives?men becoming brothers and women becoming sisters. It is within the bonds of that relationship of trust that the channels of honest communication are opened, he said.

Because Islam is a works-based religion, Adidas said Muslims “will try to be more Christlike” than the Christians trying to reach them. That is why it is important to have a true servant’s attitude when witnessing, emphasizing the fact that Christians serve out of a love for God and people, not out of a sense of duty alone.

Another key element of witnessing to Muslims, Adidas said, is being a good listener. It is in the listening that the Christian can begin to formulate questions to pose. Adidas recalled a time when a Muslim friend lost his job. While listening to his friend tell of his concerns, Adidas knew he was in the middle of a witnessing opportunity. The discussion soon turned to prayer.

Adidas’s friend stated he was faithful in praying the mandatory number of times each day and Adidas shared that he prays to God without ceasing. He noted that all Christians are children of God?a concept with which his friend was not familiar, he said.

Questions, Adidas said, can flow from the teachings of the Quran to the truths of the Bible, a technique called the Camel Strategy. Such an approach draws Muslims from statements noted in the Quran (Adidas said the Quran mentions Jesus and the Bible numerous times) to the ultimate truths of God’s word. It was a simple question that led an Imam to faith in Christ.

<SPAN style="; FONT-FAMI