Jesus in a Muslim Context

I want to tell you about one of our church planters in Sudan. We will call him Ameen*. Ameen serves in a hostile context where preaching Christ could cost him his life. The area of Africa where he works has recently come out of sharia law.

Below are some of the stories that illustrate how God is using his boldness to reach the unreached people of Sudan. God is not only using Ameen to take the gospel to the unreached people, people are coming to him asking for the gospel!

* Names and locations may have been altered for security purposes.

Stories From Ameen

Church Planted in the Barracks

Ameen is known in his area for his faith and work for the gospel. Recently, he was requested to come to the military barracks to meet a military leader. The leader wanted to learn about Jesus. By the time he left the meeting, seven people had come to faith, including the military leader. At least three of them had come from a muslim background and others were nominal Christians. Ameen planted a church in the barracks with these seven men as they have dedicated themselves to following Christ.

Let’s pray that these men will continue to grow in the Lord and begin making disciples who will plant churches throughout this unreached area.

A Boy Named Immanuel

Ameen lives in an area of Sudan that is a three day walk to the nearest hospital. Ameen was called to the home of a muslim family because the wife had been struggling in labor for three days. They asked Ameen to come and pray for the mother and for the safe delivery of the baby. He came and prayed and encouraged the family. He told them, “Let us not worry. Let us put everything the hand of God.”

That night, Ameen had a dream that the woman gave birth to a baby boy. He returned the next day to find that she had, in fact, given birth to a healthy baby boy. The family was overjoyed and thankful that Ameen had prayed for them. 

He asked the father if he had given the boy a name. With the stress of the delivery, he had not decided on one. He asked the mother, but she didn’t have a name either. So Ameen, in a 90+% muslim context, had the audacity to name the boy Immanuel – God with us!

This family is now meeting with Ameen to learn more about the Jesus, the Messiah.

Let’s pray that this family will understand the Truth of their son’s name and know Jesus, their Savior, is with them.

Opportunity in Persecution

Ameen and the other believers encounter persecution regularly. As he conducts the ministry, people within the community hurl insults and threaten them, but the church stands firmly on Christ. 

I received the following voice message from Ameen describing how God is working everyday. Here is a transcription of a portion of the message: 

“Things are happening on the ground everyday. People are asking for Christianity. I just want to appreciate God and thank God that He is working everyday. Our God is a strong God who is breaking the power of the darkness…breaking the power of the devil everyday. Continue to pray for us and put this ministry in your prayers.

We will not have a great impact in the community by changing people by our own, but God can do a lot of things by His own power. I thank Jesus for all of what He is doing.”