How to help Muslim converts

If you were a shopkeeper in Iran, you would have to put a card in your window stating your religion, ensuring that most customers would pass you buy, afraid to be seen entering. If you were a pastor, you would receive regular summons to the police station and threatening phone calls that you know are serious - another of your colleagues was killed last year.
And if you were a Muslim who had recently become a Christian almost anywhere in the Muslim world, the chances are that you would be living far from your family and home, perhaps in fear of your life.

Wiped out

Many countries of the 'Muslim world' had a Christian church long before the pagan West was evangelised. In countries such as those of North Africa, the Islamic occupation wiped out almost every trace of Christianity. In others, ancient churches like the Copts of Egypt have borne witness to Christ, in spite of oppression, until the present day. The number of Christians in even the most hostile places is increasing as Muslims are finding faith in Christ, through the witness of local or foreign believers, radio or TV programmes or even supernatural visions. But the church in the Muslim world still lives under threat of extinction.
The majority of Muslim governments forbid evangelism of Muslims, and punish those who become Christians. A convert will also suffer rejection from his or her family and community, who may take it upon themselves to carry out the Islamic penalty for apostasy: death. In countries where the Christian community has official recognition, they are often treated as second-class citizens. Discrimination in education and employment, restrictions on worship, and unfair laws often combine to keep many Christians living in poverty and submission. Some are tempted to emigrate or convert to Islam to give their families a more bearable life. Meanwhile, Muslims are actively trying to win converts, notably in sub-Saharan Africa.

Practical help

The Barnabas Fund was established in 1993 at the request of senior Christian leaders in Muslim countries, specifically to help the church in the Muslim world. For eight years, the Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity has been distributing information about the suffering church and motivating Christians to pray. But there are times when prayer leads us to action - especially when a relatively small amount of money from us can make a significant difference to a fellow Christian in the Muslim world. The Barnabas Fund enables Christians to give practical help to their brothers and sisters. It also enables them to give believers who may feel very isolated in a Muslim environment the encouragement that their fellow Christians are concerned for them.
Responding to the requests of trusted national church leaders in Muslim countries, gifts to the Barnabas fund are channelled to small-scale, local projects. Some of these give aid to needy Christians. For example, a church-run project in Egypt provides one good meal a day for impoverished families. Longer term help is given to southern Sudanese refugees in Khartoum, by training them as carpenters. A North African pastor has been helped to set up a small business which enables him to employ young believers while training them in church-planting.
Some Barnabas Fund projects focus on strengthening local churches in their faith and witness, through supporting and training pastors and evangelists. These are crucial in certain Africa countries where large congregations in poor areas, pastored by untrained leaders, can be vulnerable to well-funded Muslim missionaries. Other churches want to reach out to neighbouring Muslim peoples but need to know how.

Hostels and orphanages

Initiatives assisted by the Barnabas Fund include hostels for new converts from a Muslim background, and orphanages in North Africa. Many children in these orphanages were born to Christian girls who were raped by Muslim men. Obliged by custom to marry their attackers and thus convert to Islam, the girls put their children in a church orphanage so they can be brought up as Christians.
Current trends make the role of the Barnabas Fund more and more critical. The rise of political Islam compounds the pressure on Christian minorities. At the same time, the expansion of the church in Muslim countries can provoke a harsh response from the authorities or Muslim extremists. So while we support mission in Muslim lands and pray that the national Christians will lead Muslims to Christ, we also need to think about how we can support both these national churches and the new converts when their obedience to their Saviour brings them persecution.

The condition of Christians in Muslim countries and the help given by the Barnabas Fund

Wiped out

Practical help

Hostels and orphanages

Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo

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