Imam Karim's story

simonmonk

Imam Karim's story

This is a real-life story of recent events from one of the local Mahabba groups in the Network. Names and details have been deliberately removed to protect the identity of those involved, but praise God - he is working in the lives of Muslims to reveal Jesus!

Not what you may be expecting

Imam Karim calmly talked of his upbringing, his pride in Islam and, in a matter of fact tone, how he regarded Christianity as not worth considering, as too easy to be taken seriously.

The gasps and stunned looks on the faces of the Christians said it all.

Imam Karim was being interviewed before an audience of Christians but the involuntary responses I witnessed came from my friends watching the DVD as part of the Friendship First Course.

Twenty minutes later Imam Karim was on again telling them how God had spoken to him, commanded him to follow Christ and then the hardships he passed through.

The difference in the room was palpable.

They had come to learn something about sharing Jesus with Muslims.

I think they expected it to be hard work and problem-focussed.

At the end, one of them shook his head and said,

“This has been so uplifting.”

Your turn

Have you been touched by this story? If so, you can play your part.

• Share the amazing news of God moving among Muslim with your friends via e-mail or social media, using the links below
   
• Support Mahabba in its work to equip everyday Christians to build relationships and share Jesus with Muslims

Charisma Magazine: Mahabba empowers Christians to Reach Muslims for Jesus

Image: Hellmy, Flickr

Charisma Magazine: Mahabba empowers Christians to Reach Muslims for Jesus

Charisma Magazine featured Mahabba in a second article, focusing on our work of presenting the opportunity to share Jesus with Muslims in turbulent times.

This is part 2 in a series of 3 from Charisma Magazine. Read part 1 and part 3.

Here's a short excerpt, and you can find a link to the full article at the bottom.

This network was started as a partnership of many churches and agencies in Oxford seeking opportunities to introduce local Muslims to the Good News about Jesus. Mahabba, as a movement, seeks to be a catalyst in networking together 'ordinary Christians', resourced by agency 'specialists' and championed by church leaders, to love their Muslim neighbours.

So Mahabba is not seen as an agency which are often seen negatively by pastors: their model is a prayer-based relational network which equips local churches with mentoring and training materials, which help church leaders to train ordinary members of churches to relate to Muslims in love and be able to explain the Gospel clearly (for example, 'Friendship First', 'Come Follow Me' and 'Joining the Family.' See kitab.org.uk).