Praying for the Muslim world – an introduction

30 days of prayer and preparation to preach the Good

News to the Muslim world

By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ

Mount Ararat isn’t climbed in a day. Reaching the lost takes time, too.

My Muslim friend slipped out of the room we were sharing in the village at the base of Mount Ararat in

eastern Turkey and into the quiet pre-dawn hours. It was time to eat. Not breakfast. He wasn’t breaking

his fast. This was pre-fast.

The Kurdish man rising early was observing Ramadan, one of the Five Pillars (or obligations) of Islam.

Ramadan is a tradition celebrated by Muslims each year at the time the prophet Muhammad is thought to

have received the Qur’an from the angel Gabriel. The Qur’an states:

“Ramadhan is the (month) in which was sent down the Qur’an, as a guide to mankind, also clear

(Signs) for guidance and judgement (between right and wrong). So every one of you who is

present (at his home) during that month should spend it in fasting, but if any one is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed period (should be made up) by days later. God intends every facility for

you; He does not want to put you to difficulties. (He wants you) to complete the prescribed

period, and to glorify Him in that He has guided you; and perchance ye shall be grateful.” —

Surah 2:185

Ramadan is a time of spiritual reflection for Muslims. It is meant to take their focus off every-day life and

place more emphasis on devotion and worship. The fast (called a sawm in Arabic; it literally means “to refrain”) begins at dawn and ends at sunset. All Muslims, except children under the age of 12, pregnant or

nursing mothers, the frail, aged and ill, must refrain from eating and drinking (even water). Muslims also

must abstain from smoking and sexual activity.

This is a time to cleanse body and soul, to pray more earnestly, to read the Qur’an, and to reflect on God.

The act of experiencing hunger and thirst during the day is intended to make a person more aware of the

poor and the suffering, thus encouraging generosity and compulsory charity.

Because of this, those observing Ramadan eat a pre-fast meal before sunrise called the suhur. They then

begin the first of five daily prayers (the Salat) with the Fajr (or dawn) prayer. Muslims eat again —

usually with zeal — after sunset. This fast-breaking meal is called the iftar.

This is a special time for Muslims. It is also a special time for Christians who desire to reach Muslims

with the love of Jesus Christ.

For the next 30 days we will embark on a prayer journey. We join countless other Christian ministries

praying for nearly 1.8 billion adherents to Islam.

Whenever numbers like that — 1,792,953,000 — are mentioned, many brothers and sisters in Christ

recoil. They become paralyzed, thinking: “How can I, one follower of Jesus, possibly make a difference

among so many?!” It starts with our hearts bowed. It starts with each of us coming before the Lord and asking HIM to reach those many lost souls, one … at … a … time.

Like climbing a mountain, we begin with the first step. And then take another. We do not go immediately

from the trailhead to the summit of any peak. It takes time and work. But the experience is worth it. In this case, it has eternal significance.

“Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” — Romans 8:39

We know that the God of the Bible does not want any to perish, “but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). So, lift your voice to this merciful God and ask that our Muslim friends and neighbors

would repent and acknowledge Jesus as Savior and Lord over their lives.

DAY ONE – May 6, 2019

Life-saving ascents By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ

There are many ways to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania: the Shira, Lemosho, Machame,

Umbwe, Mweka, Marangu and Rongai Routes. But only one way to heaven: Jesus Christ.

My Muslim friend stood on the trail and pointed to the summit looming ahead. “There are many ways to

the top of the mountain,” he said. “You may take one route and I may take another. We will end up at the

same place together.”

The meaning behind this conversation was much deeper than the way to the top of one of the Seven

Summits. This was about heaven and hell.

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through

me.’” – John 14:6 (NIV)

My Muslim friend saw Jesus as a prophet and a good man. But not the Son of God.

He continues to view the direction his great prophet, Muhammad, led him (and millions of others) as the true route. Like the compass that greets us on Middle Eastern airlines, perpetually pointing toward Mecca

so Muslims can pray in the right direction.

This is the way.

The wrong way.

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, told His followers: “But small is the gate and narrow the road that

leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:14, NIV). He invited us to “enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it”

(Matthew 7:13). He warned us, “Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but

inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15).

Heading in the right direction?

Like many others professing Islam (as well as a few other world religions), my man-of-Allah friend sees us heading to the same destination. To The Summit. He does not understand that he has been misled; that

he is on the path leading to destruction.

I have lovingly shared and prayed for him for years, and will continue to do so. I invite you to pray with

me.

Today is the first day of Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and is observed

by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting to commemorate the first revelation of the Qur’an to Muhammad, according to Islamic belief. This is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

But Muslims cannot even agree on the start of this holy month because it is based on the lunar calendar and dependent on the sighting of the moon on the 29

th night of each month. Muslim-majority countries

rely on the testimonies of “local moon sighters,” and a judicial committee then rules on the official start

of the month.

For that reason, the start varies by geographical location. This is not important to us; what’s important is

that we pray for our Muslim friends, neighbors (wherever you reside and to the ends of the earth), even

strangers.

For the next 30 days, Climbing For Christ is providing a prayer guide through the holy month of Ramadan. We ask you to join us in lifting the Muslim people to the God of the Bible, “not wishing that

any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

We hope many will be re-directed during this holy time. We pray for the ascent that leads to life eternal.

DAY TWO – May 7, 2019

The reason for Ramadan

By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ

Kurdish friends in eastern Turkey celebrate the end of a day during Ramadan with the “Iftar”

meal.

According to Muslims, the story of the religion of Islam begins all the way back with the very first human beings. Adam, the first great prophet for Muslims, and Eve, known as Hawwa in the Qur’an, were

tempted by the devil, Shatan, and sinned against Allah as they ate of the forbidden fruit (this is somewhat

similar to the story as it’s told in the Bible).

They failed to follow the cardinal rule of what would become the world’s second largest religion. They

failed to follow the rule that is implied in the very word “Islam.” They failed to submit. The word Islam, in fact, means “submission” to god. Every area of life is to be in submission to Allah and his decreed will

as it is taught in the Qur’an. This, of course, includes the Islamic observance of Ramadan.

Ramadan, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, is an essential duty, which all Muslims are expected to fulfill.

However, just like any religious exercise, many participate in it for the simple sake of satisfying their duties; it’s an obligation. For others, it’s what their family has done for generations; it’s all they know, it

holds precious memories, it’s tradition. And for others still, it’s a time to pursue more spiritually; to dig

deeper into their faith and to reach for more of god.

No matter the reason, our belief is that God can reach many hearts through this time of heightened

spiritual mindfulness. This is why we pray. And we’re glad to have you along.

Our hope is that God will use the coming days to give you a better idea of what some of the basic beliefs

are in Islam, and how Climbing For Christ is building bridges and developing relationships in a number

of areas today. And perhaps God will encourage you to share the love and truth about Jesus with your

Muslim neighbors near and far.

Join us in lifting the following Prayer Points:

As Muslims living all over the globe fast from food and water during the daylight hours of Ramadan, may they hunger and thirst for truth – and find it revealed to them in Jesus Christ!

Regardless of the reason they observe Ramadan, may many be drawn to the One Who wholly

submitted Himself to the will of God – leading to His sacrificial death on the cross.

DAY THREE – May 8, 2019

Allah, the great god of Islam By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ

Mosque in Moshi, Tanzania: “None to be worshipped but Allah.”

Allah is the Arabic word for god. Although for centuries it has been used when referring to the gods of

other religions as well (like Judaism and Christianity), it has essentially become the name of the god of

Islam.

In addition to the name Allah, Islamic tradition says that there are 99 special names of god. These names

are referred to as al-asma al-husna, meaning, the “best names” or “most beautiful names.” Examples

include al-Rahman (the merciful), al-Rahim (the compassionate), al-Mutakabbir (the supreme), al-Jabbar

(the strong), and many others. In addition to names of Allah being great, Allah himself is revered as the

great god. We’ve all heard the phrase “Allahu Akbar”; it’s the Muslim declaration that god is greatest.

Part of Allah’s greatness is derived from his absolute power. Anything and everything that happens in this

world is because he wills it. The phrase in sha’ Allah, meaning “if god wills,” is often used by Muslims to

acknowledge the complete control Allah is thought to have over every aspect of life.

Many today believe that Christians, Jews and Muslims all worship the same great god. This is largely

because these three monotheistic religions share so many of the same stories. For example, all three

religions revere Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, even King David.

Islam even honors Jesus as a great prophet. In fact, in the days of Islam’s infancy, the prophet

Muhammed himself believed Christians, Jews and Muslims worshipped the same god. It’s commonly taught in Islam that each of these religions were built upon the one before – often with the latest prophet

of god being sent to offer corrections to the prior, once pure, religion that had been corrupted over time.

Muslims believe Islam, established in the 7th

century, to be the latest, greatest and final rectification. The

Qur’an in fact refers to Muhammad as the “seal” or the last of the prophets.

The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, is where the early church meets Islam. This building was a

church from 537 to 1453 and converted into a mosque during the Ottoman Empire from 1453 to

1931. It was then turned into a museum, displaying Islamic calligraphy sandwiching a mosaic of

Mary holding the baby Jesus, among other mixtures of Christianity and Islam.

In spite of these beliefs, the truth is that followers of Christianity don’t worship the same god as Muslims.

Yes, there are a number of similarities in our beliefs, but the differences far outweigh them. The most

irreconcilable difference, of course, is the atoning death of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, for the sins of

mankind.

Let’s join in prayer today:

That the True and Living God, our one and only Great God, would open the hearts of many

Muslims to this saving truth.

That Jesus would send His laborers into His harvest to share His Good News – that God became man in the person of Jesus, became sin upon the terrible cross, and made a way for us to have

peace with Him.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should

not perish but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16

DAY FOUR – May 9, 2019

The prophet By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ

The Kaaba (or “The Cube”) is a building at the center of Islam’s most sacred mosque in Mecca, al-

Hejaz, Saudi Arabia. It is the most sacred site in Islam, considered the “House of Allah.” One of the

five pillars of Islam, which include Ramadan, requires every Muslim who is able to make the hajj

pilgrimage once in their lifetime.

Islam’s most revered prophet, Muhammad, began receiving his supposed revelations from Allah at the

age of 40, in the year 610 A.D. These visions would change his life – and the world.

Although Muhammad initially doubted whether or not these revelations were, in fact, from god, he was

eventually convinced, largely by his wife, that he was in fact rasul Allah – or “god’s messenger.” By 612

A.D., he began to proclaim his message and even gained a number of followers throughout his home of

Mecca. Over time, and in spite of frequent opposition, his following grew. However, by the year 622,

they were forced to flee from Mecca north to Medina. For years thereafter, Muhammad’s followers

battled regularly with the people of Mecca until eventually, in 630, Mecca was conquered by the

Muslims. Every shrine and idol temple was destroyed, except the Kaaba, which still exists today as the

most holy place on earth for followers of Islam.

After this huge conquest, Muhammad was able to stretch his reach and influence throughout most of

Arabia – often through use of force. For the next two years Muhammad ruled as religious and political

leader from Medina, until his death in 632 A.D. Afterward, his followers took Islam, often by sword, to

Asia, Africa and even Europe.

The Hadith: Although the Qur’an refers to Muhammad by using a number of different images,

like prophet, messenger, servant of god, announcer, witness, bearer of good tidings, warner,

reminder, one who calls unto God and the light-giving lamp, the vast majority of what Muslims

believe about him comes from a collection of writings compiled by his followers many years later. These writings are known as the Hadith.

In about 1,400 years, the religion of Muhammad has become a global religion with nearly 2 billion

adherents. Today, followers of Islam are found throughout the world, still honoring the life and teachings of their prophet Muhammad. Although many in-roads have been made among Muslim people groups,

millions of followers of Islam have no Christian witness in their own culture. In other words, there is no

one in their people group – no one who intimately understands their culture and customs and possibly

even language – who can share the Good News with them.

Join us in prayer:

Today, let’s pray that God would raise up laborers to go out into His harvest. May the people of God be willing to reach the hard places for Christ.

Pray that the Lord of the harvest would open doors for our Muslim neighbors to hear from a true

messenger of God about the true message of salvation in Jesus! May many have hearts to turn

from following the message of Muhammad, to the beautiful and saving Gospel truth.

“… He asked His disciples, saying, ‘Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?’ So they said, ‘Some say

John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do

you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” –

Matthew 16:13-16

DAY FIVE – May 10, 2019

Essential beliefs By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ

Illustration of Aladdin from Arabian Nights (c. 1900). Jinn, evil spirits in Islam, are the classic

genies of folklore. The Qur’an states: “Indeed We created man from dried clay of black smooth

mud. And We created the Jinn before that from the smokeless flame of fire” (Surah 15:26-27).

Islam is a religion involving both beliefs and obligations. Its beliefs include what are often called “The

Five Doctrines,” while the obligations, or duties, are commonly referred to as “The Five Pillars” (more on

those tomorrow). It goes without saying that Islam contains numerous beliefs and practices. That said, the

essence of Islam is often boiled down into five (or six) key points:

One God – Monotheism was one of the Prophet Muhammad’s most striking and divisive teachings.

Although this was nothing new to the Christianity or Judaism of his day, Muhammad preached the

absolute oneness of Allah amid idol-worshiping polytheistic peoples. Needless to say, this was the most

challenging obstacle for the early Islamic message. In addition, Muhammad and early Muslims drew the

line even further than the Christians, declaring that Allah, an “absolute unity,” could not “share” his deity

with anything or anyone else – including a Son. This concept is known as “tawhid.” In addition, Allah is

totally transcendent. Muslims believe that Allah can reveal his will or wisdom with people, but he himself

can never be known personally. Again, this is in contrast to the Christian belief in God as an intimate

Father and Friend, Shepherd and Savior, Comforter and Counselor.

Angels – It’s taught that each person has two angels assigned to them: one to record good deeds and

another to record the bad. These “lower angels,” referred to as the Honorable Recorders (Kiraman

Katibin) do not have their own free will. Archangels, however, including Gabriel (Jabril) and Michael

(Mikail) appear to have been given more liberty, although they still operate totally within the will of

Allah. While humans are said to be made from clay, angels are said to be made from light. In addition,

another group exists within Islam as well. Jinn, or evil spirits, are believed to be made from fire. They are

mortal beings and interact regularly with the human realm.

The Prophets – The Qur’an teaches that Muhammad is the “seal of the prophets” (khatam an-Nabiyyin)

after a long line of Muslim messengers – over 100,000 in fact. As mentioned on Day 3, these other

messengers include Adam, Noah, Moses, David, Jesus, and many others. Although each prophet is

believed to have brought a message from Allah needed for a particular time, each is believed to have

preached essentially the same Muslim message: worship the one god, fast, pray, do pilgrimage and be

charitable. Muhammad is the final revelation of this message.

Scriptures – Although the Qur’an is believed to be the final revelation from the Muslim god, there were

three revelations that came before it, each of which was mentioned in the Qur’an: the Torah (Taurat),

Psalms (Zabur) and the Gospel (Injil). Although these books are thought to have been corrupted since

their original writing, many Muslims still believe that much of their message is true. That said, because

the Qur’an is the most recent and final of these four revelations from Allah, wherever discrepancies are

found, the Qur’an prevails.

Judgement – Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam teaches that the physical death of the body is not the

end of our existence. As mentioned above, Muslims believe that all of their good and bad deeds are

recorded throughout their lives to be judged by Allah on the great Day of Judgement. Each soul will

either be condemned to an afterlife of terrible punishment in Jahannam (hell) or one of eternal ecstasy in

Jannah (paradise).

Fate – Some Muslim scholars include a “sixth doctrine,” so we’ll include that here, too. Qadar is the

Muslim idea of divine predestination – or fate. This concept is taken from the Qur’an’s “decree of Allah.”

It describes the belief that if Allah wills it, it is done, regardless of human will or effort. Some Muslims

believe Allah exercises more of this authority over human lives than others, but all would agree that in

sha Allah (if god wills) it will be done.

It goes without saying that it doesn’t matter how genuinely someone believes something to be true, or

how passionately they may cling to it, or how detailed their argument may be – there is truth and there is

fallacy, right and wrong, light and dark. Apart from the light of the Gospel shining into the hearts of

Muslims and them coming to God by grace through faith in Jesus, they will spend eternity in hell

separated from the One True God who loves them so much and made a way for them to be saved.

Please take a moment and join us in prayer:

Pray that the same God who spoke the world into existence would speak to Muslims by His Holy

Spirit. May many be freed from the doctrines of demons and gladly receive the Truth.

Pray for a great awakening in the Muslim world. May many, who genuinely believe they are

following God, be shown the way to everlasting life in true paradise.

“And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’” – Luke 23:43

DAY SIX – May 11, 2019

Fulfilling the Five Pillars

By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ

Our Mission: Ararat 2014 team poses with a Kurdish family in eastern Turkey. On the wall above

us is a portrait of The Grand Mosque in Mecca. Families will hang photos of sons (usually), who

have made the hajj to Mecca. The hajj is one of Islam’s Five Pillars.

In addition to the essential beliefs we looked at yesterday, Islam is a religion involving duties. The

obligations are known to Sunni Muslims as “The Five Pillars of Islam” – arkan al-Islam in Arabic. These

pillars are foundational in the life of all devout Muslims, although some branches of Islam, like the Shi’a,

add several other obligations to Islamic life.

It’s important for Muslims to know the foundation of these pillars because only the good deeds that are

described in the writings of the Qur’an or Hadith are said to count toward outweighing their bad deeds on

the Day of Judgement. These five basic duties are:

Shahada – Literally meaning “to bear witness,” the shahada is the Muslim statement that affirms the

oneness of god, and the validity of Muhammad as his leading prophet. “There is no god but god (Allah),”

the saying is recited, “and Muhammad is the prophet of god.” It’s been said that reciting the first half of

the shahada simply makes one a monotheist (believer in one god), but reciting the second half is what

makes one a Muslim. This phrase, central to Islam, is recited often through one’s life – even whispered

into the ears of a newborn baby.

Salat – Followers of Islam are required to pray at five specified times each day. These prayers are known

as Salat. Salat is to be performed while facing the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Often times

Muslims will gather at the mosque to offer their prayers to Allah, although they are also free to pray at

their homes or other convenient places on most days. Salat does not typically consist of personal prayers,

but rather contains a set of memorized ritual prayers and various physical positions, such as standing,

bowing and prostrating oneself. Prior to praying, each person must complete a washing, or purification,

known as wudu.

Zakat – Zakat is the practice of giving alms to the Muslim community, which will in turn use these funds

for the sick, widows, orphans and other charitable causes, along with administrative needs, building and

upkeep of mosques and provision for missionaries. Typically, zakat is done monetarily, although for

poorer people this is not always the case. Those who are unable to give financially will often perform

zakat by offering good deeds toward others.

Sawm – Although there are different kinds of fasts outlined in the Qur’an, the best known is the ritual fast

of Ramadan. During this holy month, Muslims abstain from food and drink (among other “pleasurable”

things) during all daylight hours. Fasting is required of all able-bodied men and women.

Hajj – The famous pilgrimage to Mecca, known as the Hajj, is the last of the Five Pillars. Similar to zakat

and sawm, exceptions are made for those who are physically or financially unable to make the journey,

but all other followers of Islam are obliged to make the Hajj at least once in their lives. For most

Muslims, this is not as much an obligation as a delight. Every haji (pilgrim) wears two white sheets as a

symbol of unity and equality before Allah. During the hajj, every haji will circle the sacred Kaaba seven

times and travel seven times between Mount Safa and Mount Marwah, in addition to collecting and

symbolically throwing stones at the devil among other traditional Hajj requirements.

Failing to fulfill these fundamental duties of Islam is inconceivable for devout Muslims. Furthermore,

such a failure would put one’s standing with Allah in great jeopardy.

That said, however, the Qur’an records that even the prophet Muhammad, whose life and example these

pillars rest upon, wasn’t certain of his own eternal destiny.

Muhammad recited these words, as recorded in the Qur’an: “I am no new thing among the messengers,

nor know I what will be done with me or you” (Surah 46:9).

From these words, we can safely draw the conclusion that a Muslim – even Muhammad – can believe all

essential doctrines and fulfill all necessary duties and yet still be uncertain as to whether or not Allah will

judge him or her favorably. The Christian, however, has a Rock-solid assurance.

“Most assuredly,” Jesus declares in John 6:47, “I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting

life.” No worrying. No wavering. No wondering. Not only does Jesus “most assuredly” tell us the path to

eternal life, but He is the Life!

Please take a moment and join us in prayer:

Pray for followers of Islam who are weary and heavy laden with works and rituals. May they

come to Jesus and find rest for their souls. May they find His yoke to be easy and burden to be

light.

Pray that Christian believers would be witnesses to the grace of God through Christ. May

Muslims see and be deeply moved by the freedom from fear and the assurance of salvation that is

only found in Jesus.

DAY SEVEN – May 12, 2019

The honor/shame culture, part 1 By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ

All cultures are not created equally. (Infographic by Global Mapping International)

Sean Ranger, as the Climbing For Christ member came to be known, spent more than three years serving

in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco (a nation of 36 million that is 99.6 percent Muslim and 0.2 percent Christian). He was part of our first Mission: Morocco team.

Sean came from a guilt-based culture in the West and found himself in a shame-based culture in North

Africa. Cultural differences pose a challenge and require acclimatization when we land on foreign soil.

Jackson Wu, the author of One Gospel for All Nations: A Practical Approach to Biblical

Contextualization, put it this way: “If I said, ‘耶稣是救世主’ to someone who didn’t know Chinese, the

message would amount to gibberish, even though I just said, ‘Jesus is the Messiah!’ Even if I used

English, someone may wonder, ‘What in the world is the messiah?’”

We need to understand and adapt to the culture we are trying to reach.

“To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all

possible means I might save some.” — Apostle Paul speaking in 1 Corinthians 9:22

When in Morocco, Sean Ranger did as the Berber did. He could make, pour and drink tea with the best of

them. He also learned to speak to them in a way they, as Muslims (if only nominally), would better

understand. “As for sharing the Gospel with Berbers, we would most often use stories,” Sean said. “Usually stories directly from the Bible, although we sometimes used other stories that had been created

with specific lessons in mind.

“Biblical stories commonly used include the healing of blind Bartimaeus (in Mark 10:46), the story of the Prodigal, the story of the one sheep in Luke 15, the Parable of the Tenants and the Parable of the

Sower. We didn’t really choose these stories because of a common thread, they just seemed to be ones

that came up more often than others.

“We would also often quote Jesus saying, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’ and then expand on each

of those words and what they mean.

“One of the stories we used quite often was of a king ordering a tajine (the common Berber meal). He

asks for a tajine and so his cook makes him a pork tajine. The king smells the pork when it comes, yells at

the cook and tells him to bring him a ‘clean’ tajine. So the cook adds a bunch of good meat to the pork, brings it again. The king sends it back and the cook adds vegetables this time. Again it’s sent back, so the

cook takes the pork out (but not the juices) and presents it again. The king recognizes pork juices are still

in the tajine and continues to refuse it. The point of the story is you can’t clean yourself with good works to be invited into the Kingdom of Heaven. I don't know who came up with this but it’s really spot on.”

Sean Ranger and our Moroccan teams also have carried the Jesus film and other videos in Berber. “People that would often only listen to us for a few minutes before finding a reason to leave the room

were willing to sit for an hour watching a film narrated by a native Berber speaker,” Sean said.

Dinner is served to Sean Ranger by our host.

At one house our team visited in 2013, there was a TV connected to a satellite dish. (This was where we

were when the Boston Marathon bombing occurred, allowing us to see some of the horrifying news back

home. A C4C Canada board member was running in that race.) The man of the house turned on a movie. It was an old, critically poor Bible film. In fact, one of our team immediately started criticizing the film –

certainly a mission no-no. I told this person to be quiet and look at what was going on; we were sitting in

a Berber home in the Atlas Mountains with a Muslim man who was absorbed by a Bible film. This was a

God moment. It opened the door for Sean Ranger to share more about Jesus.

“One thing I found over time was that regardless of which stories or ideas we shared, the effectiveness of what we were sharing had a lot more to do with the spiritual condition of the people we were sharing with

than how well prepared we were,” Sean Ranger said. “Sometimes my poorer attempts at sharing were

more effective because the person I was speaking with was ready. Other times my better attempts all seemed to go in one ear and out the other – or not in at all!”

This by no means does not excuse ill-preparedness. We need to be ready to share anywhere, anytime (2

Timothy 4:2). That means we need to make every effort to understand and better know the people to

whom we are called to deliver the Good News.

Father, we beseech You, to teach us how to clearly share You with those who do not know You as the

One, true God. May Your truth be understood and not a foreign message of gibberish. Let those who have

ear, hear it. In Your name we pray. Amen.

What is honor? What is shame? Here are definitions provided by Werner Mischke in his book, The

Global Gospel: Achieving Missional Impact in Our Multicultural World:

HONOR is “the worth or value of persons both in their eyes and in the eyes of their village,

neighborhood, or society.” … “The critical item is the public nature of respect and reputation.”

SHAME is “the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and

therefore unworthy of love and belonging” … “the fear of disconnection.”

African theologian Andrew Mbuvi put it this way: “I am, because we are; and since we are, therefore I

am.”

The West is about “self”: self-service, self-centeredness, self-sacrifice, self-deprecation, self-satisfaction.

It’s all about “me.” In cultures in Africa and Asia, the “concept of ‘self’ is established primarily by one’s family and community. This is called the dyadic personality, and is completely different from the

individualistic personality by which Westerners view the world. … such a person (seeing life in terms of

honor) would always see himself or herself through the eyes of others.”

Page 17 of “The Father’s Love Booklet” – “Jesus is teaching: God is like a father willing to suffer

shame for us.” (https://thefatherslovebooklet.org/)

The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) is viewed as the quintessential teaching on honor and shame. The “basic message of the Parable of the Prodigal Son,” Mischke says, offers the solution to the problem of guilt and condemnation from God and the covering of our shame and the restoration of our

honor before God. Werner has written “The Father’s Love Booklet,” which is a wonderful resource. The

Parable of the Prodigal Son is an excellent entry point for the teaching of the Gospel.

DAY EIGHT – May 13, 2019

The honor/shame culture, part 2 — Who I am By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ

Harran, Turkey near the border of Syria.

Roland Muller wrote of having served among Arabs for 20 years when he was sharing with a fellow

missionary about his struggles communicating the Gospel with Muslims. “His offhand comment completely changed my world: ‘That’s because Arabs live in a shame-based culture.’” It was the first

time Muller had heard the term “shame-based culture.”

As I read this single, rich page Muller contributed to the January-February 2015 issue of the always-

superb Mission Frontiers magazine, I felt a sense of relief. I had wondered from time to time why I was

just learning about honor and shame. How did I miss this in the first 10-plus years of Climbing For Christ ministering in foreign (often shame-based) cultures?

Perhaps it was God’s timing. But a divine encounter in April 2015 at a gathering of ministry leaders

working with unreached Muslim people groups opened my eyes to honor and shame. Much reading followed. Shortly thereafter, we formed a Global Gospel Team —a virtual think-tank consisting of several

Climbing For Christ members.

We have come to understand that cultural differences can be as big an obstacle to overcome as any

language barrier produced by the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11).

“Simply stated,” Werner Mischke writes in his book, The Global Gospel: Achieving Missional Impact in

Our Multicultural World, “shame is about who I am; guilt is about what I’ve done.”

What does this mean in the Muslim world?

In his excellent Mission Frontiers story, “Gospel Restores Honor to the Dishonored,” Bruce Sidebotham

writes how “the consequences of uncleanness (are) more feared than the results of sin!”

According to Islam, sex makes one unclean. Those who do not bathe after sex will not have their prayers

heard. Never mind if that sex is inside or outside of marriage. To be caught “unclean” is a greater

transgression than being caught in adultery.

“I had always wondered why even nominal Muslims make such a big thing out of not eating pork and not

getting licked by dogs when sins like lusting after women are treated so superficially. Even the 9/11 terrorists frequented striptease joints,” Sidebotham wrote.

“Under this perspective, the greatest felt need is not salvation from sin but deliverance from defilement. Every element of a devout Muslim’s life is ordered by this insecurity: the direction to face when falling

asleep, the Arabic words with which to preface a task, speech, or greeting, and even the way to blow

one’s nose or wipe one’s bottom. Because eating pork introduces the worst possible defilement and

because one’s ceremonial purity outweighs one’s moral purity, the pork eater (George W. Bush) is more despicable than the murderer (Osama Bin Laden).”

Purity (or taharah in Arabic) is an essential aspect of Islam. The Qur’an states there “are men who love to purify themselves; and Allah loves those who purify themselves” (Surah 9:108). As a result, “polytheists

(what Christians are considered by Muslims because we worship a Triune God) are unclean, so let them

not approach” the Holy Mosque (Surah 9:28).

Levels of defilement, according to Sidebotham, range from burping or passing gas to touching one’s

private parts to touching semen, urine, feces or menstrual flow. In fact, a woman’s prayers will not be

heard during her period.

“In Indonesia a friend asked me why Christians insist that Jesus is God and that he was crucified,”

Sidebotham wrote. “Instead of trying to convince my friend that all have sinned and that all sin must be punished by death, I noted what he already knew, that all flesh is defiled and from before birth contains

the very substances from which we need to be cleansed. I expressed my opinion on the futility of

ceremonial rituals for making us clean enough for heaven, because dirt cannot make itself clean any better

than darkness can make itself light. I said that just as a candle drives darkness from a room by entering it, God drives defilement from human flesh by becoming it. In other words, the very thing that Muslims

object to most in Christianity, syirik [the sin of practicing idolatry or polytheism, i.e. the deification or

worship of anyone or anything other than the singular god, Allah], is the solution to man’s most basic problem as perceived by most Muslims.

“I should have also shown how the nature of Jesus’ miracles healing blindness with his spit and leprosy with his touch proves that he had to be God. No mere prophet could touch a leper without being

contaminated, and, while a prophet’s grave might be holy, his spit remains foul like everyone else’s.

“I did point out that by embracing death itself Jesus destroyed it. I concluded that our only hope for heaven lay in appropriating Jesus’ undefiled life and victory over death for ourselves by faith as is

symbolized in baptism and communion.

“Jesus not only bore our sins; He bore our shame. As the ‘author and perfecter of our faith’ He ‘endured

the cross, scorning its shame’ (Hebrews 12:2).”

May we learn how to communicate the truth about Who Jesus is to all, regardless of culture. Pray for cross-cultural clarity as we GO to the ends of the earth. May those living with shame defining them as

“who I am” be introduced to the great I AM.

DAY NINE – May 14, 2019

The honor/shame culture, part 3 — For His purpose By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ

Honored to “feast” with Muslim friends in eastern Turkey.

The Open Doors ministry prayer calendar for Ramadan a few years ago said: “Many secret believers are

forced to take part in Ramadan rituals. Pray for opportunities for them to share their faith.”

Muslim-background believers (MBBs) may continue to go to the mosque and participate in daily Islamic

life after converting to Christianity. It could be likened to a worker in the West going to his secular job each day looking for opportunities to shine for Jesus.

In other instances, it is because there is no community of Christ followers. The MBB is isolated and

alone.

We have encouraged many who have accepted Jesus in hostile territory (be it Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or

animist) to keep Him in their heart. God knows He has a place there.

As it turns out, “there may be long-term advantages to encouraging new believers to remain in their

family as a light and not disdain social customs,” writes Jayson Georges in The 3D Gospel: Ministry in Guilt, Shame and Fear Cultures. “Family networks are the most natural channels for transmitting the

gospel in shame-honor contexts, so they should be maintained whenever possible.”

God has placed each of us in a culture, in a time, and in a location for His purpose. He has works for us to do — to glorify His name — whether we live in Western, Latin, Islamic, African or Asian cultures.

Here’s how these five cultures are defined by The Honor-Shame Network, which includes authors Georges, Chris Flanders, Werner Mischke and Jackson Wu:

Western tends to be more private and personal, resulting in low self-esteem. “Shame is not so much community scorn (though social media is bringing this aspect out more and more).”

Latin honors machoism.

Islamic esteems the Qur’an, Muhammad, ummah (community), and even the Arabic language.

“Muslims feel personally disrespected if any of these are disgraced.” African gives a high value to ancestry, honoring the “living dead.”

Asian recognizes “face.” Shaming someone else brings shame upon oneself.

Map of cultures by The Honor-Shame Network.

While shame in the West is centered on the individual, it is about public reputation in the East. “The seedbed of Eastern shame is a strong communal culture, where the prying eyes of gossipy neighbors

publicize my value,” Mischke writes on honorshame.com.

Those prying eyes may also expose your new-found love — Jesus Christ. Depending on the place, this exposure can produce life-shattering results such as being ostracized and persecuted.

“Westerners often miss honor and shame dynamics in other cultures,” Georges writes in The 3D Gospel. “One reason is that languages use different words to talk about honor and shame, such as: glory,

reputation, status, dignity, or worth. Many cultures use metaphors, since people are known by their name

and face.

“Also, cultural expressions of honor and shame can appear contradictory. For example, Middle Eastern

cultures aggressively compete for honor. Conflict is viewed as win-lose or lose-win. So they may resort to

honor killings or even terrorism to avoid shame and restore honor.”

Some further insights into traits of the honor-shame culture:

Group orientation: The community’s opinion and acceptance of you is most important. Public purity: “Dirt” and “filth” are metaphors for shame. But these metaphors are often taken

literally, so physical dirtiness equals social dirtiness. If your shoes are dirty, shame on you.

Gender roles: Men are expected to advance the family name publicly while women are to avoid

shame by means of modesty.

Feasting: Eating together implies community, acceptance, and shared possessions. Gifts of goats to our mission teams by impoverished people are a way to show honor. Jesus turned social honor

upside-down (and was ridiculed for it) by eating with sinners.

Patronage: A superior gives something physical (food, money, housing) in exchange for something social from the inferior (loyalty, obedience, praise). Patronage is how the materially

rich buy honor and status.

Hospitality: Hosting people is a form of patronage. You know who you are by who you eat with.

Indirect communication: Also known as lying in the West. Not telling the truth or completely disclosing information is a way to maintain one’s honor. “What if some were unfaithful? Does

their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one

were a liar, as it is written, ‘That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged’” (Romans 3:3-4, ESV).

Event focused: Timeliness is the first (and often hardest) lesson for Westerners to learn in other

cultures. There is no such thing as tardiness in other parts of the world. The event starts when

everyone is there, no matter when that might be. The important thing is the people gathering, not the task at hand. Starting without someone would be offensive. Time is also a way to show honor;

the most important people arrive last. Myriad times we are told a worship service begins at 9

a.m., but we arrive at 10 with our host as a sign of importance. (This flies in the face of humility,

but when in Rome…)

We can learn many lessons from the greatest missionary of all-time, the Apostle Paul, who evangelized in

the honor-shame culture. In his spiritual blessings to the church at Ephesus, Paul addressed salvation,

writing: “In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of

his will. … So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and

members of the household of God” (Ephesians 1:5; 2:19, ESV, emphasis mine).

This is the message our Muslim friends and neighbors need to hear — focused on community and love.

God is waiting for many to acknowledge who He is. Pray that we may be blessed to deliver His truth.

DAY TEN – May 15, 2019

The uniqueness of Isa By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ

A Muslim friend reads about Jesus in the New Testament while resting in the sun on Mount Ararat.

JESUS. The One whose beautiful name is above every other name.

JESUS. The One who, stepping down from heaven, was born of a virgin to live a sinless and

righteous life.

JESUS. The One who walked on water, calmed the storm, gave sight to the blind and raised the

dead.

JESUS. The One who died a brutal death, bearing on Himself the sins of the world.

JESUS. The One who rose from the grave, forever defeating death and making a way for all to

receive eternal life.

The Bible reveals so many incredible things about our Savior, Jesus. We should fall down in awe-inspired

worship and never get up again in light of all that He is and all that He’s done.

Unfortunately, many of these and other incredible accounts of the life and lessons of Jesus can have a

tendency to become “old news” for us. Perhaps we’ve heard them as we grew up. Perhaps we’ve listened

to sermon after sermon on them. Perhaps we’ve read the same stories in the same Bible again and again.

God forbid our hearts should ever grow dull to these amazing accounts of our Lord!

In addition, the Qur’an also shares some pretty amazing things about Jesus (or Isa, as He’s referred to in

the Qur’an’s original language, Arabic). It’s some of these incredible claims that we hope will excite and

begin to lead our Muslim friend to saving faith in Jesus. Take a quick look at the following ayyat (verses):

Isa’s virgin birth

“She [Mary] said: ‘My Lord! When shall there be a son born to me, and man has not touched me?’ He

said: ‘Even so, Allah creates what He pleases; when He has decreed a matter, He only says to it, Be, and

it is.’” – Surah al-Imran 3:47

His sinless life

“And he [Isa]… shall be one of the good [righteous] ones.” – Surah al-Imran 3:46

“But he said: ‘I am but a messenger of your Lord, (come) to announce to you the gift of a pure [sinless]

boy.’” – Surah Maryam 19:19

The miracles of Isa

“… I heal the blind and the leprous, and bring the dead to life.” – Surah al-Imran 3:49

These three points could be great conversation starters and stepping stones for a follower of Islam to

potentially become a follower of Jesus, which is incredibly exciting! That said, we must be clear and

uncompromising in our beliefs while showing kindness and humility in our discussion. We should be

careful never to put the Qur’an on the same level as the Bible, because in spite of these amazing attributes

of Isa (which no follower of Islam would ever deny), there are many additional false claims about Him to

which most Muslims hold.

So many of us have struggled with how to open a dialogue about Jesus with our Muslim neighbors. Here

we see a great starting point from which we can hopefully bring them to the full saving knowledge of

Jesus, the saving Son of God! Throughout the Qur’an, Isa stands out as having a remarkably and uniquely

miraculous and powerful life. He is unlike any other prophet. This then begs the question for our Muslim

friend: what should they do about this incredible information? We’ll discuss that more tomorrow.

Pray for Muslims around the world to recognize the uniqueness of Isa as they understand him.

May this lead them to a pursuit of the One who truly is unlike any other!

Pray for Christians to boldly begin conversations about the Isa of Islam. May the Holy Spirit of

God lead and guide the discussion ultimately to the Isa of the Injil (or New Testament)!

“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at

the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth.” – Philippians 2:9-10

DAY ELEVEN – May 16, 2019

Obey Me

By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ

Evangelist Haseeb, a Climbing For Christ member, teaches from the Bible in Pakistan.

As we saw yesterday, the Qur’an attributes numerous miracles to Jesus, or Isa, as He’s known to most of

the world’s nearly 2 billion Muslims. Followers of Islam agree that Isa was born of a virgin, lived a

sinless life, and even healed the sick and raised the dead. Just looking at those miraculous details of the

life of Isa, there is no one who compares.

No other person in all of Islam was ever born in such a miraculous way.

No other person in Islam ever claimed to be without sin. (In fact, even Muhammad asked Allah for

forgiveness – see Surah 40:55 and 47:19.)

No other person in all of Islam had power to perform such mighty miracles.

Clearly, even within Islam, Jesus has some very special – very unique – qualities. And as we posed

yesterday, what should the Muslim do with this information? Well, they would do well to learn more

about Isa’s life and teachings and obey what He has commanded (and we would do well to help them as

best we can). In fact, they’re commanded to by the Qur’an itself.

In Surah 3:50, Isa tells the reader to “keep your duty to Allah (Allah is the Arabic word for God) and obey

me.” Because of this, we can boldly encourage our Muslim friend to learn more about Isa. But how can

they when there isn’t much information about Him in the Qur’an? Well, there just so happens to be a

book that describes the life and teachings of Isa. This book, one of the four holy books of Islam, is called

the Injil.

The Injil is the Arabic name for the Christian Gospel writings, or the New Testament. It’s there that our

Muslim friend can begin to learn the truth about Isa – the truth about Jesus! It’s there that the incredible

promises of God can be read and believed and treasured!

In fact, one recent survey listed that reading the truth of God’s Word was among the top five reasons

Muslims have come out of Islam and into faith in Christ. In other words, the truth of the Bible illuminated

their hearts and they simply could not turn away from Jesus and go back to Islam.

Hopefully once our Muslim friend actually reads or hears the very words of Isa found in the Injil, they too

will be unable to go back to Islam. They, too, will have their heart forever touched by the beautiful truth

of God and His Word.

Let’s pray now for many followers of Islam to discover the rich truth about Isa found in the Injil. Pray for

believers in Christ to make New Testaments available to Muslims, so that they can read for themselves

about the life and teachings of Jesus. May many lives be forever touched as the Lord Himself reveals His

truth!

“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love

him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.’” – John 14:23

DAY TWELVE – May 17, 2019

The Word By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ

After discussing that the Bible has not been corrupted, a Muslim friend wanted a Bible for his son.

As Christians, we believe that God’s Word has been protected and preserved over the centuries for the

blessing and building of His Church. “The grass withers, the flower fades,” we read in Isaiah 40:8, “but

the word of our God stands forever.”

Inspired, inerrant and intact; our Bible is the true representation of the words that the Holy Spirit breathed

in and through each human writer many years ago.

Yesterday, we talked about the importance of Muslims reading the accounts of Isa (or Jesus) found within

the Injil. Unfortunately, most followers of Islam have been taught that the Injil – along with the Taurat

(the Torah of Moses) and Zabur (the Psalms of David) – have been changed since they were originally

written. Muslims typically believe that although they were once holy books, they have since been

corrupted. Thus, the Qur’an is said to be Allah’s final word to mankind.

However, our Muslim friend will actually find a very different idea within his or her own Qur’an.

“Perfected is the word of the Lord in truth and justice,” we find in Surah 6:115, “there is nothing that

can change his words.”

This portion of the Qur’an teaches that Allah’s words are unchangeable.

As Muhammad received his supposed revelations from the angel Gabriel, the validity of the Injil, the

Taurat or the Zabur (God’s former revelations) were never actually called into question. The Qur’an may

indeed reject the interpretation of these writings, but never the substance.

The idea that the books were changed seems to have come well after the days of Muhammad. In fact, in

Surah 4:136, we find this amazing statement: “O you who believe! Believe in… the Scripture which He

revealed aforetime.” This incredible portion of the Qur’an (along with Surahs 5:46-47, 64-66; and 10:94)

reveal that Muhammad never questioned the validity of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures.

The implication here is that the difference between the corruption of the Injil (and other earlier writings)

versus its misinterpretation is huge. It means that once our Muslim friend hears these points (likely for

the first time) they will hopefully want to learn more about these “other” Scriptures.

With great care, we can lovingly point our friend to this portion of the Qur’an in the hope that their heart

will soften and their mind open to the truth of Jesus. Upon reading these “other Scriptures,” God’s true

Word will work as a double-edged sword in their heart!

DISCLAIMER: The same passage referenced above (Surah 4:136) also encourages the reader to believe in Muhammad as the prophet of Allah. Clearly then, we must fully acknowledge that although there are

some flickers of truth in the Qur’an that we can use to bridge a Muslim to Christ, it is primarily a book

filled with false teachings.

As we’ve seen, in spite of the many barriers and false claims in Islam there are a number of potential bridges as well. With a lot a prayer and a little boldness, perhaps God would use us to walk our Muslim

friend across some of those bridges.

One additional example is a special name given to Isa. He is called Kalimatullah, meaning “Word of

God.” This is largely derived from Surah 3:45, in which we find this unbelievable description of Isa:

“Remember when the angels said: O Maryam [Mary]! Truly, Allah gives you glad tidings of a

Word from Him, whose name will be Masih, Isa [Messiah, Jesus] the son of Maryam, held in

honor in this world and the Hereafter, and will be one of those who are near to Allah.”

We can draw our Muslim friend’s attention not only to the fact that this unique title is given only to Isa,

but that the Qur’an doesn’t say Isa received a word from God or that Isa delivered a word from God.

Rather, Isa is called the very “Word of God”!

This would be a great time to share the truth about Isa, as found within the Gospel. In chapter 1, verse 14,

John’s Gospel beautifully reveals that, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His

glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Pray for many followers of Islam to hear and believe the Word of God. May the above (and

other) portions of the Qur’an be used to draw Muslims out of Islam and to the feet of Isa!

Pray for followers of Jesus to be loving and patient in leading Muslim friends to Christ. May

many have hearts to balance standing for truth, while meeting Muslims where they are.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… as many as

received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” –

John 1:1, 12 (NKJV)

DAY THIRTEEN – May 18, 2019

‘It is difficult to be a Christian in Pakistan’

By Gary Fallesen, president, Climbing For Christ

When sewer worker Irfan Masih, a 30-year-old Christian in Lahore, Pakistan, fell unconscious after he inhaled poisonous gases locked inside a manhole, he was rushed to the hospital. But the attending doctor

refused to treat Irfan because the Muslim doctor was fasting for Ramadan and the patient’s body was

dirty.

Irfan Masih died.

“As you know, Christians are persecuted all over the world,” said Evangelist Haseeb, a Climbing For Christ member and the founder of Save Pakistan, who originally shared with us the story of Irfan Masih.

“It is true that Christians in Pakistan are persecuted, too. It is difficult to be a Christian here in Pakistan.

“Approximately 50 percent of Christians are afraid to tell their beliefs and we do not even have the

opportunity to have good jobs here. Mostly Christians do sweeper, bathroom cleaners, etc.”

Voice of the Martyrs claims “more than 2 million Pakistanis spend their lives (as indentured servants in

brick kilns) working to pay off debts that continue to accrue.” We know this to be true because several years ago God birthed Climbing For Christ’s Project 8:36 to set free children (some orphans and some

with parents) forced to work in brick factories.

“I’m thankful that the Lord uses me for the freedom of many families,” Haseeb said. God has enabled

Climbing For Christ to purchase the physical freedom of 65 indentured souls. He already purchased their

spiritual freedom through the blood of Jesus, which is why this initiative was named after John 8:36 (“So

if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed”).

Haseeb and his wife with siblings Sidra, 10 years old, Sara, 9, and Sjawal, 11, who are awaiting

freedom. Climbing For Christ raised $3,240 to pay their family’s debt.

Voice of the Martyrs added in a recent newsletter devoted to Pakistan that many Christians “endure

oppressive lives performing slave labor as brick makers. As members of the minority religion, Christians

are considered expendable no matter their age.

“Many Christians have been falsely accused under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which provide penalties

ranging from fines to the death sentence for convictions of blasphemy against Islam, the Qur’an or

Muhammad. Since Islam is constitutionally recognized as Pakistan’s official state religion, Christianity is

seen as a threat to Islamic authority.”

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan (population estimated to be nearly 202 million) is 99 percent Muslim

and 0.7 percent Christian. That Christian minority has few if any rights.

Background: Pakistan is the fifth most difficult place on the planet to be a Christian, according to Open

Doors’ World Watch List. Persecution is a way of life, as we have witnessed in our partnership since

2011 with brother Haseeb and his family.

Persecution is to be expected by those who follow Jesus.

In January 2014, our brothers and sisters at Save Pakistan came under extreme fire from the enemy. The family informed us that a crowd attacked their house – “throwing bricks and shouting abuses loudly.” The

work they had been doing – feeding children from poor families or no families, serving widows through a

sewing center, helping under-age children laboring inhumane hours in brick factories, and always

introducing people to Jesus, distributing Bibles and baptizing new believers – had made them a target.

There had been incidents in the past: a motorbike “accident” for Haseeb in 2011 and an assault on his

father in 2012. But in 2014 the attacks escalated, ultimately leading to the abduction of Haseeb’s sister,

who was forced to marry a Muslim man and has not been seen or heard from since.

“As the Lord said to forgive those who hurt you, I forgive them,” Haseeb said.

He knows what so many persecuted Christians have learned: “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill

your body; they cannot touch your soul” (Matthew 10:28a, NLT).

“My dream is Pakistan shall be saved in Christ and they have full freedom to save those who are still in

darkness and rescue those still in persecution,” Haseeb said. “To reach out to every single soul with the

Good News of Jesus Christ through different projects – to have church buildings, to have orphanage

buildings, (and more).”

PRAY for boldness among those Christians who Haseeb said are “afraid” to share their faith with others.

Voice of the Martyrs mentions that “local believers [stay] away from the majority population out of

ignorance, lack of knowledge [of Islam], or due to hatred and bitterness.” In 2015, I polled 14 Climbing For Christ members in Pakistan who are nationals, asking how many evangelized among Muslim people

groups. The Joshua Project says 414 of 422 people groups in Pakistan (98.1 percent) are unreached. Only

two of the 14 responded that they work among Muslims.

We lift the work and the workers in Pakistan, especially those who feel (as Voice of the Martyrs quoted

one persecuted woman) “it’s sometimes like a little sparrow trying to extinguish a fire in the jungle with water in her beak … I am like this sparrow.” That work includes Project 8:36; we ask that God would use

His people to provide funding to continue to free children and families from brick factory slavery.

“If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” – 1

Corinthians 12:26 (ESV)

DAY FOURTEEN – May 19, 2019

By all means, save some! By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ

The Apostle Paul was a man on a mission. Actually, he was a man on a commission – a Great

Commission!

Without a doubt Paul knew that he was sent to reach the nations for Christ. “For so the Lord has

commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles (non-Jews), that you should be for salvation to

the ends of the earth,” Paul declared in Acts 13:47.

Anyone who has been on a cross-cultural mission understands some of the immense challenges Paul

faced in his calling. In addition to language and other cultural barriers, how on earth was he going to

explain the Gospel to people who had such vastly different religious and world views from his own?

As we witness with the lost, it’s certainly important to know the huge differences between our beliefs. We

need to understand where exactly we should draw the line when attempting to find common ground.

Becasue it’s also important to know the similarities of our beliefs in order to build relationships and be

well-equipped to reason with those with whom God would have us share.

While visiting with new friends in Indonesia, the Spirit held our tongue when an opportunity to

share the Gospel was apparent. We realized that a relationship starting between a brother in Christ

and these men will have greater impact than our fleeting chance to declare the Good News.

Thankfully, Paul was a man to whom the Holy Spirit had given great wisdom. You and I can learn a lot

about how we might best approach other cultures and religious views by following his lead. He wasn’t

afraid to use stepping stones like those we’ve been outlining. We can look at his example to give us a

Biblical grounding for reaching out to followers of Islam with the truth, while utilizing their own culture

and religion.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:19-22, “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant

to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who

are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are

without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I

might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have

become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”

In this Scripture, Paul shares his Holy Spirit-inspired heart to “become all things to all men” so that he

“might by all means save some.” Certainly, Paul didn’t compromise the teachings of Jesus at any point

while sharing with others. Rather, he seemed content to meet people where they were, empathizing with

their struggles and attempting to understand and speak truth from their cultural perspective rather than his

own. No doubt this approach can be difficult and uncomfortable, but it was worth it to Paul, who again

desired “by all means [to] save some.”

Another clear and powerful example is from Paul’s visit to Athens. Here, we see him once again meeting

people right where they were, even using points from their own religious beliefs and poetry as a bridge to

the truth about God.

We read in Acts 17:22-23, “Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, ‘Men of Athens, I

perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing though and considering the objects

of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the

One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you.’” A few verses later in Acts 17:28 Paul

continues, “For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said,

‘For we also are His offspring.’”

In light of all of this, I pray that we have hearts that are willing, able and confident to meet Muslims

where they are with sincerity, love and patience. I pray we would simply begin the conversation, allowing

God to have His perfect way in His perfect time. Thankfully, He is more long-suffering than we are.

As Paul’s speech to the people of Athens concludes, we see in Acts 17:32 that “some mocked, while

others said, ‘We will hear you again on this matter.’” Clearly, Paul’s words had hit home with some of

the Athenians. They weren’t ready to become Christians just yet, but they wanted to hear more. That’s our

hope for our Muslim friends. Perhaps they’ll be ready to receive Christ immediately or perhaps they’ll

reject our message outright. Or, most likely, they’ll want to hear more again. However our friend

responds, God is glorified if we will just start the relationship and start the conversation.

In closing for today, the late Nabeel Qureshi, author of the excellent books Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus

and No God But One, was once asked at a Q & A: “What is a good starting point for sharing the Gospel

with people of the Muslim faith?” His answer was spot on:

“So, a good thing to do is just talk with people, they’re human. They want people to talk with

them. They want friendships and relationships just like everyone else. I remember hearing a story

of a student who came to the United States from Saudi Arabia. He brought two suitcases full of

gifts to give to people who invited him to their home so that he could give those gifts to them as

thanks for being invited. And he went back to Saudi Arabia a year later not having given a single

gift away.”

May we be more inviting.

Our prayer: Lord, may we simply start the conversation. May we listen to Paul, listen to Nabeel, listen to

Your Holy Spirit and start the conversation! Open doors and open our mouths. And we pray that You

would open the hearts and minds of followers of Islam all over the globe. May many have opportunity to

hear the Good News, and desire to hear more, until they bow their knees to the Savior.

“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that

God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains,

that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside,

redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how

you ought to answer each one.” – Colossians 4:2-6 (NKJV)

DAY FIFTEEN – May 20, 2019

Counting the cost

By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ

Trekking in Indonesia.

The Middle Eastern man sitting in front of me had tears in his eyes as he shared what he had lost. He had

surrendered everything of value — in a worldly sense. He had given up his wife, children, parents, and

family; his home and job; and his place in a Muslim culture and society.

But his tears were not for the loss, but for what he counted gain. He had Jesus.

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain,” the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 1:21.

The tears in my brother’s eyes were one part joy and one part desire. He was asking me to pray for him so

that he could lead other Muslims to Isa.

I was humbled by this request, which was made in Indonesia in 2007 but remains as close as this moment

in my heart.

We have little or no idea what some people must give up to come to Christ. Many probably do not even

realize what must be surrendered by those devoted to bringing the lost to our Good Shepherd.

A pastor friend (and member of Climbing For Christ) knows the cost. He is part of three generations of

missionaries, and he is preparing himself for the sending of the next generation — his daughter, son-in-

law, and 3-year-old granddaughter. They will GO to a Muslim people.

He is “extremely grateful to God” even as “the tears are flowing rather freely.”

“I can hardly stand the thoughts of losing them from our lives,” he shared. “I know when we went to

serve on the mission field we did this to our parents, but I didn’t realize how hard this would be from this

end of it.”

Of course, those who are GO-ing must fight through the same emotions. But I know from experience that

it is probably more difficult being left behind.

As with most jobs, there are risks involved in this Good News delivery business. GO-ing to the ends of

the earth is, on the one hand, no different than going to work or school in your backyard.

Anthony Parker, in his story “In Harm’s Way: Reflections on Missionaries and Risk” for Evangelical

Missions Quarterly (January 2016), discussed the risks of daily living. “All of us encounter risks every

time we get out of bed in the morning,” he wrote. “In reality, we would encounter risks if we remained in

bed all day. Risk is unavoidable, and those serving cross-culturally deal with many of the same risks as

those who remain in their home cultures. Cancer may arise regardless of where one lives. Transportation

always involves risk. Relationships are risky. Everyone lives with risk.”

There’s no denying it — or hiding from it.

Life is risk management in real time and I have come to recognize the need for proper preparation. In

Climbing For Christ, we call this effort at readiness preparing physically, mentally, and spiritually.

The latter is particularly vital to the health and success of the sent one.

“Missionaries need to consecrate themselves, prepare for spiritual battle, and be supported by an army of

prayer warriors who care for them and who minister to their spiritual and emotional battles,” Parker wrote

in EMQ.

That’s one very important reason for this Project Prayer: Ramadan. Not only are we praying for our

Muslim friends and neighbors during this holy month, but we are lifting the workers who are or will be

called to GO and preach the Gospel truth among those in Islam.

Climbing For Christ undertakes numerous Evangelic Expeditions to Muslim nations every year. We covet

your prayers in advance of and, most especially, during these mission trips.

May we prepare ourselves properly for the work God has prepared in advance for us to do. May we be

ready!

“It begins with spiritual preparation and prayer,” Parker wrote. “Do missionaries truly desire to follow

Jesus wherever He leads? Do they have an intimate walk with God that enables them to hear God’s voice

through scripture, the counsel of others, or the still, small voice of God in their hearts? Are they leading

holy lives and putting on the spiritual armor that will protect them (Ephesians 6:13-17)? Along with

personal spiritual preparation, missionaries should seek to be adequately supported by a community of

faith who will pray for and minister to them.”

That is one aspect of those called to be members of Climbing For Christ. It is our prayer that God puts a

burden on the hearts of our members to PRAY, GIVE and GO. Pray on for those who have counted and

those who will count the cost!

DAY SIXTEEN – May 21, 2019

A Savior for ALL people

By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ

No matter where we GO in the world – like this remote village in China, where we found a mosque

– there are people in need of our Savior Jesus.

Our Lord Jesus was sent as a Savior for all people of every place.

As an angel once told certain shepherds who were keeping watch over their flocks by night: “I bring you

good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.” The Apostle John would later write: “and we have

seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.” The writer of Hebrews agrees,

saying, “but we see Jesus, who…by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.”

In these and so many other portions of Scripture, we find the declaration that Jesus is the Messiah – the

promised Redeemer – for all people, for the world, for everyone.

This is the Good News. This is the Gospel, which is to be proclaimed in every place! This is the most

beautiful truth in all of Christianity – in all of the earth!

As we continue to reach out to Muslims in hopes of seeing them receive this Good News, we find yet

another bridge in the Qur’an that points to this very truth – that Jesus is the Savior for all people. Earlier

in this series, we read Surah 3:45, which points to Isa (Jesus) as the Kalimatullah (or “Word of God”).

Interestingly enough, this same portion of the Qur’an also offers another title for Isa that may be helpful

for us as we seek to share the truth about Jesus.

In this surah, we see Isa referred to as “Masih,” the Arabic word for “messiah.” That’s right, the Qur’an

teaches that Isa is the Messiah!

Of course, the Islamic concept of messiah is likely much different than ours. Still, it’s an amazing claim

that we can point to. In addition, Surah 21:91 refers to Isa as a “token for all peoples.”

At this point, we might have many questions to ask our Muslim friend, such as: Why is Isa so different?

Why was His birth and life filled with such powerful miracles? Why did He instruct people to obey Him –

and how can we? Why is He referred to as the Word of God? And, now, “Why is Isa called the Masih, or

Messiah? What does it mean to be a messiah? Why is this title given to Him? How is Isa a “token for all

peoples?” And again, why is Isa so different?

As we’ve mentioned numerous times, the Qur’an is not an inspired book. But, with confidence, we can

certainly share where the Qur’an agrees with the Bible and continue to lift up the name and the true nature

of Jesus from there. We can use these questions to springboard to the Scriptures so that we might share

the life and teachings of Jesus. Prayerfully, God will give us opportunity to do just that.

Pray for the Lord to use Ramadan, this sacred and sensitive time for Muslims, to draw many from

darkness to the Light. May those who are genuinely seeking a deeper understanding of the truth

of God find the True and Living God revealed through Isa al-Masih (Jesus the Messiah).

Pray for opportunities for you to personally share some of these truths you’ve learned so far

through this Climbing For Christ’s Project Prayer: Ramadan series. May every word spoken lead

our Muslim friends closer to a saving faith in Jesus.

“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” – John 12:32

DAY SEVENTEEN – May 22, 2019

Willing to GO as far as Jesus? By Gary Fallesen, president, Climbing For Christ

Elaine Fallesen with friends in eastern Turkey during Mission: Ararat 2015.

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” – John 15:13 (ESV)

How far would you be willing to go for a friend? Climbing For Christ is literally willing to GO to great

lengths.

We once were asked why we went back to a particular unreached and hard-to-reach place time after time after time. The answer was simple: we’d made friends with a family there and we wanted to see them

come to Christ.

But I have always been challenged by the verse at the bottom of the previous page. Jesus commanded us

to love one another as He loved us. He loved us enough to sacrifice Himself for our sake. Are we capable

of doing the same?

Let’s pause for a moment and pray for some of our Muslim friends; some who have converted to

Christianity and others who are not yet what we call Muslim background believers (MBBs):

Heavenly Father, You know those people who have become such an important part of our lives because

You put them in our lives. We know that You do not want anyone to perish, but that everyone would come

to repentance. Our pray today is that all should know Your Son, Jesus, as Savior.

This Project Prayer: Ramadan resource is intended to educate and inform. But, most importantly, it is

meant to elicit your PRAYERS.

We all need to make time for prayer. If we can’t pray for our friends, we can’t begin to go to the lengths

that Jesus has commanded us: To lay down our lives.

When a ministry or a mission begins, we feel called to reach those who have not heard of or about Jesus,

who died for their sake. We seek to deliver the Good News to them. But at the start it is only a “people

group” or a “number.” We do not see them as our Sending God sees them. It is only after we have met

them, spent time with them, and become a part of their lives that we realize how important this task is.

They become our friends. We realize what Jesus is saying when He tells us to “love one another as I

loved you” (John 15:12).

In Turkey, we have spent enough time with several Turkish and Kurdish friends that we can say we love

them. That’s what has made the events of the past few years so heartbreaking. The violence in the

Kurdish part of Turkey has blocked our return. We have watched those we know in the tourism sector

suffer financially. I reached out to one of these friends.

“The tourism is almost finished,” he said at the time. “No work.”

He told about another friend of ours who had moved to the coast looking for work. “But I think he could

not find suitable work yet,” he said.

“We are looking (forward) very much to see you next year,” he concluded. “If Ararat is not open, which

we think is not possible, we can plan a trek to the Taurus Mountains in Cappadocia.”

This is now my prayer: to see our friends and spend more time with them. For the love of Christ and to

the glory of God.

DAY EIGHTEEN – May 23, 2019

Desiring God for Muslim families

By Gary Fallesen, president, Climbing For Christ

Elaine Fallesen, right, makes Gospel bracelets with and teaches a Kurdish family living on the

slopes of Mount Ararat in Turkey.

A Muslim friend in Tanzania asked for a Bible to give to his son so the boy could read it and the Qur’an

and decide for himself whether to follow Jesus or Allah.

In Turkey, our teams meet with as many members of Kurdish families as possible to share the Gospel

message. Climbing For Christ women are blessed to spend time with Muslim women wherever we GO –

if we are blessed to take women to places that are predominantly Islamic.

In Morocco, ministry partners complained that the men who came to Jesus often refused to share Him

with their wives and children.

Family ministry is extremely important in the Muslim world and the reason Elaine Fallesen joined our

staff full-time to oversee our women’s and family ministry.

The Hadith, a collection of the prophet Muhammad’s writings, tells us: “The best of you is he who is best

to his family, and I am the best among you to my family.”

Those in the West, typically individualistic, don’t realize that most people on the planet are communal

and they would “rather go to hell with their families than go to heaven by themselves!” Brother Nik Ripken, a long-time kingdom worker and author of The Insanity of Obedience, made that startling

observation. He also teaches: “One reaps as they sow. If we sow a one-by-one witness we shall reap a

one-by-one harvest. If we invest our witness to families, families then have the opportunity to come to

Jesus together!”

Ripken writes that evangelism and conversion “must model the biblical ‘household conversion’ stories of

Cornelius and his household in Acts 10 and the Philippian jailer and his family in Acts 16.”

In both cases:

God’s presence was felt. An angel was sent in Acts 10 and there was an earthquake in Acts 16.

God’s directions were followed. By Peter in Acts 10 and by Paul and Silas in Acts 16.

Entire households were saved. “Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends” (Acts 10:24). “And they spoke the word of the Lord to him [the

Philippian jailer] and to all who were in his house” (Acts 16:24).

This is to say that God works in advance to prepare hearts. “It turns out that there is no place where God

is not working,” Ripken writes. “In every place, God is already calling people to Himself.”

If we discern what and where He is doing this heart work, we have the privilege of witnessing His acts

firsthand. Some say we get to “partner” with Him, but I don’t think God needs our partnership. “God is

not waiting on us,” Ripken says, “but He loves to use us in His work.”

Peter, Paul and Silas received that blessing. We can, too.

But this requires obedience, sacrifice, suffering, and a realization that the book of Acts did happen and

still is happening. It is “not enough” for lost people to be our focus, Ripken writes, “lost people must

become [your] family. A staggering depth of commitment and compassion is absolutely required.”

We must find ourselves weeping and broken for lost families. We must agonize over their rescue. This is

not missionary tourism. This is real-life, family-focused, heaven-or-hell-eternity-driven ministry.

To quote Ripken once more, “Even if we make mistakes in our witness, we must remember that the only

witness God cannot use is no witness!”

Let us pray: Lord of the harvest, we ask that you use us to reach Muslim families near and far. Bless us

with the opportunity to witness Your Spirit at work in households. Break our hearts for those who remain

lost so we will pray, give and GO until they are our brothers and sisters in Christ – ONE family! Give us

compassion. Use our bold witness.

“And he [Jesus] commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God

to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in

him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” – Acts 10:42-43 (ESV)

DAY NINETEEN – May 24, 2019

A sacred stirring – Muslims coming to Christ in

unprecedented numbers By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ

What began as a series of revelations delivered to one Arabian man about 1,400 years ago has grown into the world’s second-largest religion. After receiving these messages – supposedly from the angel Gabriel –

the prophet Muhammad and those who would take the mantle in future generations set out on what would

end up being a revolution throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and eventually much more of the world.

Ancient cultures would be radically changed as polytheistic religions and rituals were swept away.

Whether by their own free will or through force, the number of those who professed belief in the religion of Muhammad grew rapidly as Islam was spread throughout various cities, kingdoms and empires. Today,

more than 23 percent of the world’s more than 7.5 billion people are Muslim.

Trekking into the Atlas mountains of North Africa. Nearly three dozen Climbing For Christ

members have been involved in missions to Indonesia, North and West Africa, and Turkey.

Ongoing work also is carried out by indigenous members in four Muslim nations.

Although statistics in the Muslim world can be difficult to come by, it’s relatively safe to say that even

within our generation, many (if not most) Christian missionaries and evangelists saw little fruit from their

efforts among followers of Islam. And truth be told, it seems that this immense portion of the world’s

population did not receive the resources and missionary-power needed to make much of an impact.

Today, however, in spite of continually under-resourced mission work in the Muslim world, there is

undoubtedly a rapidly growing response to the Gospel.

Is this because of increased laborers preaching the Gospel in recent years? Is this because of an increased

focus on reaching unengaged people groups in the last decade or so? Is it because of increased resources,

like radio and TV stations, boldly proclaiming the Good News? Is this because of exponentially increased access to the Internet and Web sites like Facebook?

I believe the answer to each of those questions is both “yes” and “no.”

Of course all of those things have to be factored in to the growing response of Muslims to Christianity,

but ultimately, this has been a movement of God to reach out to these people!

The Lord has stirred His people to reach out to the Muslim world like never before.

Therefore, God’s people have been working like never before to bring the Good News to our Muslim neighbors around the globe. God’s people have also been praying like never before. There have been

several “prayer movements” that have taken off in recent years (such as Climbing For Christ’s Project

Prayer: Ramadan). In addition, countless stories have surfaced in recent years of Muslims converting to Christianity because of God-breathed dreams, visions or miracles they experienced.

It’s because of all of these things – combined and working together – that we see a growing a response to Christ among Muslims. Whether through hearing the Gospel from a missionary, a televangelist, a radio

program, on the Internet, or a dream or vision from the Lord Himself, many are being saved as God’s

Spirit draws them from their place in the House of Islam to the promise of a heavenly home with Christ.

For that, we ought to pause – and praise!

Heavenly Father,

We offer You thanks and praise for the sacred stirring You are orchestrating in the Muslim

World. This “wind in the House of Islam” is a beautiful and powerful move of Your Spirit. We pray that You would continue to breathe life into many Muslims by sending Your servants, using

media resources, and granting them visions and dreams. You are faithful, Lord, to all of the lost

sheep. May they hear and heed the voice of the true Shepherd.

We ask that You would use this time of fasting, as many Muslims genuinely seek to draw near to

their god as best as they understand him, to awaken their soul to the truth of the Gospel! May a wind of the Spirit blow, may a fire of Your truth kindle, and may a wave of Your grace swell

within the House of Islam.

In Jesus’ name, amen!

DAY TWENTY – May 25, 2019

Entering rooms in the House of Islam — Pakistan By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ

Our Pakistani brother in Christ started one recent Ramadan with a prayer request: “As you know, we are working to reach the lost souls with the Word of God. He chose us to serve Him. Praise the LORD, me

and my whole family are serving the LORD. We are serving the LORD since 2008. We are reaching

many people with the Word of God and preaching to them. Praise the LORD (that) every day many have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.

“(But) every day we are facing many challenges and bear persecution.”

In 2014, his “beautiful sister” (photo) was abducted on her way to college. She was kidnapped and

forced to marry a Muslim. She has not been seen since.

“Many Christian brothers and sisters are facing persecution,” he said, continuing his prayer request. “Every day many believers lose their lives because they are Christian. I request to C4C members, please

keep in your prayers the Pakistani persecuted Christians – that the LORD would protect His people.”

“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” — 2 Timothy 3:12 (KJV)

There a wind blowing in the House of Islam (Dar al-Islam in Arabic), which is the name Muslims call

their religious empire. This House is comprised of nearly 1.8 billion souls – nearly one-quarter of the world’s population – living in 49 nations stretching from West Africa to Indonesia.

David Garrison, author of the exceptional book A Wind in the House of Islam: How God is drawing Muslims around the world to faith in Jesus Christ, has divided the House into Nine Rooms. These Rooms

are distinct geo-cultural clusters: West Africa, North Africa, East Africa, the Arab World, the Persian

World, Turkestan, Western South Asia, Eastern South Asia, and Indo-Malaysia.

Climbing For Christ is ministering in five of these Rooms:

North Africa East Africa

Turkestan

Western South Asia

Indo-Malaysia

Today we’ll focus on Pakistan, where 99 percent of the country’s nearly 200 million people follow Islam.

Only 0.7 percent of the population is Christian, according to the Joshua Project. Four hundred fourteen of

the 414 people groups in Pakistan are unreached.

Pakistan literally means “Land of the Pure,” a name given in 1933 by independence activist Choudary

Ali. Pakistan is “an acronym representing the five major ethnic groups of the country: P for Punjabi, A for

Afghani (Pushtun), K for Kashmiri, S for Sindhi, and the final -stan for Baluchistan. Curiously missing from Choudary Ali’s acronym was the East Pakistan Bengali peoples, whose ethnic omission eventually

contributed to the Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971.

“East and West Pakistan were wrenched out of British India at midnight on Aug. 15, 1947, as havens for

Muslims from India’s Hindu majorities,” Garrison wrote. “Within days, half a million unfortunate

Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs lost their lives simply for being on the wrong side of the British line of demarcation. The great fertile plain of the Punjab was particularly hard hit with as many as seven million

Hindus and Sikhs fleeing to safety in the East, and a similar number of Muslims scrambling to the West.

Today, the Punjab remains divided, with lingering memories of hurt and hate. Since partition, more than

60 years ago, Pakistan has maintained a continual state of readiness for war with its massive Indian neighbor to the east.

“Since the birth of the two South Asian states in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought openly for the northern border state of Kashmir. With wars in 1947, 1965 and 1999, this region remains the

subcontinent’s most volatile flashpoint for what many fear may be the first nuclear war of the 21st

century. Today, generations of ordinary citizens in Western South Asia [an area comprised of Afghanistan, Pakistan and the western states of India] continue to be plagued by levels of violence that

undermine efforts for peace and stability in the region. Yet it is in this cauldron of conflict that God’s

Spirit is breaking into the lives of men and women and offering a different path forward.”

Missionaries were expelled in 1947, shortly after independence, but “150 years of Christian missions

made important strides toward sowing the gospel within Western South Asia. Like the leaven in the lump,

the Gospel’s influence expanded, almost invisibly, but pervasively.”

“He told them another parable. ‘The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in

three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.’” – Matthew 13:33 (ESV)

One Pakistani C4C member tells about being born into the family of Christ, probably the result of earlier

missionary service by foreigners who “all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and

exiles on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13).

“I was born in a Christian family and my elders were missionaries and after them my father and mother

took their mission to spread the Gospel in Pakistan,” the member said. “They prepared me, too, for

Gospel mission (work) in Pakistan and I started the ministry (of Save Pakistan) to proclaim the Gospel

and started international ministry by the direction of God.”

Garrison writes in A Wind in the House of Islam, “Though 21st century Western South Asia now has its

own indigenous Christian population, most of these Christians are from non-Muslim backgrounds. It remains to be seen whether or not they will carry forward the mandate of the Great Commission to the

masses of Muslims who dominate this region … one of the greatest concentrations of non-Christians on

earth.”

Climbing For Christ has had more than 20 members from Pakistan through the years. One member disappeared in 2009. That member was a pastor, who baptized 30 new believers publicly in a city canal in

October 2008.

“People were sinking in the valley of desperation and (being) illiterate,” he said at the time. “They were

living just for themselves, not for God. Just sleeping, eating, and working. But when I share the Word of

God the Holy Spirit move on them with His heavy authority and break them of out the bondage of the

Satan’s works.”

A Climbing For Christ pastor, whose face was blurred to protect his identity, praying with new

believers in 2008.

Pakistan is ranked as the fifth-worst nation in which to be a Christian on the Open Doors 2019 World

Watch List. Only North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia and Libya are considered worse. Pray for believers

living in this House of Islam.

DAY TWENTY-ONE – May 26, 2019

Entering rooms in the House of Islam — Turkey By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ

Sign of the times: burned-out vehicles litter a trail on Mount Ararat. The story goes: the government started building a road up the lower slopes of Mount Ararat in eastern

Turkey until it was blocked by the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party). The PKK, long branded a terrorist

organization by Turkey and the United States, allegedly set construction vehicles on fire to stop the road work.

The burned-out vehicles still sit on the mountainside. Government propaganda (Turkey has consistently

tried to paint the Kurds as a problem) or simply consistent with Turkish relations in this part of the

country?

History lesson

“The founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, was bent on melding his fractious array of peoples into a single, homogeneous state,” Robert F. Worth wrote in “Behind the Barricades of Turkey’s

Hidden War,” a May 24 story in The New York Times Magazine.

“Starting under his rule in 1923, the Kurds, whose presence in the area goes back well over a thousand

years, were rebranded ‘mountain Turks,’ their language and customs suppressed. Kurdish schools,

organizations and publications were forbidden; even the words ‘Kurd’ and ‘Kurdistan’ were prohibited. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds fled to western Turkey and Europe, and the southeast became a

neglected backwater.”

At least the Kurds did not meet the same fate as the Christian Armenians under Ottoman rule in 1915, when as many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed. Or the Assyrians and Ottoman Greeks, other

Christian groups massacred by the Muslim Ottoman between 1913 and 1922. In fact, sadly, the Kurds

helped the Turks carry out some of those atrocities.

But the promise of a homeland (Kurdistan) pledged in the post-World War I Treaty of Sevres (1920)

never came to fruition and Ataturk’s discrimination of a people soon followed. Kurdish mistreatment went on for decade after decade until the PKK formed in 1984 and went to war with the Turkish

government. Tens of thousands on both sides died before a cease-fire was declared in 2013. After that the

Turkish military withdrew from some Kurdish areas in the southeast.

We have witnessed the changing landscape where the Kurds dwell as we carried out missions to Mount

Ararat from 2010 to 2015.

In an E-Update, “Praying for friends in war-torn Turkey,” I shared:

I will always remember celebrating with the [name withdrawn] family in the shadow of Mount

Ararat in eastern Turkey as election results were announced on June 7, 2015. The pro-Kurdish HDP (or Peoples’ Democratic Party) made history as Kurds were elected to Turkey’s parliament.

We were on Mission: Ararat 2015 and visiting the homes of friends we have made on the mountain in recent years. The Kurdish people, who normally move their herds of sheep up the slopes of Ararat to

graze from June to September, were required to stay in their winter homes until after the election.

That’s where we were when Turkey’s ruling party, headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, lost its

parliamentary majority and the country’s large Kurdish minority won a voice in government for the first

time.

Our team flashed the Kurdish “V” sign and donned Kurdish scarves as the people we love celebrated

joyously.

That joy turned to sorrow.

Recent years

Our Turkish friends tell us Sirnak, Diyarbakir, Hakkari, Tunceli, Mardin and Cizre are “the main places

where there are operations against the PKK.” That means, those are the main places where fighting has

destroyed shopping, businesses, jobs, and lives.

The war interrupted our ministry to the Kurdish people in and near Mount Ararat. Our Evangelic

Expedition to Turkey in 2016 was cancelled. We try to stay in touch with friends and pray. But the church

we finally connected with in the southeast on our fourth trip to Turkey probably has gone underground.

There is no news.

Turkey, a country of nearly 82 million before the steady influx of migrants fleeing the Syrian civil war

and ensuing battle with ISIS, is 96.1 percent Muslim. Only 0.7 percent professes to be Christian, according to the Joshua Project.

Kurdish people account for about 14 million of the population. More than 9 in 10 are Muslim, but many are only nominal believers. Only 0.1 percent of Kurds in Turkey are Christ followers, which makes these

people groups (Kurmanji and Turkish-speaking Kurds) unreached people.

Kurdish shepherds sheering sheep on Mount Ararat.

“Turkey has no Kurdish problem, but a terror problem,” Erdogan is quoted by Worth in his New York

Times Magazine story. “No one should try to palm it off on us as a Kurdish problem.”

Erdogan called for members of parliament to be stripped of immunity in 2016, allowing for HDP leaders

to be prosecuted and jailed as terrorists. In May of that year, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, always

considered a flunky for Erdogan, was forced out of office after what Worth called “gestures of difference

with Erdogan, including on the Kurdish issue; he had hinted at a return to peace talks.”

Civil rights issues and an end to freedoms, including that of the press, increased.

“The Turkish government has pledged to rebuild the southeast and to make peace with the Kurds in its

own way,” Worth wrote. “So far, that effort does not look promising.”

Pray for peace in Turkey and for the church to emerge. Pray for doors to reopen to this room in the House

of Islam so we may again try to reach the unreached. Pray that the land where the Apostle Paul planted

the early church and where Christianity was the way until Islam rose will again turn to Jesus.

DAY TWENTY-TWO – May 27, 2019

Entering rooms in the House of Islam – East Africa By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ

Delivering sleeping mats and food during Mission: Malawi 2016 in March.

When southern Malawi flooded in January 2015 Muslims flocked to help those affected by troubling

water. Many Christians converted to Islam after receiving help from these Muslims, said Damson

Samson, Climbing For Christ’s missionary to East Africa.

“In Malawi, many Muslims are observing Ramadan and their population is growing more than before,”

Damson said.

Malawi is an impoverished country (one of the poorest in the world) of about 19 million people. Nearly

two-thirds of the population claim to be Christian and 21 percent is Muslim, according to the Joshua Project. But both Christians and Muslims also practice syncretism, blending folk religions (and

superstitious fears) into their imported faith.

This is common in East Africa. Islam is “grossly infused” with African tribal religions – “practices of witchcraft, fear of evil spirits, curses, and disease binds the population to the control of the local imams

(mosque leaders) whose functions in the community are not much different from the witch doctors who

preceded them. In Jesus Christ, these syncretistic Muslims are finding a power that can free them from their previous bondage and dependence on the imam,” writes David Garrison in A Wind in the House of

Islam.

What is also common is missionaries delivering help to introduce their faith to indigenous populations. In the case of Islam, Garrison says Muslim missionaries – doers of da’wah (those who proselytize or preach

Islam) – have three strategies for reaching Christians:

1. Win them with money and material enticements.

2. Encourage Muslim girls to marry Christians.

3. Or, they may tell the Christian, “If you convert to Islam, we will give you a job in Saudi Arabia or the Emirates, but first you have to convert to Islam.”

“Islamic religion has a wide area in Tanzania in the way that it attracts many people,” observed Damson,

who since 2014 has been ministering to and through guides and porters in our Kilimanjaro Chapter. “There are most business people who are Muslims and those who are working with them are Muslim as

well. The hope (of employment) is part of (what is) attracting many to join.

“I noticed that, especially in towns, there were more mosques than churches. From what I have seen in various places, such as restaurants, there are small mosques to permit Muslims to (pray together). That

can only tell me we need to pray more for Tanzania because it has only a few years to be overtaken by the

Muslims.”

Tanzania, a country of about 59 million, is reported to be 51 percent Christian and 30 percent Muslim. On

and around Mount Kilimanjaro, where Climbing For Christ works, we find about a 50-50 breakdown.

The East Africa Room of Dar al-Islam (the House of Islam), as Muslims call their growing empire,

includes all or parts of 19 nations, from Sudan in the north to South Africa in the south and including Tanzania and Malawi.

“Most of our people,” Damson said about his native Malawi, know more about Christianity than Islam. “But because they long for relief (from poverty, including famine conditions the past year) they find their

way to the Islamic religion.”

Climbing For Christ’s approach to serve the spiritual and physical needs of people is an example of what

needs to be done – with care and discernment – in the Majority World.

It is our calling to love our neighbors – and those living in the East Africa Room are our neighbors.

Damson remembers meeting a Muslim woman on one of his trips from southern Malawi, where he lives

and serves, to northeastern Tanzania, where he also ministers. The woman was “dressed from top to feet, covered everywhere, and while waiting for a bus I asked was it good for her to cover herself in such a

way,” he recalled. “She said that was how she got her ‘value.’

“I wondered how many women, even those who are not Muslim, dress the same just to pretend they are some kind of valuable woman. I knew from this how much Islam is influencing them.”

But all have value in the eyes of the God of the Bible. “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on

the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

Christianity spread in the last century in East Africa (growing from about 6 million to nearly 177 million)

through the conversions of non-Muslim practitioners of tribal (or folk) religions. At the same time, Islam

was growing from 6.8 million to nearly 78 million.

Now, many coming to Christ are Muslim background believers (MBBs). One approach to sharing Jesus

with Muslims is for MBBs to continue going to the mosque. “We insert Jesus into all of our Muslim practices,” one MBB explained in A Wind in the House of Islam.

“If we create another faith community outside the mosque, there will be a gap between us and the lost,” MBBs are quoted in 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World.

“A Muslim woman spoke up, ‘Jesus came as a human to save humans, even though He is God. If God

had wanted to save hyenas, He would have become like a hyena. We want to save Muslims and so we must go into the mosque. This is why our brothers and sisters risk themselves: to win others.’”

PRAY for the church to rise up and show the love of Christ to those in need in Malawi and for Muslim

background believers to become ambassadors for Jesus in Tanzania.

DAY TWENTY-THREE – May 28, 2019

Entering rooms in the House of Islam — Indonesia

By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ

Sunda women thresh rice in West Java. The Sunda are the 10th-largest unreached Muslim people

group in the world, numbering more than 37 million.

Pastor Rebekka Zakaria and two lay assistants were imprisoned in 2005 for two years in West Java for

teaching Sunday school, violating Indonesia’s 2002 Child Protection Act forbidding missionaries to

preach to children. During Zakaria’s trial protesters outside the court carried an empty coffin, which they had built for her.

“We must not be afraid of this kind of persecution,” she told Eliza Griswold in the book The Tenth

Parallel: Dispatches from the Fault Line between Christianity and Islam.

Griswold wrote, “Although Christians from the West had shown support by sending her fifteen thousand

letters filled with bubblegum, bookmarks, and currency from America, the United Kingdom, and Israel,

Zakaria did not believe that Western Christians really understood the cost of faith here along the edge of the Muslim world.

“Zakaria believed that Christianity and Islam were locked in a global contest for souls. Unlike Western Christians, she believed, who could afford to think about God only on Sundays, believers along the tenth

parallel did not have the luxury of doubt, or of interpreting scripture as anything but the infallible word of

God.

“The 10/40 Window was a battle map facing all frontline Christians, including herself. As she saw it, the

fight playing out in her town was part of a global battle for this world and the next. Gains on her side, the

Christian side, meant more people – more children – in heaven. She said, ‘We pray for the children, because they’re going to hell.’”

Indonesia is a country of more than 265 million people. More than 8 in every 10 people follow Islam, making it the largest Muslim population in the world. Only 12.7 percent of the country is Christian,

according to the Joshua Project.

But Indonesia is large and diverse with more than 6,000 inhabited islands spread across 2 million square

kilometers in Southeastern Asia. The people speak 722 languages. “Indonesians describe their country as

a multilayered cake, representing the different religions, cultures and races that have successfully settled

their land,” David Garrison wrote in A Wind in the House of Islam.

Indonesia has welcomed Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity to its many shores through the

centuries. Muslims from India delivered their religion to Hindu-ruled Java in the 13th century and

Christians from Portugal followed by the Dutch arrived in the 16th century. Indonesia did not gain its

independence until 1945 when the country’s first president, Sukarno, adopted a “Pancasila” rather than

forming an Islamic state.

Pancasila consists of two Old Javanese words from Sanskrit: pañca, meaning “five,” and sīla for

“principles.” The five principles were belief in one supreme God, humanitarianism, nationalism,

democracy and social justice. “Indonesia’s motto became ‘Unity in Diversity,’” Griswold wrote in The Tenth Parallel, “and Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and initially Confucianism were all state-

approved religions.”

Even today, the democratic government requires that all citizens follow one of six religions: Islam,

Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Catholicism or Protestantism. But there are limits to the religious

freedom. Encouraging people to convert from Islam is against the law.

“A spiritual battle rages for Indonesia,” Patrick Johnstone wrote in Pray for the World. “Ancient occult

powers oppose the Gospel, while the extremist Muslim groups seek to remove Christianity from society.

Ask God to bind those powers. Islam in Indonesia has many forms. Some Muslims are devout in their faith. Some identify themselves as Muslim, but mix Islamic ways with traditional folk religions or even

Hinduism. Others have a more secular view and lifestyle.”

There have been violent Muslim movements through the years, attacking Christians or anything

“Western,” which is perceived to be synonymous with Christianity. But “God continues to bless the work

of foreign missions in Indonesia, despite the obstacles,” Johnstone wrote.

“Islamists slowly gain influence, which causes religious freedom to decline. They persecute Christians

and other religious minorities, even other moderate Muslim groups. The secular government and Muslim leaders need courage to stand against the Islamists. Pray that they would stop Islamist violence where

they can. Whole towns and regions no longer have a Christian presence, and many have lost lives and

property.”

Pray for the World states that more than 46,000 of the country’s 76,000 villages (60 percent) have no

church. There are 234 unreached Muslim people groups accounting for more than 165 million souls,

according to the Joshua Project.

Climbing For Christ has focused on engaging some of the largest (and most challenging) of these

unreached people groups since 2007, when our first international chapter was established in Indonesia. But the years (and life’s distractions) have taken their toll on the C4C Indonesia membership. Pray for

renewed vigor and spiritual excitement here. Pray also for workers who can wisely approach a country

strongly opposed to Kristianisasi (or Christianization).

A light shines in the darkness on Mount Rinjani. The Sasak people on the island of Lombok are

more than 3.2 million Muslims.

“Even moderates (following Islam) argue that in a Muslim country, freedom of religion cannot mean the

right to preach to whomever you want,” Griswold wrote. “Proselytizing creates competition, and in

Indonesia, that competition leads to violence.”

Christians are viewed as “guests” of Muslims in Indonesia, The Tenth Parallel suggests. “If a guest is

polite to the host, the host is polite,” one opponent to Pastor Zakaria said. “If the guest is impolite, the

host can be as rude as he chooses to be.”

DAY TWENTY-FOUR – May 29, 2019

Entering rooms in the House of Islam — Philippines By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ

The God of the Bible has an eternal promise for all who are living on the many islands of the

Philippines.

God allows us to choose. He has given us free will. We can decide, as Joshua did, “as for me and my

house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15). Or we can go our own way.

We cannot force God on people. But He has made it clear, “choose life, that you and your offspring may

live” (Deuteronomy 30:19). Unless you choose not to believe that.

Every man and woman must decide for themselves.

But this decision cannot be made under the threat of a machete, a gun, a holy book, or even a presidential decree.

“In 1898, the United States claimed victory over Spain in the Spanish-American War, and bought the

Philippines for $20 million,” Eliza Griswold writes in her deserved best-seller, The Tenth Parallel: Dispatches from the Fault Line Between Christianity and Islam. “The Moros (Muslims in the southern

Philippines) hoped America would grant them an independent homeland in the Muslim south. President

William McKinley, a devout Methodist who’d planned to become a pastor early in his life, had other plans. Baffled, at first, with what to do with the islands, one night he had the notion that America would

establish something like a Christian civilization. He told a Methodist delegation visiting the White House

that it was the United States’ duty ‘to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by God’s grace do the best we could by them, as our fellow-men for whom Christ died.’”

Some might call this a form of “manifest destiny.” Others, more forgiving perhaps, would say it was only

a well-intentioned idea.

Meaning of “Moro people”: Spanish invaders called Islamic rebels “Moros” after their North African

enemies the Moors. There are 13 indigenous people groups, including the unreached Maguindanao (1.2 million), Maranao (1.3 million), and Sama Bangingi (96,000).

The Philippines, introduced to Islam by Malay sailors in the 14th century but conquered by Spanish

Catholics in the 1500s, has long been divided between Allah (in the south) and the God of the Bible (in

the north). Overall, this country of more than 106 million is 91 percent Christian and less than five

percent Muslim, according to the Joshua Project. So many have chosen the LORD.

But the minority Muslim population has held its ground and battled (often violently) for an autonomous

homeland. This despite a manmade plan to Christianize the southern Philippines.

“The United States employed a policy of shipping Filipino Christians from the Catholic north to the

Muslim south,” Griswold writes. “The United States believed that Christian farmers – rather than

Muslims – would better safeguard American rubber, banana, and pineapple plantations and secure foreign

business interests.”

This led to the rise of Islamist rebel armies, which have in recent years nearly attained their goal of an

autonomous region on the island of Mindanao. (There have been other failed attempts to establish Muslim

areas in the Cordilleras on Luzon, where Climbing For Christ began ministering in 2007.)

They have done so by the sword. In fact, one of the leaders of this movement is the Abu Sayyaf Group,

whose name literally means “Bearer of the Sword.”

Amidst all of the tragedy (up to 200,000 have died in the armed conflict between Catholic invaders and

Muslim separatists) and politicizing, God has sent workers to spread His love.

One C4C Philippines member serving on Mindanao speaks of doing medical relief missions among

Muslim people.

“We have different platforms and strategies for winning them (over),” this member explains. “We are

more about community development, and the bottom line is evangelism, discipling/training, and simple

church planting.”

They have used Ramadan as a time of prayer, much as we have through Project Prayer: Ramadan.

“No to hatred, violence and terrorism,” our member posted on social media. “But praying with faith, hope

and love for the Muslim world.”

Let’s join them in this prayer today: May the Muslim people in the Philippines (and throughout the

world) be introduced to Jesus in love and allowed to make the ultimate decision for themselves.

DAY TWENTY-FIVE – May 30, 2019

Five daily prayers for the Muslim world By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ

All over the world, as the sun appears to travel across the sky and then sinks below the horizon, Muslims

perform their ritual prayers, known as “Salat.” Five times each day, for almost their entire lives, followers

of Islam stop what they are doing, cleanse themselves, and offer prayers to Allah.

Salat takes place before sunrise (fajr), noon (dhuhr), mid-afternoon (’asr), sunset (maghrib) and in the

evening before going to bed (’isha).

I would like for all of us to be challenged to pray five times today, tomorrow, and the next days for our

Muslim neighbors around the block and around the globe! That’s right, for however long the Lord would

lead you, would you commit to praying for the Muslim world at the exact time many of them are

performing salat?

Here are some suggested prayer points, but please feel free to follow wherever the promptings of the

Spirit of God lead your time!

Sunrise prayer for open eyes

Just as a newborn baby sees light for the first time, may many Muslims become born again as they open

their eyes to the Light of the world, Jesus. Just as one who awakes from the dark to the dawn of a new

day, may many followers of Islam awake from spiritual darkness to a new life in Christ!

Pray for a spiritual awakening of the soul and opening of the eyes for our Muslim neighbors.

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow

of death, upon them a light has shined.” – Isaiah 9:2

Noon prayer for open ears

May the Lord grant followers of Islam all over the world ears that are open to His glorious message of the

Gospel. No matter how long or how zealously ears have been closed to the Good News, may the Holy

Spirit unlock those deaf ears that they would hear the words of life.

Pray now for many Muslims to stop and listen for the still, small voice of the Lord as they seek truth!

“The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry.” – Psalm 34:15

Mid-afternoon prayer for open hearts

Our Great Physician is the master heart surgeon. Only He can take a heart of stone hardened, perhaps over

many years, and transplant it with a brand-new heart that is soft and gentle. May the Lord “operate” in the

hearts of many Muslims right now, at this very moment.

Pray that God would stir their hearts to put their faith in Jesus.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh

and give you a heart of flesh.” – Ezekiel 36:26

Sunset prayer for open minds

As the light of the day begins to fade, may the minds of Muslims begin to stir. May the Lord reveal His

glorious splendor in all of His creation. May He display the truth of His word to all who believe the Bible

to be corrupted.

Now, take a moment to pray that many Muslims would come to understand that Jesus is Savior!

“This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles

walk, in the futility of their mind… and be renewed in the spirit of your mind” – Ephesians 4:17, 23

Evening prayer for open mouths

This late in the evening, the world is quieting down. May many former Muslims and those involved in

reaching out to followers of Islam do just the opposite. May they have mouths that contain the Gospel

message. May they be bold in opening their mouths and speaking forth truth and love in ways that are

unashamed and unreserved.

Pray for Christians to have a strong witness among the Muslims of the world.

“And for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the

mystery of the gospel.” – Ephesians 6:19

Again, however long you commit to praying these five prayers for Muslims each day, know that prayer is

the greatest thing we could possibly do because it sets our hearts in tune with the Lord’s and it unleashes

His holy power! May our collective prayers avail much! Amen.

DAY TWENTY-SIX – May 31, 2019

“Night of Power” – dreams and visions By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ

The blind Kurd who in his dream saw us coming to visit in 2015.

The blind man, whom we visited on three consecutive missions to Mount Ararat, knew we’d be coming.

He had a dream about it. In the dream, I knocked on his door and held photos in my hand.

We were earlier than he expected when we arrived at his house in eastern Turkey on June 9, 2015. In

previous years, we’d visited at the beginning of August (2013) and in late June (2014).

But we did show up with photos in hand; photos of his family from the year before. He was overjoyed.

Through a Kurdish friend’s translation I told him I had come because Jesus had sent me. He said he knew that. I also told him that I believed he would have more dreams about Jesus. He said he understood, and

he asked us to pray for him.

My prayer was that he would have more dreams about Christ and through them realize Jesus is the One

True God.

This is our prayer today: may many of our Muslim friends and neighbors (next door and to the ends of the

earth) be reached by dreams and visions of the God of the Bible.

This night of Ramadan is called Laylat al-Qadr, which means great or valuable night. This is also known as the Night of Decree, Night of Power, and Night of Destiny.

Laylat al-Qadr was the first night of revelation of the Holy Qur’an to the prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel (Jibrail). Muslims consider this the most important moment in history. They spend much of

the 27th night of Ramadan in prayer and worship. Prayers offered on this night are said to be worth all of

the prayers of 1,000 months.

“Indeed, We sent the Qur’an down during the Night of Decree. And what can make you know what is the

Night of Decree? The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months. The angels and the Spirit descend therein by permission of their Lord for every matter. Peace it is until the emergence of dawn.” (Surah

97:1-5)

Muslims believe that on this night the blessings and mercy of God are abundant. Sins are forgiven, prayers are heard, and their fate for the next year will be revealed by angels. This means they are open

to God revealing Himself to them. It is our prayer that the Holy Spirit will touch the hearts of many, many Muslims on this night.

I pray that the scores of Kurdish and Turkish people we have ministered to over the years will be among

those reached. We were originally planning to be in Turkey on Mission: Ararat 2016, but had to cancel the expedition because of the violence that had escalated in the past year in eastern Turkey. Our decision

was made before the terrorist attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport on Tuesday, June 28 that year.

As Turkish journalist Mustafa Akyol wrote in a 2016 Op-Ed story for The New York Times:

“On [this] night, just as millions of Muslims here were breaking their Ramadan fasts, three terrorists

attacked the city’s busy airport. They fired randomly at passengers with automatic weapons before blowing themselves up. They killed 41 innocent people, most of them Muslims, supposedly in the name

of Islam.

“The assault on the airport is the latest in a series of horrible traumas in Turkey. In the past year, the

country has endured almost a dozen major terrorist attacks. Some were the work of the Islamic State,

which kills in the name of God; others were the work of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK., which

kills in the name of the people.

“This country was much more peaceful a year ago. It was only last summer that a two-year-old peace

process between the government and the P.K.K. fell apart. Meanwhile, the Islamic State, which initially benefited from Turkey’s lax control of the Syrian border, began to carry its violence inside Turkey.

Islamic State suicide bombers first aimed at secular Kurds, then Western tourists and finally random

people at the airport.”

We pray that the nightmare of this violence helps prepare Muslims for the peace that Jesus offers all of us

this night for 1,000 months and beyond.

DAY TWENTY-SEVEN – June 1, 2019

Overcoming obstacles, part 1 — Family, familiarity

and fear By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ

Just imagine…

As far back as your mind can take you, you have fond memories of going to church with your parents and

siblings. At Sunday School, you sang Christian songs and recited Bible verses. You watched your mom

and dad practice their faith, and learned to do the same. They’ve always been devout Christians and would talk to you often about stories from the Bible – especially when you had a problem. It always

seemed to help you understand the world a little better.

For your entire life you celebrated holy days like Christmas and Easter by going to church. You even had

special clothes to wear. After going to church, the entire family, including grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins would gather together to talk, laugh – and eat. The sights, songs, smells and tastes always

bring a sense of familiarity and comfort to your heart.

This is your life. This is where you fit in.

You married another Christian (mom and dad wouldn’t have it any other way). Now you all go to church

together. You have a beautiful little baby. You picked a traditional name from the Bible. When they first met your baby at the hospital, your parents whispered the song “Jesus Loves Me” into your newborn’s

ear, just as they did when you were a baby. You love your spouse and your child. You greatly respect your

parents. You’d never do anything that would hurt them or bring shame to them.

This is your life. This is where you fit in.

For many reading this, some parts of this brief narrative could be pages from your own life story. But now

imagine that instead of this being about you as a Christian, it’s about you as a Muslim. Instead of your family bringing you to church, they brought you to the mosque. Instead of stories from the Bible, your

parents explained the world through the Qur’an and Hadith. Instead of celebrating Christmas and Easter

with special church services and family gatherings, you went to mosque and gathered with family for

Ramadan and Eid al-Adha. Instead of “Jesus Loves Me” being whispered into your baby’s ear, the phrase “there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah” is spoken.

Hard as it may be to imagine such a life, in spite of those differences, the feelings of familiarity and comfort would still be deep in your heart. The sense of loyalty and love for your family would be still

there. The desire to protect your parents from any harm or shame would remain.

This is a small glimpse into reality for much of the Muslim world.

Counting the Cost Now imagine giving up all you’ve ever known to follow Jesus! In most Muslim communities, leaving

Islam is not only seen as a direct path to hell, it is seen as a betrayal of family and community. Of course,

some westernized Muslims may embrace this freedom of choice, but many – if not most – in the Islamic world would be forced to disown a person who leaves Islam. Families are divided, sons and daughters are

disowned, friends are separated, jobs are lost, careers are destroyed and even one’s very life may be in

jeopardy. All that is familiar, comfortable and safe is gone. You have forsaken Islam.

This is referred to as apostasy, or irtidād in Islam. The description of and ultimate punishment for a

murtadd (Arabic for “one who turns away”) is referred to several times in both the Qur’an and the Hadith.

In the Quran we read, “with the exception of those who are forced to say they do not believe, although

their hearts remain firm in the faith, those who reject God after believing in Him and open their hearts to

disbelief will have the wrath of God upon them and a grievous punishment awaiting them” (Surah 16:106).

Climbing For Christ met two Muslim background believers from the Middle East attending a Bible

study in Indonesia. These men surrendered all for the love of Jesus.

The Prize

“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against

parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.” – Matthew 10:21-22

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” – Romans 8:18

Our Lord Jesus is worth it all! After all, it’s eternity we’re dealing with here. In Matthew 16:26 Jesus said these always sobering words: “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses

his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Amen! There is no amount of heartache

or hardship that Jesus is not worth!

Today, let’s pray for those who are or will face varying degrees of persecution for walking away from

Islam and beginning a walk with Jesus Christ!

Pray for endurance. That they would not look back at what they’ve lost with longing, but look only to Jesus and all that they’ve gained.

Pray for fellowship. That they would find strength and courage in the company of other

believers who have also endured rejection and oppression.

Pray for witness. That they would have a bold and beautiful testimony among their family,

friends and others, in spite of perhaps being misunderstood and/or mistreated.

DAY TWENTY-EIGHT – June 2, 2019

Overcoming obstacles, part 2 — A history of conflict

and contempt By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ

Centuries ago, a war raged between those who fought under the Cross and those who fought under the

Crescent. Brutal and bloody battles were waged under the flag of Christendom and that of the Muslim world. Both supposedly waged war in the name of God. Not only was each side driven by their devotion

to God, they were compelled by duty, honor and fear.

In the end, after nearly 200 years of conflict, an estimated 1.7 million people died. This war — or series

of wars — was known as the Crusades.

Although the Crusades ended near the end of the 13

th century, the history of conflict and contempt

between the Christian and Islamic worlds continues to be written. Yes, there are many waging peace

between Christians and Muslims (and all faiths for that matter). However, there are many others in the

Majority World who believe that we are still locked in a Crusade of sorts.

Most in the Western world don’t see it this way. That’s because we’re far removed from the “front lines.”

For many of the world’s Muslim population, they are at the front of a cultural, ideological and often

physical invasion of the West (which many view as synonymous with Christianity). To put it bluntly; in

the minds of many, the Crusades continue.

This historical and current divide between Christianity and Islam make for a huge obstacle in global

missions. Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation describes the challenge that

Muslims face in coming to faith in Jesus this way:

“The essential framework of Islamic beliefs contradicts fundamental biblical truths about the nature and person of Jesus. This, combined with the traditionally hostile history between

Christianity and Islam, means that barriers to faith are so numerous that a deep working of the

Holy Spirit is required, often through supernatural revelations or miracles.”

In other words, the differences are so great, the barriers are so ingrained and the divide is so entrenched

between much of the “Christian world” and much of the “Muslim world” that it is nearly impossible for a follower of Islam to become a follower of Christ (keyword: nearly).

This isn’t even taking into account the fact that the Muslim who converts to Christianity likely faces

opposition, separation or even persecution from their friends, family and community. Or that fact that for many, conversion would be likened to treason.

Pray for the LORD to move mightily!

A Climbing For Christ member from Indonesia introduces us as “tourists” to a fanatical Muslim.

The Muslim world (and the world in general) needs our prayers if they are to overcome such seemingly

insurmountable obstacles. They need the Spirit of God to move powerfully in their hearts to break down walls that have built up. They need the Father Himself to draw their souls from darkness to light. They

need Jesus to speak directly to their spirit, calling them to His open arms.

Let’s pray now:

Dear Lord,

We come to You now in prayer for our Muslim neighbors around the globe. You know the history

of conflict and contempt between those under the Cross and those under the Crescent. You know

the way men, many well-intentioned, have dragged Your good name through the dirt over the centuries. We pray, Father, that You would overcome any and every obstacle in the lives of many

Muslims today. Tear down hardened walls. Soften and open hearts. Speak Your words of love and

truth to the innermost places of the soul. We pray, in JESUS’ name, that in spite of what many followers of Islam have read or heard or experienced from the “Christian West,” that You would

draw many from darkness and death to light and life – today!

And we pray for those serving the Muslim world. Grant them blessing and favor, Lord. May all that they do in Your precious name be done in love. Bless them with wisdom and understanding

beyond their experience. May You work in and through them in powerful ways – all for Your

glory!

In JESUS’ name, amen.

DAY TWENTY-NINE – June 3, 2019

Mobilizing to reach the Muslim world By Gary Fallesen, president, Climbing For Christ

A Sunda man with whom we were blessed to share the Gospel, deliver a New Testament (which he

is reading in his own language), and pray for during Mission: Indonesia 2007. The Sunda are one of

the largest unreached Muslim people groups in the world.

I sat in a hotel outside Istanbul with a young couple and their precious baby, humbled by their devotion to Jesus. They were full-time kingdom workers serving in Afghanistan. The husband was checking his email

for news on a Taliban offensive that might have made it impossible for them to return “home” after the

network assembly we were attending.

Two other brothers in Christ from my generation sat with us as well. They had spent many years of their lives in Afghanistan and Pakistan, seeking to deliver the Gospel to the Muslim populations in those

countries. Again, I was humbled to sit at their feet and learn about ministry among Muslims.

Climbing For Christ is part of a network of ministries seeking to reproduce churches of “reproducing

disciples growing in faith and truth among all Muslim peoples. Our mission is to expedite and accelerate

engagement of all Muslim people groups through effective disciple-making and church-planting efforts.

By the grace of God, we strive to see this become a reality by the year 2025.”

Imagine a church among each of the 1,100 Muslim unreached people groups (MUPGs) by 2025. This is

our prayer!

It’s also part of our role in finishing the task that Jesus left us with. “And this gospel of the kingdom will

be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come”

(Matthew 24:14, ESV).

What will it take? “The whole church must be mobilized to reach the whole Muslim world,” says John

Becker, a Climbing For Christ member who until recently led this incredible network of ministries.

John, who I am honored to call my friend, wrote a story in Mission Frontiers magazine (“What Must Be

Done? The Birth of a Vision and Its Network,” March-April 2017). In the story he tells how a handful of

organizations began to discuss the need for collaboration to reach MUPGs in 2001. The network was born

the following year.

I’d been invited to several gatherings over the years, but always had a conflict – usually I was on a mission trip. Then in 2015, God’s perfect timing blessed me with an opportunity to attend both a North

American meeting and the international assembly in Turkey. I caught the vision John and others were

casting. Climbing For Christ joined Vision 5:9.

“We believe in kingdom breakthroughs in the Muslim world, but for this to happen we need collaboration

because the work is too great for any one church, agency, or denomination,” John wrote in Mission

Frontiers. “For this, we need a healthy and effective network of people.”

Since that day in Istanbul, where I jumped in – over my head – with a small group discussing ministry in

Afghanistan and Pakistan, I have been trying to discern the role Climbing For Christ plays. Like the other

180 (or so) organizations, we have been uniquely called to reach MUPGs (as well as Hindus, Buddhists,

and animists). There are people to whom and places where only Climbing For Christ can GO.

We need members to recognize this and support it. We ask you to pray, give and GO.

We also know we cannot do it alone. We must walk with other ministries and organizations. We have

much to learn.

When I asked John the importance – in his view – of networking, he quoted The Stanford Institute of

Social Innovation Journal (Spring 2012): “There is no other way society will achieve large-scale progress

against urgent and complex problems, unless a collective impact approach becomes the accepted way of

doing business.”

We call it: team ministry. Jesus picked His 12 and then the 72. “For as in one body we have many

members, and the members do not all have the same function,” Paul wrote in his letter to Christians in

Rome, “so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”

May we continue to add to this number daily.

Let us pray:

We humbly ask to be used by You, Father, to reach MUPGs wherever you have prepared work

for us to walk in. We lift the other ministries in this growing network, many (like ours) known only to You, Father.

We ask for Your blessing on those who are boldly saying, “Here am I! Send me.”

LORD, we pray the prayer of Vision 5:9’s 10/10 Initiative – that at least 10 percent of the world’s Muslims would become believers in the next 10 years. Use us to engage the unengaged and reach

the unreached with Your Good News.

“You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood

purchased for God members of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” – Revelation 5:9 (TNIV)

DAY THIRTY – June 4, 2019

What’s next?

By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ,

and Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ Grace and peace to you from God our Father! On this final day of Ramadan, today’s message is for you.

We hope you have learned and prayed along with us through this 30-day Project Prayer: Ramadan series, as we’ve dug deeply into the religion of Islam and its people, its challenges, and how we can best reach

them for Christ. We were blessed to bring it to you.

But now what? What’s next?

Our hope is that you will continue to pray for, learn about and engage the Muslim world.

The Islamic holy month of Ramadan is ending for another 10 ¾ months. It begins again on April 24,

2020.

But our work as Christ followers goes on. The task of bringing the Gospel to every nation, tribe, people

and language to the ends of the earth remains unfinished.

That said, will you continue to PRAY for Muslims? Will you GIVE to the work God prepared in advance for Climbing For Christ? Will you GO to deliver the Good News to our Muslim neighbors across the

room, across the street, and across the world?

Take a moment now to ask God, “How can I use what I have read these past 30 days in Project Prayer:

Ramadan 2019 to glorify Your name?” But don’t just ask; LISTEN.

We want to take this opportunity to share with you a prophetic warning: We have seen in places such as Indonesia and the Philippines how jihadis trained in Afghanistan in the 1980s returned to their homelands

and applied the evil they were taught. The same is and will continue happening as a result of recruits who

left homes to be trained by the Islamic State (or IS). The need for prayer for the hearts of these recruits is

imperative.

Moving forward the need is great for those bearing the name of Christ to be strong, to not be fearful, to be

loving, and to be willing to sacrifice. We are not only called to love others; we are called to lay down our lives for others.

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against

him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in

truth.” — 1 John 3:16-18 (ESV)

This, of course, extends beyond the Muslim world that we have been focusing on during this 30 days of

prayer.

While Ramadan has been the subject of this series, Climbing For Christ and our indigenous members

have continued to minister among the non-Muslim nations as well.

Will you join us now in praying not only for unreached Muslims, but for Buddhists, Hindus, animists, atheists and agnostics? Will you pray for your own unsaved family, friends, co-workers, classmates and

neighbors?

And as powerful and critical as prayer is, will you pray about GO-ing? Will you open yourself to the idea that God may want to use you – yes, you – in the life of someone who has yet call Jesus their Lord in

some remote village in some ends of the earth place where others cannot or will not go?

May the Lord have His wonderful way in your life. May He lead and direct your every step. May He bless

you with opportunities to bless others with His words of love and life. May you surrender more fully to

the will of our great God and Savior. Until ALL have heard!

OUR PRAYER

Father in Heaven,

You alone are God. You alone are perfect in wisdom and justice. You alone are full of such rich

compassion and boundless love. There is none holy like You. There is none worthy like You. We

worship You and give You reverence. You alone are God – our great God and Savior.

We pray for followers of Islam – and other false religions – from all over the world. We lift to

You those who are trapped in tradition and demonic deception. We ask for deliverance for them,

Lord. We ask that You would shine the light of Jesus Christ into the darkest corners of every soul.

We ask that, by Your incredible love, You would save.

Bless our brothers and sisters in Christ who live and serve among the lost. May they be used

powerfully in Your hands. We pray for protection and provision for them. We pray for wisdom

and understanding for them. And we pray that each would be a beacon of Your beautiful truth.

Finally, we lift up Climbing For Christ’s work to You. Our prayer is for lasting fruit as the

Gospel is delivered to those who haven’t heard. Our prayer is that the Holy Spirit led and guided every word and deed. Our prayer is for Your hand to be powerfully upon Your servants

throughout the world. And our prayer is for You, Lord God, to be glorified.

We give thanks, Lord, that You have heard our prayers. Your kingdom come, Your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

In JESUS’ name, amen.

“And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My

beloved Son. Hear Him!’” – Mark 9:7

Thanks for joining us throughout Project Prayer: Ramadan series. The LORD bless you and keep you!

© Climbing For Christ, 2019