Witness Spring 2020 Contents Multiplying Missional Leaders......................... 2 Walking Alongside Ya’qub..................................4
Multiplying Missional Leaders
Miracle in Dadagali’s Village.............................6 Tending the Garden................................................8
Editorial by Randy Friesen
Phway Phway’s Cry for Help...........................10 A Fruit Farmer’s Journey................................... 12 That Ugly House....................................................14
Staff Editor-in-Chief..............................Randy Friesen Managing Editor..................Mark J.H. Klassen Layout & Design..........................Darcy Scholes Illustration & Design..................... Colton Floris Writing & Prayer Mobilization.......Nikki White Media Director................................ Daniel Lichty Circulation & Administration.........Kyle Hendy
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In January, I was in North Africa hosting a four-day mission training event for local church leaders. The Church in this particular country has survived centuries of subjugation and humiliation as a persecuted minority at the hands of Muslim governments. The Church has also been heavily influenced by a teaching that says that Muslims are cursed by God as the descendants of Ishmael. These realities have created animosity between the two religious communities and left them looking upon each other with deep mistrust. However, many Muslims today are becoming disillusioned with their traditional Islamic faith and they are longing for an authentic experience of God’s presence and love. Throughout this region and around the world, they are being drawn to Jesus. As Muslims put their faith in Jesus, will they be welcomed into the Church? Will the Church in this region set aside old wounds and reach out to their Muslim neighbors in love? Razia, a young Muslim woman from this region, recently went on hajj (the traditional pilgrimage to Mecca) and, while she was walking around the Kaaba (the holiest shrine of Islam) with hundreds of thousands of other pilgrims, she had a miraculous encounter with Jesus. Razia was so transformed by this encounter that she abruptly ended her pilgrimage and returned to her home country. Local friends there put her in touch with our team and now Razia is being discipled. With so many Muslims like her finding Jesus through dreams and visions, church leaders are re-examining their history and honestly trying to dismantle any obstacles to the Gospel in their culture and theology.
Razia had a miraculous encounter with Jesus while she was visiting Mecca.
At the event in North Africa, we brought a message of God’s blessing through Abraham for all nations. Through Jesus, all nations are welcomed into God’s family, and the blessings of Abraham become ours. For 1400 years, the story of Ishmael has been distorted and has created an impediment for the Gospel in this part of the world. Today, Jesus is on a mission to change that!
formerly MB Mission
Printed in Canada
In every missional context, including our own, there are unique challenges and obstacles to the Gospel that missional leaders must be equipped to respond to. In my context in Canada, the Church’s relationship with First Nations (Native) peoples has been very painful. In the US, race relations
