{"id":723,"date":"2018-04-23T10:49:07","date_gmt":"2018-04-23T09:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fru.ifesworld.org\/conexion\/thirsting-for-truth\/"},"modified":"2019-05-20T09:45:56","modified_gmt":"2019-05-20T09:45:56","slug":"thirsting-for-truth","status":"publish","type":"conexion","link":"https:\/\/fru.ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/thirsting-for-truth\/","title":{"rendered":"Thirsting for truth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Students in Ghana telling Muslims about\u00a0Jesus<\/h4>\n

Over the last year, Christian students from GHAFES Ghana have been making an unprecedented strategic and concerted effort to reach Muslims on campus. Supported by an IFES Innovation grant<\/a>, they\u2019ve organised activities including discovery Bible studies, Q&A sessions and public debates. We heard from one of the leaders of the project, who told us more.<\/p>\n

What prompted the students in your movement to start doing Muslim outreach?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Islam is the second fastest growing religion after Christianity, with an estimated global growth from 1.6 billion adherents in 2010 to 2.8 billion by 2050. Any attempt to obey the Great Commission (Matthew 28: 18\u201320), without a strategic approach to reach out to Muslims, betrays a serious deficit. The influx of Muslim international students is also rising dramatically\u200a\u2014\u200asome coming from closed countries. Sadly, many Christian students have become \u2018Islamophobic\u2019. But we believe intentional evangelistic conversations with our Muslim friends for whom the Lord Jesus died must be a top priority.<\/p>\n

We also want to encourage better mutual understanding and friendship. Hans K\u00fcng, a Swiss theologian, once said: \u201cNo world peace without peace among religions; no peace among religions without dialogue between the religions; and no dialogue between the religions without accurate knowledge of one another.\u201d <\/em>The university is a place where healthy dialogue can and should happen, and we want to promote that.<\/p>\n

What different approaches are being taken to reach Muslim students?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

There are many different aspects to our campus evangelism. Firstly, training. We need to learn more about Islam and how to engage our Muslim friends in evangelistic conversations, how to answer their questions. We\u2019re also conducting research to find out what questions Muslim students are asking about Christianity and Jesus.<\/p>\n

In terms of outreach, a whole range of things: one-to-one evangelism, discovery Bible study groups, developing evangelistic tracts and software, and organising debates, radio lectures and Q&A events. We\u2019re also trying to disciple and support Muslim students who come to faith in Jesus.<\/p>\n

Why is it so important to support Muslim students who come to\u00a0faith?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Muslims who convert to Christianity face many challenges. Some will be rejected by their community, friends and family. We met one new Muslim-background believer recently and we are meeting with him every week to help build his faith. We\u2019re also putting support systems in place to ensure his fees are paid and his social needs are met. Please pray for him!<\/p>\n

How have the big events\u00a0gone?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

We\u2019ve held debates and lectures on topics like:<\/p>\n