Focus 2020 – The Great Commission: Perspectives from LeadersSample

They Will Reach Them 

Bible passage: 

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. (Mark 5:18–20) 

Devotional: 

In amazement, our small group of leaders listened to testimonies of Muslim leaders who had come to faith in Christ. We were in a secure out-of-the-way place in a nation bordering North Africa. Seven years earlier we assisted a small cluster of churches there to begin their own discipleship-mission training program in this predominantly Muslim region. Their goal was to equip their people to reach their ‘cousins’ with the Good News of Jesus. 

The simple strategy was to build friendships with the Muslim neighbors and leaders they knew. In friendly interaction, they would initiate conversation about what the Qur’an reveals about Isa al-Masih (Jesus the Messiah). They would introduce ideas from the Qur’an like: Jesus is the Word of God (Sur. An-nisa’ 4:171), Jesus is the True Word (Sur. Maryam 19:34), and Jesus was born by the Spirit to Virgin Mary (Sur. Al-Anbiya’ 21:90–91). 

Now we sat there, listening to a Muslim Sheik who had come to know Jesus the Messiah as his Savior and Lord. He told us about leading 32 other Muslim Sheiks to surrender their lives to Jesus. The testimonies that followed of the many ways Jesus revealed himself were so inspiring and faith-building. In this region and a neighboring region we visited, at least 7,000 Muslims have come to know Jesus as their Savior and Lord. When someone decides to follow Jesus, they are invited to a secret place for five days of instruction—this was what we believed as Muslims, now this is what we believe as disciples of Jesus Christ. There are prayers for deliverance, wisdom, and courage. Then, if they are ready, they are baptized. 

The new Christ-followers are instructed not to change the way they dress, but to go and talk with their own people about the Messiah, like Jesus instructed the man freed from demons in Mark 5. They join small groups, meeting regularly—and often in secret—to study the Injil, the Gospel(s), as the Qur’an encourages them to (Sur. Al-Ma’idah 5:46).  

One African leader in our group asked their discipleship-mission trainer, “But how will you reach the people just across your border?” He smiled and asked a young man in their training and from that nation to stand. “He will reach them,” he replied. 

Quote: Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you. 

Question: How can we become better at equipping the people we serve to be ‘near-culture’ mission workers who multiply disciples and new fellowships among their own people? 

Galen Burkholder 

CEO, Global Disciples