Month: December 2012

Led to Christ by Christian co-worker

/ Steinar Opheim

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– I was not looking for Christ, but Christ was looking and reaching out for me, testifies a man from the Middle East in a video that was published earlier this year on Vimeo.

The video is produced by Arab World Media and Middle East Media and is a part of a new project called “Arabian Dawn”. In the months to come these companies will produce 10 to 12 videos showing testimonies from Arab Muslim background believers who have come to Christ.

– Hearing the distinct voice of an Arab speaking of how he came to faith in Jesus Christ would be life changing for many seekers in the Arabian Peninsula. The current climate in the Arab world has led many to ask questions about their religious beliefs, states Arab World Media in a newsletter.

The Arabian man featured in the Vimeo-video states clearly how he was led to Christ through Christian co-workers.

– In my job I met Western colleagues who worked with me. A small share of them was Christians. I noticed a big difference in the conduct of this small group who believed in Christ. They were completely different from the other Western colleagues, the man explains. Still, when one of the Christian co-workers started sharing about his faith, he showed very little interest.  When the co-worker later on left the Middle East he gave the man an electronic version of the Bible.

– I opened it when I returned home. It had the Bible saved on it. I was praying to the Lord and seeking him to know if what was written in this book, the Bible, was true or not. – Lord, show me the way to you. Let me know who you are. Peace overwhelmed my heart as I was praying. It was as if I heard the Lord´s voice saying: “Here I am”, says the man.  You can watch the whole testimony here.

Christmas learning points from Central-Asia

/ Steinar Opheim

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The way we celebrate Christ’s birth may hinder people in finding him. But it can also help others to see who Jesus is.

– What kind of psychology are you using? I am nearly convinced that what you told us about Jesus yesterday is the truth.

It is the morning after Christmas Day and an elderly man has come to visit us. His head is shaking slightly in confusion. The meeting in our home the day before has obviously impacted him. Close to 100 people had accepted our invitation to celebrate Christmas with us. For many of them it was the first time they heard the good news about Jesus. The preparations to the gathering had been full of shocking experiences.  But before I tell you more about that, I will rewind the story even further.

The mistake

When we moved to a Muslim majority nation in Central Asia we thought we were quite well prepared for what was ahead of us. And as in many other Muslim nations it was easy to get opportunities to talk about faith. Still it was hard to find occasions to share more in depth about Jesus.

The first after we moved abroad we decided, just as many other expatriates, to go home to our passport country to celebrate Christmas with family and friends. One year later we understood that this had been a huge mistake and that we had misused a great opportunity to help people to get to know Jesus.

The fight

When we approached Christmas the second year we decided to stay and to invite all our friends to celebrate with us. Not even one said no. Thus we knew that we would end up with more people in our living room than we or our landlord had ever seen before.

The preparations were chaotic and made us regret everything we had planned. The night before the celebration some liquid started dripping from the lamp in our kids´ room. I was sure that there had to be a water pipe running above the ceiling. So I spent a lot of time that I should have used to prepare for the following day in order to check things out. Finally I got to the right place just to find out that there was no water pipe and nothing else either that could produce the liquid. Fortunately the leaking had stopped. The rest of the night we spent trying to find a mouse that courageously had come to visit us.

The victory

Then the celebration started. Some young people had made a Christmas drama. A lot of food had been brought to our house and the sound level went really high as people were enjoying cakes and coffee. So I thought I would have to shout really loud when I was going to share the story about Christ´s birth from the Bible. But things did not turn out as I had expected. Actually I got scared when I stood up since everything immediately went quiet. The room was packed with people. Still there was no noise.  It was like some supernatural power had entered the room andeveryone was listening in awe.

– It is not psychology. I believe it is the Holy Spirit. God was speaking to you yesterday. He wants you to believe in him, we told the old man who had come to visit us the following day.

He still shook his head in disbelief. Could this really be true?

The conclusion

We stayed in Central-Asia for four years, over and over we experienced how the Christian feasts gave us great opportunities for sharing the Gospel. The nation we lived in had laws that made it illegal for expatriates to speak in public about faith. But as in most nations it was totally legal to invite people to celebrate with you in your private home.

It is easy to skip the Christian celebrations when we live in non-Christian nations. If we decide to celebrate, it can often be a temptation to focus on and invite family, friends and people sharing our faith instead of on those who do not know Christ. But if we make the right choices God can be born into new families and new cultures at Christmas even today.

Captivated with Wonder

/ Guest Contributor

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So profound is Jesus’ coming that we have celebrated it for centuries. God humbled himself to enter our world to reveal himself and to suffer his own judgment to redeem us rebels—What an absolute wonder!

There is no story like this. It is incredible! When we take time to grasp again this staggering reality, we are captivated with wonder. This is why we celebrate Christmas—to take time to “see” again the wonder of Jesus’ incarnation.

Today he has returned to the Father and we are his heart and hands and feet on earth. He can only go where we take him. This is what Christ-filled tentmakers do—they take Christ to those who do not know him. They incarnate him so that people see Jesus in them. They exhibit the supernatural difference so that people wonder and ask questions. And by working, tentmakers exhibit Jesus’ life and power in one of the most central aspects of life.

Business as Mission in Practice

“Robert” builds servanthood into the whole ethos of his company in Asia. It is a stated core value. Employees study and discuss it in optional Bible studies. And the Christians in the company practice it constantly. One day Robert saw an employee looking for something in the break room. When he asked what, she answered, “I’m looking for a clean glass.” When she couldn’t find one, she gave up and left. So he washed one for her and filled it with water. When he brought it to her, she could not believe it and asked, “What is this?” Robert responded, “You said you were looking for a clean glass for water.” Several weeks later in the Bible study, she broke down in tears as they were discussing how Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. Concerned, they asked what was wrong. When she was able to answer, she said, “Robert, do you remember when you gave me that glass of water. No one has ever done anything like that for me before. Now I understand what you were doing.”

I am very grateful for every tentmaker connected with GO-Tent who has gone or is serving now or is considering going. Seeing them incarnate Christ in some of the darkest, hardest places on earth makes our work worth it. We are thankful to have equipped tentmakers from 36 nations to go to over 80 nations.

Many of you reading this Tentmaking Brief are part of this number and all of you desire to see more people captivated by the wonder of Jesus’ coming. You know that GO and Tent are untiring in calling Christians to go as tentmakers. Yet many, many more are needed. So we also want to give you the opportunity to help GO-Tent financially so that more people are captivated with the wonder of Jesus’ coming!

Have a Wonder-Full Christmas, captivated again with the wonder of Jesus’ coming.

Dave English