Newsletter October 1993

ISEMA Newsletters

Special National Street Ministries Conference Edition

Muslim Christians

By Richard Wurmbrand. From the Voice of the Martyrs  Newsletter, Box 443, Bartlesville, OK 74005, (918) 337-8015

In  Bosnia,  inhumane  Serbians and  Croats  have  destroyed  800 mosques and 60,000 women have been raped. Muslims believe falsely that Serbians and Croats, who killed 200,000 of them, are  Christians. (Jews had the same misconception about their murderers.)

We  are  glad about movements of believers in Christ  that  exist among  Muslims. Just as there exist Messianic Jews, so there  are Isai  Muslims (Believers in Jesus) and Mashihee Jamat  (congregations of the Messiah). And like some Christians who “became as  a Jew to the Jews” (1 Corin. 9:20) and practice some Jewish  tenets in  order to win their people, the Mashihee Jamat live  according to Muslim habits and read passages from the Koran in which  there is  light but are also baptized and follow the Bible.  These  are numerous, especially among the Sufite Muslims in Bangladesh.

Muslims persecute Christians in many parts of the world. In Saudi Arabia, some of our brethren in prayer stretch out toward God not arms  but stumps. They have had their right hand cut off  because they  believe  in  Christ. In  Zanzibar,  Muslims  burned  50,000 Bibles.  In Nigeria, there was a plan to exterminate  Christians. In  Sudan, thousands died in a fight between Arab Muslims in  the North and the black Christians in the South.

Released  from  his death sentence. a Christian  named  Cornelius Mikhail left Saudi Arabia recently and returned to Egypt. He  was sentenced  to seven years and 1000 lashes (death)  for  allegedly reading a section of the Koran which fails to list Mohammed among the prophets of God. Cornelius, however, is illiterate and cannot read.  He was arrested by the Muttawa, Saudi  Arabia’s  religious police.

One of the primary teachings that scandalizes Muslims is that God sent  Jesus to earth to suffer flogging and crucifixion for  sinners.  That God loves sinners and desires their  conversion,  the most  illuminated of Muslims would agree, but He should not  love them  so much as to impose horrible suffering on the most  righteous  man just for them.

“What  kind of justice is it,” they ask, “to punish  a  righteous person  savagely  in order that the wicked should  go  free?”  We understand  their  difficulty. The best among  us  see  spiritual realities only dimly. The Holy Spirit must provide this light.

Walking with the Cross

by Henry Pulsifer. From the Brothers & Sisters in Christ  (BASIC) Newsletter, Box 431, Kiln, MS 39556, (601) 255-9251.

God has called us to walk (with the cross) through the places  He has  given  us…As we have carried out this  ministry  over  the years, He has confirmed the call by doing marvelous things in the lives  of  people  here in the U.S., and abroad.  A  ministry  to university  students in Mexico City, and BASIC ministry teams  in several  parts  of  India, Africa, and the U.S. now  exist  as  a result  of walking with the Cross. Also, many churches have  been planted in various places around the world.

In  1993,  God has continued to confirm the ministry as we  walk. By  His  grace we began walking locally in  January….The  first week  in  May  we began walking around the border  of  the  U.S., praying  for  revival  and ministering as God  opened  doors.  We started at the Alabama/Florida line headed East on Highway 98. We left  with  just enough money to get out of town, and an  old  76 Dodge  van…Total strangers have driven up and handed  us  money saying,  “God  told me to give this to you.”  Several  have  made commitments  to the Lord, and over a score have  committed  themselves  to  do God’s will with their lives and minister  to  this generation. With God’s help, we will continue to walk in the U.S. until  October  when we hope to go to India for  four  months  of ministry.

When  we first began ministering in India, many of  the  national Christians  were afraid to do evangelism and  personal  discipleship. They did not believe we would be able to walk across  India with  the Cross. Through the ministry God has given us,  we  have seen  the stronghold of fear replaced with a boldness for  Jesus. The BASIC Training course has been translated into several of the native  languages, and BASIC teams are being raised up  to  reach those  who’ve never heard. A mighty harvest of souls is  waiting, but  co-laborers  are needed so we can continue the  work  unhindered.

March for Jesus

About 1,700,000 Christians participated in last year’s March  for Jesus on Saturday June 12, according to U.S. director Tom Pelton. Marches were held in 400 U.S. cities and 50 nations. These marches  bring together Christians from various denominations  to  declare the goodness of God as they sing and march in cities around the world. 800,000 Christians participated in marches in the U.S. and  120,000 in Canada. But the largest march was 300,000 in  Sao Paulo,  Brazil. Marches were even held in Cambodia and  Istanbul, Turkey. Christians also held a prayer walk around the pyramids in Egypt. In Slovenia, virtually every Christian participated in the march.  Belgium changed its law so that a march could legally  be held in Brussels.

Six  U.S. states declared June 12 as “March for Jesus  Day.”  The Governor of Iowa marched with other Christians, and called it the most  significant religious experience of his life.  The  largest U.S.  march was in Austin, Texas, home of the American  Atheists, started by Madalyn O’Hair, whose school prayer case thirty  years ago  ended  prayer in public schools. “When I see the  March  for Jesus  that’s  only  4 years old here in Austin,  and  they  have 20,000  out  in  the street, whereas when we were  here  for  the (atheist’s)  convention, we got 300 or 400 out in the  street  of Austin, Texas–you can’t have that,” O’Hair said.

Because  atheists  tend  to be anti-authoritarian  and  of  every political  stripe, organization is next to impossible, she  said. “I think atheists are harder to organize than anarchists.” O’Hair said. “I think the window of opportunity for atheism has  closed. We will have a civic religion.”

Jon Murray, her son, the president of American Atheists, puts  it bluntly:  “Our ’63 case will be overturned.” Her other son  Bill, on  whose  behalf the case was originated, is  now  a  born-again Christian.

Coming Events

October  2-10 Balloon Fiesta Outreach, Albuquerque,  NM.  Contact Christ in Action, Box 100, Chatsworth, GA 30705, (706) 695-1868.

October  22-23 No Greater Love Ministry Conference. Contact  NGL, Box 263, DuQuoin, IL 62832, (618) 542-4503.

October  9,  October 23. San Francisco  Worship  rally  and outreach. 3-6 PM. Powell St. BART Station. Contact SOS Ministries Box 27358, Oakland, CA 94602, (510) 531-5325.

October 27-31 Fantasy Fest Outreach, Key West, FL. Contact Rescue Atlanta, Box 965029, Atlanta, GA 30066, (404) 924-0201.

December 31-January 1 Rose Parade Outreach, Pasadena, CA. Contact Sondra Berry Young, Box 3044, Newport Beach, CA 92659, (818) 792-7424.

January  29-30 Super Bowl Outreach, Atlanta, GA.  Contact  Rescue Atlanta (address above).

February  11-15  Mardi Gras Outreach, New  Orleans,  LA.  Contact Christ in Action or Rescue Atlanta (addresses above).

Sat. June 25, 1994 March for Jesus. Public praise marches  scheduled  for  hundreds  of U.S. cities and every  nation  on  earth. Contact  March for Jesus, Box 3216, Austin, TX 78764, (512)  416-0066.

A FINAL WORD

Many  of you are learning about ISEMA (The  International  Street and  Evangelism Ministries Assn.) for the first time at  the  National  Street  Ministries Conference. ISEMA was  established  in 1984  by  leaders of several different  street-level  ministries. They believed that God wanted them to form an association through which  street  ministries could help one  another.  Today,  ISEMA seeks  to provide fellowship, encouragement, teachings and  other resources for those who are on the “front lines” of evangelism.

While  God  has  called each of us to  different  ministries,  we believe  He  wants  us to work with one another  and  with  local church fellowships in order to be more effective in  evangelizing our  world and to recruit and train more workers for  this  last-days  harvest.  While the National Street  Ministries  Conference provides  a  once-a-year opportunity for  street  evangelists  to gather for fellowship and training, we believe there needs to  be an  association through which we can help one another  throughout the year.

Street  evangelists  may be harder to organize than  atheists  or anarchists.  But we are praying that God will bring us the  right people to help fulfill the vision of ISEMA. Right now there is no full-time leader for ISEMA and we have very few finances.  Please ask God if he would have you join ISEMA and help us in some  way. Please  call or write me if He speaks to you about  helping.  For those attending the National Street Ministries Conference, please come talk to me at the ISEMA/SOS Ministries booth.

I want to thank all of you for your prayers and financial support for  ISEMA.  Thank  you also for sending in reports  of  what  is happening in your ministry. Please continue to send us reports on outreaches  you have been involved in. We would like  to  include them in our newsletter so others can be encouraged.

Our  Tape of the Month is Legal Issues in Evangelism  by  Michael Imfeld. Michael is a Christian attorney who has been involved  in several First Amendment cases. This is one of the best  teachings I’ve heard about our legal rights when it comes to preaching  the gospel.

Yours in His love,

Larry Rosenbaum