Connecting with Christ

A notification pinged on my laptop reminding me about my meeting with Frontiers media strategists. My teammates huddled around me as we joined the video call with Blake and a few others from his team.

We had been meeting together for months, working on videos and an advertising plan to reach Muslims in our area via social media. When we first started this project, Blake told us that some Frontiers teams had seen impressive numbers of new believers and baptisms. Others had little to show for their efforts. There were no guarantees, but the outcome wasn’t up to us.

“God is in control,” Blake had reminded us again and again.

While we trusted that the Lord would work in whatever way He saw fit, we had also worked hard to create a video that we prayed would begin spiritual discussions with Muslims we might otherwise never connect with. One of our local ministry partners had even leant his voice to narrate the video.

Navigating the road to our first social media ad campaign had proven much harder than we’d expected. We’d spent over seven months researching and planning, encountering numerous setbacks.

I was nervous to share the latest version of the video with Blake and his team, praying there wouldn’t be any more delays.

“We’re excited to see what you’ve done,” Blake said.

I swallowed a lump in my throat. Then, with a few clicks of my mouse, I showed them the video about prayer that we had created. My team went totally silent as Blake and the others watched.

We prayed together for the hearts of the local people.  

When the ad ended, Blake and his team applauded. “It’s perfect. The voiceover is just right.”

Relief loosened my chest. So many in our area had never learned how to read, but they would soon be able to hear about prayer in their very own dialect.

“We could never have done this without you,” I said.

“Are you ready to go live?” Blake asked.

I quickly sent a message to the two Muslim-background believers who had volunteered to help us respond to messages that came in from the ad campaign. “Get ready,” I told them.

Then Blake clicked the button to publish the ad. “Now all we can do is wait and see what happens.”

Before ending the video call, we prayed together for the hearts of the local people. We asked God to make them curious and help us build lasting relationships with them that would provide opportunities for us to share the Gospel.

I plan on using every opportunity and resource I have to connect him with Christ.

Three weeks later, though it was still too early to know the true impact of our efforts, the campaign was off to a great start. Our advertisement had reached nearly 200,000 people, and many had contacted us, wanting to learn more about praying in Jesus’ name.

When a message popped up in the bottom corner of my screen, I smiled at the familiar name. Nasri was one of about 20 locals who had initially responded. He continued to engage in ongoing spiritual conversations—not that he was particularly talkative.

Nasri never responded with more than a word or two, but his use of emojis kept the dialogue going. Within a few days, the topic of prayer had quickly led to discussions about the teachings of Christ. Every audio and video file I sent from the New Testament received another enthusiastic reply, so I provided more.  

Nasri couldn’t seem to get enough of Jesus. And I couldn’t wait to share the Gospel with him.

We haven’t met in person yet, but I’m praying that’s where our interactions will eventually lead. In the meantime, I plan on using every opportunity and resource I have to connect him with Christ.

Pray:

• Praise God for the ability to use technology to share about Jesus. Pray that God will use social media campaigns to bring many Muslims to Christ.
• Ask the Lord to continue blessing Frontiers teams with creativity as they seek to initiate spiritual conversations.
• Pray that God will open hearts to the Gospel message across the Muslim world.