News & stories Forum on Islam lays common foundations for presence and witness with Muslims HIGH WYCOMBE, England – An upper room at the Wycliffe Centre became “holy ground” for 12 EMM workers from Central Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East and eight EMM staff persons who met April 18-22 for a Forum on Islam. Introducing the forum, Mervin Charles, director of Global Ministries for EMM, explained that two years ago at the first forum in Ethiopia, there was a call for a more clearly defined sense of direction about how EMM engages in witness among Muslims. “This Forum’s objective is to define a 20 percent global framework for the 80 percent that will be location-specific,” Charles said. “This will not be a template, but common foundations that empower people to develop location-specific vision and practice. We believe there are basic foundations that we hold in common, regardless of where an EMM worker is serving. The key is to hear the Holy Spirit together and then apply what he says in our location-specific settings.” Charles invited everyone at this forum to be enthusiastically and proactively involved in helping to frame a “living document” that would capture what everyone sensed God was saying. But before getting into the drafting work, Charles led the group in a day-long testimony time. Everyone shared on the subject, “How I met Jesus.” “In a striking way, we saw ourselves just as much in need of a Savior as our Muslim friends,” said Clair Good, representative to Africa. “Early in the week God spoke to us from Ezekiel 37 – ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. I will make breath enter you.’ The dry bones are not the Muslims; the dry bones are us.” EMM President Richard Showalter commented, “In many churches in the West, we have lost the expression of life together in the body. We must experience in ourselves a renewal of testimony in a very personal sense, or we lose the power of our witness anywhere else.” From testimony the group went into a day of personal and corporate prayer and fasting. Several workers were heading into difficult transitions. One was feeling led to a new location where there has been significant opposition to the gospel in the past decade. And then a sobering e-mail message informed the group of the martyrdom of a local believer in another location. After prayer and fasting, the group began Bible study, reflection, and discussion on six shaping questions: What is our message? Who are the messengers? What is our posture? What is the shape of our fellowships? What is the cost? What is the measure of success? Showalter led two days of “dwelling-in-the-Word” Bible studies, fleshing out the six questions. Participants studied the Bible in pairs or small groups, then shared findings and reported insights back to the whole group. A draft emerged. In short, the group concluded that the message is the good news of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus, the Messiah; the messengers are ordinary people filled with the Holy Spirit; the new fellowships will take many different forms but will be led by local believers who fully represent the communities in which evangelism is taking place; the cost is no less than the cross of Christ; and the criterion of success is faithfulness to the tasks the Lord has given. (Full text available upon request from sandya@emm.org.) “God did a work in our hearts and spirits that laid the foundations for the document,” commented Cindi Schaupp, a member of the drafting group who had served as an EMM worker in Kenya. Another participant from the Middle East said, “A disparate group came together, and through story and the work of the Spirit, moved into a trust of each other and unity of the Spirit. By prayerfully looking into the Word, we developed a living document.” One participant testified that seeing the way the Spirit birthed the draft and ministered to the needs of each participant brought refreshing and new vision to assist him in Central Asia. Another from East Africa noted that these emerging directions will be a great help, relief, and inspiration to the mission team in the country where he serves. One from the Middle East noted that since the forum, he feels freed spiritually to go beyond his past ministry work. “I believe my expectations from God in the future will be far beyond what I have expected in the past,” he said. Another commented, “I experienced a new release for full ministry without fearing for my family and others I love.” Most in the group plan to take the document back to their locations and teams. “The work in our country is just beginning,” one commented. “I believe this foundation will have far-reaching implications for our work.” “Our team will need to sit and hear from the Lord in much the same manner as we have heard from the Lord here, but with the Albanian context in mind,” said Paul Kropf, EMM field leader in Albania. Another worker said, “The dry bones in my life have received new life and vision. I have received a new vision of connectedness to the greater body of Christ, especially with those working among Muslims.” Richard Showalter commented, “Through this forum there truly was a new ‘knitting together’ of Salunga-based administrative staff and field staff, orchestrated by the Spirit in shared testimony, prayer, and fasting, followed by the Spirit's outpouring. I anticipate that this will give the office team a new anointing for our work.” In addition, Showalter said that EMM hopes to build on the Forum on Islam by planning similar forums that will lay foundations for witness in Buddhist, Hindu, and Chinese communities, as well as in the postmodern West. – Jewel Showalter