Now we are living in Berlin the capital city of Germany and the pacesetter of European cities. It is a very strategic city in many ways, but also a strategic city for missions. Berlin is the melting pot for cultures, political and religious views. It was once the city that divide communism influenced East and Capitalism influenced West. Many people who are living in Berlin consider themselves tolerant and progressive.
The population landscape of Berlin is changing very fast, on the paper we have more than 500 000 people with Turkish passport or background but in reality is more than the official numbers, and 85% of this people consider themselves religious and Muslims. The European population is shrinking according to the research but what people are failing to understand and to see through is that the Islamic population in Europe and in this case Berlin is not shrinking but rapidly growing. So taking all this things into consideration the city is gradually becoming Islamic. This causes many people to respond in different ways, some of the people see this as normal and are very tolerant,we even have people from German background becoming Muslims because they are married to a Muslim or because they have been evangelized by a Muslim,on the other side we have people who are having fear and hate for Islam and Muslims.
We sense that God is calling us to reach-out to the people from Islamic background not out of fear or hate for Muslims but out of love for God and His people ( Muslims). We do see that the task at hand is not lite but I will be quick to mention that it is possible with the help of the Spirit of God to accomplish it because it is not our work but God's work. It is interesting that we are part of reaching out to Muslims during a time when there is lot of hype about religious tolerance and sensitivity, politicians and even many Christians feel that they are walking on eggshells when it comes to Islam and are very careful not to cause any problem(s) with the fear that Muslims may cry out Islam phobia, antisemitism or maybe Islamic- extremist may respond violently. We have been receiving different responds and reactions from people some say we are fundamentalists and fanatics but at the same time we are thankful that majority of people support what we are doing and are encouraging us to go on.
We are excited about the potential of how things can be because of God's grace and Spirit and our obedience to the call to step-out to love and serve the Muslims. We are also finding out that the greatest power and weapon that we have is that we are on the side of our Loving Father and all that we need to do is tell Muslims the truth about Jesus Christ in love not that we know everything which is there about Islam. It is also encouraging to see that we do not need to go to the countries that have proclaimed themselves Islamic states or kingdoms and facing a possibility of severe persecution, but what we need to realize is that so called 10\40 windows is right here with us in Berlin, and we sense that this are the cutting-edge times. A story of what once happened many many years ago in China comes to mind were there Chinese emperor send a message to England asking the king of England to send missionaries to His empire of China but mercenaries instead of missionaries were send to China to plunder the treasures of China. And the opportunity to reach out to the people of China with the gospel of Jesus Christ was wasted because of greed and the door was closed and China became a communist country and a place were many Christians were and is still persecuted. Thank God that in the last days God has been merciful and busy building His church in secret in China. My point is that this are opportune times to maximize the potential of how things can be when Turks and Arabs are reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ and I pray that we will use this time to reach out to Muslims here in Europe and in this case in Berlin before it is too late.
If you are living here in Europe or Germany you will know that there is lot of talks in the media about integration and how the programs which are in place are failing dismally and there is lot of accusation publicly and privately that the minorities and in particular Turks in Berlin are not willing to be integrated. But what the "powers that be" are failing to understand is that there will never be any integration program that will work here in Europe or anywhere else when people are so different and believe in so different things, the only hope for integration in Berlin is when all man come through the same way and are influenced by the same culture and we know that the only way is Jesus Christ and the only culture that can unite people is the Jesus Culture. So our only hope for eternity but also for the integration is through the cross of Jesus Christ.
Final thoughts are
Trusting God that he will raise up an army that will not be intimidated or relent in loving the Lord and all people of different cultures and religions to Christ.
Lovers of God and His truth
Prayer warriors who will win the battles for our generation on their knees.
Man and woman who recognize the times ( who can read writings on the wall of our generation)
Contemporary on their style and prophetic on their service
Friends lots of prayers and love
Tshif
