Hello family and
friends,
This month I have
been learning a lot about Islam.
In September I
learned all about
the Quran and
the bible. I
got to do
a comparative study
of the bible
and the Quran.
Honestly speaking, reading the
Quran was not easy. It was very
confusing and overwhelming.
Since the Quran
is written according to the
length of the
chapters; chapter 2
being the longest
chapter and chapter
114 being the
shortest, and not
in chronological order
it was difficult
to keep up
with the flow
of the accounts
and understanding the Quran
was a
lot harder than I expected. But
through this God
taught me to
persevere and endure
till the end.
Because it was
a very slow
process I was always frustrated
and felt stuck
when I couldn’t
understand it. God
also taught me
patience , which I’m still working on. The
after lunch sessions
are my favorite
because every week
somebody new teaches
us. All the teachers
are Muslim converts and learning
from them is very exciting and
listening to their
testimonies are my
highlights!
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| team hanging out |
The first
week I learned
about the status
of women in
Islam. There were things I wasn’t
aware of before, till the teacher
taught me about
them. It was heartbreaking to
hear that women
were treated like
dogs and the
injustice they go
through everyday just shows
how much more
they need Jesus.
It stirred my
heart a lot
more than before,
like the Lord
was fanning my
flames bigger. A Muslim convert woman taught me this class. The 2nd week,
I learned about
the customs and
cultures of Islam.
It was interesting to see how
the different sects
celebrated the same
festival differently. The
Muharram festival is a day of
celebration to the
sunnis and a day of
mourning to the
shias. The shias
hurt themselves and
cut themselves in
a procession/ parade to
remember the war and the
death of many
devout Muslims. For
the sunnis its the
new year.
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| apologetic session |
The third week
we learned about apostolic anointing
and how teams
are very important
and effective in
ministry. Teams help us in long term missions and encourage
us when we
feel like quitting. They are
accountable and uplifting.
The last week was
all about apologetic and my second favorite
session. They taught
us to take
the Bible at
its word and let the
Bible stand for
itself against the
questions asked by
the Muslims. They
also showed us
how very important
it is to
know the bible
inside and out
and to stand
firm in your
faith. 1 Peter 3:15,16 is
the very
definition of apologetic
for every Christian.
A few weeks
back I got
connected to my
old teacher from school
who is a
Muslim and it
was through her
that I heard
God calling me
to minister to
the women of
Islam. I had a
dream about her
and felt God
telling me to
share about Jesus
with her. So
I’m slowly building
a relationship with
her again. I
am on very
thin ice with
her and am
scared that I
might break the
relationship if I
say one thing
wrong. I need
God to give
me boldness and
courage to open
myself to the teacher.
Her name is
Asra.
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| steven cochrane and the team |
Some of
my prayer points
are:
· * Please
pray that everything
I’m learning I would
put to practice.
· * Please
pray that I
would get out
of my comfort
zone and fear
and open myself to
Asra teacher.
· *Please
pray that I
would be more
sensitive to His
spirit and say
what he says. Let
the spirit put
words in my
mouth and let
him lead me.
· *Pray for
boldness and courage.
