A total of 251 persons registered for the conference, 97 of which had been Muslims before converting to Christianity. Others were seekers or were Christian Background Believers who attended in a supportive role. One Jewish Background Believer also attended.
Three focal points became evident during the three-day conference: singing, prayer and testimonies. Participating in the worship experiences was like stepping into the book of Acts and being a part of the first-century church.
As the MBBs shared the stories of their conversion to Jesus and their lives since, sacrifice was a common thread running throughout. One speaker, whose ministry is headquartered in Canada, told of his conversion in his homeland of Sudan. When he began to question why Allah would not hear a prayer if it was not directed toward Mecca or why prayers had to be spoken in Arabic he was rebuffed and branded a trouble-maker. He reasoned, “I can speak three languages. One would think that Allah could speak at least as many languages as I.”
Later, as his searching led him to embrace the faith of Jesus, he was viewed as dangerous. During one Friday evening prayer session a cleric called for him to be killed by a method called “necklacing.” In this especially gruesome form of execution, a person's hands are bound from behind and an automobile tire is lowered over their head, filled with gasoline and set ablaze.
The speaker had been studying the Scriptures and when he was captured and taken to the mosque, he asked to be allowed to speak. Receiving their permission, he said, “I want you to know that no matter what you do to me, I forgive you.” The very idea of such forgiveness confused them and they finally let him go. Later, the very cleric who had called for his death asked to meet with him privately. Eventually he, too, became a believer in Jesus and is now a preacher of the gospel in Sudan.
Other MBBs told how they were rejected by their families and cultures when they became believers. Westerners, who value independence, have trouble understanding what it means for a MBB to be cut off in this way. After almost every story the conference erupted in jubilation.
One conference organizer emphasized, “The social institution of the family is one of the strengths of the social structure of Muslim societies. The concept of ‘extended family' is taught by Islam to provide unity to society and to supply its members with all of their basic human needs. Children are born into a family unit where they are valued as a gift from God. Usually, families have many children who are nurtured and included in all family activities. As more children are born into a family unit, the older children often care for and teach the younger ones. Cousins often marry cousins, and families overlap.
“Once married, couples often live with the husband's parents or next door to them as a quasi-independent unit. Elderly family members are cared for in their homes by their sons and daughters. Orphans are cared for by grandparents, aunts and uncles. Whole villages and towns are often made up of extended families—generation after generation. All of life's functions begin and end with the family, and everyone knows everything there is to know about an individual and his background.”
She continued, “The bonds of relationship within a Muslim family are very strong. Family and society are one and the same. Muslim families and societies are so tight that even if ‘fate' takes one of its family members far away to another country, someone knows or hears about that individual's activities and keeps his family members informed.”
For these reasons, the MBB conference meets a social need as well as a spiritual one. It provides opportunities for MBBs to form surrogate families with other believers.
One highlight of the conference was the singing. Two Lebanese singers who grew up in southern Lebanon in a village heavily damaged in recent fighting and who now reside in Australia, thrilled those who attended with their singing. Both are recording artists well-known in the Arab-speaking world. The songs were joyous and spirited. One singer, who for many years was the top pop singer in the Arab world and is still highly visible, grew up in a Lebanese Christian home but did not become a believer until he was a young adult married to a Muslim wife. Although at first she was angry about his conversion, she later became a believer herself. A recent CD features his top secular songs and his testimony about how and why he became a Christian!
They learned of the conference on the internet and paid their own way from Australia to attend and sing.
The MBBs often gathered around one of their own to offer sincere prayers for a voiced need. Often the request was for safety as they returned home and resumed ministries.
Christian Background Believers (CBBs) can help their MBB fellow Christians by offering their friendship and the intimacy of fellowship. “To be able to effectively minister to MBSs [Muslim Background Seekers] and MBBs, CBBs need to be able to invest their lives, time, and resources into developing relationships with these precious people," said one organizer. "The Lord calls us to ‘bear one another's burdens.' As the MBSs and MBBs grow spiritually, only with great patience and perseverance will these former Muslims be able to assimilate into the Western societies where they now live and begin to lead more independent lives.
“There are many ways to provide assistance to the MBSs and MBBs. Because of their social and cultural backgrounds, they are very open to developing relationships which may have been severed due to their rejection or impending rejection of Islam.”
The Arabic/Muslim Kingdom Advance Ambassador for the Virginia Baptist Mission Board and founder of People of the Book Ministries seemed to be everywhere as he circulated among the people. They responded by showering their affection upon him and literally encircling him in prayer.
Despite what many Westerners have been led to believe, Muslims are coming to Christ. During the conference, two affirmed Jesus to be God's Son, confessed their sins and were saved. As the conference ended, two Muslim hotel workers, one from Egypt and one from Lebanon, who had observed the joy of their MBB guests, became believers as MBBs led them to Jesus.
Next year's conference is planned for Labor Day weekend, once again to be held at Columbia Baptist in Falls Church.