Read and Download Samuel Zwemer’s Unoccupied Mission Fields: Africa and Asia Here
Read and Download Samuel Zwemer’s Unoccupied Mission Fields: Africa and Asia Here
If this were not enough, Acts 17 tells that God “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling places, that they should seek God…” We forget that God is sovereign in all, the migration of people across borders no exception. Though awful, we must not forget that God is not surprised by what is happening in Syria or Iraq, and has purposed the church to meet needs and bear the message of hope in the midst of tragedy.
Certainly there are political issues, national security issues, and legitimate complex concerns that ought to be discussed; I do not seek to downplay their importance. The responsibility of the Christian towards the foreigner in our midst is however not one of these debatable matters.
In his book, “A Wind in the House of Islam,” David Garrison seeks to understand and describe the people movements to Christ that are increasingly taking place throughout the Muslim world (6). According to Garrison, eighty-four percent of all the movements to Christ – defined as at least one thousand new believers or one hundred new churches within two decades (230) – have taken place in the 21st century (226). Though Garrison admits that these movements represent a very small, “statistically almost insignificant” fraction of the Muslim world, he sees this recent development as a potential “hinge moment in history” (232) that may lead to the “Day of Salvation for Muslims” (252). In response to this new move of God in the Muslim world, Garrison aims to ascertain how God is bringing Muslims to faith in Christ (24). He hopes his study will equip the church to better participate in what God is doing, encourage Muslim converts, and inspire Christians to become more engaged in Muslim outreach (41). In this paper, I will review this important study by briefly summarizing its contents and then seeking to assess its strengths and weaknesses in accomplishing Garrison’s aims.
Many years ago, a young college student in Pakistan confided to me that he was intrigued by stories of Jesus in the Qur’an. He said his mother prayed seven times a day and read the Qur’an to him. What impressed him most were the miracles of Jesus–healing the sick, cleansing the lepers and raising the dead. “Who is this Jesus?” he asked. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to study Scripture together.
Despite winning only a handful of converts, Samuel Zwemer was the greatest missionary the United States has ever sent to the Muslim world. Of him, the historian Kenneth Latourette said, “No one is more deserving of the title, ‘Apostle to Islam.’” He was a gifted evangelist, a prolific author, a compelling speaker, and a dedicated professor—never deviating from this message: Muslims need Jesus, and Christians need to reach them.