My Christian brother William and I have shared a longstanding 20 year friendship, relationship and family bond in Yeshua. William is in Ghana, West Africa, and together we have been doing mission work there. Our ministry is particularly important as well as dangerous these days. Christians in rural West Africa are endangered. Just last weekend, for example, the Boko Haram, an Islamic terrorist group in Nigeria, slaughtered 16 Christians at the University in Kano. The Boko Haram has declared that Western education is forbidden and it has set out to create a Christian-free Nigeria. Christians can leave, convert or die. Same thing with the terrorist Fulani in Ghana, who migrated from Nigeria.
The Christian response in Ghana largely has been an import of Western culture where there is little outreach and much emphasis on tithing and control--all under the auspices of better Christian living. Ministers that I met 20 years ago have caved in to the Western concepts along with the money and fame. Their pictures are on billboards advertising their churches and conferences. They are dressed in expensive suits and are wearing gold watches and jewelry, giving the impression that Christianity means wealth. Meanwhile, their Christian brothers and sisters in the rural areas are being harassed, murdered and enslaved by Islamization. Our ministry is dedicated to answer this direct threat of Islam.
William explains: "Our outreach coordinators operate in hostile environments that call for extra, extra caution regarding how they function. The slightest word out of place or step in the wrong direction may bring about instant death or serious harm to one's body. As such, the rule of thumb is to express abundance love to the Muslims. That works miraculously! To express love is to primarily provide most of them with food, gifts and acceptance of their persons. Unfortunately, the operations of our outreach coordinators are hindered because they themselves are very poor individuals needing help too! Without support from us, there is nothing much that they can do. The situation is simply overwhelming."
I believe that our small efforts are helping stem the tide of Islamic aggression in Ghana. We are seeing progress. We do not want to see in Ghana what is happening regularly to our brothers and sisters in Nigeria. We do not want to see in America what is happening in West Africa. As Romans 12:21 says, "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." You do not have to look far to see the impact of Islam. You also do not have to look far to see the impact of Christianity. Anyone thinking that they can work with Islam on issues of common ground will someday be enslaved or killed by Islam. We do not serve the same god. We need to be about our Father's business as if our lives depended on it.
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