Campus CrossWalk Magazine: 2006-07 Winter Issue -- Loving Muslims

I've had a lot of people ask me lately about sharing the gospel with Muslims. It's probably because of the crisis with terrorism and the war in Iraq. But I do have a couple of suggestions. My advice revolves around an old story. But my old story has a new ending and bears repeating.

My story goes back a couple of decades. It started because of a crisis in the Middle East. It's not the one with Iraq but the one with Iran. Who can ever forget the Iranian hostage controversy? When our Americans were taken hostage during the tyrannical reign of Ayatollah Khomeini, a new patriotism was born. Everyone wanted to do something to free the American prisoners, but no one seemed to be able to do anything. Even the attempts of President Carter only led to more frustration. As a result, every night when we turned on our televisions, we were told of one more day in the lives of Americans held captive.

Bill Lawrence and I were campus ministers at the University of Washington at the time of the hostage controversy. We also wanted to do something about the situation. We just couldn't think of anything to do. One day we were a few blocks from campus when we decided that we should take a course of action to help with this international crisis. So we got down on our knees and prayed about it. After the prayer, I asked Bill, "So what should we do?"

"I think we are supposed to love Iranian students at the university," Bill replied.

"Do you know any Iranian students, Bill?" I asked.

"No. Do you?" Bill responded.

"Not a one." I concluded.

Well, it just so happens as we were walking across the campus that day that I encountered a couple of people who looked a little bit different from the typical U.W. student. We introduced ourselves to them and met "Sargon Tomik" and "Shahrzad Zarkoob," both from Iran. Wow, God answers prayers quickly. Anyhow, we decided to love them. We invited them over to our homes for meals. We invited them to campus ministry activities. We invited them to church. In a short time, they were going with us nearly everywhere we went.

One day Shahrzad cornered me and said, "Milt, don't you realize that nearly every person on this campus and in your country hates Iranians? Don't you understand how Americans feel about Iranians because of the hostage crisis? As I walk around campus, people curse and antagonize me. It seems like everyone despises me except for you and Bill Lawrence. And you act like you love me!"

"Well, we do love you, Shahrzad," I replied.

"Yeah, I bet it has something to do with Jesus too, doesn't it?" she responded.

"I guess you could say that, Shahrzad. We do love you, and we have learned how to love people through the example of Jesus."

"Well, I may be Muslim, but I'm going to continue to go to church because it's nice to be loved," she concluded.

But as time past, Shahrzad began to respond to the love of Christ. She believed. And she also fell in love with Jesus.

To my surprise, Shahrzad came to me and informed me of her point of view; "I don't think you know the cost of following Jesus, Milt." I thought that was what I was supposed to tell her.

She continued, "No, you don't know what it would mean for me to follow Jesus. I've been to your church and seen people baptized. They confess, 'I believe that Jesus is the Son of God.' If I make that confession, I can never go home or I will die. Conversion for me is the death penalty in Iran. I am 19, and I would never see my parents again. And I don't have a way to stay in this country. The United States has never given religious asylum to an Iranian Muslim before. So I will be a person without a country."

"So what are you going to do?" I asked her.

"I'm going to become a Christian! I just wanted you to know the cost."

And she did. I'll never forget her confession. I've heard many before, but none moved me more than this one. She was laying it on the line. There was no going back. She couldn't if she wanted to.

Shortly after her baptism, her father called me from Iran. He couldn't believe that she had become a Christian. He further informed me of the consequences of her decision; "She can never come home. You will have to raise her."

We didn't think that Shahrzad would be able to stay in our country. But we prayed and prayed for her. And we decided that we should try to get her religious asylum. Maybe no one else like her had been granted asylum, but with God's help, couldn't she be the first? We didn't think any politicians would help us. Why would anyone want to defend an Iranian when the entire country hated them? But a congressman from Texas, Kent Hance, and a senator from Washington, Slade Gorton, went out on a limb for her. And she got it. Not only did she get asylum, but Shahrzad became a citizen of the United States. She continued her education and finished her Ph.D. majoring in physics.

A sad day occurred shortly after this time. Shahrzad received the message that her mother had died. It was heartbreaking because of the separation that had taken place in their lives. At this time Shahrzad's father called me again. He thanked me for what he said was a good job in raising his daughter. And then he asked me if the church would pray for him. And we did.

Shahrzad developed a specialization in plastics and was hired by General Electric. They moved her to San Francisco. One day as she was walking down the street, an older woman recognized her. She explained that she had met Shahrzad in a quilting group back at the Northwest Church of Christ in Seattle. The woman told Shahrzad that there was a church in the city that spoke Farci, the language of Iran. Shahrzad checked it out and quickly became a leader in the outreach of this church.

Great numbers of Muslims were coming to the Lord through this ministry. And with Shahrzad's help, they developed a satellite television ministry to send the gospel into Iran 24 hours a day. And even though it might mean the death penalty, people were responding to Jesus in this persecuted country through this ministry.

To Shahrzad's great joy, her father was able to come to the United States recently. What a reunion it was! And she took him to a church where he was able to hear the gospel preached in his own native language. The day before his return to Tehran, he told Shahrzad that he wanted to be baptized into Christ. And he was.

As her father was leaving to go back to Iran, Shahrzad explained to him that if he registered as a Christian when he returned that he would be persecuted and perhaps killed. She asked him if he was going to keep his conversion a secret.

He responded, "Didn't you hear the sermon in church Sunday? Jesus said, 'Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.' I'm certainly going to confess my belief in Jesus in Iran because I want Jesus to confess my name in heaven."

Today, we hear so much about Muslims in the Middle East who are willing to die for their beliefs. But there are some Christians there who are also willing to lay down their lives for their convictions. At the time of this writing, he is still alive. So as you read this would you lift up a prayer for Shahrzad's dad?

How do you reach Muslims for Jesus in crisis times? Here's what I learned: You love them and put in a good word for Jesus.

Milton Jones is the pulpit minister at the Northwest Church of Christ in Seattle and teaches preaching at Puget Sound Christian College. He serves on the board of Christian Relief Fund as well as Campus CrossWalk. He has written numerous books, including Christ: No More, No Less and Sunday With Scottie.