Does Media REALLY Influence Teens?

By Jeremy Zach

Exploring how students engage with popular media.

In some Christian circles, secular media (music, movies, books, TV shows) is viewed as very bad. And some teach you have to avoid it like the plague.
Conversely, today’s teens spend a lot of time listening to music, watching movies and TV, and surfing the Internet. According to the article Generation M: Media in the lives of 8-18 Year-Olds:
–  Students spend, on average 6.5 hours per day with media
–  Students spend more than three hours a day watching TV
–  26 percent of the time students are using more than one media device. This means that 8.5 hours’ worth of media per day is packed into 6.5 hours
–  Students read an average of 45 minutes a day.
The reality is today’s teens are bombarded and absorbed with media. So do you think we (youth pastors, leaders and parents) can fight the compelling influential power of media? And how much influence does media really have on our teens?
Chap Clark, Professor of Youth, Family and Culture at Fuller Seminary, argues that the primary relational influence in a teen’s life is the parent. The second tier of influence is an involved, caring and loving non-parental person. The third tier is peers. Media is a fourth-tier influence. If the first two tiers are doing well, the third and forth tiers don’t have a lot of impact or influence.
Yes, media does have an influence on teens. But this media influence doesn’t ever come close to the influence of a parent or of a committed, loving non-parental adult.
So this means the main factors that impact teens’ decision making are:
–  their selves
–  family
–  non-parental adults
–  friends
–  media
Dr. Meg Meeker says it wonderfully: Media has influence, but parents and other adults have the real power TO influence teens.
Here are  a few things I want youth workers to consider about media and teens:
–  I think many youth pastors worry when they see students consumed by media. And I think we at times give too much influential power to music, movies and media. My point: There is no reason to freak out if our students are listening and watching “secular” media. Keep worrying about pointing students back to Jesus and getting more loving adults around kids.
–  Music, movies and media are heavily infused in today’s youth culture, so teens will be exposed to it. We have to realize the advertising industry knows a lot about today’s teens. They spend millions of dollars every year trying to figure out today’s youth. My suggestion is that youth workers must not only be comfortable with our youth being exposed to media but learn how to embrace it by using it as a teaching opportunity. Teaching or persuading students to avoid “media” isn’t really teaching them. We have to teach them how to be smart consumers of culture. We need to teach them to take in media messages, analyze them and critique them based on biblical teaching.
–  Remember, parents and you (as a caring non-parental adults) have a lot of influence. If adults are involved and loving today’s teens, media doesn’t stand a chance. So get more adults to invest relationally with today’s postmodern kids.

Jeremy Zach

Jeremy Zach easily gets dissatisfied with status quo. He reeks with passion and boredom is not in his vocabulary. He becomes wide awake when connecting with student pastors, thinking and writing about student ministry, experimenting with online technology, and working out. He is married to Mikaela and has two calico cats, Stella and Laguna. He lives in Alpharetta, Georgia and is a XP3 Orange Specialist for Orange—a division of the REthink Group. Zach holds a Communication degree from the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities and Masters of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary.

Jeremy on ChurchLeaders   Jeremy's Website

Protecting Kids From Pedophiles in Churches

By Mark Harper

“Most parents will be appreciative of your efforts to make church a safe place for their kids.”

Last week a local Fox News Channel aired a story that hit a little too close to home.
The story is titled “Child Porn Investigation: His Charisma Can Fool You.”
It’s about a family who are members of my former church and a 14-year-old girl that was stalked by a pedophile.
The really scary thing is this man was not some stranger, but a fellow staff member. He was a really nice guy.
Before you start thinking that could never happen at your church, don’t kid yourself.
A few months ago there was a children’s pastor arrested at another influential church in Twin Cities for a propositioning kids on the Internet.
In my opinion, this problem is only going to get worse, and most of our churches are not prepared.
I think we create a false sense of security in our churches.
We advertise that we have a safe environment for kids because we have done background checks on volunteers and we have a computerized check-in system, but what if the pedophile is on staff and has no criminal history?
What if the pedophile is the guy you eat lunch with every day?
The truth is that only 10 percent of victims are abused by a stranger, while someone they trust, like a teacher or family friend, abuses 60 percent of victims.
The challenge for us that work in churches is that we want to create a culture of trust and acceptance, and pedophiles know this.

So what does a pedophile look like and how to I recognize a pedophile?

You definitely don’t want to falsely accuse someone, but there are some red flags to look for.
In most instances, a pedophile is not some creepy homeless guy.
He typically is male and a very like-able person. The experts say that pedophiles will go through a grooming process to gain the trust of their victim, so look for signs of grooming.
Grooming refers to the process the child molester undertakes to gain a child’s trust, and sometimes the parents’ trust as well.
Over the course of months or even years, a pedophile will increasingly become a trusted friend of the family, giving gifts, offering to babysit, take the child shopping or go on trips.

Child molesters look for children who lack emotional support or aren’t getting enough attention at home.
Sometimes a child pedophile will attempt to step in as the “parent” figure for the child. Some prey on the children of single parents.
Be aware of common behaviors demonstrated by child molesters. Here are some examples:
• Pedophiles often don’t display as much interest in adults as they do in children.
• They may have jobs that allow them to be around children of a certain age group, or contrive other ways to spend time with children by acting as a coach.
• Child molesters tend to get their social needs met from relationships with children and to treat children as though they are adults.
Can we do more to protect our kids without starting a witch-hunt?
Yes we can, by understanding how a pedophile works and creating a system that frustrates them.
Here are some suggestions you may want to consider:
• Be on the alert for adults that seem to get their social needs met by kids or who always seem to be in the center of attention.
• If you see an adult leader who is giving too much attention to one child this should be a red flag.
• Consider making a policy that adult volunteers are not to give gifts to children. The church may give gifts to children from time to time, but everyone will get a gift not just one child.
• Do training for parents and volunteers on how to protect your kids from pedophiles. This will have the added of advantage of your volunteers understanding the why behind your rules.
• Do not solicit hugs from kids. There are always kids at church that want a hug, but I trained my volunteers to not solicit hugs from kids. If a child initiates the hug then give them a hug.
• Train your volunteers on how to hug kids and about the “no touch” zones.
• Instruct your volunteers to not ask a child to sit in their lap (especially preschoolers).
• Adult leaders should not be contacting kids by email or on the Internet
• Adult leaders should not be contacting kids outside of organized church activities. For example if the Small Group Leader of 5th Grade boys asked to do a special party at his house I always said no. We would organize special events for kids, but I was always the one planning these events.
• Consider banning any pictures of kids at your church except by a professional photographer that you hire. (This way you are in control of any pictures that are taken.) A few years ago I was participating in a tour at a local megachurch. I tried to take a picture of a classroom of kids and they stopped me. At the time, I felt their policy was too paranoid, but now I understand.
• There should always be at least two volunteers in every classroom. No adult should find himself in a room where he or she is alone with children.
• Be extra careful about who you take to camp as a counselor. If you get a bad feeling about someone say no.
• Do criminal background checks on all staff and volunteers every year. Not just those that work with kids.
• Listen to the Holy Spirit. Some people should not be working with kids. If you get a red flag about someone, move him or her to a different area.
Someone should be in charge of enforcing these guidelines and observing the behavior between adults in children under your care. I put my Head Coaches in charge of this, so that I can be free to communicate with parents.
Do not accuse someone of being a pedophile if you see this behavior. (Most people that work with kids do so because they like kids.) The goal here is to establish safe boundaries that apply to all of your volunteers that make it difficult for pedophiles to operate. Make no exceptions to the rules, including staff people.
Most parents will be appreciative of your efforts to make church a safe place for their kids.

4 Phrases to Stop Saying in Salvation Messages

By Dan Scott

Preaching the gospel? Great! But don’t do these things.

I recently wrote an article about Five Principles for a Salvation Message, so when I spoke recently at junior high week at camp and talked about salvation, I was acutely aware of the words and phrases I was using. When talking to kids about how they can put their faith in Jesus, it’s important to remember how they hear words and phrases. Kids understand abstract concepts differently than adults do. In order to help kids clearly understand the decision they are making to follow Jesus, here are some caveats and phrases to avoid.

“Invite Jesus into my heart”

After giving a talk on creating meaningful Salvation messages for kids, a leader asked, “Why aren’t the kids responding to our invitation to have Jesus come live in their heart? Who wouldn’t want Jesus living inside them?!”
And while I agree with her intent, think about the reality of how many children might understand this concept:
Jesus—who you’ve just told them is a real adult human being—will somehow INHABIT THIER BODY.
How does he get in there? Do you swallow him?
Do I need a special surgery?
Where will He live? What will He eat?
Children have many questions about this phrase, which yield confusing and possibly disturbing answers. Kids attach what they hear to what they know. Kids have a hard time understanding metaphors and abstract associations. So for a child: Jesus + Inside + My + Heart = GROSS!

“Once you believe in Jesus, everything will be better”

Sure. Of course this is true, but it’s not true how a child might envision this being true.
Let’s say …
I’m living in poverty. I have one full meal a day. I sleep on the floor. And wear the same clothes every day.
Or my parents are separating with no hope of reconciliation.
Or I’m not that great in school. I can never get higher than a C on my test and quizzes.
Then one Sunday I hear a message about this Jesus who lived and died and rose again for me. And that when I put my faith in him, everything will be better because he is with me. I put my trust in him with all my heart. I believe that this, all that you just told me about my new life with Christ, is true.
And I wait…
Wait for my economic position to change.
Wait for my parents to reconcile.
Wait for my grades to improve.
After all, I was told that my life should be better, right?
But it’s not.
And now I start to wonder if this Jesus thing didn’t work, as if my prayer wasn’t the right prayer or I didn’t have enough faith.
Because I was told that my life would be better…
But. It’s. Not.
As adults, our brains can understand that “better” might mean something emotional, something closer to a peace with our situation or a new-found determination to help change it. “Better” might be having a community of like-minded friends who will help us through what we’re facing.
Jesus never promises that life will be “better”—he actually promises that life will often be difficult because of our faith in him. (See: Matthew 7:13-14, Mark 8:34-35, Luke 10:3, John 16:33) But he also promises that he’ll be with us. And that is what makes life better. We’re no longer alone. We have hope that Jesus has overcome the world, and that no matter what we face, we know that he has won and eventually all will be made new.
In the meantime, we’re promised a peace that passes understanding as we travel in a world still broken by sin. “Better” is true. But only in as much as a child can understand the abstract meaning behind that word. Be careful that the words you use don’t set your kids up for disappointment.

“Once you believe in Jesus, you’ll feel different and happy all the time.”

This is similar to the above statement, but rather than the outcomes of my life changing, our outlook will change.
And sure, maybe it will for a few days or months, but what happens when you don’t feel happy anymore? Kids may wonder if Jesus is no longer active in their life, or worse, if they’re still part of God’s family.
Tying our salvation to an emotional moment in time is dangerous. When this happens, a child may find himself rededicating his life at closing session every Snow Camp and Summer Camp. Emotions can be manufactured with the right environment or the right sermon. Emotions are a human reaction to what is happening in life. Sadness is real. Anger is real. Negative emotions are going to be part of life. Kids are going to grow up and not always feel happy or like everything is going to be OK.
Because something bad happened and they feel bad about it.
Because they have a chemical imbalance that is twisting their reality.
Because at that point in their life, it’s not going to be “OK” as they define that word.

We must free kids to feel emotions apart from being dependent upon their salvation. We can love God—trust him even—and still feel the weight of the human experience. When we sweep those under the rug in favor of some false happiness we manufacture, we miss an opportunity to travel the shadow of death and feel the love of the Shepherd coming to find us and carry us home.
When you believe in Jesus, everything will feel different. Except when it doesn’t. And that’s OK. Those moments allow us to feel his love in tangible ways. When we set up kids to think that believing in Jesus makes everything happy and rainbows and magical unicorns, we are laying a weak foundation that will crumble when something bad happens in life.

“Pray the Sinner’s Prayer”

Don’t tie their salvation to a specific “sinner’s prayer.” There’s no “right prayer” for a kid (or anyone for that matter) to say. Kids will express their faith using words and ideas they know and understand at their age. Don’t get hung up on them having the “right words” but consider the heart with which the kids pray them.
In Romans 10:9, Paul says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’…” People often use this verse to prove that there is a prescribed way to receive salvation. Yet when you read through the rest of Paul’s Epistles as well as the salvation accounts throughout Acts, you can see that faith is a result of God’s movement in someone’s life. Declaring one’s faith is deeply personal and not a result of some magical prayer.
We don’t want kids think their salvation is tied to specific words they may or may not have said at some point in their life. As we get older, our memories fade. As we face crisis, our memories can get distorted. If we say that there’s a specific sinner’s prayer they should say to begin a relationship with Jesus, later on in life they may doubt they said the necessary words for that relationship to stick.
Trust takes on many shapes and forms and words. People express that trust differently throughout their lives. In so many words, the Bible informs us that we can come as we are. We must offer the same promise to the kids in our ministries. Don’t let anything get in the way of a child coming to faith. Allow faith to take root in that child’s life and let them declare that faith as they feel moved.

BONUS: If there’s anything that you’re not sure of DON’T SAY IT.

Let’s be honest, there are times when kids ask questions and we’re just not sure how to answer them. Yet instead of being honest with our own confusion, we decide to piece together some ideas and end up making up an answer that sounds good and makes them happy. It’s not that the answer is wrong, but it’s muddled. This is actually more dangerous to faith than admitting our own confusion and saying, “I don’t know.”
“I don’t know” is a legitimate answer to questions your kids have about faith. Embrace the mystery of how God works and how the Holy Spirit enters our lives. Invite the kids into that mystery rather than giving them an incomplete answer they may not understand and may fall apart as they grow up and begin to have a better understanding of the decision they made.
Your turn: What phrases would you add to this list? Let’s work together to present the Gospel clearly, so kids can come to know Jesus. Comment below!  
This article originally appeared here.

10 Ways to Create More Margin in Your Time

By Ron Edmondson

How do you fit more time into an already busy schedule?

How do you fit more into an already busy schedule?

Isn’t this a great question?
Because, aren’t you being asked to do so all the time? Isn’t your standard reply to the question “how are you?”—BUSY? Aren’t we all?
How do you create more margin in your schedule—to do the things you want to do and the things you need to do?

Here are a 10 tips to help create more time margin:

Start your day with God.
Of course a pastor would say this, but it is amazing if I start the day talking to God about my day how much better my day flows. If I ask God for margin in my time and to help me complete my “to do” list, He actually seems to listen and help me. (Try it!)
Prioritize your life.
It is important to have a life purpose. What do you value most? Without knowing this we find ourselves chasing after many things that have little value. Have you discovered why you are here and what God has most for you in life and in this season of life? If not, start here.
Make sure your priorities line up with your desires.
This sounds like a contradiction in terms, but it is not. Many times, we say our purpose is one thing, but what we actually do is something entirely different. This is often because people are going to do what people want to do. We may need to ask God to change our heart and plant in us His desires.
Stop unnecessary time-wasters.
If you “veg” out every night on three-plus hours of television or browsing Facebook, don’t be surprised you didn’t get to spend a lot of quality time with your children or friends. Most of us form bad habits or have unorganized methods of doing something that waste bulks of our time. Make a list of what you spend the most time doing and see if there are places you can cut. (I suspect there will be.)
Work smarter.
I can’t imagine being successful and leading a team without some system of calendaring your week or keeping a planner, yet I know so many pastors and other ministers who simply handle things as they come up rather than work with a plan. The benefit of organization is that you can do what you need to do more efficiently and faster and be more productive. Give a shoutout to the checklist people!
Schedule times to organize.
This is so important, but most people don’t do it. Spending an hour or two actually planning the week will make the whole week more productive. Usually for me this is the first part of my week. If I know where I’m headed and my work space is organized for efficiency, it’s much easier to get everything done and still handle distractions, which are sure to come.
Do the most necessary things first.
You may have tried the A/B/C list of scheduling priorities. It doesn’t matter what system you use, but the important thing is you have one and use it to help your rate of completion. (And, this may be rest, it might be family or it could be the project you have to complete today.)
Don’t say yes to everything.
Be picky with your time allotment based again on your end priorities and goals.
Schedule down time.
Especially when my boys were younger, I would write on my calendar time for them. This may sound mechanical, but it allows you to be there and keeps things and others from filling up your schedule. (I still schedule this time for Cheryl—and, it sounds counterproductive, but we get away even more frequently during busier seasons.)
Evaluate your schedule often.
Plans should not be implemented and then ignored. Develop your plan to create margin in your life, then periodically review the plan to see how you are doing and what needs to be changed.
For some people just reading this is laborsome. I especially encourage those of you geared this way to push through the difficult part of this and give it a try. You will be surprised what a positive difference it will have on your life.  

Ron Edmondson

Ron Edmondson is a pastor and church leader passionate about planting churches, helping established churches thrive, and assisting pastors and those in ministry think through leadership, strategy and life. Ron has over 20 years business experience, mostly as a self-employed business owner, and he's been helping churches grow vocationally for over 10 years.

Ron on ChurchLeaders   Ron's Website

How to Reach Millennial Moms With Technology

By Dale Hudson

“If you want to reach Millennial moms, then go where they are…technology and social media.”

Millennials (ages 18-34) are becoming moms…and technology is a big part of their lives. If you want to connect with them effectively, here’s some need-to-knows when it comes to millennial moms and technology.
Millennials moms are part of the first generation to grow up immersed in the Internet and social media. They are first-generation digital natives. Navigating the online world is as natural as breathing for them.
Recent research shows that when Millennial women become moms, instead of stepping back from technology, they increase their usage and make it an even more essential part of their lives.
Millennial moms engage with digital devices.  
• 95 percent own a smartphone.
• 81 percent prefer texting over talking.
• 90 percent use a tablet.
• 45 percent own an Internet TV device.
Millennial moms share their experiences on social media.
• 99 percent of Millennial moms use Facebook.
• 97 percent spend time on Pinterest.
• 89 percent use Instagram.
• 98 percent post pictures on social media of their experiences.
• 84 percent post videos.
 Millennial moms share advice on social media.
• 86 percent use social media to influence others.
• 72 percent use social media to give advice to others.
Millennial moms want to engage online with the brands and organizations they support. 
• They prefer firsthand recommendations.
• They expect personal conversations with brands and organizations they interact with. 84 percent enjoy when this happens.
• 92 percent tag brands in their social media posts.
Millennial moms look online for parenting advice.
• 77 percent believe the Internet has made them a better parent.
• 87 percent say the Internet allows them to quickly access parenting tips and advice.
• 90 percent say the Internet helps them find fun activities to do with their kids.
Millennial moms use social media to connect with other moms.
• 81 percent say they use it connect with moms going through similar experiences.
• 79 percent say it allows them to connect day and night with other moms.
What does this mean for children’s ministry?
• Social media is one of the best ways to connect with Millennial moms. Open accounts for your children’s ministry parents on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, etc.
• Text messages are a great way to reach Millennial moms. Not only do 95 percent of them have a smartphone, but 98 percent of text messages get read as well.
• Provide photo opps at church where Millennial moms can use their smartphones to take pictures with their kids. You can be sure the moms will post them online. Remember…98 percent of them post pictures on social media of their experiences. What a great way to spread the word about your ministry.
• Use social media to promote upcoming events, series and programs. Ask Millennial moms to help share the posts.
• Create an online parenting forum and share articles about parenting on social media. Millennial moms are looking for parenting advice.
• Post your take home papers on social media. This is a great way to provide them with a tool to talk about the lesson during the week.
• Post activities that parents can do with their children that tie into the lesson. Millennial moms are looking for activities to do with their children and it will give them another tool to go back over the lesson you taught.
• Use your phone to create short online videos to post online. Some ideas are to provide updates, a re-cap of the lesson, parenting tips, short devotionals for kids and parents to do together and more. Millennial moms like video communication. They constantly watch video clips on social media platforms.
• Provide social media posts about the ministry that moms can share online and use to invite their friends to church. Remember 86 percent of them want to use social media to influence others. This gives them an opportunity to influence their friends for Christ.
If you want to reach Millennial moms, then go where they are…technology and social media.
Your turn. What are some other ideas for reaching Millennial moms through technology?  
This article originally appeared here.

Dale Hudson

Dale Hudson has served in children and family ministry for over 26 years. He is the Director of Children’s Ministries at Christ Fellowship Church in South Florida. He has been named one of the Top 20 Influencers in Children’s Ministry. He is the co-author of six ministry books, including If Disney Ran Your Children’s Ministry.

Dale on ChurchLeaders   Dale's Website

9 Things You Should Know About Islamic State

By Joe Carter

“Here are nine things you should know about this Islamic terrorist group.”

Islamic State claimed responsibility today for a series of attacks in Paris yesterday that killed 127 people. In a statement the group said the purpose of the killings was, “To teach France, and all nations following its path, that they will remain at the top of Islamic State’s list of targets, and that the smell of death won’t leave their noses as long as they partake in their crusader campaign.”
Here are nine things you should know about this Islamic terrorist group.
1. Islamic State is the current name of an Islamic militant group that was established in Iraq in 2004 and pledged allegiance to “Al-Qaeda in Iraq.” They later broke away from Al-Qaeda because of differences in doctrine and objectives and formed a distinct organization. From late 2006 to mid 2013, the group called itself the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). From 2013 to mid 2014, when they expanded into Syria, they called themselves the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). (Most Western media translate “Levant” as “Syria,” hence ISIS.) Since 2014, they have expanded their ambitions to be a global organization and today simply refer to themselves as “Islamic State.”
2. The stated long-term goal of Islamic State is to establish a “caliphate” to rule over the entire Muslim world, under a single leader and in line with Sharia (Islamic law). A caliphate is a form of Islamic government led by a caliph, a person considered a political and religious successor to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad.
3. The religious-political ideology of Islamic State is Salafi-jihadism (sometimes referred to simply as “jihadism”), a distinct strand of militant Sunni Islamism. Salafi-jihadist groups like Islamic State emphasize the importance of returning to a “pure” Islam, that of the Salaf, the pious ancestors. Such groups also maintain that violent jihad is a personal religious duty of all Muslim believers. Former Islamic State leader Abu ‘Umar al-Baghdadi once emphasized the importance of “offensive jihad,” which he defined as “going after the apostate unbelievers by attacking [them] in their home territory, in order to make God’s word most high and until there is no persecution.” (Under their doctrine, “persecution” is understood to mean idolatry.)
4. The most prominent elements of Islamic State’s religious-political doctrine require that: all Muslims must associate exclusively with fellow “true” Muslims and dissociate from anyone not fitting this narrow definition; failure to rule in accordance with God’s law constitutes unbelief; fighting the Islamic State is tantamount to apostasy; all Shi‘a Muslims are apostates deserving of death; and the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas are traitors against Islam because they compromise with the non-caliphate political process (e.g., democracy).
5. The focus on personal jihad makes Salafi-jihadist groups like Islamic State considerably different than most terrorist groups throughout history. For example, in the 1970s most Marxist and pan-Arabic terrorist groups killed people or committed other acts of terrorism in order to bring attention to their cause. For Salafi-jihadists, though, killing large number of “apostates” is itself a worthy religious objective.

6. Islamic State enshrines a theology of rape that justifies the practice of sexual slavery. Islamic State publishes a glossy propaganda magazine called Dabiq. In the October 2014 issue, IS included an article titled “The Revival Of Slavery Before The Hour,” which explains the justification for sex slavery. In Islamic terminology the “hour” refers to the Day of Judgment, a time of reckoning either for an individual upon death or on mankind. According to the article, Islamic State asked its own sharia scholars to render a verdict on whether the Yazidis (a religious minority group in Iraq) could be enslaved. They determined that “enslavement of the apostate women” was not only justified by the Quran but was a sign prefiguring the Day of Judgment.
7. Islamic State condones the rape of young girls. Last fall the Research and Fatwa Department of the Islamic State (ISIS) released a pamphlet on the topic of female captives and slaves:
Question 13: Is it permissible to have intercourse with a female slave who has not reached puberty?
It is permissible to have intercourse with the female slave who hasn’t reached puberty if she is fit for intercourse; however if she is not fit for intercourse, then it is enough to enjoy her without intercourse.
8. Islamic State’s theology of rape also serves as a recruiting tool. As the New York Times has noted, the practice of slavery has become an established recruiting tool to lure men from deeply conservative Muslim societies, where casual sex is taboo and dating is forbidden. Capturing sex slaves has become nearly as important for Islamic State’s objectives as capturing territory.
9. The Islamic State has ordered that all able Muslims around the world must emigrate to the territory under its control. As the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, stated in an audio address in 2014: “O Muslims in all places. Whoso is able to emigrate to the Islamic State, let him emigrate. For emigration to the Abode of Islam is obligatory.”  

Muslims Converting to Christianity at Rapid Rate, Despite Continued Persecution

Carrie Kintz

Amidst the backdrop of terrorist attacks and intense persecution, the church in Bangladesh is seeing an increase of Muslims converting to Christianity.

Near the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus upends His listeners with the kind of people who are blessed, the kind of people who make up the radical Kingdom of God. And as He closes those opening verses, He tells his listeners that something will come for them. That there will be those who will hate the message they’ve been tasked to preach. And He calls them blessed.
Jesus says:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:10-12

As we fast forward a little more than 2,000 years and survey the world, we see that our brothers and sisters who are in the Middle East, Asia and Africa are becoming the most rapidly persecuted people group in the world because of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
One place where persecution is especially intense is in the southeast Asian country of Bangladesh. As a primarily Muslim country, persecution has been on the rise against Christians over the last few years. Yet, in the face of this persecution, in the desperate times of separation from families, the church is seeing unparalleled growth. While conversion is considered apostasy in Islam, more than 90,000 Muslims have come to know Jesus in the last six years in Bangladesh. The population of Bangladesh is around 165 million and it is estimated that there are now more than 1.6 million Christians in the country.
However, since November 2015, pastors in Bangladesh have seen an increase in death threats and persecution from ISIS. Earlier this month, the world watched in horror as more than 30 men and women were taken hostage by ISIS soldiers in a Dhaka restaurant. Twenty of the hostages were killed, reportedly sorted by nationality. Repeatedly, hostages were told by their captors that they would not kill nationals, only foreigners. In the end, the police totaled nine Italians, seven Japanese, two Bangladeshis, one American and one Indian killed. Two police officers were also killed.
Against this violent backdrop, the number of Christian converts rises, and with it, persecution. Many Christians are forced to practice their faith and meet underground for fear of reprisals. And now with ISIS expanding its reign of terror beyond the Middle East once again, Christians face unparalleled attacks.
But their faith does not waver.
Pastor Faruk al-Ahmed, who converted from Islam to Christianity in the mid-’90s, told the British news outlet Express that when he started his ministry, there was only one traditional Christian family in his community of Kurigram. “Now almost 1,500 believers from Muslim backgrounds are glorifying God in this area. Persecution will come more but the believers and I are ready to face it.”
As persecution of the Christian church continues to grow around the world, we must continue to intercede for our brothers and sisters. Especially those who are new to the faith and are almost immediately seeing their faith tested by intense persecution and tribulation. We must look for ways to support them and encourage them as they are on the very front line of preaching the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth.
May we pray for them what Paul reminded Timothy of in 2 Timothy 2:

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 2 Timothy 2:8-10

Carrie Kintz

Carrie Kintz is a freelance writer and communication strategist. She works with ministries and individuals across the country, helping them figure out what to say and how to say it in the digital space. Carrie has also spoken at conferences such as the Best of Social Media Summit and That Church Conference. When she's not writing (or tweeting), she enjoys hiking, time with friends and a good cup of coffee

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