A YWAM Frontier Missions trainer from South Asia was living in an Islamic community. She had put their son in a school run by a Muslim lady. Every day she did prayer walks in that area of their city, asking God to work among the unreached people groups there. As she walked, she saw so many nursery schools and kindergartens that were run by Muslims. She prayed that God would one day bring a Christian kindergarten to that area.
A trainee God had chosen
“Some years later, we … decided to train people through a Neighbours Extension Course. On the first day, we excitedly met the different students. When one lady introduced herself, she mentioned that she was the principal of a Kindergarten. It was located in the very area I had done prayer walks! There were about 75 children in the school.
“As she took part in the training, she embraced the vision of reaching the Muslims around her. She began to plan what she would do to share Christ with those she met every day in her normal work.
A holiday idea
“As Christmas time approached, this lady shared an idea. The holiday was an opportunity to share more with the children and their families. She wanted to run a Vacation Bible School type of programme for them, though we would not call it that.
“It would be best to involve the staff of the school in the programme, we decided. To do this, we first ran training for the staff. We shared the stories which would be shared in the programme with the kids. We had decided to emphasise the story of Jesus’ birth and some stories of His power to heal and do miracles. This would help them understand that there was great authority and power when we prayed in the name of Jesus. He responds with love and action when we call on His name.
“We decided to demonstrate for them how to pray in a way that was adapted to Muslim culture. As we were training the staff, there was a man who was sick that we prayed for in this way. He was healed! This went a long way in building the faith of everyone involved.
Something of great importance
“The programme began. For several days we worked together to teach the children and their families about Jesus. The staff prepared a drama together with the kids that told the story of His miraculous birth. On the day the drama was performed, the parents and guardians of the kids came to watch. The room packed out with about 150-200 people.
“We had then asked one brother to share a bit more about Jesus’ birth. He told how the angel appeared and announced His birth to the shepherds. We were a little nervous about how the crowd would respond. But when they heard this, we were surprised to see that the audience burst into loud clapping. They understood that something of great significance had taken place.
“For most of these children and their parents, this was the first time they had ever heard about the life and love of Jesus. It is a beginning and we are continuing to follow up. We hope to start a Discovery Bible Study (DBS) with the staff who participated in the programme with such open hearts. We believe one day many of them will choose to follow the way of Jesus.”
(Article has been shortened)
Source: YWAM Frontier Missions
