Muslim Peoples
Meeting 1
Fast Facts
- One in four people in the world identifies as Muslim. One in three identifies as Christian.
- More Muslims are coming to Christ now than at any other time in history.
- Muslims reside in the following regions:
- East Asia: There are twenty-five million Muslims in China. The largest mosque in Asia is in China.
- Pacific Asia: There are almost three hundred million Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia.
- South Asia: There are fifty-million Muslims in India.
- Central Asia--the Stans (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan)
- North Africa and the Middle East (the Arab world)
- Sub-Sahara Africa (tribal Muslims)
Study
Read Acts 16:11–15. It is part one of a two-part study on this passage.
- Read verses 11–12. Paul often traveled to major cities to do ministry.
Why are global urban centers strategic locations to bring the gospel to unreached Muslims? Come up with some answers, then read the thoughts at the end of this study.
Additional resources:
- Watch Why Cities Matter (2:40)
- Watch Multiply New York (5:22)
Watch
Watch at least one of the videos below and share what stood out to you.
- More in Morocco (1:36)
- Kamal Saleem (8:11)
- Muslim discovers True Peace and Identity (6:34)
- Muslim Risks Breaking the Law to Access the Gospel (5:52)
- Nasser's Story (5:42)
- Amani's Story (22:11). Longer but powerful.
Discuss
All excerpts are from Samuel Zwemer: The Burden of Arabia by Janet Benge
- “God asks us to give up the good for the best” (location 285).
What good is God asking us to give up?
What best is God inviting us to embrace? - "John Wesley once said, 'Give me a hundred men who fear nothing but God, hate nothing but sin, and are determined to know nothing among men but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and I will set the world on fire with them.'" (locations 290–92)
Can you relate to any part of this challenging quote? Explain.
- “When Sam heard him sing [the song] for the first time, it brought tears to his eyes." (location 421)Summarize the meaning of the song.
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"There’s a land long since neglected.
There is a people still rejected, but of truth and grace elected, In His love for them. Softer than their night winds fleeting, richer than their starry tenting, stronger than their sands protecting, Is His love for them” |
Learn
View
If you have not done so, view PODs. A wider overview of the resource you're presently going through.
Pray
Reflect on what you have learned in this meeting, and let it guide your prayer as you pray together as a group
Answers from above.
First, people are migrating toward cities in numbers never seen in human history. To give you an idea of the scale, consider these facts. At the beginning of this century, there was only one city numbering over twenty-million (called a Metacity). That was Tokyo. By 2050 there will be twenty-three! The largest will be Lagos, Nigeria, topping out at sixty-four million! Tokyo will have fallen to number ten on the list. Six of the top eight will be in Asia.
And then, there's this startling fact: "The total number of urbanites in 2050 will exceed the total world population in 2008." Yes, you read that right. Demographic expert Roger S. Greenway states, "As cities go, the world goes...the movement of more than a billion people to the cities over the last two decades is the largest population movement in history." If you want to go where people are, go to the cities.
Second, urban dwellers are free to discuss personal and spiritual matters that would otherwise remain a taboo if they were still ensconced in their home communities or tightly controlled family units. Gospel discussions become free game in the urban setting.
Third, urban centers are where the world gathers. It is common to interact with people from several countries in a relatively small geographic area. It presents the opportunity for the gospel to head out from urban centers in 360 degrees to the rest of the world. They are the center of the hub. This is not true for rural settings.
Finally, there is the disillusionment as migrants discover that the urban setting isn't all they hoped it would be. Unemployment, crime, loneliness, the hopelessness abound. They feel stranded, and experience cross-cultural stress. All this contributes to an openness towards the hope, joy, peace, power, and purpose of the gospel.
And then, there's this startling fact: "The total number of urbanites in 2050 will exceed the total world population in 2008." Yes, you read that right. Demographic expert Roger S. Greenway states, "As cities go, the world goes...the movement of more than a billion people to the cities over the last two decades is the largest population movement in history." If you want to go where people are, go to the cities.
Second, urban dwellers are free to discuss personal and spiritual matters that would otherwise remain a taboo if they were still ensconced in their home communities or tightly controlled family units. Gospel discussions become free game in the urban setting.
Third, urban centers are where the world gathers. It is common to interact with people from several countries in a relatively small geographic area. It presents the opportunity for the gospel to head out from urban centers in 360 degrees to the rest of the world. They are the center of the hub. This is not true for rural settings.
Finally, there is the disillusionment as migrants discover that the urban setting isn't all they hoped it would be. Unemployment, crime, loneliness, the hopelessness abound. They feel stranded, and experience cross-cultural stress. All this contributes to an openness towards the hope, joy, peace, power, and purpose of the gospel.