This just in

Had a great meeting this morning with a young man who wants to make documentaries about the Muslim world to stir up interest, understanding, and new workers. Please pray for him as he sets out on this journey and for me as I seek to help him.

Thought you might enjoy the following story from a worker living in a country where Christ is barely known. Not only that, but the president just banned lip-synching there!

A friend just sent this story below to me. My org isn't all about getting Muslims to start calling themselves Christians--rather, we want Muslims to know and love Jesus without departing from their culture, so the gospel can spread like wildfire and their witness will not be discredited. Nevertheless, some Muslims feel differently, as the story below attests:

In this closed, Central Asian nation, all citizens are considered Muslim.It's the law. But when 13-year-old Joseph, the son of Firestone workers, wanted to set himself apart at his school by wearing a cross, his parentsencouraged his boldness. The simple cross soon had the other students talking.
Some even approached the boy incredulously:
"You're not a Christian, are you?"
"Yes, I really am," he replied.
The students couldn't believe it, saying over and over, "But you don't act like one. Are you sure you're a Christian?"
Joseph was stumped. What was so difficult about believing that? And what did they mean, he didn't act like one?
His father, Richard, knew.
"When you call yourself a Christian over there, they have a very different idea of what it means," he said.
To many people abroad, it brings to mind images of movie stars and singers who carelessly and casually call themselves Christians, some with big crosses hanging around their necks. Their lifestyles seldom back up their claims.

Joseph soon changed the wording to his friends: "I am a believer," he told them. And his actions backed it up. They believed him. One scorching day, Joseph's class went on a hike in the nearby mountains to cool off. Joseph and a friend soon found themselves far ahead of the others.

That's when Vladim turned and fired a series of questions before the class caught up. "Have you ever seen the movie, 'Left Behind'? IsJesus going to come again? What is the rapture -- what is this all about?" The young man seemed almost frantic and demanding. He was bursting withquestions and desperate for answers. Joseph was measured and sure in his response. "[My faith] is about believing in God," he started. "It means your sins are forgiven, so you go to heaven."
The boys talked for several minutes, Joseph answering each question from his young Muslim friend. "People who believe in Jesus have their sins forgiven?" Vladim asked. "I want to become a Christian." Joseph was startled. "You're Muslim," he told Vladim. "What will your parents think?" Vladim wasn't concerned. He just knew that he had heard the truth and wanted Christ. After talking more, he further declared, "Now I KNOW I want to become a Christian. I'm 200 percent sure!" The boys prayed together and Vladim became a believer that day on the mountaintop. He wasted no time in telling his parents that night. "Guess what! I became a Christian!" he told them. The words would have turned most Muslim families upside down, but Vladim's mother and father only listened. They didn't object.

Vladim also has been bold with his school friends, telling them, "I'm a believer! I became a Christian and you can too!" He, too, now wears a cross to school and consistently shares his faith, according to a teacher who is a secret believer. And God has begun working at his home, too. While his father wants nothing to do with Christ, Vladim's mother is asking questions and reading the Bible.