It is a joy to attend Boyce College, where I am learning how to apply the truth of God’s Word to my life and being equipped to go out into the world to share the good news of the Gospel to the lost. It is another blessing to have the Jenkins Center on campus, which provides more opportunities for Boyce and Southern students to learn how to share the Gospel with Muslims in Louisville and throughout the world. On Friday, September 29, the Jenkins Center hosted an event specifically for Boyce students to equip and encourage them to share the Gospel with their Muslim neighbors. I was thrilled to be a part of this event, and many students who attended have said that it was helpful and motivated them to want to serve Muslims.
As all Jenkins Center events do, we started with a delicious meal of Mediterranean cuisine. During the meal, students got to talk with each other about their previous experiences (if any) with evangelizing to Muslims, and why they decided to attend the event. Some students came because they are interested in becoming missionaries someday, while others came because they want to know how to meet and share their faith with Muslims in Louisville. While we shared this meal and talked with each other, we enjoyed sweet fellowship centered on our desire to share the Gospel with those who are from the Muslim faith.
After the meal, there was a question-and-answer panel led by Dr. Ayman Ibrahim. Those on the panel shared why they want to share the Gospel with Muslims, where they have served in Louisville and in the Middle East, and how God has worked in them to provide a heart for Muslims. Ibrahim helpfully pointed out that in our ministry work for God, the result and fruit is never attributed to our ability or winsomeness. Rather, it is God who opens our hearts to serve, he provides the courage, and he does the work. It was wonderful to hear how God has worked in each of the panel members to reach Muslims. This encouraged Boyce students to see that God could use them to share the Gospel with Muslims and that they should be open to let him use them.
During the third part of the event, Dr. Ibrahim gave a brief overview of his book, Reaching Your Muslim Neighbor with the Gospel, as well as testimonies about conversations with Muslims. He used the key points in his book to show how Boyce students can begin to reach out to Muslims around them in Louisville. He shared powerful testimonies of how he and his wife have made Muslim friends, and how God has used his Word to open the hearts of Muslims to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. During his presentation, Ibrahim communicated an enthusiasm and practicality for reaching Muslims for Christ. Jesus is the only way to salvation; thus, Muslims need to hear the Gospel. If we do not tell them, who will? An overarching theme in his presentation was that all evangelizing with Muslims should include prayer before, during, and after. We must invite God to do the work in us, in those we share the Gospel with, and after we have shared. He is the one who saves Muslims, and we receive the greatest privilege to be messengers of the Gospel to Muslims.
At the end of the night, Mrs. Ibrahim led the attendees through a guided prayer for themselves and for Muslims. This was a powerful time of bringing all that we had learned before God and asking him to compel and enable us to share the Gospel with Muslims. Then all the students were challenged to practice what they had learned by evangelizing the following day. They went out in groups of two to share the Gospel with those they met at the mall and the Big Four Bridge. The people that they shared with were prayed for, and Lord willing, they will desire to know more about Jesus because of their conversations.
This event was a great encouragement for other students and myself. Students that attended have reflected on this event and shared the impact it had on their lives. They were glad that they spent their time at the Jenkins Center event, instead of doing other things. They were encouraged that God can help them share the Gospel with Muslims and in the end, God will save the ones that He has called. I am very thankful that this event was put on. I look forward to more Jenkins Center events so that more Boyce and Southern students will share the Gospel with their Muslim neighbors. I pray that these neighbors will come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.