Europe (MNN) — 40 years ago in England there were only a few thousand Muslims. Now, there are 2 million. Mosques have increased in number from a few dozen to more than 2,000. That’s the story in England, Germany, Italy, Spain and France.
Greater Europe Mission’s Roy Nagelkirk, speaking from France, says as Muslim communities grow, “It puts pressure on those living those living in those communities, and there are reports of up to 50,000 French who have converted to Islam, but the question is how many of those simply live in such heavily Muslim communities it’s just easier to get along that way.”
However, Nagelkirk says there’s another side to the story. “There are people very disappointed with Islam who want to understand God in a different way, who believe God is there and it’s a matter of how to get to them.”
Jack Shiflet with the Association of Baptist for World Evangelism says there is something happening under the media radar. “There (are) more Muslims coming to Christ today than any time in the history of Islam.”
Shiflet says while five-percent of Muslims fall into the ‘radical’ category and receive all the media coverage, 50 percent of the Muslim population are considered moderate. “Those we feel like are a wonderful opportunity to share Christ — with the average Christian sharing Christ with the average Muslim,” he says.
While the media covers the bombings, effigy burnings and other radical Muslim violence, Shiflet says it’s having another affect on moderate Muslims. “When they see tragedy going on, or bombs going off because of protests for cartoons and what have you, God is working,” he says. “He’s teaching the Muslim people that Islam is not what they thought it was.”
However, Shiflet says while the evangelical church among former Muslims is small, he’s praying for a miracle. “I dream about the Muslims coming to Christ in Europe and provoking Europeans much the same way that (the Apostle) Paul was hoping that Gentile faith would provoke the Jews.”
In the meantime, funding and personnel for Muslim outreach is desperate. Shiflet adds, “We’re trying to train Europeans so that they would have the knowledge of how to effectively relate to their Muslim neighbors and co-workers with the Gospel and give them effective tools so they’ll know how to talk with Muslims in a way that Muslims can understand.”
