Prohibited questions brought 556 Arab youth to Jesus
November 11, 2016
Have faith and never give up!
December 24, 2016
As a rising number of Arabs are losing their faith in religion following the failed Arab Spring, some have their belief in a God restored as they encounter the good news of Jesus Christ.The Middle East and North Africa has a suprisingly number of atheists and agnostics, according to a 2012 Pew Research survey.
In fact, the same survey discovered that only 3 out of 10 Muslims in the MENA region report that they adhere strictly to the teachings of the Koran and the Hadith. The study interviewed 38 000 Muslims across the globe. The survey even stated that “Muslims broadly support the idea of religious freedom.”
In the wake of increasing religious extremism and political abuse of power in the name of religion, a rising number of people are losing their faith across the MENA region. Even though the majority of the new atheists keep their conviction hidden, it is a movement that is getting attention.
Here is the view of one Saudi commentator on atheism in the Arab world
But Miracle Connect, formerly known as Miracle Channel, has discovered something interesting. As the channel’s broadcasts reach 22 Arab countries 24 hours a day, they hear from a broad specter of viewers. Among the viewers who reveal that they have lost faith in their religion, there is often also a grief over losing something as fundamental as their trust in God.
When they hear the biblically based answers to the questions that made them leave their religion, they embrace the gospel and become followers of Jesus.
-The challenge we are now experiencing is not only responding to Muslims who contact us, but also atheists. They ask us to prove God’s existence, a question that was unthinkable in the Arab world a very short time ago, says Miracle Connect’s follow-up office.
As a response to this need, a television series called “Between faith and atheism” has been produced and is now airing. The program takes aim at viewers who doubt God’s existence and have unanswered questions.
The first season dealt with topics such as the meaning of atheism, God’s existence and what the different religions and philosophies believe.
The second season takes it further and deals with questions such as «who is God?», How can we be sure that there is a God»?, «Why is there only one God?», «What is the name and character of God?», «What did God do before he created the world?, and perhaps most important of all, «can I have a relationship with God outside the religious framework?”.
-We are pleased to note that this TV-series hits the mark and make viewers respond. We have viewers who become followers of Jesus and enter our discipleship programs, says the follow-up office.
The follow-up office is pleased with the resources this program provides, even for other churches and ministries to use.
-Answering these kind of questions can be hard, and sometimes very challenging. It is important to remember that in the Arab world, media outlets and TV-channel’s like Miracle Connect are for many their only source of information about the gospel.
Watch live streaming of Miracle Connect here
*photo: flickr/creativecommons
