There is a certain honesty in the title I Believe. Help My Unbelief! that immediately signals both the ambition and the vulnerability of Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen’s book. Borrowed from the anguished prayer of the father in Mark 9:24, the phrase functions not merely as a rhetorical hook but as a hermeneutical key for the entire project. What follows is neither a defensive apologetic nor a diluted catechism. Instead, Kärkkäinen offers a theologically confident yet dialogically open exposition of Christian doctrine for readers who inhabit a world shaped by religious plurality, scientific rationality, and pervasive secular suspicion.

Kärkkäinen is uniquely positioned to undertake such a task. A long-standing professor of systematic theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, he is widely known for his five-volume Constructive Christian Theology for the Pluralistic World, a massive academic achievement that few theologians would dare to condense. This book is precisely that condensation, though “simplification” would be the wrong word. What is offered here is rather a careful transposition: the intellectual architecture of a major constructive project rendered in a register accessible to pastors, students, and reflective believers without forfeiting conceptual rigor.

The introduction sets the tone by refusing the false dichotomy between faith and knowledge. Kärkkäinen rejects both naïve fideism and scientistic dismissal, proposing instead a chastened epistemology influenced by Michael Polanyi’s notion of tacit knowledge. Belief, he argues, is neither blind assent nor empirical certainty but a reasoned trust that remains open to testing, critique, and growth. This epistemic humility becomes a recurring virtue throughout the book and helps explain its unusual generosity toward secular interlocutors and other religious traditions alike.

Chapter 1, on revelation, is among the strongest in the volume. Kärkkäinen navigates the post-Enlightenment crisis of authority by articulating revelation as trinitarian, incarnational, and historically mediated. His treatment of Scripture as “God’s Word in human words” avoids both fundamentalist inerrancy and reductionist liberalism, framing inspiration instead as divine–human synergy. Particularly noteworthy is the comparative engagement with Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, and Buddhist accounts of revelation. Revelation here is not domesticated; it remains scandalous, yet intelligible.

Chapter 2 turns to the doctrine of God, where Kärkkäinen’s ecumenical breadth and conceptual discipline are on full display. Rather than beginning with abstract metaphysical attributes, he situates Christian talk of God within the lived realities of religious plurality and philosophical contestation. Classical trinitarian theology is presented not as an inherited formula in need of defense, but as Christianity’s most daring and constructive proposal about ultimate reality: that God’s being is irreducibly relational, communicative, and self-giving.

What gives this chapter its distinctive force is the sustained comparative engagement. Jewish covenantal monotheism, Islamic tawḥīd, and Buddhist non-theism are treated not as foils but as serious theological interlocutors. Kärkkäinen responds to Islamic critiques of the Trinity not defensively but by clarifying how, in Christian theology, relationality does not dilute divine unity but intensifies it. Likewise, his engagement with Buddhist critiques of personal theism exposes how deeply Christian claims about God are bound to incarnation, history, and relational love rather than metaphysical abstraction.

In Chapter 3, creation is explored in sustained conversation with the natural sciences. Kärkkäinen affirms evolutionary accounts without surrendering theological claims about divine purpose, goodness, and providence. Creation is not treated as a closed past event but as an ongoing, Spirit-sustained reality. The chapter’s refusal to pit faith against science gives it particular resonance for readers formed by contemporary cosmology.

Chapter 4 addresses theological anthropology, asking what it means to be human in light of evolutionary biology, cognitive science, and cultural diversity. Kärkkäinen’s insistence on the imago Dei as relational and dynamic allows him to integrate scientific insights while retaining moral and theological depth. His engagement with Buddhist and Hindu views of the self is especially illuminating, clarifying both points of convergence and irreducible difference.

Christology, the focus of Chapter 5, is treated with careful balance. Kärkkäinen affirms classical Chalcedonian orthodoxy while exploring how Christ can be meaningfully confessed in religiously plural contexts. He resists both relativism and triumphalism, presenting Christ as uniquely revelatory and salvific without reducing other religious figures to mere negations. The chapter models a Christology confident enough to listen and humble enough to learn.

Chapter 6 deepens this trajectory by interpreting reconciliation through a plurality of atonement motifs rather than a single controlling theory. This integrative approach reflects both biblical diversity and pastoral sensitivity, particularly in a global context marked by violence, injustice, and historical trauma.

The doctrine of the Holy Spirit, explored in Chapter 7, bears the marks of Kärkkäinen’s Pentecostal formation without becoming sectarian. The Spirit is presented as active not only in the church but in creation, culture, and beyond ecclesial boundaries. This expansive pneumatology reinforces the book’s overarching vision of a God who remains dynamically engaged with the world.

Chapter 8 addresses salvation with notable restraint. Kärkkäinen maps the theological options regarding exclusivity, inclusivity, and hope without forcing premature resolution. Salvation remains decisively grounded in Christ, yet its ultimate scope is entrusted to divine mercy rather than theological anxiety.

Ecclesiology, the subject of Chapter 9, is framed in explicitly public and pneumatological terms and speaks with particular force to ongoing conversations in Pentecostal public theology. The church is not imagined as a protected enclave nor as a moral lobby, but as a Spirit-constituted communion whose very existence is itself a form of public witness. Kärkkäinen resists both withdrawal and domination, articulating instead a vision of the church as porous yet identifiable, hospitable yet disciplined — a communio sanctorum sent into the world without being absorbed by it. Particularly significant is his engagement with secularism and post-secularity, where the church is called neither to nostalgia for Christendom nor to anxious relevance-seeking, but to patient, Spirit-led presence. For Pentecostal readers attentive to the public implications of ecclesiology, this chapter offers a compelling reminder that charismatic vitality and communal formation belong together.

The brief epilogue returns to the book’s governing prayer. Faith, Kärkkäinen reminds us, is always accompanied by questions, and theology at its best does not silence them but teaches believers how to live with them faithfully.

In an age marked by polarized certainties and shallow dismissals, Kärkkäinen offers something quieter and more demanding: a theology that believes deeply, listens carefully, and hopes patiently — refusing to confuse faith with the absence of questions. That may be this book’s most timely gift.

Reviewed by Ciprian Gheorghe-Luca

Publisher’s page: https://wipfandstock.com/9781725276673/i-believe-help-my-unbelief/

In a fundamentalist Muslim city known for its high number of honor killings, you can never take too many precautions.

Women in drab colored hijabs quickly entered from a side door.

War wasn’t on the way. Neither was a suspected terrorist attack. Just a women’s weekly Bible study for former Muslims.

“I watched intently as one by one the women trickled in, gleefully greeting each other with enthusiastic hugs and cheek kisses. When they settled into their chairs Miriam, the leader asked them to introduce themselves to the smiling, eager Americans. When my turn came, I asked them if they felt comfortable removing their hijabs. We tried not to allow our jaws to drop as we saw their beauty unveiled before our eyes, their smiles widening as they were fully seen for who they were.”

JoAnn recounts, “I asked them if we could hear their stories, for I knew each one had endured more than we could ever imagine. I listened to more firsthand accounts of Jesus’ miracles in one place than I’ve ever heard in my life! Jamilla went first, Miriam translating for us.”

The Death Sentence

Jamilla’s Story

My fate was announced. It was too late. I was set to die and there was nothing I could do about it. Even if I could move… it was no use.

My life was over, and I was going to depart this world from Deir ez-Zor, Syria like so many others in this miserable war.

It wasn’t the Islamic State that read my death sentence.

It was Dr. Basil Hussein, one of the most respected neurologists in Syria who told my family the inevitable.

“I’m sorry to tell the Darwish family this news… But a blood vessel ruptured and Jamilla had a massive stroke. If she only could’ve had her blood pressure medicine. I know medical supplies and prescriptions are scarce and too expensive for most people. But this was preventable. Maybe today it is not in preventable in Deir ez-Zor. I’m sad to say.

“Jamilla is paralyzed on her right side and I just don’t see how she can come out of this coma… Her vitals are very erratic. My best guess is she probably has a day or two.

“Unless Allah intervenes, that is, … I apologize for saying this, it is time to plan her funeral.”

This excerpt is from Tom and JoAnn Doyle with Greg Webster, Women Who Risk: Secret Agents For Jesus In The Muslim World (W Publishing Group, 2021).

But I heard Dr. Basil’s words clearly.

My mother and sisters who were there at my bedside burst into tears.

I was unable to talk, unable to move. In my mind, I cried at my hopeless, helpless, situation.

I was alone. So alone.

But then I was not.

Suddenly, I was not alone, the room dazzled in brightness.

He came to me and stood at the foot of my bed. He smiled and called my name.

“Jamilla, I am here with you.”

I could not imagine this in my wildest dreams, but Jesus was in my room. Even though I was a practicing Muslim I knew who Jesus was. He’s spoken about in the Koran. I’d also heard how Jesus was appearing to people in the Syrian War. I heard stories.

I remember thinking one day when life was so hard in my country, that I wished Jesus would come visit me. There was so much hate all around me. But Jesus was about love, so I had heard. Did we ever need some of that in Syria!

“Jamila, I know your longing for Me to visit you. I have heard your cries. Here I am!

“I’ve come to heal you for My glory.”

Was this really happening or was it the medication, or a just a crazy dream?

Jesus then touched me on my hand, my paralyzed hand, as heat instantly radiated through my body.

“Dr. Basil! Jamilla’s hand just moved! Did you see it?”

I could hear my mother yell and jump out of the chair she was in right next to my bed at the same time.

Dr. Basil came to stand over me with my family, looking for signs of movement. He was skeptical.

“I didn’t see her move. Are you sure Mrs. Darwish? I don’t think so.”

I could hear machines being checked for readings. Dr. Basil was in the middle of telling my family that the vitals were not showing anything that indicated any improvement, when I felt like reaching out to Jesus.

My right hand lifted up high in worship and Jesus smiled lovingly at me.

There were screams in the room and the thud on the floor as my mother passed out cold!

“Is she trying to grab someone’s hand?”  Dr. Basil yelled in the chaos.

I was! I so desperately wanted to touch Jesus. Like the woman with the issue of blood that touched the hem of His garment.

Jesus could have healed me instantly. He has the power to do that you know. But it’s possible that my family might’ve thought I just snapped out of the coma and Dr. Basil was just plain wrong on the paralysis diagnosis.

Over the next few days I was progressively healed. Each time it was because Jesus touched that area of my body.

My right leg was next. Jesus came in a vision in the morning and the paralysis was gone as soon as he touched my knee with just one finger.

The next day I had full range of motion with my neck and shoulders and my face functions worked except my eyes would not open and I still could not speak.

But then in the morning my eyes and my mouth opened while my whole family was there.

I looked straight up with my eyes staring towards the ceiling as Jesus began to depart the room.

The first words I heard my father say were Allah Akbar! Allah Akbar!

But my first words were “Jesus, Jesus, don’t leave me! I love you.”

Well I must say, that certainly quieted the room!

My family was shocked and not able to comprehend the words. They hung in the air.

Boom! Suddenly, we were interrupted by a massive explosion that shook Deir ez-Zor.

In my city, peace is short lived. Even after a great miracle like I experienced, reality set in.

Oil fields are in Deir ez-Zor on the ancient Euphrates River. In eastern Syria, there is no city that is more coveted by the international powers and people groups. Iran, Russia, and America are there. The large Conoco Oil facility is as well.

The Armenians were slaughtered in Deir ez-Zor in 1915 by the Turks to show that Islam “triumphed over Christianity.”

The Islamic State had a strong presence in my city also to prove that they were the new “champions of the Muslim faith.” Chaos, carnage, and confusion were normal in Deir ez-Zor.

After Jesus healed me, the war got worse and my family had to flee Syria. We could either go north to Turkey or south to Jordan.

The border in Northern Syria was too hard to get through with Turkey’s battle against the Kurds, so we went south.

The streets in Jerash, Jordan didn’t look much different from the streets in Deir ez-Zor. So many men were not working during the day. Refugees have nothing to do. But I had an assignment because I was on a mission.

I wanted to find Jesus. But how? Where could I go to ask questions about the man who healed me? Of course, I could not talk to anyone with my family present. They often talked about the healing in my life, but they gave the credit to Allah, not Jesus. I knew the truth.

One day in the outdoor market, I saw a woman who was wearing a cross necklace. In Deir ez-Zor, you could get killed for wearing one. But this was Jordan.

I started following her hoping I would have the courage to ask her a question. I had my chance as she was selecting cucumbers.

I must’ve startled her in my burqa by asking the question I blurted out.

“Jesus healed me of paralysis when I was in a coma. Do you know how I can find out more information about Him? I’m Muslim, so I think I have a lot to learn!

“Marhaba, my name is Jamilla, what’s your name?”

Though I startled Maria, she gathered her thoughts and responded with such kindness to my attention getting, awkward question.”

Did Jesus ever lead me to the right person! Maria was so warm and gracious, and we became good friends. Over tea the next couple of weeks I asked her every question I had about Jesus. Of course, I was convinced that Jesus had all power and was the Savior of the world, but I had to know what it would be like to become a believer in a radical Muslim family.

Maria told me that I was the one sent by God to reach my family.

After she said those words, I was ready. I gave my life to Jesus; it is the day I will never forget!

Maria was right! Over time, all of my family, including my father, came to faith in Christ. This is rare that a family who all practice fundamentalist Islam all became believers. I am privileged and blessed beyond all that I could’ve imagined. Jesus used the miracle of my healing to open the hearts of my family.

It was a long process, full of spiritual warfare, but all of them are in the family of God now. Can you imagine that? A Muslim family from Deir ez-Zor despite our sordid history, now loves Jesus!

But my family was there and saw the miracle of my healing. How could they deny it? And, how could they deny the transformation of my life? I used to be negative and caustic. Now I am filled with the love of God.

JoAnn: “After that incredible miracle, how could we go on? But there were more stories to hear. So, we worshipped Jesus, encouraged the group with reading special passages in Scripture, then all gathered around Jamilla and prayed for her. Lost in all of this is that she and her family are refugees in Jordan. After several years of Syrians streaming into the country, the refugees are now despised and rejected. But you would never know that by looking at Jamilla’s joy-filled face.”

“Heba, would you share your story?”

Running to the Light

Heba’s Story

It all started with my tenderhearted son.

“Mommy, why is that building glowing? Can we go in and see?”

My little Ali was just six years old and I didn’t want to answer his question. Go near a church?  No way!

The church was in the area we lived as refugees and on a main thoroughfare. I could not avoid going by it. Ali saw the bright light every single time we walked by the church. But I didn’t. He would say it was glowing from the inside, and so beautiful. He continually begged me to let him go inside to see it up close.

“Ali, we are Muslims, that building is a Christian church, we don’t ever go into a church. It’s haram! I would not be caught dead in a church. Don’t ask me again!” I thought what my husband Hassan would think if he knew I was even having this conversation with his little pride and joy.

Ali meant everything to his father. As a fervent Sunni Muslim, his dream was for Ali to become a respected imam. My husband was a fanatic Muslim. That’s why we had to flee Syria in the first place. He opposed the government and if we stayed, I would have surely been a widow.

At times, that didn’t seem like such a bad thing. My husband was incredibly harsh and cruel to me more often than not.

But my objections about visiting the church with the light coming out of it did not stop my dear, sweet little son. His begging went on for a least a month.

One day we walked down the street and Ali abruptly let go of my hand. He started running. I knew where he was going. I couldn’t catch him.

When I reached the front door of the church, the Christians were singing. I scanned the worshippers for Ali, but he had gone in, sat down, his tiny body blended in with the crowd. I couldn’t find him.

After a few minutes, I stopped looking as the words of the music washed over me and drew my heart like moths to a flame. The sound was something from heaven. That is the only way I can describe it. My feet rooted at the door, my mouth gapping in shock.

Finally, a woman came over and said: “Please join me!”

So, I did, and I sat there…

I just sat there…

After a few songs, I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder, it was Ali. What an ear to ear smile he had brightening his darling face. I hugged him and told him I was glad he ran into this place so filled with love.

I could’ve stayed all day. But after about 30 minutes a pastor stood up and opened the Bible. I certainly wasn’t ready to listen to that. With all I’d been told about the Bible being corrupted and changed, I hesitated and got scared.

I scooped Ali under my arm and told him it was time to go. I thanked the nice lady who invited me to sit next to her. She kissed me on both cheeks, then we dashed out the door.

The singing I experienced that day moved me in my heart. It did something to me, it gave me a longing to know God and love him like these Christians did. The words echoed over and over again in my mind:

Jesus, Name above all Names, Beautiful Savior, Glorious Lord. Emmanuel, God is with us, Blessed Redeemer, Living Word.

On the way home from the church, Ali said: “‘Um, I can’t wait to tell baba all about the singing! I have not seen you smile so much al’umu.”

This was exactly the reason I didn’t even want to peek into the building! If Ali even breathed a word of this to his father, I would pay a heavy price!

My mind was racing at the horror of what would happen to me and Ali if Hassan heard about our visit to the Jerash church.

“Ali, we’ll tell baba later. But for now, let’s keep it our special secret ok?”

The next Sunday night, I could not stop thinking about how much I wanted to be at the church. Living in Jerash was a real problem since the church was right next to a mosque. What if I were spotted?

Ali and I went for a walk and we barely got out of our of apartment and he asked about going to the church. I thought what if I just went in for a couple of minutes this time. It was dark outside and the two of us could sneak in and then go on to the market just down the block and Hassan would never know.

“‘Um, the light is so bright from the church tonight! You see it now, don’t you?”

Ali said loudly, right as we were walking by the mosque!

“Habibi, I do not see the light. I wish I did see what you see but maybe God has given you special eyes to see this… well… miracle. This must be supernatural!

“Ali, we’re going to slip in and out quietly, but you must keep our special secret. We can’t tell baba about this. Promise?”

“I promise ‘um! I don’t think baba is ready for a church visit. I think he might get angry.”

Ali’s response caught me off guard. Did he understand more than I thought he did?

He went on and explained.

“I heard baba talking about Christians and he said he hates them.  He was with some men and they were saying all the problems in the Middle East are because of Christians. Is that true ‘um? Because the people in the shiny building seemed nicer than the people in the mosque!

In the church nobody was cranky or angry. Did you notice that?”

“Oh, Ali I did notice that. They were all smiling, weren’t they? But we must be careful when talking about this. Shhh!!!”

I was sad that they weren’t singing when we walked in. But a man named Osama was speaking from the Isaiah book and the John book. I did not know that there were many books in the Christian Holy Scriptures. Within a few minutes, all the things I’d been told about the Bible faded away. The words that Osama spoke were like nothing I’d ever heard before. I felt my heart melt like honey, the expression on my face must have been noticeable to others around me.

JoAnn: “Heba was still telling her story when Pastor Osama actually walked into the room from his office and joined the conversation. I wondered if the women would quickly wind their hijabs around their heads, hiding themselves from this man. But they didn’t. Interestingly enough, they all smiled and welcomed Osama into the circle.”

Osama continued the telling of Heba’s story, reminiscing of the day several years before. “Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Heba enter the service. My wife raised her eyebrows and tilted her head toward the door when you walked in Heba. I got her signal! You were not hard to notice in your black abaya and tightly wound hijab. I immediately shifted from my sermon in the book of Revelation to a Gospel presentation. I sensed you and your son truly wanted to be there. I remember seeing you sit on the edge of your seat. Ali was looking right at me listening intently.”

He has come to bring good news to the poor. He has come to bind up the brokenhearted. He has come to set the captives free. He has come to comfort all who mourn. He has come to give you a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning. He has come to give you a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. He has come to set you free.

He has come to give you life! Come to Jesus and everything will change! You will start your life over and be born again…

“For 30 minutes I preached to you, Heba, and little Ali. Everyone else there were already believers. I can still see you shaking your head in agreement with everything I said. There was a sense of excitement in the auditorium because here among us sat this veiled woman who was obviously close to salvation. We could see on your face the Word of God was deeply touching you, drawing your heart to His.

“People often say that Muslims need to hear the Gospel several times before they are ready to receive Christ. How can we say that? For God’s Word is divinely powerful. It’s living, active and able to pierce the soul! Just the very Name of Jesus can unlock someone’s heart. I had been a Muslim myself, but the first time I heard the Bible preached, I knew it was the Truth. The Spirit of God convinced me.

“Then I closed the message.”

Let’s pray, but before we do; are there any of you who feel like you’re held captive as Isaiah described. Do you want to be set free? Jesus wants to forgive your sins. Settle all of this with Jesus tonight at the Cross. Who wants forgiveness and freedom?

“‘I do!’ Heba said audibly, shocked she spoke aloud.

“Then do you remember what happened next Heba?” Pastor Osama smiled as he recalled.

“Do I? I’ll never forget! First of all, I could not believe that I answered out loud. Did those words come out of my mouth?

“Then the quiet reflective moment was shattered by the loudspeaker and the Muslim call to prayer!”

“Did they have spies in the church tipping them off when the prayer of salvation started? This was not a coincidence. Tonight, the mussein was over the top loud! I started to get concerned. Had they discovered that two Muslims were in the church?”

“But that did not stop the Spirit of God.” Heba said with glee. “Nor my longing to receive Jesus! And I did that night.

Heba’s story continues

I knew my fundamentalist husband would eventually find out about my new life in Christ. I was convinced I could hide it from him. So, when the call to prayer came each day, I would get down and pray, but to Jesus not Allah. I am ashamed that I did this for at least a month.

One day at Bible Study, Miriam read us the verse from Paul that says: I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

I cried as my heart was pierced with shame. Was I afraid of my husband or was I ashamed of the gospel? Or both? For I wasn’t being truthful with Hassan. I was faking it like I was still Muslim. What would Jesus think? I let Him down! What about my son Ali? That was a terrible example.

The next time the call to prayer came I refused to bow down. Hassan yelled at me. But I stood strong in spite of the beatings. I recall the one time little Ali tried to defend me. That was a mistake never to be repeated, for Hassan turned his wrath on tiny Ali. I shudder when I think of how bruised and puffy his face was where his own father punched him. It’s by the grace of God his cheek and nose were not broken.

My sisters in Christ were a gift from God to me in those early days when the beatings came 5 times every day with each call to prayer. They consoled me when I would arrive with black and blue marks. We stood together because they were in difficult, life-threatening situations too. Hassan’s beatings continued, but no longer with every call of the muezzin.

Dalia is married to an imam and she survived. The threats and beatings she received were horrible. But she never lost her joy.

Rima’s own son took the house that belonged to her family and threw her out in the cold, yet she too remained faithful to Jesus, trusting Him to provide.

This was a test of my faith. Was Jesus going to protect me or not?

The bond we had as sisters in Jesus was stronger than anything, I had experienced. We prayed together, studied the Holy Scriptures, and shared our deepest fears and struggles with one another. We also held each other accountable to live as Christ Jesus and follow His teachings. James taught us to be women who are doers of the Word, not merely hearers of the Word. It is hard to live out your faith in Jesus Christ in a Muslim home, but not impossible in the strength of the Lord.

Some of my friends were able to hide their Bibles in their homes enabling them to read the precious Words of Life when the coast was clear of their abusive husbands or the watching eyes of their sons or other male relatives. But for a few of us, having a Bible in our possession was not an option. My home consisted of one room that served as both living room and sleeping room, with one of the walls making up our cooking area. There wasn’t a safe place to hide anything of value, especially a sacred and treasured possession, albeit a forbidden copy of the Bible.

This drove me to memorize as many passages and verses of the Bible as I possibly could. It was my mission. If I could not hide God’s Word in my home, I would hide it in my heart! What a gift it was, for I could carry it with me everywhere I went, sharing the truth of Jesus to anyone in need. It was if the Holy Spirit birthed in me a supernatural ability to memorize. I could easily remember whole chapters of the Bible without much effort. Memorizing the Word of God became more important to me than the food I ate. My second passion was teaching God’s word to Ali. He was like a sponge soaking up all he was learning of Jesus. He too could quote many Bible verses at appropriate times to encourage others. My greatest prayer is for Hassan to come to know Jesus as Savior.

Exhortations from JoAnn

Each of the women finished sharing their remarkable stories, all with passionate pleas for prayer.

There were huge requests with life and death consequences. Literally! The city they reside in is known for the vast number of honor killings preformed. The government turns a blind eye, seeing these brutal murders as a religious right. How could I, a believer from America, a free country, encourage these dear sisters in the faith? What could I say to renew their hope?

With my cheeks wet with tears, I told my sisters that I would never forget them, nor their life stories. I promised I would take them in my heart and share their journey’s in Christ with others, giving them a voice in places they would physically never visit. In so doing, countless followers of Jesus would join me in praying for them. The ripple effect of prayer would grow and expand until each one of their prayers were answered in astounding ways. For nothing is impossible with God.

In the meantime, I shared a verse the Lord used in my life to sustain me, time and again while waiting for His answers.

Micah 7:6-8 are beautiful verses full of hope God’s intends especially for you rest on.

“For a son dishonors his father, and a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law — a man’s enemies are the members of his own household. But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.”

Though coming to faith in Jesus is not dishonoring to your Muslim family members in God’s eyes, it feels as it is to them before they come to believe in Jesus as Savior. In turn, because of your new birthed faith, your family sees you as the enemy. Thus, you suffer much at their hands; abuse, verbally and physically, persecution, and possibly even death.

He hears every single prayer you pray!

Every time you cry out to Him, He’s listening.

Every. Single. Time!

What a beautiful promise from the Word of God.

The question is, how do we “watch” and “wait” for God to answer our prayers at the same time?

I call Micah 7:7 the rocking chair verse.

Picture yourself sitting in a rocking chair, rocking back and forth as you talk to the Father about the concerns of your heart. You rock forward, gazing right to left, asking yourself and the Lord, “Is this day of Your answer?” Watching for His divine provision. You don’t see the answer coming, so you rock back, waiting for His perfect timing, your hope firmly established on His promise that He hears you. You continue rocking forward and backward, hope continually renewed in His Presence, as you watch expectantly for His answer, then rest again in waiting while He works. One day, as you watch in hope, Jesus will fulfill the desire of your heart in ways that your mind cannot conceive. (1Cor 2:9) For His ways are higher. (Isaiah 55:8-9) His love intimate as He gives good gifts to His children. (Matt 7:11)

Two hours of scripture and stories flew by. Then we prayed. Did we ever pray! Heaven seemed closer and the presence of the Lord stunned us into silence, and then into praise. It was an hour of the intense prayer I will never recover from.

After long, tender hugs, there was only one thing left to do…

The hijabs went back on. The bolted door was opened. And the women of God walked outside into a fanatical fundamentalist Islamic city to spread the Good News of Jesus. A few of them looked back and smiled.

They had unshakeable faith in Christ. They had boldness. They had a slew of answered prayers. They had the Holy Spirit all over them. They had joy. They had each other.

And they were sent by Jesus on a mission that was extreme, unwavering, high risk … because every soul matters.

Takeaway from the Underground Women’s Prayer Meeting

So, what happens when women pray? Heaven and earth are moved in response!

The same thing happens when men pray – He answers our prayers. Matthew 7:7-11 promises us so.

Every. Single. Time!

Will you, dear reader, pause right now and pray for the women whose stories you’ve just read. He knows every one of their needs and desires. Will you join the chorus of prayer for your beloved sisters-in-Christ? Just think, you’ll meet all of them in heaven one day, and spend eternity together, where you can hear the rest of their stories.

PR

This excerpt is from Tom and JoAnn Doyle with Greg Webster, Women Who Risk: Secret Agents For Jesus In The Muslim World (W Publishing Group, 2021). “Hopeless─Then Jesus Arrived,” has been adapted for online publication. Used with permission.

Further Reading:

Reach the Unreached and Stand with the Persecuted: an Interview with Tom and JoAnn Doyle

John Lathrop reviews: Tom and JoAnn Doyle with Greg Webster, Women Who Risk: Secret Agents For Jesus In The Muslim World

Tom Doyle was a pastor. About twenty years ago he and his wife, JoAnn, felt a call to be missionaries to the Middle East. They are the founders of Uncharted Ministries (https://unchartedministries.com/). If you go to the website you will see that they have a burden to share the gospel with two groups of people that many feel are difficult to reach, the Jewish people and Muslims. Presenting Jesus to these groups can be especially challenging. The Doyles reach out to them wherever they can. Often this outreach takes place in countries that many western Christians would be afraid to go to. In Women Who Risk, the authors share the stories of women they have met in various countries in the Middle East. Tom has also written other books that deal with the experiences of believers in this part of the world (see pages xvii-xviii in Women Who Risk).

The book begins with a section called “An Unstoppable Force.” One topic addressed in its pages is Satan’s war on women; this has been going on since Genesis 3 (page xx). The authors go on to say that once women come to Jesus, they can become a force to be reckoned with. This is happening in the Muslim world, women are influencing others for Jesus (page xxii). The Doyles call women “the spiritual gatekeepers of their families” (page xix). The chapters that follow demonstrate their influence.

The main body of the book consists of seven chapters. In each chapter the reader is introduced to a Muslim woman somewhere in the Middle East. In some cases the reader will also meet those who helped them in their journey to Jesus. Due to security concerns the names of the Muslim women and some of the details of their stories story have been changed in order to protect them (page xix). When you read their stories you will understand why.

The accounts in this book are quite varied and have different outcomes. In chapter 1 a Muslim woman became a follower of Jesus after being set free from jinns, that is, demons (pages 1-4). She was tormented by them. This woman’s father was a sheikh and he trained imams, Muslim clerics (page 4). A Muslim coworker told her if she wanted help with her problem she should go to a church (page 3). She met a pastor and his wife, they prayed for her, and she was set free from the jinns and became a believer (pages 8-9). Her father died at about the same time and her new found faith earned her the wrath of her mother (pages 9-10, 18-19). However, through a divinely orchestrated series of events this young woman led her mother to the Lord (page 22). You need to read this story, it is truly amazing!

Not all of the stories have as happy an ending as the one I mentioned in the previous paragraph. In chapter 7 the reader will met a Muslim woman who became a believer after seeing Jesus in Mecca at the hajj, which is a major annual gathering for Muslims (pages 165-168). She shared her experience with a longtime friend and it started her friend’s journey toward Jesus. The Christian women encouraged her friend to pray to Jesus, this friend asked Jesus to appear to her in a dream that night, and He did (pages 171-174). The woman who was a believer took her friend to an underground church meeting (pages 176-179). As a result of her dream, the love of the people, and a Scripture passage that she read at the church meeting; her friend became a believer (pages 177-179). When the church met, outsiders were led to believe that the people were gathering to watch a soccer game (pages 175-176). The women enjoyed the meetings. In time the family of the woman who came to Christ first become suspicious that she had become a Christian (pages 183-184). One of her brothers followed her to a meeting of the underground church and joined her in the meeting (pages 184-185). Though the group did not pray or read the Bible while he was present he believed she had converted. The woman was pretty sure that her days were numbered. Because of this, she fled the country in order to escape becoming the victim of an honor killing. So she left her family behind. But she went on to minister to Muslims in another place in the world, the United States (page 191).

The book contains an epilogue which highlights some of the important lessons that can be gleaned from the book. These lessons are: Danger is Temporary, Pray for Miracles and Expect Them, and Prayer is for the Long Haul. The authors also offer some information for those who wish to be more involved in reaching Muslims.

There are some recurring themes in this book. You will find that prior to their conversions some of these women wanted to kill their husbands. When you read their stories you will understand why. They were humiliated. They were verbally and physically abused. Not all Muslims mistreat their wives (page xxi), but in this volume you will meet some who were ill-treated. You will also find the supernatural in this book. There are accounts of Jesus appearing, in dreams and in person, at least one case of divine healing, and there are stories of Jesus bringing food to people in times of need. One very important take away from this book is the resolve that the women have to be faithful to Jesus. They do this even though it is extremely dangerous to be a Christian in their countries. Their examples are truly inspiring. This book demonstrates clearly that God is moving powerfully today among Muslims.

Reviewed by John Lathrop

For a free chapter from Women Who Risk, complete the form available from the publisher: https://www.thomasnelson.com/p/women-who-risk/#freechapters

Panel during the Friday, August 25, 2017, public forum entitled, “Learning to Engage Our Muslim Neighbors.” From left to right: Michal Muelenberg, John Azumah, Richard Mouw, Marion Larson, Rick Love, and Cory Willson (facilitator).

Yet it has been rightly said that Christian responses to Islam and Muslims in the post-9/11 world represent “a struggle for the soul of the Christian faith”. How individual Christians, congregations, and the larger church engage with their Muslim neighbors and with Islam generally has tremendous import for the mission of Christ’s church and for Christian witness worldwide. This conundrum is true around the world and is increasingly as relevant in North American communities, large and small.

While the American context was the focus, input came from leading majority world voices, particularly Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Organizers understood that living in an age of the global church requires wisdom from those parts of Christ’s body for the American church to properly and effectively continue to play its leading role in global missions. The hope is that this gathering will spur on future smaller consultations that bring together Muslims and evangelicals to discuss pressing issues and tensions that exist between Christians and Muslims in America. Several participants are already engaged in these types of conversations and projects with Muslims. For example, Fuller Seminary, Columbia Theological Seminary, and Pentecostal Theological Seminary regularly teach courses involving engagement with the reality of Islam and its adherents at various levels of theological and dialogical discourse.

What do Muslims believe about the birth of Jesus, and how is it different from what Christians believe?

Many Evangelical Christians are surprised to discover that Islam believes in Jesus as the Virgin-born Messiah and Prophet. Indeed, it is interesting we have many professing Christian leaders who deny the supernatural birth of Jesus, but all orthodox and believing Muslims hold to it firmly. The starting point for any theological dialogue between Evangelicals and Muslims could be this common ground. However, there are important differences that must be recognised.

Jerusalem in the early 20th century.
Image: Wikimedia Commons

The chapters of the Qur’an are termed “Surahs” (meaning “fences”). Surah An-Anbiyaa 21:91 states: “And (remember) her who guarded her chastity: We breathed into her of Our Spirit and We made her and her son a Sign for all peoples”. Similarly in Surah Al-i-Imran 3:45ff we encounter terms that resemble the Lukan Annunciation narrative: “45 (And remember) when the angles said: O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary … 47 She said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me? He said: …Allah createth what He will …He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.” Similar expressions are made in Surah Maryam 19:20.

Although there is this common ground, notice that Islam attaches no theological significance to the Virgin birth; Surah 3:59 states: “Lo! the likeness of Jesus with Allah is as the likeness of Adam. He created him of dust, then He said unto him: Be! and he is.” Muslims often state that Adam’s creation was a greater miracle, since he had no parents at all! Moreover, there does not seem to be any compelling reason for the virgin birth in the Qur’an, since Islam denies original sin; the miracle is merely an arbitrary act of God’s will, an expression of His power. However, one interesting point in the Hadith, the narrations of Muhammad (the second source of authority for Muslims), indicates the uniqueness of Christ’s birth: Narrated by Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, “When any human being is born, Satan touches him at both sides of the body with his two fingers, except Jesus, the son of Mary, whom Satan tried to touch but failed, for he touched the placenta-cover instead.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 4.506)

The meaning of “spirit” in Surah 21:91 is uncertain. It can mean God Himself, although the title “Holy Spirit” usually refers to the Angel Gabriel. The birth of Jesus is accompanied by Mary’s retirement to a remote place under a palm-tree (Surah Maryam 19:23) not a journey to Bethlehem. The figure of Joseph does not occur. Many Muslims attempt to quote the medieval forgery the Gospel of Barnabas to persuade Christians that it is the true Gospel. One of its many failings is that it reproduces contemporary Catholic superstition about Mary that she experienced no pains in child-birth: “The virgin …brought forth her son without pain …” In contrast, Surah Maryam asserts that Mary did experience pain: “And the pangs of childbirth drove her unto the trunk of the palm tree.” The canonical gospels are silent on the issue, but we may presume that the actual delivery was normal.

The Biblical infancy narratives are not reproduced in the Qur’an; instead we have the wunderkind of apocryphal gospels, with Jesus speaking in the cradle (Surah Maryam 19:19ff, cf the apocryphal Gospel of the Infancy) “1 …Jesus spoke …lying in His cradle …’I am Jesus, the Son of God …'” Surah Maida 5:110 presents Jesus performing the miracle of animating clay birds: ” …thou makest out of clay as it were the figure of a bird …and thou breathest into it and it becometh a bird …Again in Infancy 36, we read that the seven year-old Jesus: ” …made figures of birds and sparrows, which flew when He told them to fly …” Similar ideas are found in the Gospel of Thomas the Israelite.

It follows that Evangelicals must comprehend that when Muslims agree that Jesus was virgin-born and worked miracles, their understanding differs markedly from the Christian position. We Christians must relate the miracles to Christ’s public ministry following the baptism, and explain the significance of the Virgin birth for Christians in terms of fulfilment of prophecy (Isaiah 7:14) and relation to the doctrine of Original Sin.

Further reading:

• Peter Riddell & Peter Cotterell, Islam in Conflict: Past, Present and Future (IVP, 2003)
• Samuel Zwemer, The Muslim Christ (Oliphant Anderson and Ferrier, 1912). Online
• Neal Robinson, Christ in Islam and Christianity (Macmillan, 1991). Preview

 

This article originally appeared on the Pneuma Foundation website on March 16, 2006. The Pneuma Foundation is the parent organization of PneumaReview.com. Used with permission by Verbum: WEA Theological News (January 2006).

As the sub-title of Garrison’s book suggests, this book provides both an historical narrative and analysis of how the wind of the Holy Spirit is drawing Muslims from the nine rooms of the Dar al-Islam (House of Islam). The rooms refer to the nine different geographical sectors of the globe from West Africa to the Indonesian islands where Islam is dominant.

Garrison’s work is the result of his work as a missionary pioneer with the Southern Baptist International mission Board for thirty years. Over the years he traveled a quarter-million miles in the nine different areas of the Muslim world. Well-versed in twelve different languages, he was able to interview and converse with Christians having a Muslim-background before their conversion.

A Wind in the House of Islam became part of his responsibility as global strategist for evangelical advance on behalf of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board. The book, however, is of a much broader scope than that of Southern Baptist interests. He discusses the contributions of the Assemblies of God, the Brethren, Lutherans, and other Christian bodies as the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands within each of the nine geo-cultural rooms of the House of Islam.

Garrison distinguishes “2,157 distinct Muslim cultures and people groups” which are found in nine different “affinity clusters cohering around shared experiences of geography, language, and history (p.31).” Apart from the introductory and closing chapters, Garrison devotes a chapter to each of these affinity clusters. He identifies them as Indo-Malaysian, Eastern South Asian, Western South Asian, Persian/Iranian, Western South Asian, Turkestan, North African, Western African, Eastern African, and ends with the Arab “room.” He begins his narrative with the Indo-Malaysian “room” of the House of Islam and closes with the “Arab” which includes the Arabian Peninsula along with Egypt and the western coast of the Red Sea.

The author identifies eighty-two Muslim movements to Christ throughout history with two occurring in the nineteenth, eleven in the twentieth, and sixty-nine in the twenty-first centuries. Garrison distinguishes the Arab Christians from those who, under the mantle of Islam, swept across the Near East and northern Africa and toward the Pacific in the late seventh and eighth centuries. The time frame of Garrison’s work is, therefore, concentrated within that time frame and the consequent centuries leading into the 21^st century.

Garrison writes of six different Muslim cultural groups: the Alawite, the Sunni, Shi’a, Sufi, Ibodite, and Ismaili. The major ones are the Sunni, Shi’a and Sufi, the last-named being a “mystical”—for lack of a better word—form of Islam. The ones making the most news are the Sunni, Shi’a, and Alawite, the last named being the smaller of the three and confined mostly to Syria. Assad, the “president” of Syria is Alawite.