MUSLIM PRAYER FOCUS LEADS TO DEATH ROW APPEAL
A GLOBAL EFFORT to rally more prayer for the Muslim world has reached an unexpected corner - a death row cell in an African prison.
Organizers of the annual 30 Days Muslim Prayer Focus recently received a letter from a Zambian inmate asking for help in his search to learn more about God.
The man wrote after getting hold of a copy of the daily prayer guide produced for the yearly prayer month, which runs during the Islamic calendar's period of Ramadan. He told the 30 Days leaders that he had been arrested and sentenced to death in 1994, and received the booklet from one of three Christian prisoners in the maximum security unit.
"I am not a Christian but a Muslim from my childhood," his handwritten note said. "However, it is here in prison that I have heard things concerning the lordship of Jesus. It is here on death row that I have even tried to read a chapter of your Bible. I write to you as a prisoner who desires to know God. It is my only comfort and encouragement in the situation I am in."
30 Days international coordinator Kim Greig said that she had been "extremely encouraged" by the letter, and had been able to send the man a Bible and a Christian biography to help him in his search. "We thanked him for his sincerity, and assured him of our prayers for him, too."
Around 750,000 copies of the prayer guide were circulated in 30 languages for the seventh annual prayer focus, which ended on January 18. Around 20 million people worldwide are believed to have participated. This year's event begins on December 8 and runs until January 6, 2000.
Since the 30 Days Muslim Prayer Focus began, YWAM and other mission agencies have reported a growing number "great testimonies" from ministry to Muslims, said Greig. "Without a doubt the united worldwide prayer of the 30 Days event has been the foundation for many of these breakthroughs."
Launched by YWAM in 1993, the 30 Days initiative has since become an independent ministry. The board of reference includes Brother Andrew of Open Doors, Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ, Luis Bush of the AD2000 & Beyond movement, and Dr. C. Peter Wagner of Global Harvest Ministries.
Return to: March 1999 News Index Page