The International Mission Board (IMB) said it is ready to go “Beyond the Wall” with a new emphasis designed to help Muslims understand the Good News of God’s love.
Details of the effort to share Christ with Muslims abroad and in the United States were shared with trustees attending the IMB board meeting Jan. 21–23 at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Birmingham. IMB President Jerry Rankin said the aftermath of terrorist attacks on the United States Sept. 11 presented “a unique opportunity to impact the disillusioned Muslim world and break down that last stronghold of resistance to global evangelism.”
The effort will include an increase in missionaries working with Muslim communities, intensifying existing efforts, video presentations of Bible stories and a massive distribution of other information to Muslims about Jesus Christ.
“This is one of the most significant things that we will be doing in some time,” said Avery Willis, senior vice president with the IMB’s office of overseas operations.
Willis said the IMB had previously considered implementing an effort to reach Muslims.
“The time has come,” Willis said. “After Sept. 11, there is a new and renewed interest on the part of Muslims in knowing what we are all about in terms of who they are and who they represent.
“We feel like this is the time not only in Central Asia but all over the Muslim world,” Willis added.
Clyde Meador, associate vice president for general administration, overseas operations, said the program is called “Beyond the Wall” because “Islam is a challenging wall that stands across the road to accomplishing the vision in reaching all the people of the world.”
“We’ve been seeing cracks appear in that wall for a number of years,” Meador said. “Muslims are potentially open to the gospel in a greater way than they’ve ever been before.”
Meador said there has also been “a parallel development” in that Southern Baptists and other American Christians are more aware of Muslims and the possible opportunities in the Muslim world than ever before, following the Sept. 11 attacks.
Meador said the vision for “Beyond the Wall” is that every Muslim has the opportunity to know “the truth of Jesus Christ in a culturally relevant manner” as a result of church planting movements established among all the Muslim people groups of the world.
He added that the mission won’t be limited to missionaries overseas, with the effort also including Christians who come in contact with Muslims living in the United States.
“That means the Muslim people living down the street from you and from me,” Meador said. “It means the Muslim people who are around us right here in the United States and wherever else we might go.”
An increase in IMB missionaries and volunteers working among Muslims is an effort Meador said is hoped will result in an increased response between Muslims and “a multitude of church planting movements happening around this world among Muslims.”
Meador said “Beyond the Wall” will also involve sowing seeds. “If people are going to respond to the gospel, they have to hear it,” he said.
One of the ways Meador said the IMB will share the gospel with Muslims is through “Gutenberg II,” a project that will focus on presenting the gospel using video and oral presentations that Meador said “will give us deep penetration into Muslim societies around the world.”
“We believe this is something that could be just as important in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the Muslim world, as the printing press — Gutenberg I — was with sharing the truth of Jesus with our ancestors,” Meador said.
“Gutenberg II” will include 32 Bible stories the IMB said will address “world view issues, language issues and misconceptions about God.”
Another effort Meador said is underway is establishment of rapid response teams to help with disasters in the Muslim world. He said the IMB is seeking to mobilize teams that will go in and bring a response that will show the God of love to Muslims.
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