“How long do you plan to stay in Cambodia?” my field director recently asked. The question inspired me. It is easy to act differently when there is no deadline for a task. Not that we have not been working with a sense of urgency for the last several years, but it is time to collect our experiences and counsel from mentors, and to target our efforts in a way that will be most fruitful.

I have been asking mentors a simple, two-part question: “Have you ever won a Muslim to Christ?” and “What did that look like?”

Answers have varied from: “It is not my job to make them Christians. It is my job to make them better Muslims,” to “They will be persecuted and die for Christ. That is how the church in Muslim worlds is growing.”

One person told me a story where a man took a stand for Christ and was soon murdered. The friends and the family of the man found the murderer, forgave him and explained how the gospel taught forgiveness. The persecutor, upon conversion, turned around and led dozens of his former gang through conversion. “It is through forgiveness like that that movements are happening in the Muslim world,” the person said.

Persecution evidently is toughest in the first few months. If they can be supported during that time, expecting disciples to take a bold stand is the best approach. In the New Testament, you never see a secret period in which new converts are helped to lie low so they do not get thrown out of the synagogue.
Once I had a clear picture of what level of resolve to expect from converts regarding their trust in God, I asked, “If people like that are out there, how do I find them?

Based upon the answers to my questions, I have learned a couple of key lessons:

Lesson one: Focus on those who are ready. One of the most miserable traps I had fallen into was trying to turn someone into a disciple who was content just soaking up my time and attention. It has happened over and over. I love people so much and want to have endless patience with them. They will study the Bible with our team for years, eat our food, enjoy the status and benefits of being associated with us, but never take a stand and get baptized.
Meanwhile, untold opportunities are lost with those who, if given the opportunity, would declare Jesus the Messiah and call their friends to follow Him. We see this in Jesus’ ministry. He went from village to village, immediately preaching and gathering those God had already prepared. In the same way, His disciples immediately left everything and followed Him when He called, while others turned away.

Lesson two: Deal firmly with stallers. Keep loving them and asking what is next for them, but do not devote all your time to them. Give a study on baptism and end it by saying, “People who choose to trust Jesus for their salvation get baptized. Is that something you would like to do soon?” If they stall, say, “I’m not going to see you for a few days to give you and your family a chance to think about it. Call me if you decide to be baptized, and I will arrange for it to happen as soon as possible.”

Most of the time, you will get the call. Putting the decision back in their court often brings the whole family. However, continuing to lead them without expecting obedience strengthens habits of disobedience. A set of lessons1 emphasizing the seven obedience commands of Christ, was also suggested to me. They can test and strengthen obedience.

Other lessons I am learning
I have also been learning how to use media to connect with the open-hearted, filter out distractors and start an oral Bible study on the spot. Instead of starting everyone at the creation story and going chronologically to Christ, I am learning to listen for their points of pain, encourage them using biblical texts suited to their situation, and help them achieve spiritual victories.

I have learned it is often best to use the Arabic word Isa when talking about Jesus. This increases their understanding and lowers their prejudice from the very beginning. But soon afterward, it is good to introduce the name of Jesus in their language. If they love Jesus and want to follow Him, calling Him Jesus is never a problem.

I have also been asking what kind of attitude to adopt toward Muhammad and whether it is beneficial to look in the Koran for similarities with the biblical faith, as well as for answers to many more questions. Beyond all the debatable topics, Muslims feel the power of the gospel most in forgiveness, and it is this gospel that is spreading. Now we have a picture of what success will look like, and we can plot a chart to get there.

Eric Tirado and I are collecting these lessons and information and writing them into a clear strategy. Why, you might ask, do we need to spend time strategizing and including deadlines? Because America recently cancelled all Cambodian visa applications, and other countries have been responding by canceling American visas, forcing even essential medical workers to leave. We simply do not know how long God will enable us to be here.

Strategy gives us the best chance of accomplishing something beautiful and removes the agony of deciding what to do today. It builds routine. It builds focus. It builds a team. And like a sports team before a game, we put our hands together, commit to the strategy and say, “We imagined the possibilities, and this is what we are going to do. This work could go on without us because we have written it in a way that anyone can understand what we are attempting and follow it. We are ready.”

As an aside, our family is blessed to announce the arrival of our new daughter, Linnea Faith Lewis, born on January 8. Thank you for your constant prayers for our work in the mission field and for our family. May the Lord increase His family as He is increasing ours.

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