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STORIES
THAT MUST
BE TOLD
Editor’s Note: Over 18,000
Columbia International
University alumni serve
in 150 nations. Some of
them minister in countries
that are often referred
to as “closed” because
traditional missionary work
is forbidden. The following
vignettes, gathered by
CIU Professor Emeritus
Dr. Warren Larson, are
described in general
terms, and without
names, due to security
concerns. But Larson
says, “They show that
there is no such thing
as a closed country and
no place on earth where
God is not at work.”
Our family lives in a Muslim-majority country where I teach at a college. Many
students come from an area of the country that has experienced turmoil, and is
generally not accessible to Westerners, so it’s a wonderful opportunity. If the
professor is in, students regularly knock on the office door to chat about matters
they hesitate to mention openly. “Do you find the existentialist explanation for
life’s meaning satisfactory?”...“Can I borrow that book by John Stott?”...“This
is the first time I am sitting in a classroom with girls, and that’s why I am too
shy to say anything.”...“Sir, where I come from people do not want to be part of
this country, we want to be free.”...“You foreigners are the cause of injustice and
extremism in this country!” Other opportunities arise as well. Recently a teacher at
a small community college sent me an intriguing e-mail: “What does your prophet
say about politics?” We have started meeting regularly to delve into precisely that
question! These are the people, and the questions, that we came for. Pray we would
have the wisdom and the words to adequately address them.
THE PROFESSOR IS “IN”
After graduating from CIU, God invited us to join His work in a place where the
people are beautiful and fun loving, but we soon discovered their lives were full of
fear, deceit, betrayal, promiscuity and suspicion. How do you share Christ when
Jesus’ Name strikes revulsion in their minds, and fear of damnation, if they should
ever doubt Islam? We’re not starting at ground zero and building up but are
closer to a minus 10. Much of the work for 15 years has been asking God to break
spiritual strongholds, to bring Light to this nation with no existing fellowship of
local believers, and still no Bible in the national language. We spend considerable
time living lives for others to see, loving them for Christ’s sake, and flying His flag
for those who want to know more. We’ve endured ridicule, slander, theft, betrayal,
expulsion and death threats, but the Kingdom of Righteousness is powerful, and like
yeast, continues to grow. Whether we see many or few come to faith, we rejoice in
God’s sovereignty, and count it a privilege to represent Him here.
BREAKING SPIRITUAL STRONGHOLDS
10
CIU Today
Fall 2015