“Ready to Die for Jesus?”
Every year, followers of Jesus from various Islamic tribes around the Sulu Sea gather to thank God and worship together, share their experiences, and set a spiritual course for the future.
Overwhelming Love
Pastor Mirza* is the lead pastor of this movement. God's grace is powerfully evident in the life story of this former Muslim: He encountered Jesus Christ in prison.
This radically changed his life. He was so deeply touched by divine love that he could and would do nothing else but share the Gospel with his own, highly influential ethnic group. As a new believer, Mirza witnessed firsthand the shooting of his pastor during a time of worship. Yet this did not deter him. God opened the door for him to study theology. The former prisoner becomes a pastor who leads spiritual prisoners and the burdened into freedom in the name of Jesus.
At the beginning, the Islamic mission in Mindanao is just a small community of Christians with a big heart for Muslims—and Pastor Mirza is its pioneer. From this has emerged a missional church movement that today includes 30 house churches with 2,000 believers. It is carried by MBBs (Muslim Background Believers) who live out their Christian faith in the midst of their Muslim surroundings.
Determined Discipleship
Once a year, these Christians from various tribes gather at the Believers Gathering. Three new tribes are participating in the most recent gathering. A total of 13 Islamic ethnic groups are now represented in their traditional attire. This nationwide event is an expression of identity and unity in a context that makes active discipleship extremely difficult.
A highlight of the Believers Gathering is always the baptism. This time it was particularly moving: 37 new believers were baptized in the waters of Lake Sulusee. Beforehand, the meaning of baptism is once again proclaimed very clearly and unambiguously before the entire assembly: namely, to die with Christ and rise again free from guilt. This is immediately followed by the solemn question: “Are you ready to die for Jesus?” The answer comes loud, decisive, and without hesitation: “Yes, we are!”
Emergency aid opens hearts
Missionaries from Borneo and Mindanao meet regularly for prayer and fellowship. Together they wrestle with how to reach the millions of Muslims in this region with the Gospel. Often, the poorest in society show the greatest openness to Jesus. For example, on the coasts of Borneo, an entire Bajau tribe of several hundred people came to faith after being driven out by the authorities. The practical love of the local missionaries opened the hearts of these people in distress to the Good News.
Bibles in a Canoe
The Philippines consist of 7,641 islands, most of which are predominantly Muslim. The islands of the Sulu Sea are among the least-reached regions in Southeast Asia because piracy, extremism, and religious pressure make access difficult. Another major challenge for local missionaries is transportation. To bring Bibles and discipleship materials to isolated island communities, they use traditional jukungs (outrigger canoes). In this way, house churches have already been established on Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, and Palawan. Although hundreds of islands still await, more and more Bajau Laut (sea nomads) and Suluk people are turning to Jesus Christ. All of this makes it clear: God is at work—right in the heart of the predominantly Islamic world of the Sulu Sea.
* Name changed
