Region / Country: East Asia

Reading the story of Isa Al-Masih

When they found the book in her bag, they were furious.
They didn’t realize their daughter had actually been on this journey for years.

Curious about Christ

It began when she was in high school. That was when Mila* first started to question the Muslim faith her devout Muslim parents had instilled in her. It was part of her Indonesian identity. But she had doubts and felt a growing desire to know about Christianity. She was curious. She had often talked with Christian friends about spiritual things. She had been along regularly to the Christian fellowship in her school on Friday nights.

One day her friend brought her along to an event at our student centre. That was the first time I met Mila. She stood out — the only one wearing the hijab in a room full of Christian students. I asked her if she’d like to join our Bible study group. To my surprise, she agreed.

Meeting Jesus through the Bible

We began our learning with the stories of the prophets. Starting from Genesis, we read how God had sacrificed an animal to make clothes for Adam and Eve after they had sinned. We read how God provided a ram in place of Abraham sacrificing his son. We read about the sacrificial rules God gave to Moses and the Israelites. We read the story of Isa Al-Masih (Jesus the Messiah), the perfect sacrifice, who fulfilled the requirements for our redemption and reconciliation.

At that point I asked her what she believed about Isa Al-Masih. She confessed that Isa is God and Saviour.

After that, Mila continued to be discipled and attend our Bible study groups.

Inner struggle

But then one day Mila’s mother found a Christian book in her bag. Her parents were angry. They were afraid of their daughter becoming an apostate. Since that day they’ve become very protective. They don’t allow her to see her Christian friends anymore. Every day Mila must meet with the Muslim chaplain to learn Islamic doctrine again and restore her to her Muslim faith. However, Mila continues to meet and study the Bible with me on campus.

In her ID card, she’s still a Muslim. And she’s still wearing the hijab. But on the inside, she’s struggling. She knows that following Jesus means being willing to suffer persecution, but she’s afraid that this will break her relationship with her family. She’s afraid to hurt the people she loves.

My prayer is that she’d find the answer through our Bible studies and that her heart to share the gospel would grow. We’ve started praying together for her family and her friends. I’m praying that God would use her to reach those in her inner circle. This is the best strategy to reach out to Muslim people in the Indonesian context.

One of many

Mila’s story is just one of many. There are many Muslim students who have become believers even though they remain Muslims on their ID cards. And more are searching for the answer to their questions about faith.

Please pray for our country. Pray that Christian students would have a heart to befriend and guide their Muslim friends on campus to find the answer in Jesus. Pray that, as in Mila’s story, God would be working in the lives of more and more Muslim students.

*name changed

Pray for students in Japan

Japan is well-known for its technology, its food, its cherry blossom, and its pop culture. It’s not known for its Christian faith. Less than 1% of people follow Jesus Christ. The majority of university campuses have no Christian witness at all.

Now is a great time of year to be praying for students in Japan, as their new academic year gets underway. Many KGK groups will be holding new student welcome events on their campuses over the next few weeks. They’ll be putting up posters, distributing flyers and organising events.

On some campuses, however, that’s not allowed. Problems with cult groups in the past have made universities wary of ‘religious activity’, and in some places Christian groups are not allowed to be officially registered. In such cases, KGK groups use local churches as venues for events, and rely on alumni to connect them with new students.

Please join us in praying for Japan’s 3.2 million students at this critical time:

  • Pray for new Christian students starting university to get connected to a KGK group.
  • Pray for new students to capture a vision for living out their faith on campus.
  • Pray for favour with campus administration, so that all KGK groups can be recognised officially.
  • Pray for protection from cult activities – they too are active in ‘recruiting’ during this season.

Thanks for praying with us!

Pray for the student leadership conference in Cambodia

It’s not easy being a Christian student in Cambodia.

You’re one of a tiny minority. There are no other Christians in your class or in your dormitory. In this Buddhist country, your teachers frequently scorn the Christian faith. You’re not allowed to meet publicly with other Christians on campus. You feel isolated. On top of that, money is tight. You have to balance studying with a part-time job, and that makes it difficult to get to your fellowship group. Just keeping going is hard.

That’s why the annual FES/SONOKO Cambodia student conference is such an important time. As student leaders come together from different universities across the country, they’re reminded that they’re not alone. They’re reminded that they have a great God and a great gospel to share. They’re reminded of God’s heart for the lost. Last year one student at the conference said:

“If we want to reach all universities, why are SONOKO student groups only in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh? If we want to reach more students we need to go to other cities too!”

In a couple of weeks’ time, around 30 students will attend this year’s training conference: ‘Walk with Jesus on campus’. Local staff will lead workshops on discipleship, inductive Bible studies and leading small groups.

Join us in praying for this conference and for the needs of FES/SONOKO:

  • Pray that that students attending would be envisioned to live and speak for Jesus on campus.
  • Pray that students would be equipped to start leading Bible studies.Pray that student groups would be started in other cities.
  • Pray for FES/SONOKO as they work on the process of affiliating with IFES.

Thanks for praying with us!

Philippines: thursday café

Good music. Fun games. Free food. Friendly people. Students the world over love these things. That’s why more than 200 students were drawn to IVCF Philippines weekly Thursday Café. It was a safe place to chat and ask questions, a safe place to find out more about the person of Jesus. It was a highlight of the week not only for the guests, but also for the Christian students serving there week by week, learning to share the gospel with new friends. As a result of the café, five small group Bible studies have been started.

The IFES Innovation Project supported this and many other student initiatives to share the gospel on campus in creative and innovative ways. Find out more about how IFES is supporting student evangelism around the world.

Creation care

‘We were still metres away but I could already smell the coast. I was so excited the night before our coastal clean-up because I would be able to help nature and restore its beauty. But I also felt pity because I never thought that people like us could destroy something so beautiful that God has given us.’ (Mae, a student)

Every year IVCF Philippines in the Southern Mindanao region holds an event that focuses on caring for God’s creation. This year three groups participated. One group cleaned up a coastal area, another swept and picked up rubbish at a public market, while a third planted 803 cacao seedlings.

And it’s hard work! Kimberly described herself as ‘tired and exhausted’ at the end of the day:

‘It takes a lot of effort to plant a single seedling. It takes tremendous amount of energy to climb to the planting site. It takes courage to finish the work before the day ends. It takes perseverance. It takes strength.’

Why would they do such a thing? Shouldn’t they be holding Bible studies with their friends or attending a leadership development conference?

Or is caring for God’s world something that is part of moulding student leaders, part of equipping young people to reach out to others?

Ruth, another student participant, explains what God showed her during the event: 

‘I realized that being a Christian is not only focusing on your own spiritual growth. Being a Christian includes a responsibility to be involved in community.

‘Some of the people living on the coast were not responsible enough to take care of their own place and it’s a sad thing. The waste that they had created will probably affect them especially in regard to their health. It’s an eye-opener for me as a Christian to pray for those people and not think always of praying only for myself. 

‘Sometimes we can only see the things that we are near every day. It could be the limited number of friends that we chat with, or the usual things that we do. Sometimes in life we need to see the bigger picture, to realize what’s going on in our world outside.’

Merit sorted the trash for recycling and was reminded of the need to steward God’s creation. 

‘Participating in the clean-up drive reminded me that even little things, when accumulated, can have a disastrous effect. And it further encouraged me not just to actively take the role of steward but also to influence the people around me to do the same.’

There are many lessons to be learned as we care for the world around us. Let’s pray for students as they strive to show the love of God in the communities around them by bringing restoration to the created world. And let’s pray too that we might know how we can better care for the wonderful world that God has entrusted to us.

Blessings.

Written by Penny Vinden for IFES