Joining the Family

Resources > Enabling all Christians > Getting started > Joining the family

Joining the family -  equipping churches to be family to believers from Muslim backgrounds

  
Why is ‘Joining the Family’ needed?

Today in Britain growing numbers of Muslims are choosing to follow Jesus Christ. They want to join Christ’s community, whether in British churches or in same-background fellowships.

Joining the Family is an initiative to help Churches in the West to understand, love, equip and learn from Christ’s followers of Muslim heritage (BMBs). One of the elements of this initiative has been to develop a course for use by churches in the UK and other countries which are seeking to welcome new believers from a Muslim background.                                                                                                                                                         

 How is the course designed?

Course objectives are for local church members to:

• Compassionately understand and explore issues that believers of Muslim background face, by listening carefully to them

• Be equipped to welcome, care for, disciple and ‘be family’ for these believers

• Consider how their church may be enriched through their insights, gifts and cultures

The course method combines film interviews with guided discussion in small groups. Each session ends with a practical learning activity to do before next time. The course comprises DVD clips, a participants workbook and a facilitators guide so that church groups can run the course themselves without outside help.

The course contains six sessions, covering the following topics:

1. Journeys to Jesus (the testimonies of Muslims turning to Jesus)

2. The Pearl of Great Price (the cost and joys of following Christ)

3. Welcome to the Family (how local churches can ‘be family’ for these believers)

4. A blessing for our churches (how we can benefit from what these believers bring us)

5. Ambassadors for Jesus (believers relating to their Muslim families and communities)

Wherever possible these groups will include one or more believers of Muslim background so that others can learn directly from their insights and deepen the mutual friendships.

 Who is producing this course?

The ‘Joining the Family’ core group comprises of cross cultural experts and believers of Muslim background (BMBs), church leaders and disciplers connected with several mission agencies.
 
The production is by Carfax Media, with help from Elam Ministries, and the resources are published by Interserve.
 
The teaching content comes from 25 interviews with believers of Muslim background and experienced mentors speaking from the heart.

There are a number of materials that make up the ‘Joining The Family’ resource:

• Course Pack (£40.00) which contains everything you need to get the course up and running

• A Facilitator’s Guide (£9.99) for those leading the course with groups

• Participant’s Workbook (£9.99) for individuals on the course

• ‘Joining the Family’ Book (£2.99) which gives the background to the course

Click here for more information about Joining the Family

Courses to Go Further

Resources > Enabling all Christians > Going further > Courses to go further

All Nations Islamics Course

Running for 10 days each December at All Nations Christian College, this comprehensive course aims to train Christians to respond to the challenge of Islam in a way that is Biblical, sensitive, informed and bold, and to equip them for Muslim ministry. The course is designed for those who have a particular interest in Muslim people and currently involved in or preparing to work in Muslim countries or among ethnic minorities in the West. Click here for more info

Prophets’ Stories

A one day training seminar / 3 hour webinar is offered before access to the resource.  This resource, is a tool which enables groups of “every day” Muslim and Christian people to talk about what we understand about God, through the listening of and telling of the same prophet's story from both the Qur'an and the Bible. It is ideal for those working in the context of church projects which serve Muslim people in their neighbourhood, Friendship Houses, or those who have opportunity to share faith conversations on a regular basis. The resource enables you to get beyond surface level friendship and promotes deeper engagement around the character of God with Muslim friends.  Click here for booking enquiries.

Manchester Centre for the Study of Christianity and Islam

Towards Christian Engagement with Islam MA module and Apologetics MA Module CLICK HERE

Local Workshops HERE

Al Massira

Training is required to utilise this course, currently available on Zoom It is a DVD-based course for use with groups of Muslim people who are ready to take a journey of exploration as to who the Messiah is via travelling through the biblical account of the stories of the prophets. This very engaging course anticipates and addresses the common issues about the Messiah that many struggle with and uncovers the meaning of the signs of the prophets. The DVDs are available in English and Arabic or there is dubbing in several languages. Click here for more info

Virtual Prayer Walking

Resources > Encouraging prayer > Prayer groups > Virtual Prayer Walking

Virtual Prayer Walking



We normally do some prayer walking for Ramadan and with COVID 19 lockdown that looked like it would be a challenge. Here is a solution that enables people to pray around town together.

These instructions assume you are using a computer not a phone.

First we will look at preparing a route, then at involving other people.

Open Google in your browser. Go to Google Apps (usually on top right) and select Google Maps.

In the box in the top left write in an address where you might start, preferably a postcode. If you are totally new to this, put your own address in for a trial run.

A red marker will show the address on the map. Using the controls (+/-) on the bottom right, enlarge the map so you can clearly see the streets.

Now, go back to the controls in the bottom right, find the little yellow person. Place your cursor on it and drag it (by pressing and holding) to the address you have chosen. When you release the person, the map will be replaced with a view of the street.

The new controls in the bottom right allow you to turn through 360 degrees.

As you turn your view, note that when you are looking along a road, you will see a white arrow on the road surface. If you click ahead of the arrow, you will move along the road. It takes some practice to manage junctions well, but you will find you can ignore traffic lights, no entry signs and completely forget the Highway Code.

Rehearse the route you want to take thinking about key landmarks you might want to use.

If you find the distances are such that navigating the map is hard work, you can teleport.

Without closing your screen, open another tab in your browser. Open Google Maps and put in a different address. Move the yellow person to spot you want and face it the right way. You can now switch from one scene to the other simply by switching tabs.

Now, make it a shared prayer walk, call a Zoom meeting. Online tutorials are available.

In preparation for your Zoom meeting, close programmes you are not going to need just leaving your browser open. Make sure your browser is open at the start location.

When you have your people together, place your cursor in the lower part of the screen and find the green pop up marked “share screen.”

When you click on this, you will se before you the screens available to you including some extras curtesy of Zoom. Select the browser with the street view. Then click on Share, a blue button on the bottom right.

What should happen next is that you see your start point and your friends will appear in smaller screens to one side. If you have more than four, they may not all fit on at once but you can scroll up and down. Your friends should be able to se what you can see.

You can talk together about the location you are viewing and pray together. When you are ready, you can move on by turning and navigating along the street or by switching the tab at the top.

At the end, place your cursor at the top of the screen and find End Share Screen and your group will be back to normal.

It is also possible to have different members of the group take you all to locations as anyone on the call can use “Share Screen,” but only one at a time.

For more ideas for prayer walking Click here

Alpha in Different Languages

Resources > Envisioning the Christian community> How churches can get involved > The Alpha course

The Alpha Course

This is available in many different langauges, including Albanian, Amharic,  Arabic, Farsi, Punjabi, Turkish and Urdu.

For more information on Alpha in different languages, register here

Courses to Get Started

Courses for Christians to get started with sharing faith with Muslims

Resources > Enabling all Christians > Getting started > Courses to get started

Friendship First Course

The Friendship First Course is a four session video-based course with a varied mix of experienced speakers and personal stories, supported by learning activities and group discussion.

The course is ideal for smaller groups meeting in person, but it can also be adapted for larger groups and/or meeting online. It aims to help Christians to build unconditional friendships with Muslim neighbours and colleagues, encouraging a deeper understanding of one another's faiths and cultures, sharing life, extending the love of Jesus through our words and actions, and building opportunities to bear sensitive Christian witness where appropriate.

Encountering Muslims

Encountering Muslims is an introductory 12-session course which has greater breadth and depth than some others. The course enables participants to learn about Muslims, how to reach them and inspires prayer for the Muslim world. Several lessons include material and perspectives that have only recently been making their way into national and international conversations. EWI is also available in different languages: Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish

Click here for more info about EWI

Sharing Lives Course

The Sharing Lives Course, taught in hundreds of churches across Europe, is now available online for everyone who is interested to begin to share their lives with Muslims. 

The course addresses the attitude of fear and prejudice that that hinders Christians sharing their lives with their Muslim neighbours. It encourages Christians to exemplify the Gospel of grace and the grace of the Gospel when relating to Muslims. Although the course includes some teaching about the core concepts, beliefs and practices of Islam, its focus is not Islam, but Muslims.  

Through Sharing Lives Christians become motivated and equipped to share their lives with Muslims and in this context also the Gospel of Jesus Christ.   

The course consists of five lessons:

1. Our view of Islam

2. Developing an attitude of grace

3. Understanding Muslims

4. Meeting with Muslims

5. Building relationships that last

 The printed course books are available in 12 different languages.  The online course includes several videos that introduce this material. Consequently participants can go through the course material, using videos and assignments that can be downloaded. There is also additional material for those who would like to start teaching the course in their home group or church. People can go through the material, individually or as group, at their own speed. There are 15 videos of 5-17 minutes in length and to process the material there are 12 different assignments. To do the whole course will take about 8 hours.

Find more information here

Various Training Opportunities

A list from Global Connections.

Some helpful group models and ideas for prayer

Resources > Encouraging prayer > Prayer groups > Some helpful group models and ideas for prayer

Some helpful group models and ideas for prayer

i)                    “ABC Model” – Split the group into threes. Each person is allocated as an ‘A’, ‘B’, or ‘C’. Introduce to all a prayer topic. Give three prayer points linked to the topic, allocating one point per person (i.e. ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’) and let the triplets pray around their team.                                   This multiplies prayer coverage; engages everyone; provides clear guidance. When you see the first group finish, invite everyone to draw their prayer to a close. To maintain pace, don’t wait for the last group to run out of steam!   

ii)                   “Zones” – Split the room into zones (perhaps the four corners). Allocate a theme to a “host” in each zone. Provide the “hosts” with written prayer pointers. The rest of the people rotate the zones and spend a few minutes in each one.  

iii)                 “Crying Out/Korean style” – we know that Jesus sometimes prayed in a loud voice and that the early church also ‘raised their voices together in prayer to God.’ This model of simultaneous corporate intercession is a mark of revival contexts around the world. You can pick a theme and let people pray into it for a set amount of time - three minutes or so. Not too long, to avoid people getting distracted or bored. 

iv)                 “Pass the prayer” – Announce the prayer topic to all. Hand out a sheet with specific points related to topic listed on it. Someone in the group prays for the first, folds the sheet and passes it to their neighbour to pray and fold and pass it on. If numbers are too big create more than one circle.   

v)                  “Praying the Scripture” – Although scripture was not written for the exact country or people you are praying for, it’s still a wonderful tool to pray over nations and people! Here are a few different ways you can pray through scripture:

• Read and pray

Take turns pray-reading verse-by-verse through a passage. After each verse, pray a prayer inspired by that verse. Then read through again, and after each verse is read, the person to the left of the reader prays a prayer inspired by that verse. Read passage again and emphasise one word as you read through the verse and pray off  the emphasised word.

• PPV: Pray-per-verse

Read through a passage, but after reading each verse, spend two minutes going around and praying through that verse for the nation/people.

Especially look in the Psalms, Isaiah and Jeremiah for good passages to pray through for a nation/people. Click here for an example Praying Scripture Isaiah 12 

vi)                 “Rapid fire/Popcorn prayer”

A good way to keep people “on their toes” while they pray is to keep the prayers moving. Some people have a tendency to pray long, drawn out prayers, which is OK in some cases, but in others it prohibits other people from enjoying sharing what the Spirit is teaching them! For three to five minutes, pick a topic and encourage people to keep their prayers between 10-15 seconds long. 

vii)               “Intentional listening”

As a group, listen quietly to God for about 10 minutes, asking for pictures or verses. Then share what was heard and pray into resulting themes. 

viii)              “Praying in the middle” (best with big groups)

Get your theme (city/nation/people) and ask two people who have a focus for that theme to stand facing each other with a gap in between them. When the first person begins to pray for their focus (i.e. the women, the poor, the hungry), anyone else who feels led to agree with them in prayer will come and stand behind them.

After the first person finishes praying, the person behind them will begin praying for that same theme. This will repeat until the line is exhausted, upon which the second person standing in the middle begins praying for their focus, and the process is repeated.

When one of the first two people is finished, they will step away and another person will step in their place with a different focus.

This is also best kept to quicker prayers (30 seconds to a minute) to keep the lines moving. 

ix)                 “Praying the 4 Es”

Divide the time into four, and pray through the 4 Es – Encouraging Prayer (pray for more pray-ers, for regular persistent prayer to grow),  Enabling Christians (pray for people to see the opportunities, to grow in confidence, to build friendships and share Jesus), Envisioning the Christian community (pray for church leaders by name, that they would have a vision for the Muslim community),  Engaging Muslims (pray for building bridges with local Muslim communities , opportunities to reach out in love and share Jesus, for disciples who will reach their own community) 

x)                  “Mapping the area”

Have a large map of the area. Together, mark on it the mosques and pray into that. Then repeat with community centres, schools, churches, etc. Or with a larger group, have 2 prepared maps with mosques and churches on one, community centres and schools on another and split into two groups. Each group take a few minutes to share what they know about these places and then pray into that. Then move onto next map and repeat. 

xi)                  “M&Ms”

Have a bag of M&Ms (which have 5 colours). List 5 spheres of influence eg mosques, schools, women, friends, churches and have a colour key. Pick a M&M and pray for the relevant topic.  

xii)               “Drawing prayers”

On individual sheets of paper, encourage people to declare things over the people/nation/town and write them down and/or write out prayers. Or have people write down/draw prayer requests for all to see on one large sheet so that everyone can pray into them together. 

For more prayer ideas for weekly/monthly meetings Click here

Source: Adapted from a basic concept of the 24/7 Prayer Network

Prayer Walking

Resources > Encouraging prayer > Prayer groups > Prayer Walking

Prayer Walking

In prayer walking we want to bless Muslim communities as we go, receive fresh insights from God as we pray ‘with eyes open’, and ask for many to come to know him. There are no rules for prayer walking but here are six useful pointers from our friends at 24-7 Prayer www.24-7prayer.com :

Prayer walking is a great way to get active in prayer and is as simple as it sounds – you pray as you walk. Why not try it and learn more about a place and God’s heart for a community. There are many ways to do it but here are our suggestions for giving it a go with your church.

1. Start and end together: agree a place and time to meet to start walking and talking to God together.  Begin by explaining why you’ve gathered to pray and a few pointers for those who haven’t prayed this way before.  If you’re going to split into smaller groups at any point, then agree a place and time to end together.

2. Planned route or a wild goose chase? You can decide ahead of time where you are going to go or you can simply ask the Holy Spirit to lead you as you walk.  Just make sure you don’t get lost!

3. Try going out in twos: Jesus sent his disciples out in twos. It’s not intimidating or as conspicuous as a large group can be, and it is safer than people going on their own.  If you have a larger group, breaking into pairs can help you cover more ground. For safety’s sake you might want to make sure that at least one person on each team has a mobile phone in case you need to contact each other.

4. To be seen or not to be seen: you can pray quietly or in a volume that doesn’t draw attention if you’re on a covert prayer mission. Silence is okay too. It’s not about being seen to be praying, it’s about seeing and praying.  Having said that, if you feel confident sometimes the Lord can ask us to pray boldly in public! 

5. Pray the positive: even in areas that are considered ‘dark’ or ‘desperate’, try to pray blessings rather than ‘tearing down’ prayers. Focus on God’s plan, purpose and destiny for the place and the people that live there.  "Your Kingdom come, your will be done..." makes an excellent start!

6. Ending well: if you’ve gone in different directions why not meet up at the end to share what you’ve felt, seen, prayed and heard from God.  If you can, keep a record of what you share so you can build on it next time.

Some suggestions for prayer

Be open to the Lord highlighting what you should pray - you might already be aware of needs but ask for fresh insight.

Pray scriptures as they come to mind  or  you could use the Lord’s Prayer, praying out of each line in turn.

Pray for key places you pass – mosques, schools, community centres, churches, etc, and those who lead, teach and attend there.

Put yourself in the shoes of local people. See real people with real needs who Jesus came for. Pray for the different generations within the community and their particular needs.

Use this acronym to help guide your prayers:

“For those who find me find life and receive favour from the LORD.” Proverbs 8:35

 F amilies

Pray that whole families would hear the good news and come to know Jesus

 A ppreciation

Thank God that he has brought diverse cultures to this area so that they might find him

 V isions and dreams

Pray that God would reveal himself to Muslims in visions and dreams

 O pportunities

Pray for opportunities to engage meaningfully and open doors for the gospel 

 U nderstanding

Pray for good understanding between Christians and Muslims and church and mosque leaders; for barriers to come down and friendships to grow    

 R adicalisation

Pray for those who are susceptible to radical/extremist ideologies. Pray that they would not be led astray but would find God’s way

As you walk and pray be open to being asked what you are doing.  Be ready to say you are praying God’s blessing on families and the neighbourhood. That might well lead to a fruitful spiritual conversation!

Prayer ideas for weekly/monthly group meetings

Resources > Encouraging prayer > Prayer groups > Prayer ideas for weekly/monthly group meetings

Prayer ideas for weekly/monthly group meetings

Use the Bible to start the prayer time. This sets our focus on God, who is Sovereign Lord and gives us His perspective.

Many of the Psalms are useful here eg. Psalms 34:1-10, 67, 93, 96, 103, 111, 145, 146 also Phil 2:5-11  Rev.7: 9ff

Use the I Am sayings of Christ to thank God for what Jesus came to bring and pray that Muslims might see the Grace of God in Jesus revealed.

Use hymns/songs to read together/pray and praise through – songs which speak of God’s glory / who Jesus is.

Pray for the church leaders in your area to open their eyes and see the challenge and the opportunities faced by the church by the presence of Muslim people here in Britain.

Pray for an opening to put on the Friendship First course in the area.

Pray that any Friendship First courses running in the area will be effective in motivating ordinary Christians to start building bridges of friendship with their Muslim neighbour, work colleague or acquaintance.

Pray for relationships to develop between church leaders and Imams and Muslim leaders in the city.

Do you need people of particular influence or skill in either building relationships with church leaders or with Imams or in delivering training? Pray people in!

Pray over Christian resources, literature and Bibles in many languages asking God to use them mightily to bring Muslim people to Him.

Keep an eye on the Islamic calendar and make a point of including time for prayer around Eid ul Fitr, Eid – al-Adha, Ramadan, Muhammad’s birthday

Find out about the local mosque and start praying for the Imam and the people who attend the mosque.

Is there a University in your area? Pray for the members of the Christian Union to see the opportunities to share Christ with their Muslim fellow students. Invite the CU to send a representative or a group to a prayer event so that you can specifically pray for them.

Pray for the local businesses run by Muslims.

Pray for the children attending local Islamic schools – that they may still have the opportunity to mix with Christian friends from whom they can ask questions one day.

Pray for any BMBs you know in the town. Despite living in this country life will remain far from easy for them. Invite them to join you in prayer times since they can give a fresh perspective and interesting insights.

Watch a BMB testimony from prayercast.com

Are there any nationality groups particularly represented in your town/city? Find out about their background and history and make a point of praying for the people and the country they come from.

Pray for a Muslim country that has been in the news

Pray for Christian teachers, health professionals and social workers working daily with Muslim families – that they may share the love of God in a distinctive way through their words and deeds.

Pray together for individuals that you are building relationship with. Pray for each other as you seek to share the good news.

Keep a record of prayer requests and answers to prayer. This helps to raise faith and discern what God is doing.

Some thoughts on facilitating a prayer session

Resources > Encouraging prayer > Prayer groups > Some thoughts on facilitating a prayer session

Some thoughts on facilitating a prayer session

‘I tell you the truth that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I with them.’ (Mat.18:19)

Introduction

This is a practical tool for engaging, as a group, in ‘petitionary prayer’ (asking) and ‘intercessory prayer’ (standing in the gap between God and the issue).

1.       As well as group members bringing items for prayer for their Muslim friends, they could bring the names of prominent people in local mosques (e.g. Imam, Committee Chair, influencers) and pray for them.

 2.       You might like to ask people for prayer issues before the session (rather than at the session).  We can then pray over the topics and use our imagination and alternate between styles of prayer (see below). We can  break down the session into sections and ring the changes, to help the momentum and keep everyone engaged.

 3.       The content of Mahabba groups varies; most groups include “sharing”, “the month’s vlog”, “discussion”, “news updates”, “planning” of local action, and “prayer”. When you know how much time you are allotting to prayer, simply split it broadly into three sections, as follows:

 UPWARD (Worship) – Begin the session with an upward focus of worship. Encourage the group to lift their eyes up and look at King Jesus. If there is no guitarist, use a CD or an iphone (via a blue-tooth mobile speaker). An opening song needs to declare Jesus’ authority and the character of God. This helps focus the group away from the ‘problems’ we’re about to pray over and towards the possibilities of God’s power.

This helps the group to enter His courts with praise (Ps.100:4) and to prepare to bring petitions with ‘thankfulness (Phils.4:6). The Revelation shows worship as part of ‘spiritual warfare’ as we blend worship (harp) and prayer (bowl) in ‘harp and bowl’ ministry. (see Rev:56-10)

INWARD (Listen) – Combining ‘sung intercession’ with ‘verbal intercession’ is powerful as we flow in and out of worship and prayer. It helps change the pace; release faith; lift the atmosphere; and helps awareness of God’s presence. After the ‘upward’ focus, we move to an ‘inward’ focus where we pause (enjoy interspersed moments of silent pause). Help the group reflect and listen out for what God might be saying about the issues. The worship phase helps us become more receptive to as we listen for the still small voice of God through a scripture, an impression, mental picture, or a word of prophecy.

This could be a call to fresh surrender, an invitation to confession and repentance, or a stirring up of renewed vision or passion, or simply tarrying in His presence, which He wants you to enjoy. This section lends itself to some ‘body-ministry’ – allowing people to pray for one another and speak God’s blessing.

OUTWARD (Prayer) – After the inward direction, it’s important to move the focus ‘outward’. This may be a natural response to what has just been revealed by the Holy Spirit during the flow of worship and word. It’s also good to prepare this section beforehand. Help the group to think through some creative ways to pray for external issues within the contacts of the group or in your local community.

Most of our preparation praying is best done before the gathering, which is when the Lord can draw your attention to the issues he may already be moving on or has for the group to pray into when you come together. These items are then available to you for use as/when and if needed in whole or in part, during the prayer session itself. This allows you to remain open and sensitive to anything the Holy Spirit might want to focus on in the gathering.    

               Click here for some helpful models and ideas for use in the “outward” aspect of praying.  

Praying Scripture

Resources > Encouraging prayer > Prayer groups > Praying Scripture

Praying Scripture eg Isaiah 12:1-6

Our goal: To use God’s word as the script for our prayers, knowing that it aligns our prayers powerfully with his will. Put your country/town/people group in the blanks.

"In that day ____________ will say: 'I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me.

Surely God is ________ ‘s salvation; ʼ I will trust and not be afraid.

The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.'

With joy ____________ will draw water from the wells of salvation.

In that day _______________ will say: 'Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.

Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world.

Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of _____________, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you'"

(Isaiah 12:1-6).

1. Go around the circle, reading (slowly) one verse each. Pause for a moment between each verse.

2. Go around the circle, reading (slowly) one verse each, and emphasizing in your reading ONE WORD in the verse. Your emphasis will give specific meaning to your prayer.

3. Repeat the above step again, but following your reading, pray a 1-2 sentence prayer of your own, based on the verse you have read and the word you chose to emphasize.

4. Repeat Step 2 again, but following each reading, the person on the left of the reader will pray a 1-2 sentence prayer of their own, based on the verse and emphasized word of the reader

Global Prayer Fuel



Resources >Encouraging prayer > Prayer fuel > Global Prayer Fuel

Global Prayer Fuel

Although Mahabba’s focus is praying for Muslims in the UK, many groups also pray for the nations. The following websites provide fuel for prayer.

30 days of Prayer

  Click here for previous years’ archived material

Prayercast

Click here for videos for places and peoples, testimonies from BMBs

Frontiers

Click here for a weekly prayer guide featuring a different country each week

Praying for the World

Click here for a weekly prayer guide created by Operation World and the Lausanne Movement

Joshua Project

Click here for a vast site packed with information

We know there are many other sites like this. Please let us know of any that you particularly recommend.

This page contains links and descriptions of websites which people in the Network have found helpful and which relate to loving all Muslims. This is by no means exhaustive. The inclusion of a link to an external website does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.