Scroll down to see the first part of this series.
In the second part of his series, Emmanuel Ali El-Shariff talked about his work in evangelizing to the Islamic people. Emmanuel does this largely over the television and radio, having worked in several Arabic television programs. He showed us some clips of the shows. People are encouraged to phone in and have debates with the hosts of the show about the two religions. The clips he showed got quite heated. They also do phone-in conversions, allowing people to call in and talk to someone who will guide them in the necessary prayer. Even when the show isn't running, people can phone in and convert over the phone.
In one clip, a man called in and started vaguely attacking Christianity. The hosts refuted his claims, bringing him back to the topic, which was comparing the Bible with the Koran. I thought the hosts handled the situation very well -- even so, I could just feel the tension on the part of both parties. Arguing religious beliefs goes after the very core of people.
This is very different from how I would evangelize. In the past, these methods would have made me cringe. I'm now more comfortable with them, but they still strike me as mechanical. Sure, you can convert hundreds of people (some of which would immediately be in danger of persecution if they shared their beliefs) but how can they grow their faith? I'm leery of mass conversion because it seems impersonal (even though it's done one-on-one on the phone, it still feels like an assembly line setup).
Emmanuel talked about the Islamic people's great need to hear the saving Good News of Christ. As more Islamic people become Christian through his efforts, I hope that they can show others through their lives what the "easy yoke" of Christ truly is.
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