Several weeks ago, I worshipped with a group of 20-something Muslim-background believers in a musty basement room in a Middle Eastern country. These men and women had each come to faith in Jesus Christ though their families were Muslim.

VOM Newsletter readers will recognize the face of Umar Mulinde from VOM's June newsletter. He has been threatened and burned with acid, yet he continues to follow Christ. That newsletter article was co-written by Gary Lane of CBN news.

The day after her husband was brutally murdered in the offices of a Christian publishing house in Turkey, Semse Aydin announced on national TV that she had forgiven the men who committed the murder.

In January, 2007, the Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, publisher of the political weekly newspaper Agos, was shot to death on the street in Istanbul. The murder was the work of extremist Turkish nationalists. Hrant Dink was no evangelist. For a long time he had lived pretty aloof of the faith of his Christian Armenian people. When he died, it became known that his wife Rachel Dink was a believing Christian and that Hrant Dink had also personally accepted Christ in the last years of his life.

In last month’s post, I encouraged you to overcome fear and perfectionism by extending hospitality to a Muslim. Because the home is a safe environment, your Muslim friend may feel comfortable opening up to discuss deeper issues. But how can you move conversations from sports and the weather to the Gospel and Jesus?

Several years ago Heather Mercer, former prisoner for Christ in Afghanistan, visited VOM's offices. Her visit happened during Ramadan, and we asked Heather specific ways that Christians should pray for Muslims during Ramadan.

Did you know that the majority of Muslim international students living in the United States have never set foot inside a Christian home?

Many people who reach out to Muslims agree that God initially changes them more than He changes their Muslim friends! As we take steps to move toward Muslims, a side benefit will occur: sanctification in our own lives.

When VOM offered a free DVD about the church in Iran during the month of April, there was an overwhelming response! Thousands of believers across the United States requested the DVD, inspired by the hope of God’s amazing work in a culture dominated by Islam.

An Arab Muslim woman studying in the United States confided in me that her family was worried about her living in America. “They tried to stop me,” Najma said. “My aunt visited me and warned me, ‘Don’t you know America is full of violence? They will kill you on the street!’”