Mideast Violence Creates Gospel Opportunities

Mideast violence creates Gospel opportunities [Excerpts]

Bloody protests against an anti-Muslim film have stretched from the Mideast to Australia and Indonesia....But Christian workers say the turmoil has created new opportunities to share the Gospel.

Terrorists sparked the crisis when they launched a deadly attack Sept. 11 in Libya, killing the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. Rioters have breached U.S. embassies in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Sudan and have threatened American embassies in many other countries. Demonstrations and violence have spread to more than 20 areas, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Iran, with no end in sight.

The latest round of rage against America and the West may die down, or it may go on for a long time, as old grievances and the political struggles unleashed by the December 2010 Arab Spring revolutions continue.

"From a human perspective, we have every right to hate one another," admitted one worker based there. "But we can't look at this through human eyes only. We have to see this from God's perspective. If we don't, we're going to miss God's pursuit of the nations."

Another worker there said he fully understands the anger and frustration Americans might feel more than 10 years after 9/11, but appealed to Christians to take a "long, hard look" at their own hearts.

"To those who say, 'Well, they hate us, so we hate them,' what did Jesus say?" he asked. "Love your neighbor. 'Well, they're our enemies.' Jesus says to love your enemy. We need to get back to the Bible. The Bible says there will be [followers of Christ] from every tribe, tongue and nation. We're nowhere near that among peoples in North Africa and the Middle East. There's work to be done."

http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=38740&ref=BPNews-RSSFeed0918