Ep. 100 - 100th Episode!! (Reflections & Highlights)

In this special celebratory episode, Matt looks back over the first 4-5 years of Raw Mission and our 99 interviews.

He reflects on the main themes of the podcast (the cost, the miracles, the fruit & lessons learnt) and shares clips from some of his most memorable interviews.

If you're new to the show, this will give you a great feel for the kind of experiences, stories and themes that we cover.

Transcript

Matt 0:07

Hi, guys. Welcome back to Raw Mission and this very special episode where we're doing a celebration of 100 episodes released over the last four and a half years or so I'm Matt, your host, and today it's my honor and joy to reflect back on everything that we've done and look at some highlights of the different episodes we've had through the years. What is Raw Mission? Well, we started it as a project to share the stories of what God is up to around the world. You know, God is a storytelling God. He didn't just leave us a systematic theology book, but the scriptures are full of stories, stories of how God interacts with his people and many, many others, and even Jesus himself was a master storyteller. and we made this decision to not just talk about missiology and theology in terms of global mission, but to really focus in on stories. The stories of workers around the world, very ordinary people serving an extraordinary God, and how our story ties into God's bigger story, His purposes for the world, and also we've covered various stories of Muslims who've come to Christ and now follow Him, which is so encouraging, and that's a tiny reflection of what God is doing around the world. So that's what Raw Mission is. It's all about stories, and then why? Yeah, why did we decide to do this podcast? Well, there are four key reasons Firstly, to challenge the global church. so many of the stories of folks who to be interviewed on the podcast are stories of danger and difficulty and frustration and fruitlessness sometimes, and we want to be honest about that. we call this podcast Raw Mission. Raw stands for radical, authentic and worldwide. and so we want to be authentic about the difficulties of the calling that God has given us. The difficulties of life on the field in pioneering locations So that's the first thing. We want to challenge you guys and to hear about the cost. The second thing is we want to inspire you. and we trust that you're inspired by hearing the stories of God at work, sometimes through answered prayer, sometimes through stories of healings and deliverance, sometimes stories of dreams and visions, and I know personally that I come out the studio many, many times thinking, "Wow, is that real? Have I just heard that story of that incredible dream or vision or miracle healing or whatever it might be?" And I just think, "Oh, my goodness, this is not normal. This is stunning how God steps in and interacts with His people sometimes and answers prayer." and we know that you guys are being inspired by those kind of stories, too, 'cause we do get some great feedback on that. So we want to challenge you and to inspire you. The third thing is we want to encourage you by what God is up to in the Muslim world. There is incredible fruit these days. In our generation, more than there has ever been in history Amongst Muslims. A famous book by David Garrison called A Wind in the House of Islam, documented in around 2014 that more Muslims had come to Christ in the last 14 years at that point than in 14 centuries previous to that since Islam began. And that's something to rejoice about, something to be so encouraged by. So many Muslims coming to Christ these days. you can read books about places where hundreds of Muslims are coming to Christ, even thousands, which 20, 30 years ago was just unheard of. And fourthly, we want to equip you. There are many of you who've got Muslim friends in your neighborhood, in your school perhaps, in your university, or your workplace, and you're interacting with them, and many of you have asked us for tips about how to connect well with Muslims in boldness and in faith and clear communication, but also with respect. And so we aim to do that, not just through teaching. We did one episode on top 10 tips for reaching Muslims, but also just through hearing the stories of how people around the world are engaging with Muslims on a day-to-day basis. So it's a great opportunity to learn from others in that regard. so those are the four things we want to do, to challenge, to inspire, To encourage and to equip. And what I'm gonna do today then is look back on some of my favorite episodes. Sometimes, new listeners say to me, which episode should I go back and listen to? Which ones are your favorites?" And it's really hard to decide, because I have so many favorites. Everyone's story is unique and precious and powerful in different ways. Sometimes the ordinary stories are the ones that encourage our listeners the most, because they can relate to them better. But as I go through these four topics, cost, miracles, fruit, and learning from others, I'm gonna pick out the ones I remember particularly that struck me, that moved me in incredible ways. And then if you want to, you can go back and listen to those episodes if you haven't done already. So let's start with the cost. Now, this first clip is from one of the earliest episodes that we did, almost five years ago now, where we hear from Brian and Jeleta, who served in Egypt, and this is the first story we had of someone who was imprisoned, incarcerated for being out there on the field, sharing the gospel, and it was a powerful story, a very tough time, This first clip is from episode 20 called "77 Days Behind Bars", Here, Brian shares the moment he was arrested and taken to prison

Brian 5:14

And when that friend observed what was happening, he was quite incensed. We think he went to the secret police and told them what was happening. it wasn't long after that, that the police arrested five of us. four of us spent three months in prison, in Cairo. at the time, in the secret police headquarters, there were torture floors, and saw and heard what was going on there. that was quite sobering and scary though we were never mistreated physically, but certainly wondered if we would be, based on what was happening there. After those interrogations, We were eventually transferred to a prison on the outskirts of Cairo. we were facing five-year sentences for things like creating strife between Muslims and Christians. all of us had ups and downs during that time. And there's times you really can trust the Lord that he's with you and you sense his presence. And there's times where you just throw up your hands and you think, the Lord is going to have me here for five years. I miss my wife. I miss my children. We were all married, all had young kids. that was the hardest part, the separation of our families along with the unknown, along with just losing your freedom is a shock. we had talked about persecution. We thought we were ready for persecution, and we were to some extent, but just going through it, you don't realize what it's like until it happens and you have to deal with that shock. because we're in the cell together, I mean, literally every night we had amazing worship times together, Yeah. it was an experience. I wouldn't trade for anything. It's an experience I would never want to go through again. I wouldn't trade it either, because it was a special time with the Lord.

Matt 6:57

What I loved about Brian's story was that he was very honest about the highs and lows, even in his time in prison. Yes, there was amazing worship with some of his friends but he also says, "Yeah, I would never want to go through that again." And you can see that that really difficult time shaped him, formed him, and has given him incredible empathy for others who've gone through similar tough experiences. Brian ended up working on our crisis response team, and has helped many other people who've gone through really difficult things on the field. and it reminds me of one of my other favorite episodes, which was number 79 called My Prison: God's Silence. That was a powerful story where Jonathan shared his experience of being thrown in jail. A young guy, a husband, and a father of a very young daughter, and I loved that episode because he just shared so honestly about how difficult it was. It wasn't all the presence of God in the prison cell He often doubted and struggled and had fears and felt down and didn't know when the end of that time would come. And, uh, it was so moving to hear him share his story, and yet to see how God did bring him through it and out of it. And his faith remains strong, and he still is serving Muslims, not in that same country, but in, in Europe somewhere. Of course, it's not just the workers who get thrown into prison or suffer persecution. Actually, it's usually harder for those who've come to Christ from a Muslim background. And this next clip is from Mujtaba Hosseini, who I interviewed live in Oxford, and his story was incredible, and just one of so many from the church in Iran these days. It's called The Iranian Church, and it's episode 52, Where Mujtaba shares about his own story of being thrown into jail.

Mujtaba 8:44

for one year we had these regular meetings, and after one year, when I was 20 years old, early in the morning, I was in my house and there was a knock on the door. I opened the door and there was like 10 officers in front of the house, saying we have to search your house by the order of the court. It was a horrible, horrible feeling. You know, these people in my house, They collected everything about Christianity and put handcuffs on me, my dad, my sister, my brother, and put us separately in cars, put a blindfold over my eyes, And they put me in solitary confinement again for and sent me to prison for three years. years when I was 24 to 27, I was in prison. there was a time that I was in a small room with no good facilities, and it was a horrible, horrible place with like 30 other people, nine people, sleeping in beds and the rest of people sleeping on the ground. most of the toilets were blocked and rats in the toilet. And I was just thinking about my life, missing my family. Living in this environment and all just because I'm a Christian,

Matt 9:46

These kind of stories are such a challenge to us, aren't they, in the West, as we think about the cost of following Jesus in some of these places around the world. and personally, it challenges me so much not to live a comfortable life to know that Christ is everything. Even if all the comforts and security we have are taken away, he is still there, he's still faithful, and he's still at work. And it also really reminds us to pray for the persecuted church, to pray for our brothers and sisters around the world who are struggling in jail And don't know what's coming next. In many of our episodes, we hear about workers who've been expelled from countries, who've experienced terrorism and war. some who've just undergone real sadness. Some who've even lost children while serving on the field, I remember within the last year interviewing Ron in the episode called Hunters of Affliction, number 92, and he shares about how they lost one of their sons up in the Himalayas. And, uh, it's just such a powerful story, heartbreaking story really. But again, it reminds us that just because you're serving the Lord, just because you're overseas, it doesn't mean you're, immune to all the normal challenges of life, sickness, death, and all the things in this broken world. it's always such an honor to listen to these guys as they talk about the sadnesses, the bereavements, the challenges that they've experienced, and how they've wrestled with those things in the context of their walk with Jesus and their ministry. Another incredible episode on this theme was Emily Foreman's story, which we called "Meeting My Husband's Killer." which was episode 50 Just such an amazing story of how Emily's husband was shot and killed by Al-Qaeda in West Africa, and then years later she got to meet the guy who pulled the trigger in prison, and was able to extend to him some of the forgiveness and love of Christ that she'd experienced. And this third clip is perhaps the most intense of all, where we hear from Dr. Awes, a Somali brother, and he shares about a tragic time in the '80s where the early, early church there, the underground church, faced martyrdom for the sake of Jesus. These kind of stories are so painful to listen to, but they are the reality of life for so many Muslims who come to Christ, this genuine fear of martyrdom. And so we have to be aware as we're making disciples that- There's a huge cost for following Jesus in many of these places, And this clip is from episode 97 called The Blood of the Martyrs.

Rev. Aweis A. Ali, PhD 12:14

And people gave different opinions but one of the members said there's no way we will know it for now let's just continue meeting And if one of us is killed quickly we will know he was killed for his faith and we are all being targeted So we said oh yeah that makes sense And very short time later one of us was killed So we had no doubt that we were being targeted for our faith And of the 14 members actually 12 were killed and only two survived I and a Boha survived

Matt 12:47

Dr. Avesa's story there actually ties back to an earlier episode we did with Nick Ripkin, number 65, "The Insanity of Obedience." Another superb episode where Nick shares so many stories of working with the persecuted church, and all that we can learn from those who've undergone incredible suffering for Jesus' sake. that brings us to the end of our first section on cost, suffering, and persecution. These things remind me of the words of Jesus in John's gospel. "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you. A servant is not greater than his master." If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. moving on to the next section, where we're gonna hear about amazing stories of healing, deliverance, dreams, guidance, release from prison or escape from death. And this first clip is taken from episode number 25, which we called Angels in Afghanistan. It's Geoff's story, and this particular story is one of unanswered prayer in Pakistan, which actually turned out for everybody's blessing. years later they realized that God had said no to their prayers to protect them from certain death.

Jeff 14:07

So the next night about 400 came. And then it was 500. And then we got to the last night and, Pakistan television had contacted us and they had heard about it and they said, we're gonna send a crew to film the last night we were over the moon. I mean, this was fantastic. We set up maybe 800, 900 chairs. people started filing in Pakistan. Television was there setting up their cameras and it was beautiful. And then it started to rain okay. So some of us went behind the stage and started to pray and the harder we prayed, the harder it. And every, every strain of faith was back there. Some people were claiming blue sky and some were claiming dry ground and And we just threw at the Lord every way we possibly could. and I'm telling you that the harder we prayed, the harder it rained now there's rivers of water running down. one of the guys that was in this Arab guest house Later came to work for us and so this is how we got the story. Now They had heard about these first three nights, they had heard that Pakistan television was gonna be there. And so they devised a plan to come bust it up and their plan was to drive a Jeep through the back gate and start lobbing hand grenades. Of course it was gonna be on television and they were gonna bust up this Christian event. our colleague that was serving them tea was there on that day. And they were ready to go. They finished their tea, they got their weapons and they started to leave the house and it started to rain. And as they got in their Jeep, it started to rain harder. And by the time they got down to the end of the street, it was raining so hard and they could hardly see, And they turned back.

Matt 15:42

Geoff and his wife's stories told in the Ministry of Tears, episode 26, are absolutely amazing, and so full of wisdom and grace and answered prayers and well worth a listen And this next story is from Mike, my colleague here in the office. Mike and I have done a few episodes together as he shared about his own stories from life in Turkey for 15 years and then some short-term trips. And also, Mike has joined me for some of the teaching episodes we've done Now many of our workers in the Muslim world encounter spiritual attacks or the demonic, and sometimes our guests talk to us about how they responded to particular situations that were facing them, and this is one of those. Mike, shares in this particular clip about what happened when a girl that they were ministering to was coming under attack from an evil spirit. and how he was able to respond in Jesus' name.

Mike 16:38

the family looked at me as if to say "what just happened?" And so, I was just able to tell them that your daughter's coming under attack from a spirit, but there's someone who's stronger than this spirit who can heal your daughter. And so I told them a little bit more about Jesus. I prayed for her and then left because I didn't really know what to do next. And after that, she actually got much worse. She started hearing voices, telling her to kill herself; her dad told me they found her in the kitchen with a knife, getting ready to harm herself. Anyway, we went up a couple of weeks later and I went with a friend and with my wife and we just ministered to that girl and the Lord delivered her of two evil spirits that night.

Matt 17:21

I think many of us in Western cultures, feel ill-equipped to deal with the demonic or spiritual attacks like this. So it's really encouraging to hear stories where people have had some experience and can pass that on to us. But more than that, These are great reminders of the power and the supremacy of the name of Jesus. other fantastic episodes around this theme of miracles are Tom Doyle's, which we call Dreams and Visions, episode 69. and who can forget episode 78, probably our most popular episode, in which Jamie Winship talks about how he's learned to listen to God's voice both whilst being a police officer in the United States and also in Iraq and Indonesia and around the world. the story of how he solved a kidnapping through God speaking to him is one I will definitely never forget. And that theme of miracles ties in nicely with our next theme, which is all about fruit, being encouraged by what God is doing in the Muslim world, whether it's individuals turning to Christ or churches being planted, believers starting to gather with one another or even movements beginning, This first clip It's episode number thirty-one, and it's called Life in Lebanon.

Jonathan 18:34

the top Islamic leader who started coming to faith in the South was called up to Beirut to the headquarters, and he was reprimanded and it's like the whole book of acts all over again. He basically said to them, look, what God has shown me and put in my heart, I will not keep quiet about. you can try and shut me up, but I'm gonna keep speaking." And he did. And to this day, he continues to share. Now he has to do it very sensitively. And some of the brothers started saying, "do you think you should leave Hamas? Because they are so much at odds with the gospel message?" He said, "no. I feel I need to stay within my community, but be salt and light and bring the yeast of the kingdom from within that community.

JPH 19:15

Now this emerging movement has grown to just under 500 believers. And around a hundred seekers, who meet in the study groups. And they've spread across around five or six, possibly eight of the 12 Palestinian camps in Lebanon.

Matt 19:33

One thing I love about hearing these kind of stories is that you won't hear about this on the mainstream news. And yet it reminds us that God is on the move. There are a few places around the world where the numbers of Muslims coming to Christ are in their hundreds and even thousands. some folks who've out of Islam from Muslim family and a Muslim background and their personal stories have been so inspiring and so encouraging. next clip is one of those. A couple called Shino and Shania Gabo are fully public all over YouTube and doing great ministry the country where they grew up, Somalia. And met Jesus in a dream.

Shino & Shania Gabo 20:14

So I find myself in front of my house and I have seen a man coming from heaven and he had white robe and he was bright light. The light coming through him filled the earth and his hand was open like that. Come all of you. You will be safe. I can see him. He come from heaven. Only his voice, all the world can hear. And I looked, at my right hand, I looked, at my left hand. I saw everyone worship that man, including myself. I kneeled down, I bowed down and I said, you are my God. I worshipped that man who came from heaven. So the next night I had another dream. This time even more clear. So my mother gave me in my dream, Quran, and she told me to read the Quran and I looked in my mother's eyes and I said, "Mum, Jesus is the way, the truth, the life. No man comes to the father except through him. You have to believe him." I never heard those words in my life. I never went to church in my life, but I'm preaching now. I'm here preaching Jesus is the way, the truth. so she get mad and she get angry and she said, "what are you saying? Please give me water." And I went to kitchen quickly, bring glass of water and food, and everything become cross-shaped. I tried to hide with my finger. It goes back to cross. That moment my mother looked at me and she said, "you become Christian. You are infidel." And she left the room.

Matt 21:37

Such an amazing story wonderful to hear of that happening in Europe after they left their home country. And it reminds us to be praying for those around us, those who've come as immigrants or refugees or asylum seekers, Muslims who've now got an opportunity to meet Christians, to find a Bible And be discipled in person in our own neighborhoods here. Other incredible ex-Muslim stories that we've heard recently are from Sharik Khan, episode 88, From Shame to Sonship. Episode 99 with Yemeni John Ghanem, which we called Losing My Religion. And one of the most amazing stories I've ever heard was episode 85, From Mecca to Christ, featuring Ahmed Joktan. Just incredible how God called him and drew him to himself, even led him through a dream into a church in New Zealand. and all because the team there Had been praying for someone from Saudi Arabia to come into their church and come to know Jesus. So that's the section on fruit. Such an encouragement to us all, in the global church, but especially to those who are working in the Muslim world and haven't seen fruit yet. It's just amazing to hear these stories, sometimes the fruit of prayers for many, many years in a place, and workers sowing the seeds of the gospel, others coming and watering those seeds. Eventually, we know the fruit will come. I love that promise of Jesus in John 15:5, where he says, "I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing." And these stories just remind us of the truth of that promise that Jesus has given us. Much fruit will come. We may not see it with our own eyes, but it is promised and it is inevitable. God will draw people from every tribe and every language into his kingdom. so finally, we move on to the section which I'm calling learning from others. There are so many nuggets of wisdom, things we can learn, especially if we're thinking of going overseas ourselves, and I often hear from folks around the world who say, I've been serving here for many, many years, but I love listening to the stories of others in the Muslim world because I still learn from them things we could try here, things that they've experienced that we do too. That just helps me realize I'm not alone." And this first clip is just a very simple story from a lady called Yasmin in Darfur, Sudan, showing how important it is to respect the local culture and move towards them in some of our habits and customs

Sabina 24:03

Some did assume that we were Muslims because we were dressing like they were dressing, especially the women. I at first didn't, but I got so many looks comments from men that for my own protection. I would dress like they did and I started to love it. It's a four meter long piece of material that you wrap around yourself and you're also protected from the heat because the sun doesn't shine that heavily on you. It's over 40 degrees for I dunno, 80%. So this material is also protection from the

Speaker 7 24:36

the sun.

Sabina 24:37

And when I would walk by, I could sometimes hear the people talking behind my back and saying, huh, what is she? Is she a Muslim? Or what is she? Which will give an opportunity to say, you know, I'm dressed like you because in my book we are encouraged to dress modestly. And if this is modest for you guys, I can do what you do.

Matt 24:59

Without compromising the gospel, we want to make the bridge from Islam to Christ as easy as we can. respecting local customs, local habits, learning the language, and so on. just make it a little bit easier for Muslims to consider Christ. Some of the other things we cover are people's early stories of feeling called into mission and life overseas, and that's really informative for many of us, breaking down that idea of what calling actually is. We learn about making friends. We learn about listening to God. We learn about movement thinking. We've learnt about mission history and even reaching Muslims in Western contexts. and two quite key episodes that we did were partly in response to you guys, our listeners, who were asking us to do something on on tips for reaching Muslims particularly. And so Mike and I did one episode called Top Ten Tips for Reaching Muslims. That was episode 82. and that's been a very popular episode, one that's really good to pass on to others. And then a few episodes later, episode 86, we did one called Ten Myths About Mission and Missionaries, which I really enjoyed doing, just breaking down some of those false ideas about what life on the mission field is or who can be involved with it and so on. Really important, I think, for those who are considering going and are tempted to rule themselves out for a variety of reasons. and here's a clip from the Top Ten Tips episode where Mike's sharing about our time at the World Cup in Qatar.

Mike 26:23

I remember when we were at the World Cup, we used to get on the bus and sit next to people with a Saudi shirt on or Iran shirt or something like that. Mm-hmm. And I remember just getting into conversation, asking where they're from and that kind of thing. But someone had taught me the miracle question and the miracle question being, if Allah could do a miracle in your life, what would you ask for? Hmm. And that was just a really nice conversation opener with people because when we're talking to Muslims, they already believe in God and so. It's not necessarily as awkward as it is speaking with my white English neighbors, if you like. And one of the really interesting things in those conversations was the answers they gave, they were quite consistent most of them would say, I want to go to heaven. Which really surprised me. But they gave amazing opportunity to have a further conversation.

Matt 27:11

These kind of simple tips, I think, can really help us day-to-day as we bump into Muslims in the supermarket or on the train or wherever else one of the other things I've tried to do as we invite people to be interviewed is to get a different set of voices from around the world. I particularly want to hear from Global South workers, workers from Latin America perhaps, or Africa, or Korea or the Philippines. And that's been a real joy to get a host of different perspectives One of my favorites in that regard Was hearing from Dr. M in episode sixty-eight, which we called Seeds from the East: The Chinese Missional Impact. it was just great to hear about the impact of the Chinese church on mission these days, knowing that the same is true with the Latinos and the Africans who are reaching out to Muslims all over the world now. Do check that one And that's it. And as we look back over these hundred episodes, I'm so grateful to God and just so grateful to those who've been involved with this project from the beginning, way back in lockdown Yeah, big shout out to some of the guys who've helped with the mixing and recording and planning, artwork and music and all that. And what about you guys? How can you be involved? I'm sure many of you enjoy listening and get inspired and encouraged and challenged, but what about going forwards? Is there something God might be challenging you to do? Many of you pray, I know, for Muslims around the world in unreached places. Many of you are on the sending side, encouraging those in your churches. Maybe you can get more involved with praying for Muslims around you and at the ends of the Earth. Maybe you can get more involved with sending. Really asking the Lord about your own church, fellowship, home group. Lord, who are you calling? Which of the young people here or retiring people might you be at work in calling to the nations? How can we encourage them, see what you're up to in them? How can we perhaps speak to our church leaders to encourage them to be more proactive in asking God about our role in His great mission? Perhaps you could start a Momentum Yes course in your church or join the missions committee and be part of setting the strategy for what the church can do globally. Perhaps you can be more involved with welcoming immigrants and refugees from unreached parts of the world. Or perhaps the Lord has blessed you financially, And maybe He's challenging you to give more, to give generously so that the gospel can go to those who've never had the chance to hear it. One of the ways you could do that would be to scroll to the bottom of the notes in the episode blurb, and you'll see a button that says, "Support the podcast." You could just give a couple of pounds or a couple of dollars a month, and that would really bless us and help us to keep doing what we do. and ultimately our prayer here is that many of you listeners will be inspired to go, to put your life on the line, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. To say to Him, Here I am, send me. I'm willing to go wherever you call me, Lord, whatever the cost, whatever it takes." That's our deepest desire because that's what Jesus told us to pray. The harvest is ripe, but the laborers are few. That's where the issue is. We need more laborers, more workers to reap the harvest, to see what God is doing, to be a part of what God is doing in the nations. To welcome every tribe and tongue into His kingdom. So big thanks to all of you listeners out there. much as Abraham was blessed to be a blessing, our prayer is that you will be to those around you and to those at the ends of the earth. Thanks for being with us today, guys, on this special episode,

Speaker 30:27

Do get in touch if you want to share how God is speaking to you through the podcast, or if you want to partner with us in raising up more workers for the harvest. You can email me personally, matt@frontiers.org.uk Have a great week and do join us next time to hear from more ordinary people serving our extraordinary God in some of the toughest parts of the world.