Question:
ok it goes like this. (oh im in kuwait by the way). in the junior high youth group, my Muslim friends loved it there because its full of fun and activities but they barely listen in the devotionals. well, as the year passed we had to move up to the senior high group cuz the junior is getting too kiddie for us. and my friends saw how we Christians worship, pray, and get into deep discussions about Jesus. they've been prayed for when they had problems...but as time went by they just felt out of place in church. one of them said that, "you told me that your church is opened to anybody. but i don't see any other Muslims who come here as visitors". then i told her about everyone i know who does... didnt work. her opinion didn't change. and the other one felt scared when one of the prayer warriors prayed for her and she was annointed with oil. i guess they felt that they were betraying their religion. cuz they're the type of people who do only what seems fun and spiritual things don't appeal to them. i think the devotionals bore them or makes them feel guilty that they're doing something against Allah. (cuz if they convert to Christianity, they can be killed or thrown away by their family) so they quickly halted attending the youth but the other one still comes once in a blue moon.
oh my gosh this really gets me down..what do i do? it really bothers me to see them fall into sin and addiction. both of them are often depressed. the other one cuts herself, takes pills, tries to make her anemia worse, and she's tried out satanism, witchcraft, etc. while the other one is full of family problems.
any advice?
Answer:
Im not giving any full advice, cause someone always flames me. But whatever anyone tells you, dont give up on your friends. We were put here to point people like them to jesus.
Answer:
Several thoughts:
I'm a Christian, and I'd be freaked out if someone tried to anoint me with oil.
Do they go to services somewhere? If so, have you ever gone with them?
Answer:
Originally Posted by streetsofgold "you told me that your church is opened to anybody. but i don't see any other Muslims who come here as visitors". Intriguing. But a little silly, as an expectation. Of course, anyone can come. But why come if you aren't a Christian, or interested in becoming one? It seems sort of dumb to just go to a church "because."
i guess they felt that they were betraying their religion. cuz they're the type of people who do only what seems fun and spiritual things don't appeal to them. i think the devotionals bore them or makes them feel guilty that they're doing something against Allah.[/quote]
If spiritual things don't appeal to them, why would they care what Allah thinks? Seriously. If all they care about is fun, then it's self-deceit to say something is against your spiritual guidelines, because it would seem as though spiritual guidelines can't really be developed.
oh my gosh this really gets me down..what do i do? it really bothers me to see them fall into sin and addiction. both of them are often depressed. the other one cuts herself, takes pills, tries to make her anemia worse, and she's tried out satanism, witchcraft, etc. while the other one is full of family problems. Okey-dokey. The first impulse that you might have is to "fix them." Convince them that they shouldn't cut, that they should eat, that they shouldn't "take pills," etc. Here's a piece of advice that too many people learn the hard way without knowing: don't do it. Fixing someone on a superficial level is the most effective method of genocide every introduced by man. The only thing you can do is sow the seeds that you can. Personally, I would pray that they have neither rest nor peace until they begin to seek God and God's word, and that thoughts would be put in their mind to make them do so. Why? Because all of these problems you feel so bad about are completely outside of your grasp to fix. The only one who can change someone's heart- where all of their problems stem from- is God. Period.
Have you tried to ask what they believe? Engage them in conversation about "spiritual" things? Find out why they seem to hate spiritual things and cling only to fun things?
If they start asking questions, or they respond by wanting to know something, don't make stuff up. Ever. It's perfectly okay to say, "I don't know" when someone has a question. Pray for them, even if it is for something as seemingly harsh as what I mentioned before; before Christ can rebuild you, he has to tear you down utterly. Painful, but true. There's no harm in praying for that.
I would also encourage for your church to do the same while respecting them.
Questions:
Have they ever read the bible?
How did your church treat their religion? (Most churches heap scorn on other belief structures, which is a huge reason why the Christian church is so hated)
Answer:
My roommate a couple years ago was an Ethiopian Muslim, and when he converted to Christianity about halfway through the year, he didn't feel as though he was betraying Allah but his family and his culture. It feels as though your friends are more concerned about that than about leaving Islam for Islam's sake. If they were concerned with that, they wouldn't be dabbling in Satanism or witchcraft, getting into drugs or other such things.
Everything else I would have to say would be paraphrasing Murdock's post above me.
Answer:
Remember that this is coming from a youth pastor. I think part of the problem is that you think bringing your friends to youth group is going to convert them. My opinion is that you ought to be talking to them about Christ, telling them what He's done for us, preaching the Gospel to them, in other words. Of course they feel out-of-place when you're worshiping Jesus, and they believe it's blasphemy to worship Him! I think that the Body of Christ has got to get it out of their heads that evangelism means "bringing someone to church." It doesn't. Talk to them about Jesus. Answer their questions. Learn to defend the faith against naysayers.
Answer:
thanks for the advice guys... i never forced them to talk about godly things unless they ask... well, today my friend opened the subject about church and i told her that its okay if she doesnt want to go and no one's forcing her to do so...but then she told me that the twin sisters in church are pressuring her to come and giving her long lectures that pisses her off. hmm im planning to talk to my youth pastor because there are some guys in the youth group who kinda made her feel that they didnt like her because she's into the hardcore stuff and she thought that these people don't like her because she's sri lankan.
i also have a prayer request..pleae pray for her cuz she has self-control problems. today she threw a chair at my classmate and curses at everyone endlessly. many people (not from church) hate her because of her attitude problems...but she thinks they hate her because she came from a third world country.