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Apostolic Mentoring
Converting Access Challenged Nations Distinct Cultures Part 2 ... English
Sister Iptissam Azar shares powerful strategies for reaching Access Challenge Nations through relational evangelism and biblical hospitality. She outlines practical approaches for building trust with collectivist cultures by finding common ground and showing Christ's love through consistent relationships.
• Collectivist cultures (most of the world outside North America) build trust through long-term relationships, not accomplishments
• Biblical hospitality means love for strangers and differs greatly from modern Western hospitality
• Discipleship can and should begin before conversion through authentic relationship building
• Oneness Apostolics are uniquely positioned to reach Muslims through shared belief in one God and holy living
• Miracles happen anywhere life happens, not just in church services
• Finding commonality in dress, family values, and moral standards creates natural bridges
• Political opinions should never hinder gospel opportunities with immigrant communities
• Trust is built at home over meals, not through arguments or direct confrontation
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In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus, In the name of the Lord. In the name of the Lord, in the name of the Lord, In the name of Jesus, hallelujah. I worship you, Lord, Praise your mighty name, God, Hallelujah. Hallelujah In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus, hallelujah.
Speaker 1:Well, praise the Lord, everybody, and welcome to our second monthly Apostolic Mentoring Special Edition episode. And this is such an amazing first two episodes just talking about winning Access, Challenge, Nation, Distinct Cultures. Last month we had Dr Azar with us, Just an amazing, so fruitful and so well-received episode. I mean, it was beast mode. You guys know it was beast mode. The multitudes of thousands of views that that episode just got on Facebook alone was just amazing. And I'm so thankful for the way God has used that episode to bring wisdom, understanding, direction to his global army. And now we get to have Sister Azar today and I found out what her first name is and I'm so excited about it and I'm going to try to say it, and I'm so excited about it and I'm going to try to say it Eptisam is that right?
Speaker 1:Sister Azar. And it actually means smile, which is so fitting for Sister Azar because every time I see her she's got a wonderful, beautiful smile and she has such a wonderful heart and it's just such a joy to be with brother and sister Azar. I love this family. They are some of the just purest kingdom motivated, just intentional apostolic warriors in God's army. And we've got Dr Azar on today. He might as well say hi to us before I give the whole interview with Sister Azar. But, dr Azar, we love you. Would you just greet everybody, since you're here.
Speaker 2:It is a harvest that is untapped and we really need to strengthen and equip everybody in our fellowship to do this. Thank you, brother Rabinett, for leading this. It is such a needed harvest that we, as apostolics, are required to reach but step into this slowly and I think this will be a boost to the kingdom of God. So thankful, I'm thankful, to be part of this.
Speaker 1:Amen. Thank you, dr Azar. Sister Azar and I were talking right before the session went live and I again I don't know this to be completely factual, but I was thinking about it this morning when I woke up I cannot think of a nation in the world that does not have the distinct cultures of Access Challenge nations present inside those nations. I think every nation in the world has some degree of those distinct cultures present and because of that it is the mission and, I believe, the mandate of heaven that we have a focused effort to reach those distinct cultures. It is not simply those that are just born in the nation, those ethically specific, culturally distinct that are a part of that specific nation that need to be reached. If you're a missionary there, if you're a believer there, every single distinct culture in that field is your responsibility. God handpicked you, strategically placed you, and you cannot dismiss or marginalize the cultures that are in the nation and say, well, that's not really the people of this nation. Everybody there is our responsibility and everybody on earth it is our responsibility to preach the gospel to them. And so I'm very passionate about winning Access Challenge Nation, distinct Cultures and to have Dr and Sister Azar a part of this mission and in leading the way. They're the tip of the spear in this ministry. We honor them and believe so greatly in their mission and again I'm so excited to have Sister Azar today.
Speaker 1:Sister Eptisam Azar, born in Jordan, she immigrated with her husband, dr Azar, here with their two children in 2007 to America. She has a bachelor's degree in computer science, a master's in business administration and she's licensed with the United Pentecostal Church a minister of the gospel, not to mention everything they do with multicultural ministries, middle Eastern evangelism, multicultural ministry coordinator in Detroit Metro District, and translating books radically apostolic, and so that is just a huge, just mouthful of just great effectiveness in the kingdom. Sister Azar, you are a hero of the faith. You and your husband are such great weapons in God's arsenal. We thank you for being here today. We thank you for being so willing to share your ministry with the world and please take your liberty, do what you guys always do and just preach the gospel. Thank you.
Speaker 3:Thank you, brother Robinette. It's such an honor and privilege to be here. It just means a lot to us to see how many people are willing to grow the kingdom of God by, you know, reaching others, those that are your neighbors, your friends, those that are strangers around you, wherever you are or wherever you will end up being. I'm going to share my screens. Let's see if this is going to work quickly and if you don't mind, I'm just going to get right into it. Let's see here. Let me know if you just can see it. Okay, I have to remove this here. Okay, so I'm going to start by talking about the different approaches of evangelism that we are all used to. We see this first one a lot in North America inviting people to church, and this works for Americans. But for people from collective culture generally, this does not work a lot, because our even not just our religion, our denomination is our identity. So it is strange for a Catholic to go visit an Orthodox or an Orthodox to go visit a Baptist. Now we're talking about a Jordanian going to visit an apostolic or a Baptist. It's just not in our, it's just not the way we do it, we're not comfortable in doing that. And the other approach is the direct, where we, you know, all the way, like whatever conversation we're talking about, we direct people to Jesus. This might seem a little straightforward direct forward, with immigrants, with people from that type of culture. And then we have the apologetics, which you know. You challenge people's faith and you defend your faith. With that we can create enemies and sometimes we just do it for you know, just intellectual conversations. And then the testimonials is a big one Also, we've seen it in the United States A lot of pastors you go and go tell your testimonies, and Shadi touched on this a little bit last month. Testimonies, and Shadi touched on this a little bit last month. People from a collective culture are deductive thinkers. So if you want to tell me something that I really want me to believe in it, you come with the principle first show me the scripture and show me how it's working in the Bible. Give me some more scriptures and tell me that it happened to you. I actually was trying to witness to my aunt and I just started to tell her my experience about me receiving the Holy Ghost and she immediately stopped me and she said your experience only matters to you. So that's how they think Now, the most effective way that we found out with immigrants, with ACN cultures, are the relational evangelism.
Speaker 3:It is more lasting, it is more relevant to the things that they're dealing with, whether if it's their lack of faith, whether their hardship, anxiety, you're touching the matter, that the thing that really matters to them. So this was the most successful that we have seen. It highlights the value of the person. It shows the love of God in you. It's so personal and that love of God in you will draw people to him. So building a relationship with the people will bring them closer to God.
Speaker 3:Now, how to build the relationship with immigrants, with people from you know, middle Easterns, acn, people that are. I will just summarize when I say collectivist, I mean everybody except North America, australia and few European countries, but the rest of the world are considered collectivist. So the first thing is acceptance. A collectivist needs to know that you are not a threat to them, their family and their community. Knowing you will determine the extent of the relationship. And that's why, in your first interaction with them, they ask where are you from? And they ask about your job, your family, your age, your children, your religion, and they basically want to put you in a box, basically want to put you in a box and if the interaction results in a change of who you are, they will change the box that you're in and that, technically, will change the relationship with you, negatively or positively. So you might be talking casually or making jokes, but their gears are spinning as they're trying to figure out where you will stand in the relationship. So, in your conversation with them, point out the good things that you want them to know about you. You know your interests of them trying to fit you in that instead of them trying to fit you in that random box. Tell them about who you are and what you do and share with them your values. Now, this is not going to be, of course, a dump of information, but it has to come organically within the conversation.
Speaker 3:Trust building and trust perception are different between collectivist and individualist. For individualist trust is often built through a personal accomplishment. I give you a task, you accomplish the task you're trustworthy For. A collectivist trust is often built through strong, long-term relationship. Trust building is a gradual process tied to the family, the community and the integration in that community. They build trust in the house, when they visit with you, when they hear you talk about your family and they see how you treat your wife, your elders and your family. This happens over a meal on the kitchen table. It happens when they hear your opinion about life in general, your faith and your moral values. This is how they build trust. Now why is building the trust important For a collectivist to share with you that they are not satisfied with their religion. It takes trust To share with you that they are having issues at work or in their marriage. That will take trust. People are more likely to consider new beliefs or ideas if they come from someone that they trust and respect, and so to build that trust it will require time to be spent with the individual. So house-to-house visits may seem in our individualist eyes are a waste of time, but in the collectivist eyes it's trust-building and community-strengthening.
Speaker 3:Hospitality is also an important tool for relationship-building, and I'm talking about biblical hospitality. Biblical hospitality the word hospitality is the English word that the Bible translates from the Greek, which combines the two words philo, which is the word that we're all used to it's the love, or affection and the word philos, which means stranger. So it basically means the love for strangers, and in our apostolic culture we focus a lot about fellowship, but sometimes we confuse fellowship with hospitality or loving the stranger. Fellowship, in its meaning, it's basically a friendly association, especially with people who share one's interests. It's like you and I. It's like the people in the church. We have something in common. But with hospitality it's something that you don't necessarily have anything in common. It's somebody who is strange for you. In Hebrews 13, it says let brotherly love continue and do not neglect to show hospitality to stranger. It is a command to us. It's not an optional thing and it's different from fellowship. But now, fellowship and hospitality, both are needed.
Speaker 3:One is not more important than the other, and I would like to spend a few minutes here to talk about hospitality in the context of collectivist and individualistic culture. This is me I just believe this that hospitality had shifted away from its biblical essence. And it's not because we refuse to practice the biblical hospitality, but it's that deviation from the biblical hospitality was basically a natural progression from our individualistic mindset and Shadi touched on the differences between collectivist and individualistic. I just want to talk about it from the hospitality specifically.
Speaker 3:In our individualistic mindset, hospitality is a choice. It's often scheduled, prepared. You choose to do it or you don't choose to do it. Your home is a private space. A guest must be invited. Any unannounced visits can feel intrusive. Your personal time and space are very highly valued. You do you. You're independent. You have a choice who to invite, when to invite and when to even end the visit. Hospitality is curated. It's about presentation and planning and not just the presence, and I love that. My family, we got accustomed to that very quickly because it's very easy and convenient for your family. But that's not how the rest of the world operates and if we want to reach the world, we have to tailor our efforts to what speaks to them and make them feel welcomed.
Speaker 3:Now, in the collectivist mindset, hospitality is responsibility, welcoming others, especially strangers. It's expected and an honorable thing. The home is open for neighbors, extended family and even unexpected guests. People come before personal convenience. We belong to each other. I open my house today, you open your house tomorrow. My house is a shared space. It doesn't even belong to me, it belongs to God. I should not hold it from my home from inviting people, and it's not about, of course, impressing them, it's about including them, make them feel welcome and loved.
Speaker 3:Now, there's no right or wrong, there's no good or bad culture, but we're not viewing hospitality from what makes sense to you and I. We want to understand the biblical hospitality and use wisdom based on the culture that we're working with, that we're working with Now. There are similarities between the way hospitality is viewed and practiced in the biblical time and in a collective culture even until now, and it's different from the way it's practiced and viewed in North America Today. The most understanding of hospitality has that minimal moral component. It's just an extra thing that we do it if we have the time. We very early see it as spiritual obligation In the collectivist mindset.
Speaker 3:To be hospitable is to gain and maintain the honor of the individual, their household, the whole community by receiving and offering the protection not only for family but also for strangers. And we see that demonstrated in the Bible when Abraham received the three men in Genesis 18. There's so many examples of hospitality that is packed in that story. I really encourage you to read it Later the two men who were received by Lot and were offered protection, the Shunammite woman who offered a place of rest for the prophet. And it was not only in the Old Testament that hospitality carried a high moral value and was received as that command, but we also see it in the New Testament.
Speaker 3:The Bible, in Romans 12, stresses on important things for the Christian living, like being fervent in the Spirit, serving the Lord, even prayer, and distributing to the necessity of the saint, but also given to hospitality. I don't want to say prayer is the only important thing for Christian living, but opening your home is important, loving someone is important, showing them that you care about them is important. And 1 Timothy tells us that the bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober of good behavior, given to hospitality. And then it says apt to teach and notice how it's mentioned that the church leader must be hospitable before being able to teach Hospitality. It's that both action and affection, receiving and loving a stranger. And if we can demonstrate that we love and care for someone, then they will begin to trust and receive our teaching. Our focus must be on the individual. Then the teaching will come.
Speaker 3:When reaching people, it is important that we break through barriers and not unintentionally build walls. And I'll give you an example when we tell people this person needs a Bible study, if you go to a Middle Eastern, for example, and you say I would like to give you a Bible study, two things would come to their mind. First, who are you to teach me a Bible study? Who put you in that status of a teacher? I don't know you. I don't trust you. I have just met you. What are you credentialing? And then the other thing that comes to their mind is why would you assume that I don't know my Bible? Now, whether they know it or not? But that's what comes to their mind and you might not like that, but that's how they're wired. That's how they're thinking. It's very hard for them to build trust. It's not an easy thing, but the way to work around this is that you spend time with them. You establish that trust. Way to work around this is that you spend time with them. You establish that trust. They see you in your home, how you treat your family, how you have peace in your home, and they would feel that I want that. And they would reach to you and say I want to know how do you have peace? And then you would open your Bible and talk about how God gives you peace. It does not.
Speaker 3:When we when my husband and I do Bible studies, we don't carry charts. Nothing against charts, but Jesus didn't carry charts. But that's not how the culture works, right? We visit people, we sit down for coffee, we would have a meal and people just open the subject. They would you know. Sometimes they would ask well, how was your weekend? Well, we were at church. Oh, what did you do? Oh, why is your church different? So it brings up conversation. It oh, why is your church different? So it brings up conversation. It brings up. Sometimes we would just sit and talk about parenting, so we don't call it a Bible study, but we do a lot of teaching of the Bible.
Speaker 3:While we're talking about hospitality and then I'll move back to relationship building Hospitality is reciprocal. In a collectivist culture it's a mutual obligation. I invite you today, you invite me tomorrow. There's a mental tab of who did the last move. So if you fail to reciprocate in that relationship, they feel that you're keeping distance and you don't want to pursue the relationship. So we had people, a missionary, telling us oh, people are inviting us to their home. I'm like are you inviting them back? They're like oh, no, well, that's how you establish the relationship.
Speaker 3:When you invite them, sometimes you have to insist on the invitation. Sometimes they refuse to come to your house because of the religious dietary restrictions. So when I invite Middle Easterners in my home, especially Muslims, I would say do you have any allergies for food or do you have anything that you don't like? And sometimes, if I'm inviting them, I would say I will make sure to bring halal food. I will put them at ease, instead of them feeling like, oh my God, like what is she going to, you know, cook for us and all of that. Or sometimes I would tell them I'm going to buy the food from the Middle Eastern store and if you don't know what that person would eat, a quick Google search about whatever religion and what that person would eat. A quick Google search about whatever religion, and you will find what would that tell you. If you're inviting a Muslim friend to your home, sometimes they might not come because your husband will be at home. So I would tell my friends is that, why don't you come over? My husband will actually be with his friend or at work. No-transcript.
Speaker 3:When they come over, try to offer more than one item. Think of it as more the effort and the abundance over the perfection and, of course, insisting on them trying. They would say no, no, the first few times, only to accept the third time In the American culture, and my husband and I were shocked when we started going to visit people. They would say here's the food, the coffee make yourself at home. I mean, people will leave your home hungry because it's a shameful thing that I come to your home and I'm like showing that I'm hungry and I'm waiting for you to feed me. It's just the way. That's the way they think. So you might need to insist and you know, get up and make their meal or something. The one thing that I feel it helped us is that when we ask people about the American culture, why do you do this? So what? I would tell people, orient people to your culture. It really breaks that barrier and it really creates shortcuts. The more we understood the culture, the less we were offended, and it makes that relationship much smoother.
Speaker 3:When greeting them, especially if you're greeting somebody from the opposite gender, wait for them to extend their hand. I'm talking specifically for Muslims. Wait for them to extend their hand. If they don't extend their hand, don't extend your hand. Sometimes you'll see them do this, which means don't extend their hand, don't extend your hand. Sometimes you'll see them do this, which means I'm sorry, I can't shake your hands, but you are dear to me. For Muslims, before prayer they would wash. They follow the very similar to the washing in the Torah and touching a woman would defile their wash and they will have to wash again. And same for the woman if she touches a man. But also if they touch a dog, it will defile their wash. So that's why, if you have the cutest pets in your home, when they come over, please put them away and that's why you will see that they're surprised that you consider your dog as part of your family. So cats, birds, fish, any small animals like rabbits, they're considered fine. They don't have any religious issues. When visiting them at their home, respect the hierarchy and shake the eldest person's hands first, instead of playing with the kids and stuff.
Speaker 3:Going back to the relationship building, providing the support for the family, collectivist decisions are often scrutinized by the community, so embracing a new faith can carry significant social consequences, including, you know, ostracism or alienation, and so individuals may be hesitant to explore Christianity without the support. But when you build a relationship with them, they will know that you belong to a group that you respect and you're loyal to and you belong to a bigger community. So if they ever feel that they are too separate from their group, they are confident in you that you can provide substitute, a support system for them, so to speak. And then finding commonality look for everyday points of connection such as family life, food, sports maybe not so much sports because, like in Jordan, we play football, you call it soccer. We don't play baseball, we don't play hockey, so maybe not too much of a sport, but anything that is like community events, just to start any natural conversation. Now we take this a step further and find commonality. For example, in dress I talk about how conservative my family is, my church family are, like we don't do the.
Speaker 3:Secular dating Find something in common that speaks to their value. Secular dating Find something in common that speaks to their value Shared experiences or values, lower defenses and make it easier to discuss spiritual matters without it feeling it's forced. Our Asian friend told us one time he said American comes across very confident and can be very intimidating, so it makes them very hesitant to have a relationship or even approach an American just because you come overconfident and they don't feel that there's anything in common between you and them. When we talk about people from the majority religion, and we're talking Middle East, central Asia, west Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. There's so much we have in common as apostolic that we can use to build a bridge with them, and because they believe in the Torah and the Bible.
Speaker 3:It is important to know these when building a relationship with someone from this religion. They believe in one God, in the outward holiness. They are pro-life respect to spiritual authority. It is the only other religion in the world that evangelizes. They believe in the miraculous the virgin birth of Jesus. Jesus is alive in heaven. They value hospitality, the prayer. It's essential to know these things to find something in common when you're having conversations with them. Now, there is no one on earth that is better positioned to reach somebody from that religion like a Oneness Apostolic.
Speaker 3:On many occasions we were having conversation with someone from that religion. They would either ask or just the Lord opens the door in one way or another, and we would give a quick introduction about our faith and what we have in common that they don't know about, and we challenged ourselves that in our first meeting with anybody, we want them to know two things about us. First is that we believe in one God and we reject the Trinity, and the second thing is that we live in a holy lifestyle, inward and outward. And why do we say that we reject Trinity? Because all Christians say they believe in one God, but of course, the Trinity is in their core beliefs, which contradicts the oneness of God. So we need to say that we reject the Trinity because the first objection they have against Christianity is the Trinity, and so by saying that, we took this objection completely off of the table.
Speaker 3:We had many conversations with individuals who are influential in their community. We shared with them that we believe in the oneness of God and that we practice modesty and holy living. A lot of them get on the edge of their seats and they're just shocked. One person I remember. After sharing that with him, he said I've been to so many Bible studies and I've never heard what you're telling me. He said the priest said you just have to believe in it. He was searching and that's why he attended Bible studies, although you know he was not a Christian, but he was searching. He was looking. Obviously he stopped going because he was not satisfied with the Trinity and obviously he stopped going because he was not satisfied with the Trinity.
Speaker 3:Another thing that we make sure to share with them is that we experience the miraculous that they always pray for. But they don't attain it. And if you tell them, hey, is there anything I can pray for you? Or if you know that they need something, you ask them hey, can I pray for you? There's a survey that says that out of the thousand people that were asked to pray for you, there's a survey that says that out of the thousand people that were asked to pray for in Jesus' name, only three refused. So your chances are so high that they will agree to pray in Jesus' name because they know who Jesus is. Jesus is a healer in the Quran, so it's not as strange that you pray for them and you say in Jesus' name.
Speaker 3:Speaking of the modesty, we don't have to convince people from that culture or religion about modesty and it's important. But it's important that we show them that we share that with them and that we don't agree with the immodest living. They do not know that Christian modest women exist. They think that all Westerns are Christians and that all Christian is like what they see on TV. They're all immoral and not modest and we have to explain to them that we are different and that we pursue holy living inward and outward. And that's what the Bible teaches.
Speaker 3:And you can give them examples of, you know, of the dress distinction between men and women. For women, you can tell them the Bible says my hair is my covering. And how do we take pride in honoring God when we are being modest, honoring our husband by protecting our body? And although we might think that their women are forced to be covered and there are many reasons for them to be covered, such as you know, respecting their parents, the culture but some of them think of it as a shield of protection from that unwanted attention, you know, particularly from men, or they do it to never provoke a man to temptation through her action of dress. So, yes, pressure may be the reason why women are covered, but a lot of them, who live in the West especially, want to be covered. Some of them may look down on Western women based on what they see on TV and then they think of, you know, the Western women. They're all lacking boundaries, their life is as if all is being allowed, no restriction, and that's why we have illegal relationships, teenage pregnancy, damaged reputation and etc. So we have to be the ones that change their view of christian women by living our holiness and sharing what we believe from the word of god.
Speaker 3:Now let me share a few different approaches that can apply to all immigrant and especially people from this other religion. First, discipling before converting. We don't and we have to remind ourselves, we do not disciple only those who are saved. Discipleship can start before conversion. That's what Jesus did. Jesus spent time with many teaching and sharing parables, loving people, healing them, those who followed him and did not follow him. Not everybody followed Jesus, but he healed people. He fed everyone. His disciples were fully converted after he spent three years with them. We are not better than Jesus to have a new convert every month or year and put so much expectations on ourselves.
Speaker 3:Now, one of the dangerous things that I've seen a lot and I hear a lot from people you know I was in contact with this person, but I don't think they're interested. So they stopped the relationship and, yes, jesus told us to dust our feet, but sometimes I feel we dust our feet too early in the relationship. What if you kept that relationship? What if you kept that connection? And what if that person? Yes, they might have not needed you today, but they will need you two years from now. You have to be in that relationship. Don't cut off people. Keep the relationship.
Speaker 3:Now this discipleship can happen in a coffee shop, their home, your home, in the park, anywhere, but not necessarily invite them to church. You build the trust and the connection and every meeting is considered discipleship. Inviting them to home before you invite them to church and some people may not be able to come to your church and inviting them to church can disconnect them from their family and family is going to put a lot of pressure on them to even disconnect from you. We think discipleship only happens in a Bible study or a church building, but in reality, in these cultures, any interaction is discipleship, because you're talking to them about your faith, your family, your God and you show them how you behave in different situations in life. This is all considered discipleship. They're introduced to Christianity through you. You're like the walking Bible or the walking example of the Bible for them. So every moment you spend with them is discipleship. Don't feel like you know you're wasting time. You've been talking to this person for two years and nothing is happening. You are discipling them before they convert and the process of inviting someone to church works for the most part for American Christians or, to some degree, from different cultures with a Christian background.
Speaker 3:But I'm dealing with a non-Christian believer. I need to build the trust, then invite them home and ask questions. I need to share my faith. It's a long journey. Answer their questions. It will take a long time before we might see the fruit and sometimes you don't necessarily see the fruit with your time. Sometimes, like we have people witness to us when we were in the Middle East and then we moved to another country and people witness to us and we were saved here many years later. But those were seeds and if the seed is not sprouting, it's still under the ground. It's growing. Don't ever give up on the seed. It's not your responsibility to push it or see it. You know becoming God will take care of it.
Speaker 3:Another thing is that Americans are very respectful of people's space and privacy. But you should know that people from a collective cultures are used to having people in their space and are not accustomed to that privacy. People in a collective culture have no bubble. Friends, family and even distant relatives can be in their business, whether they like it or not. That is just what they're used to. So when you give them that space. They automatically think that you're just not interested in the relationship with them and it's okay to ask questions about them. Where are you from? What language do you speak? Sometimes be wise about you know, like you see, an Asian, and they could be already born here, and so sometimes I would ask what's the origin of your name, and that won't offend them as much as like where are you from. But they've lived here all their life.
Speaker 3:They will ask you these kinds of questions when are you from? What do you do? So you can also ask them personal questions about their faith and make it just organic without criticizing their faith. What do you think about your faith? Do you think you're going to go to heaven? Do you think you do enough work to get to heaven, because their faith is work-based. Do you know for sure what's going to wait for you in heaven? People don't have answers for these and they do not know if they're going to be saved. They do their prayers, their fasting and everything they can, but they don't have any assurance of their salvation, and this will give you the opportunity to share something about your faith and your assurance of salvation.
Speaker 3:Now, there are many methods out there and you can look them up on how to reach Muslims, you know, or people from other religions. But I believe methods by themselves can be just formulas, and formulas can limit what God wants to do, and that's why we don't call what we do a method, we call it a pathway. Every individual is different and, just as each one of us on this call or listening later, each one of you had your own story. None of us had just a similar story, but the Lord will use you as part of someone's story. So none of us were saved the same way. But the Lord will use you as part of someone's story. So none of us were saved the same way. But the real method is the Holy Ghost. He is the one who opens the door, who tells you when and how to speak. Peter in Acts 2, he spoke directly from the scripture to devout Jews who already believed in God, the God of Abraham. But in Acts 17, paul had a different approach. Paul stood in Athens and used their own poets and culture to point them to the one true God. Now, different pathways, it's just the same spirit.
Speaker 3:So what do we do? First thing, our part is to pray and fast and hear when and where to connect with the people, Listen for his direction and not just listen. Obey what he is saying to you. God may tell you this is the person, this is the time, but sometimes it may not be so clear to you, but you have just someone that the Lord put in your life. This is a person that keeps coming to your mind. I can tell you this is the person and now is the your mind. I can tell you this is the person and now is the time. Pray against fear, pray for boldness, Pray for opportunities and when the opportunities come, don't run away from them. There's a danger that I hear people saying I'm not ready. Well, they're not ready to convert either. You work together with them. You don't have to be perfect. Of course we have to know our Bible, but also trust that God will use the little that you know to reach people and fast for doors to be open and for godly encounters. Of course, some cultural knowledge is helpful and understanding of the religion's background is good to have, but it's not a must when we have just sharing the love of Christ and then you show them the love of God by your actions.
Speaker 3:Faith and love are feelings that we cannot express unless we do something. Show me your faith by your works. Also, in James it says faith by itself. If it does not have works, it's dead. Same thing with love. Show me your love by what you do. If you never check on me, you never ask about me, I don't know. If you love me. It's in your heart, I don't know about it. So if we say we care about people from other cultures or religion, then what are we doing to show that love? If you don't do anything about it, we're not really expressing that love.
Speaker 3:The most common theme among converts is the unconditional love given to them by a Christian. It made them wonder why is this person helping me? In our conversation with people, we direct them to God and his love for them and bring a story from the Bible that applies to their situation. God loves you, he took care of this and he will take care of you. We throw God's nuggets of scriptures, of parables, whenever we interact with them, because they need to know that this love is not from us. Now we can be caught up and enjoy being the good person that they love and you're helping, but that's not the goal. They want to know that God that is using you to show them love. They want to know that God is the source of the love in you, and we have to change our priorities and change the way we look at people.
Speaker 3:Sometimes, especially here, like with immigrants you feel that a lot of people coming with a lot of baggage, there's a need and you feel you're not only committed to the person, but you're committed to the need, and sometimes these needs are acute and pressing and they are opportunities for us to build a relationship. When we meet these needs, people from a collective culture will respect you and hear what you have to say when they know that you're committed to them. So hear their stories, listen to them intently, and they're going to give you a clue about what they need and where they're at. I believe that our duty is to help people where they're at and not where we want them to be. You may have an agenda right, but you have to put the agenda on the side when you're loving people and then you build the friendship and trust through hospitality.
Speaker 3:Collectivists are used to opening their homes and they will expect you to invite them to their home. You can use this for the kingdom's advantage, and I know it's a sacrifice to find the time and open your home and clean and get all that set up and you think of it as it's just a waste of time, but for them it's not. They are actually building trust. The way the collectivists trust you again is that they sit and talk and talk to get to know you more. Otherwise they can't trust you and they can't open up. When you do this, you will provide a safe place for them where they can share deep things that they might not be comfortable sharing in a restaurant or a coffee shop. Now, it can be frustrating. Of course they're going to stay for a long time. You may feel vulnerable, tied, you know, and just wasting that time, but they will feel that someone is interested in them and in having relationship with them. When you offer hospitality and love on a stranger, you're offering yourself your time and your full attention so you can answer their questions and their doubts with empathy. When they open up, we're blessed to know Jesus and when we offer hospitality, we're offering Jesus to a stranger. And after you build that relationship and the trust, there will be opportunities where you will expect to experience miracles as an apostle.
Speaker 3:Now, miracles don't happen only in church services or, you know, through licensed minister. They happen because God wants to save people and they can happen anywhere, in a synagogue, a home or streets. Jesus never limited miracles to one location and we love bringing people to church, for you know people to pray for them, or we pray for them, but they can't come because of so many reasons. So we take the church to them. Miracles can happen anywhere in life happens. Build a relationship strong enough that when trouble comes they can come to you. They would say my dad is sick or I need a job, I have an interview. Encourage them, say I trust God that he will do it. Pray with them in the moment and even follow up with the prayer, because you know when you pray you're expecting a miracle. So anticipate that miracle with them. What happened with your job? Check on them.
Speaker 3:The New Testament records 37 miracles of Jesus and only five were with people that he knew. The majority were for unbelievers, so they would follow him. The power of God through his miraculous works has been given to us. It follows believers as a witness to others. We need to take that power of God with us, especially for people from other religions, because he or she are not going to come to church? Some would, but most of them would be like why would I come to church? Why would I shame myself, my community, if they know I went to church? It's going to be bad. Their job might be at risk because they're working for their uncle Now.
Speaker 3:While Jesus was walking in the streets, he met people and their needs. He did not wait for the disciples to bring the people to him. In fact, he rebuked the disciples when miracles were not happening, because he was expecting his power to move. If God is expecting miracles to happen, then we must have the faith that they will happen. When miracles happened, people followed Jesus, and the miraculous is what's going to bring people from other religions to Jesus. Now, can you intellectually convince somebody to go and lose his family and get killed? It has to be the supernatural power of God. You cannot argue with the power. People may have a lot of questions and arguments against Christianity, but when they are healed by Jesus Christ, that's it. For them. The encounter with Jesus is enough. They don't need anything else.
Speaker 3:Now, in that religion also, they believe that God communicates to them in dreams. So when they need something like a decision about a job or anything from God, they would have a special prayer and they would go to bed expecting that God will give them a dream. And God sometimes appeared to them in a dream. They're actively seeking and we're hearing a lot of like massive number of people coming to Christ after seeing Jesus in a dream or in a vision. They're seeking him in many ways and he's meeting their desperation through these visions and dreams. But sometimes it can be thinking we're here, we're living among them, we are his body on earth. They should see Jesus in the daytime through us, not only just through these dreams. We have to be a witness to them. Now.
Speaker 3:The God that Muslims serve is so different from our God that we serve. It's important to understand this. In Islam, god is singular and impersonal. There is no relationship with humanity. He is amoral, meaning he can do good or bad. He is unpredictable, arbitrary and completely free, not bound by any moral law. He's seen as a mighty dictator and judge who can show mercy if he chooses, but there's no guarantee. This is so different from the God of the Bible. Our God is personal. I have a relationship with him. My God is always good and that's what we tell them. He's unchanging in his character One way we often start a conversation is by asking about justice.
Speaker 3:How can God be both just and merciful at the same time? If you grant mercy, you break justice. If you enforce justice, you deny mercy. In Islam, they claim God is both, but it's a contradiction, of course. In Christianity, however, mercy and justice meet perfectly. At the cross, justice says I should go to hell because of my sin, but mercy came when the judge himself paid the price for me. He didn't cancel a law, he fulfilled it and bore the penalty himself, balancing both justice and mercy. It's important for them to know that there are many other differences. My God gives me assurance of salvation.
Speaker 3:Something Islam does not provide is that the only guaranteed way to heaven is to die in jihad, killing for the sake of God. Otherwise, you're just fate determined by a balance of good and bad deeds recorded by angels on your shoulders. So, on judgment day, if your good outweighs your bad, you might go to heaven. So, on Judgment Day, if your good outweighs your bad, you might go to heaven. But even then, god could still send you to hell, and if your bad outweighs your good, he could still send you to heaven. There's no certainty, no confidence, no peace. They don't know. They're standing before God now and they won't know it until they die. They live hoping that if their last deed is good, perhaps God will be merciful on them. So imagine the burden of praying five times a day to a God you cannot hear, who does not touch you and who offers no guarantee of eternal life. It's like a prison, a prison where the Bible is forbidden. They're not allowed to think out that. They say. There's a scripture in the Quran that says doubting is from the devil. So, basically, you're allowing the devil in your life, and so that's why there's no even questioning in your mind and you just block that away.
Speaker 3:Christian conversion is discouraged, of course, and leaving Islam can mean death. It takes only 10 words to enter this religion, which by reciting the Shahada, but it's one of the hardest prisons to escape, and most who converts from Islam to Christianity do so because of personal interaction with Christians. Many have already begun to question or leave their faith, and we hear a lot of numbers and we've seen somebody that we know personally searching for something. You know they're searching for something more. We cannot waste this opportunity or just wait for people to show up at our churches. We are positioned in our faith and in the power of God to reach this harvest. This is our harvest. To reach this harvest this is our harvest.
Speaker 3:I've talked a few months ago with a lady, a former Christian woman, who was in her early 20s and she said Trinity did not make sense to me. So if she eventually married a Muslim man because of the oneness, and after 20 years of an abusive marriage, she left him, she ran away and she stumbled by an apostolic church. She was so frustrated and she said I wish I've known this. I would have not gone through those 20 years of hardship in my life. It is our responsibility to tell people about truth Now.
Speaker 3:Their need to hear the gospel is more important than your right to express your political opinions, and this is important for us, especially at this time. People from these regions are very tied to political issues. Some of what they're going through in life right now affects their day-to-day lives. But I can tell you, as ministers of the gospel, we do not have the luxury to express political opinions that will alienate our harvest. They don't have to believe or agree with our political views. God will do the work and the Holy Ghost will transform them. You don't have to convince them of anything.
Speaker 3:Most of these people are conservative in their values. They believe in borders, in the power of the police, in the role of the government. They just want to come here, live peacefully. They want to have their family be able to visit, they enjoy the freedom of this country. But because they come from a collective culture, they often see you not just as an individual but as part of the larger group. So if an Iraqi, let's say, person is talking to an American, they may think your country controlled my country for 15 years and you might think well, I was not even there, I didn't do anything, I didn't vote for that. But in their mind, as an American, you're part of the group and it's your responsibility. And you can't talk someone into loving your country or loving the politics or whatever. There's nothing you can say to erase the trauma in their life. If somebody killed their father because of the war, you can't erase that. So don't get entangled in political debates. It is very difficult to change someone's mind about deeply rooted political views or traumatic experiences that's shaped by just propaganda. Only God can change a heart. Your role is not to rewire them but to lead them to the cleansing power of the Holy Ghost and to give them the clean wash that only God can provide. He will take care of the rest. I'll just finish with this.
Speaker 3:Muslims are very easy to talk with, but they are the hardest to convert. The cost of conversion is incredibly high. There's family rejection, loss of community and even danger to their lives. It's a huge price that they have to pay, but that price is far greater than our fear or hesitation to start the conversation and share the truth with them. And if they rejected you, that's okay. You're not better than Jesus, whom people had rejected even after they saw him in the flesh. If you're rejected, it's not because you failed, but it's because you were trying. So keep trying.
Speaker 3:Our fear may not only be fear of rejection, but fear of having to go through everything that we're going through, and it will not be God's will for them to be saved. And I want to remind you in 1 Timothy 2.4, it states that God desires that all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth. We judge people and sentence them to hell because of our assumptions, and I'm sorry, I'm passionate about this. Assumption is the most dangerous thing that we do when we are in the flesh doing things of the Spirit, but God gives us the Holy Spirit for discernment, so that we do not rely on our own intellect and what we see in our physical eyes.
Speaker 3:Paul prayed for boldness, and that utterance may be given unto him. The boldness Paul prayed for was spiritual, more about leaning on God's power than on his own strength, so he could speak and act with confidence, no matter the risk. Paul was not bold and prayed for more boldness. Paul was afraid. In fact, he was telling the Corinthians about him and Timothy. He said we felt that we had received the sentence of death, but this happened. That we might not rely on ourselves. We are not relying on ourselves. We do not rely on ourselves. We rely on the power of the Holy Ghost and on God's wisdom. God's power through his Holy Ghost is not only for us to enjoy our salvation. This power is also to be used to fulfill the Great Commission. And then Paul, when he was telling the Corinthians, he said that this happened, that we might rely on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. If God that we serve raises the dead, will he not save a Muslim? Thank you, jesus. I'm going to give it back to you.
Speaker 1:Jesus. Thank you, jesus. I'm going to give it back to you, jesus. Hallelujah, praise God. Sister Zahar, if you can put us, take us off. I'm not sure how to do that either.
Speaker 3:I think I found it.
Speaker 1:I'm going to put Brother Azar and myself on here. Are you back on? Hallelujah Ikata Labo Shondo. Let me see here if I can help with this. Okay, let me see here if I can help with this. Y'all just give us a moment here. I'm just trying to figure out how to stop the screen share. Okay, wonderful. Oh, my goodness. You guys, this was just an amazing, anointed, powerful.
Speaker 1:Sister Azar was wrapping it up and her compassion for Access Challenge Nations, distinct cultures, was so, so evident and it was so clear and you know, they say a lot of times that some things are caught and not taught, and I could feel a burden for the precious people in Access Challenge Nations being imparted to all of our listeners and viewers as Sister Azar was ministering, and I'm so, so grateful for your compassion, sister Azar. Brother Azar, I'm so thankful for your wisdom, your direction, and I was thinking as you were. You made that. There was one of your slides that were just so revelatory when you talked about the. You know the things we have in common the oneness of god and the rejection of the trinity. Being very intentional about being clear about the rejecting of the Trinity. Our modesty another great thing in common. Miracles another great thing in common.
Speaker 1:And I remember years ago when we pastored in Vienna, austria, and I've told this testimony so many times and it's even in Radically Apostolic. I'm sure I can't really remember it's been a while since I've read the book, but I remember on that Wednesday night when the Muslim couple showed up at our church in Vienna, austria, and you know just try to cut this story short, but I remember they had been trying to conceive a child for 10 years over a decade of trying to conceive a child and it had been disappointing, it had been frustrating, it had been expensive. Doctors had told them there was no hope, no chance. And I remember it was a Catholic man at work with a Muslim man that told him there's nothing I can do for you, but if you could find the apostolic people, the God of the apostolics does miracles, if you could just find apostolics. And that Muslim man and wife showed up at our prayer meeting on a Wednesday night, came into our church looking for the God that does miracles, the Jesus that can do what religion can't do, the Jesus that can do what tradition can't do, the Jesus that can do what culture cannot do. And I remember praying for them that night and they wept so humbly as we surrounded them with love and compassion and heard them when they spoke and understood them when they spoke something they had not experienced before, something they had not experienced before.
Speaker 1:And I remember, you know, nine months later, when she gave birth to twins, and what an incredible miracle that was in the Muslim community and that was the beginning of our revival in the Muslim community. Because they called me and said Brother Robinette, can we have these babies dedicated to the Lord Jesus? And I remember them showing up collective community and they brought the community with them to testify of Jesus, healing them, of this miracle, and I will never forget that service, as we baptized that Muslim man and that Muslim woman in Jesus' name and they came out of the water speaking in other tongues, but it was the product of a miracle that only God could do and the culture, the collective culture that came with them, could not deny the miracle. This was real, this was legit, this was unexplainable with tradition, unexplainable with culture, unexplainable religion, but it was only explainable by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. And from there, 150 Muslims are baptized in Jesus' name and 100 are filled with the Holy Ghost, with the evidence of speaking with other tongues. And you guys this is the key the things that you are teaching us. This is so strategic for this hour. There are Access, challenge Nations, distinct cultures in every nation of the world, and it is our responsibility to reach them. It is our responsibility to love them, to be compassionate, to open our homes, to provide just that point of a personal connection with them, so that it's be it's.
Speaker 1:I loved what you said about everything we do is discipleship. We're so crazy we think it's got to be a chart, it's got to be a Bible study. I am the living word. I am. I am the living word, his word alive in me, his promises alive in me, his character alive in me. I am discipleship.
Speaker 1:When they come to my home and we just fellowship and we just talk about needs and their culture and find things in common oh my gosh, sister Azar, their culture and find things in common, oh my gosh, sister Azar, dr Azar, wow, Great, great, revelatory kingdom, critical words for God's people in the last hour of the church. And so we honor you, we esteem you so highly in the Lord, we thank you for you. You were both so incredibly bold, yet so incredibly wise with your words and measured your words by the leading of the Spirit. And I just know that this is going to energize, equip, activate, embolden and release God's army. And I know also that God is setting before his people open doors in the access, challenge nations, distinct cultures, communities that no man can shut. This is the greatest hour of the church and God is with us. Dr Azar, I love you, I'm glad you're here. Man of God, would you mind just closing this session with, however, whatever you want to say and then pray for God's people globally.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. I have a couple of thoughts. Access Challenge Nations we're not free to move and have a church and invite people to church. But again, paul was teaching specifically that we're not temple people, we are the temple of God. We are the ones moving the gospel people. We are the temple of God. We are the ones moving the gospel. We have the power of God and, as other denominations have intellectual methods to reach that demographic, we have the power of God. So we do not need methods. If you're filled with the Holy Ghost, then you are equipped with everything that is needed for a miracle to happen. So people from Axis Challenge nations do not have to walk to a building, but you will walk into their life, and that is something we push in North America, even because some people will not walk into a church.
Speaker 2:Now, all this to say, you need some cultural understanding, because we do think completely opposite of what you learn to do in American culture. The opposite thing include invite them home before church, talk to them about rejecting Trinity. You don't open up with this usually. You talk about the holiness. You don't usually open up on this on a regular basis in North America or other places. So we're already building trust in a different way. Trust is built over meals and fellowship, and we need to be ready to be a family to receive them. All these things are completely opposite almost to what we usually do in a non-access-challenged nation. So we are equipped, but we also need to know. We are equipped spiritually but we need to be equipped culturally. That's why our effort is we need to give these little tools. It's not complicated, it's very simple, but we want every apostolic to have this in the tool in their belt.
Speaker 2:You do not go fishing with one lure. You pick a lure according to the place you're fishing in, according to the fish you're trying to focus on. If you're a smart fisherman, you are going into strategically to the place and you have the equipment with you. Now you're a gifted fisherman because you have God's spirit in you, but you have to use wisdom. You have to use different style, like Paul did in Jerusalem, different than Athens.
Speaker 2:So we're not trying to change the message. We're trying to change the delivery, the way we share it. And when you're riding a car with Jesus going somewhere, you put certain tires. When you're going off-road, it's a different tire. When you're racing off-road, it's a different tire when you're racing on the field, it's a different tire. You don't change the message, all Jesus. You just change the way you deliver it. So we need to be, as apostolics, open to adopt, to make these changes to our regular method of evangelism so we can include people from Access Challenge nations in North America and be able to go overseas and share that. That's what I wanted to share, thank you, and if you have no comment, I'll be honored to pray.
Speaker 1:Thank you, doctor, go ahead.
Speaker 2:Lord, we're so thankful for the people who are listening and will be listening.
Speaker 2:Lord, we believe that you are equipping us in these last days to reach nations that we have never endeavored into reaching before.
Speaker 2:Lord, I pray that you give us an understanding and a vision that the harvest that is going to come in the end times will be a place of people released from a prison of the religion, and I know, lord, that your power is the only thing that would allow us to do this. I pray that you equip us with the strength and courage that we will share the power of God wherever we go, not just inside of the buildings, but all over the world. Lord, you equipped us. We are ready. We are reaching these communities because no one is, and we know that it's your will that they will be saved. We give you all the glory and all the honor, thankful for every soul that is going to be tackling this harvest that is hard to reach. What we do believe. These trailblazers are going to change the history of eternity because they're going to bring souls to the kingdom of God that no one have reached before. In the name of Jesus, I pray Amen, amen.
Speaker 1:Amen. Thank you, dr and Sister Azar. Once again, y'all are amazing. I do want to just put here in the chat one more time the link that Dr Azar posted where you can download. Dr Azar, do you have that handy real quick to just post once more in the chat? I want everybody to see that. I'll make sure it's in the Facebook chat as well. This has a lot of good details in it even more videos, even more just tools that you can put in your kingdom belt and God will help you to be a much more effective evangelist and soul winner and discipler. In these last days, thank you for being on this Apostolic Mentoring Special Edition and we look forward to next month's special edition. It's going to be awesome. I'll tell you more about that in the future. God bless you all, amen.
Speaker 2:Love you too. God bless you.
Speaker 3:God bless you, thank you.
