Portugal just beat Ghana 2-1. This is now the 12th time in the last 2 weeks we have opened our doors for the neighbours to watch World Cup Football games on our church’s 14 foot screen. A couple of nights ago a man walking by the church, stopped in to watch the last 1/2 hour of England v Costa Rica. When he saw there were snacks and soft drinks available he asked if he could indulge, saying he hadn’t eaten for 3 days–no food and no money. After the game was over, he gladly received a voucher from our church’s Foodbank which would give him about 3 weeks of groceries, practical help to get him back on his feet, and opportunity for spiritual counsel and prayer. Pray for C.W. and others like him in our area.

Another night saw a group of 6 young Muslim men come in together to watch a game, perhaps feeling safer in numbers. I suspect that the soon advent of Ramadan will make such appearances less likely. Here in the UK, Muslims will be fasting for about 19 hours each day due to its northern latitude (same as James Bay). The World Cup games show here in the evening, at a time when many people are making final preparations to break the fast, or doing their obligatory prayers, or actually having their first food and drink since before dawn. Which would you choose–football or food?

The Fast of Ramadan is unworkable above the Arctic Circle where the sun never sets in the summer and never rises in the winter. If God really established the Fast, did He somehow forget about the extreme north and south of this planet? No, this is one of the clear evidences of the non-divine origin of Islam. I am impressed at Muslim devotion and effort, but no one should have to endure this burden in the first place. They are trapped in this obligation for a complete month every year as long as they live. May God grant freedom to the captives!

George

p.s. the BBC has an interesting article on this subject here

Amazing!

This spontaneous scribble on a cardboard flower by one of the girls clubbers speaks for itself. If we can leave positive memories like this of Christians and church with the boys and girls in our clubs, fantastic! God will use it for good in the years to come.

Encouraging!

Eighteen months ago, we mentioned our hope of forming a local Christian network to generate focused prayer for the Muslims who comprise 21.8% of Birmingham according to the 2011 census. Well, the network was born with 6 Christian leaders who met to pray as Mahabba East Birmingham (Mahabba is Arabic for “love”). That initial meeting became a monthly event, meeting in a different church or ministry facility each month. Then a second monthly meeting began. Today, seven area churches and five local parachurch ministries are part of Mahabba East Birmingham. Recently, the network sponsored a seminar mainly taught by believers from Muslim background on how churches can help new believers integrate into the church family. Soon it will offer a workshop on using Bible stories to explain the gospel.
This is all encouraging, because we believe that when God’s people begin to feel the need to pray, it is because God is about to do something new. And we want to be part of what He is doing.

Yours for Jesus’ sake,
George and Karen King

There are three kindhearted Muslim friends I’ve seen in the last 24 hours who could use your prayers. First is “Monty” (anyone remember, “Let’s Make a Deal”?). He came to visit me at home just because he heard I had hurt myself (nothing big). May God bless him for his compassion.

Then there is “Danny” who lives across the road from us with his wife and 2 daughters. Danny is thanking God for healing from a life-threatening illness that he had before we knew him. Our heart’s desire is that he and his whole family get to meet “The Great Physician”.

Finally, there is “Harry” who actually played guitar in our worship band on Sunday morning, staying through to listen to God’s Word being preached by yours truly. I know it may shock some readers that a Muslim played in our worship band, but Harry enjoyed it and hopes to do it again. (My personal stand is that the worship leader must be a church member in good standing, vocalists should believe what they are singing, whereas musicians need to be at least agreeable to the Christian lyrics and the ethos of church, even if they are not sure about what they believe.)

Who knows? MAYBE in answer to your prayers, God will grant repentance to each one of these men. So please pray for Monty, Danny and Harry.

And there you have it…Three Men and a Maybe.

Yours for Jesus’ sake,
George and Karen King

Christmas season abounds with opportunities to share the good news of Jesus Christ. The other day we took some Christmas baking and a Christian calendar to our newest neighbors across the road. They were so welcoming and it was very special to find out that they are Bangladeshi Muslims. Later that day, the husband came over with a Christmas gift and card for us.

On Sunday evening we celebrated a traditional “9 lessons and carols” service, tracing the history of what God did to bring salvation into the world in the birth of Jesus Christ. The day before that, we were part of an open-air Christmas outreach event at a busy local shopping area. On the previous Wednesday afternoon we sang Christmas carols with the residents of a nursing home just across the road from our church.

In Karen’s last ladies ESL class she talked about the symbols of Christmas (candy canes, wreaths, stars) and what they mean along with a gift of homemade Christmas cookies. Afterward the ladies said that in the new year they all want to bring food one day and have a new year’s party together. What fun!

We thank God for you at this special time of year as we realize just how much He has blessed us.

George and Karen