Love the Lord but Burn Evangelists at the Stake.
View from Fes has another excellent post (in a long string of them) entitled “Evangelical Missionaries in Morocco.” My personal feeling is that I appreciate when people…erm…”witness for the Lord” on a personal basis, but I loathe when individuals or groups visit another country for the specific attempt at converting its people. For example of the first instance, while on a teaching holiday (long story) in Spain, I met a really fascinating woman who professed to be a Born Again Christian. Normally, I would have avoided her like the plague, but we hit it off from day one (note: she didn’t mention her religious views until a couple of days into the program), and we were roomies for the 2 week holiday. She never forced her views on me, but when I showed curiosity, she talked about how she felt with such openness and enthusiasm that even Mme. Jaded (moi) was swayed. She said a couple of things in particular - which I won’t bore casual readers with - that really gave me more warm and fuzzy feelings about God.
Now then, to the evangelists. Can you imagine what it would be like if a group of Muslims came to, oh, SPRINGFIELD, OHIO (I’m from Columbus, so I know it well) and started going door to door? They would be strung up. People slam their doors when they see the Jehovah’s Witnesses coming down the street, so a whole flock of darker skinned men in white robes and beards would not be mistaken for the reincarnation of the Disciples, if you know what I mean.
So when this guy stated in his blog that he’s going to be spending seven weeks in Morocco “evangelizing” on an “outreach” to a “98% Muslim country” - I left him a curt little comment with an exact quote from Samir at the View from Fes (I’m sorry, Samir, but you phrased it so succinctly that I just couldn’t do better) on the illegality of such a trip and the potential ramifications. I know he’s still going to come here, so I probably wasted my time, but maybe it will make him think a little.
Also, normally I try to live and let live - if I happen upon a missionary or evangelizer here, I wouldn’t turn them in. However, this jerk insulted Scotland in the same scintillating blog entry, “Scotland has never had a king worth bowing to… it’s up to us to show them what a great King is like. Amen?” At this, gritting my teeth and muttering bits of “Scotland the Brave” (since part of my family once inhabited Dunbar Castle), I vowed to expose these wack jobs whenever and wherever they’re found.
Note that this nut is from Springfield, OHIO.
January 29th, 2006 at 12:17 am
Thanks for the kind words! I will link to your post .
And let me say how we loved your post about SPANA - we have visited them and donated in the past. Your feelings about animals is so close to hours.
January 29th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
Gender error corrected and suitable apology posted in the comments section!
January 29th, 2006 at 5:54 pm
Hi, I’m the guy from Springfield OH. First, thanks for reading my posts. Second, thanks for responding to them with your opinion about Morocco. I take it you live there? I apologize for any hurt or miscommunication I may have caused to you. I’d love to talk about where you’re coming from sometime. Email me at d.sam.monroe@gmail.com. I would like to point out that while it isn’t unreasonable to assume Muslims going door to door in Springfield, OH probably wouldn’t be particularly welcome, I don’t believe anyone would harm them. I would like to hear more of your thoughts on evangelism and converse with you about mine. Again, thanks for reading my site and posting!
Sam
January 30th, 2006 at 3:01 pm
Good Post!! I have talked to evangelicals who say that they know that it is illegal, but they have something they call THE GREAT COMMISSION (go out and spread the Gospel throughout the world!), and I think they feel they are doing ‘the Lord’s work’ even better if it is ‘dangerous’. The ones I talked to relate themselves to those first and second century Christians who were persecuted!
I believe everyone has a right to demonstrate against what they feel is wrong, or evangelize, where ever they are, but they also have the responsibility to accept the punishments which come from their breaking laws!
hale
BlogginTheMaghreb
November 22nd, 2006 at 3:32 am
[…] Would you like to know what evangelists/missionaries think of Morocco? Read on for some words from Leah, who’ll soon be spreading the “good news” (which I think is a euphemism for spreading poo) there: [bolds mine, and YWAM is the same organization who sent our old friend Sam] “In Morocco, we have to completely form to their customs. This means possibly wearing veils (which I hope so), women can not speak first to men, and most threatening… If a woman makes eye contact with a man, that means that she wants to marry him. YWAM has actually had a problem with this in the past. An outreach group was leaving when a man approached the leaders and demanded one of the student’s hand in marriage. They did some serious explaining and negotiating, but all worked out well and the girl returned home single. When all of this should seem threatening, the entire group is extremely excited and stepping up to the challenge to share God’s Love with this unreached nation. Scary fact- Morocco is a country of 3 Million (does 30 sound better? I forget so easily with numbers!) but only 0.006% are Christians (I know I have that percentage right). Truths like that spur us on beyond human fear! Also, if we are caught witnessing the name of Jesus Christ, we will face imprisonment. The only thing we can say about our faith is that we are Christian - anything beyond that will be jail time.” […]
December 11th, 2007 at 12:32 am
Oh no, not another one of those! Don’t they see that the only thing that they do is to get other people in trouble? I’m a Christian and I live in Morocco so yes, there are Christians in Morocco. But because of lunatics like Leah and Sam we’re not able to practice our religion freely anymore. Things are getting harder by the day and why is that? Because people are scared that we will start running around, converting people against their will, and wreck the society. We, who actually know and love his country and its’ people would never do such a thing. All we want to do is to live our life in peace and harmony with our brothers and sisters. I would ask all the evangelists who come here to show a little respect for the people and the society and not try to turn things upside down because the only thing they achieve by doing so is getting us all thrown out of the country or thrown in jail. And I for a start would not want to leave my home, since this is my adopted country and I love living here. If they want to gain more Christians, why don’t they start at home and leave other people alone?
May 31st, 2008 at 10:18 pm
We know people by their fruit (Matthew 7:13-21). Mayogi, you may call yourself a Christian (and I would not be so bold as to argue that you aren’t), but by looking at your words it is hard to believe that you have ever met the Lord Jesus or else your heart would be broken for the same things that His is.
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:52 pm
I’m not allowing any more comments, sorry, and I’m deleting the comment prior to this that was nothing but a bunch of Bible quotes (excuses) why proselytizing is OK.
I don’t care what the Bible says. If you believe in it, wonderful. You keep forgetting that those who practice Islam ALSO believe they’ve found the truth, and in fact, they worship the same God as you - as much as you try to dissemble and deny that. Your efforts might be better focused on those who don’t believe in God.