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THE RACE - ISSUE 24
Ahead of His Time: Raymond Lull (1234-1315)
At the age of thirty-one
Raymond Lull had a profound conversion experience through a vision of
Christ on the cross. Soon after this he began to work out a plan for the
evangelism of Muslims, and joined the Franciscan order as a layman. He spent
the next twenty-two years preparing himself through the study of theology,
Islam and Arabic, and founded a training center where other Franciscans could
prepare themselves for missionary work among Muslims.
At the age of
fifty-two, he wrote more than 200 books of Christian apologetics for Muslims.
Finally he decided to engage in direct evangelism himself, and at the age
of sixty (See, it's never too late to work for the Lord!!!) made trips to
Tunis, Cyprus and Algeria. In each case he became involved in public
controversy, and was arrested and expelled.
His last evangelistic journey
(when he was eighty) took him to Sicily and Tunis. He seems to have begun to
work in a less confrontational way, and was allowed to engage in debate with
Muslim leaders. He then moved to Bugia (the modern Bejaia) in Algeria, and
began preaching openly in the market. He was stoned by the crowd and died
either at sea or in his native Majorca.
Lull was in many ways ahead
of his time.
He recognized, for example, that the Crusades had been a
terrible betrayal of the spirit of Christ. He therefore called the whole
church, including the Pope, to believe that the Muslim world could not be won
for Christ by force. (AMEN!)
He saw the need for Christians to study
Islam carefully and to give missionaries a thorough training. He also worked
hard on developing an effective apologetic that would convince Muslims by
'irrefutable logic'. Many Christians today are still challenged by the
example of this man who worked so hard to change traditional Christian
responses to Islam and who gave his life for Muslims to come to faith in
Christ.
Though some may not agree with his evangelistic approach
entirely, none can question his zeal and passion to make Christ known
among North Africans. His life is a tribute to the conviction that no Muslim
is without the hope of knowing Christ as Lord and God.
Raymond Lull
dedicated his life, and ultimately gave his life, to the RACE!!!- (Reaching
Algerians with Christ's Embrace)
Please, pray for those who are serving
among Algerians that they may have the passion and discernment to see how
best to reach Algerians for Christ.. And also, please, continue to do your
part in this work by interceding for Algeria and reaching out to those
Algerians in your area.
Until all may know Him-
The Algerian Arab Team
therace@therace.ws
[This issued was aided by information from Cross and Crescent: Responding to
the Challenge of Islam by Colin Chapman]
If you would like to add someone(s) to "The RACE" email ministry,
simply send their name and email address to
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