Takona Strategies for Muslim Evangelization 55

STRATEGIES FOR
MUSLIM EVANGELIZATION
Lilly A. Takona

Muslims are the largest and fastest growing segment of non-Christians in

the world today. David Barrrett estimates that in the year 1900 there were
200,000,000 Muslims in the world, constituting 12% of the world's population. By
1996 Muslims numbered 1,126,995,000 or 19% of the world's population. By the
year AD 2025 he estimates Muslims will constitute 24% of the world's population.
Muslim evangelism must therefore become a priority in the Christian church.
Much has been written about evangelistic strategies in order to be more effective
in evangelizing the Muslims. Ully Takona suggests various approaches that are
helpful in making Muslim evangelism more effective.

Don McCurry made the following plea in the 1979 North America
Conference of Muslim Evangelization:

We need the vision of a harvest among Muslims and the nerve to obey
Christ in evangelising and discipling them. God is asking us to lay our
long-standing prejudices and our centuries' old neglect, and make
disciples of these hurting friends for whom Christ died. lt is time to claim
promises long lying dormant concerning the sons of lshmael. 1

ADDRESSING FELT NEEDS

In order to reach a target people with the gospel of the redeeming Lord,
an understanding of their religious beliefs, societal structures, world view, and
present attitude toward the gospel must be cultivated. Further, any strategy for
evangelism should focus on reaching a people within the context of their needs
rather than on the basis of preconceived methodologies.

Although there is no one strategy for evangelization that could be

Lillian A. Takona teaches Christian Religious Education at Testimony School in

Eldoret, Kenya. She earned her M.A. at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary.

1
McCurry, Don. M. "Why are Muslims so Militant?", Muslim World Pulse Vol. 9,
No. 2 (August 1980) 5.
56 Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology 15.1 1996

regarded as universally adaptable for every cultural group, a number of

strategies that could be used by the African church in Muslim evangelization
should be considered .

Edward R Dayton and David A. Frazer have rightly written:

Evangelization always takes place in the context of need. When we

study the ministry of Christ, we are impressed at the way in which he
always responded to the needs of people: He healed the blind, the lame,
and the lepers; blessed the children, fed the hungry, instructed those
who sought truth, forgave the guilty, accepted the outcasts, and
reassured the fearful. He was sensitive to the deep needs of people,
and broke the social taboos and conventions of his day if they prevented
him from helping those in need.2

Human needs are as complex and varied as human beings. Abraham H.

Maslow has presented a model of man's needs in terms of a hierarchy of
priority.3 In his scheme, the basic needs are physiological. When they are
satisfied, safety needs become primary, followed in order by needs for belonging
and love, needs for esteem , and for self-actualisation.

Felt needs prompt people either to desire change of their environment

(including the social norms, economic status, and others), or seek means to
satisfy those needs. In this context, without felt needs, motivation toward
change is minimal.

The gospel does not only affect the heart of sinners, thus bringing
salvation. lt should also free man from need drives so that he can become all
that God intended him to be ("The Lord is my shepherd , I shall not want .... " Ps.
23:1).

Decision Making Process

The object of communicating the gospel to Muslims is to move them

toward a decision, the decision to accept Christ as the source and giver of
salvation. Since making a decision means choosing between two or more
alternatives, Muslim evangelization is more than evangelism. lt requires, also,
an understanding of decision processes.

2
Dayton and Frazer, Planning Strategies for World Evangelization (Grand
Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1980) 63.
3
Aiken, Jr. General Psychology (San Francisco: Chandler Pub. Co., 1969)
115,116.
 Takona Strategies for Muslim Evangelization 57

GOD'S COMMUNI- MAN'S

ROLE CATORS' ROLE RESPONSE

I General 1 - 8 Awareness of Supreme Being but

Revelation1 no Effective Knowledge of Gospel

'
jConvictionj [Proclamation!
-- 7 Initial Awareness of Gospel
- 6 Awareness of Fundamentals of
- Gospel

r+ -5 Grasp of Implications of Gospel

c
.2
-- 4 Positive Attitude Toward Gospel
u --3
-~ Personal Problem Recognition
Cll
0::
' L
-- 2 DECISION TO ACT

!Persuasion!
--1 Repentance and Faith in Christ
REGENERATION NEW CREATURE
t
lSancti~~
'
fication
I Follow-up!
I Cultivation I
-t
\- l Post-Decision Evaluation
2 Incorporation Into Body
-+ 3 Conceptual and Behavioral
'-
Growth

rt 4 Communion with God

'IS
I--
Stewardship
• Reproduction
1--
•
1--
Internally (gifts, etc.)
•
1-- Externally (witness, social
action, etc .)
/
"
ETERNITY

4
Figure 1 . The Spiritual Decision Process.

4
Engel , James and Wilbert Norton, What's Gone Wrong with the Harvest?
(Grand Rapids Zondervan Publishing House, 1975) 45.
58 Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology 15. 1 1996

James E. Engel, formerly Professor at Wheaton College Graduate

School and a fluent spokesman in marketing and audience behaviour, has
suggested a model of spiritual decision processes which purports to be
universal. The model suggests that everyone falls somewhere along a
continuum in terms of their relationship to Christ. According to Engel's model,
Muslims could be placed between -8 and -2. Muslims place the belief in the
existence of One Supreme Being as central to man's life. God to them, as to the
Christian, is immortal, omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. He has not only
created all things, but has continuously sustained and maintained them. The
Quran speaks of God in this way:

God - there is no God but He, the Living, the Everlasting, Slumber
seizes Him not, neither sleep; to him being all that is in the heavens and
the earth. Who is there that shall intercede with Him save by His
leave? .... He knows what lies before them and what is after them, and
they comprehend not anything of His knowledge save such as He wills.
His throne comprises the heavens and earth; the preserving of them
oppresses Him not He is the All-high, the All-glorious. 5

Christians have often debated the question: do Muslims have an

effective knowledge or understanding of God? And, do Muslims have only an
awareness of God? To respond with a "Yes" to either question may seem
legitimate, but only on the surface. Muslims "know" God but only within the
Islamic context. He is transcendent but not personal; merciful more than holy;
He is vengeful and not a chastiser; He is capricious and less concerned.

Caution is useful when interpreting what Muslims mean when they claim
to know God. Only in Jesus Christ is there a possibility of an accurate
knowledge of God--a direct encounter of man with deity. Under his title,
"Research Needed on Adoption Models," Joe M. Bohlem defines awareness as
follows: " ... is a state at which the individual knows of the existence of an idea or
6
practice, but lacks details concerning its intrinsic nature and use."

And, are Muslims aware of God? ''Yes" if they can trace any events in
which divinity encounters history; acknowledge man's limitation and ascribe
omnipotence to a Living Being who cannot be manipulated by man or his
environment; ascribe the existence of things to a Being who is orderly and
capable of maintaining His handiwork. Muslims can verify their acceptance of

5
Quran: Suratul AI-Baggara (The Cow) 256.
6
Bohlem, "Research Needed on Adoption Models," The Process and Effects of
Mass Communication, edited by Wilbur Schramm, et al., (Chicago: University of
Illinois Press, 1971) 804.
 Takona Strategies for Muslim Evangelization 59

these statements.

Based on such verification , the author concludes that Muslims are not
left ignorant of the existence of God. However, Muslims have no effective
knowledge of the gospel. Their scriptures contain distortions of the content of
the Christian message - Christ is seen as only man. Any association of his
person with divinity is considered a shirk (or in the terms of Paul's epistles,
anathema or a curse) .

Some Muslims have an initial awareness of the true content of the

gospel - that man is a sinner and that sin is present in the life of every individual
from birth; that God never overlooks sin; that the gospel is God's answer to
remedy prevalent conditions; Jesus Christ gave his life for the cause of man's
redemption; that Christ will return to earth and establish a kingdom whose
participants shall be characterised by an uprigi-Jt behaviour and conduct; that
God is pleased when man "seeks after God's own heart."

Other Muslims are, to one degree or another, aware of the fundamentals

of the Christian gospel; that it is important that man acknowledge his corrupt
nature, that God sacrificed his only Son, that man ought to respond to the call of
God to accept the sacrifice made on the cross, that man ought to repent and "put
his house in order" in preparation to meet his God. Others have acquired a
positive attitude toward the Christian gospel and Christian institutions, including
the church and mass evangelism in the market areas, and not destroying or
carelessly disposing of Christian literature.

Most Muslims by-pass stages (-7) through (-4) of the Engel's model and
find themselves on the Personal Problem Recognition stage in the continuum.
The problems recognised in this stage are those discussed by Abraham H.
Maslow (felt needs). Those who arrive at (-3) are faced with a decision-making
crisis. Usually, when personal problem recognition is accompanied by sufficient
knowledge of the gospel and some amount of spiritual awareness, "The
individual is open to a challenge to turn his life over to Christ. Prior to that time,
there is neither sufficient understanding nor need to permit a valid response to
7
such a challenge."

Professor James F. Engel observes that Jesus' view of mission

strategies involved receptivity. The latter il lustrates this by use of the Parable of
Soils (Luke 8:5-15). Engel writes:

7
Engel and Norton, How Can I Get Them to Listen? (Grand Rapids: Zondervan
Pub. House, 1977)33.
60 Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology 15. 1 1996

Much of the reason for non-receptivity of some soil is that the worries
and riches and pleasures of this life choke out the seed of God's Word
.... Christ is saying that filters are closed and there is no real response to
anything said because of the absence of felt needs. The existence of
8
felt needs implies the existence of an open filter

In another context, Engel summarises stage (-3) when he says that

problem recognition occurs only when there is sufficient recognition of the gap
between life as it now is and what it might beH A competent salesman would
usually identify the prospective consumers' needs in order to persuade them to
buy his products The consumers may be only dimly aware of their problem or
symptom. By identifying the existing condition, he creates an awareness of the
need among the prospective consumers.

By supplying sufficient amounts of information, the salesman helps them

to visualise satisfaction upon their consumption of the product. People are
usually receptive to products or ideas when they are accompanied by sufficient
information and when they appear to be dynamic enough to satisfy their needs.

Observable in Engel's model of spiritual decision processes are the

three logical sequences of the procedures for the Great Commission . These are
proclamation , persuasion, and follow-up/cultivation. To proclaim is to supply
information.

In theories of communication , information is often defined as any content

that is sufficient in reducing uncertainty or the number of alternative possibilities
10
in a situation. Lasting decisions are usually made on the basis of the amount
of information available. The larger the amount of available information, the
higher the chances become of making better decisions.

To give a continuous supply of accurate gospel content to Muslims is to

provide them with a basis for their decision. The Apostle Paul used this
philosophy in his theology of mission. "How then shall they call upon him whom
they have not believed? How shall they believe in Him whom they have not
heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher" (Ram. 19: 14)?

A continuous proclamation of the gospel among Muslims is certain to

bring a clarification of the Christian doctrines. lt is the field that is properly

8
/bid, 28.
9
/bid, 33 .
10
Schramm, ed . "Nature of Communication Between Humans, " The Process
and Effects of Mass Communication, 13.
 Takona Strategies for Muslim Evangelization 61

prepared that is most likely to bring forth a better harvest when good seeds are
sown.

Application to the African Context

Although Engel's model purports to be universal, it needs to be

developed to become more adaptable in a cross-cultural communication of the
gospel to Muslims. Africa's people are numerous and diverse. Muslims have
cultures of their own with distinct cultural variables. including: attitudes, social
organisations, roles and role expectations, patterns of thought and non-verbal
expressions.

Pattern of Decision Making: Unlike the West, which is also the cradle
of Engel's model, Africans are a very homogenous people. Their cultures
revolve around the family, village, clan and tribe. Many African groups, including
the Maasai, are oriented toward communal loyalty and dependence on initial
decisions made by recognised persons in the community for the entire village or
clan.

However, with the present situation in Africa, whereby plurality in society

is becoming more acceptable, research ought to be undertaken to discover how
Muslim communities make decisions. Secondly, research ought to determine
how their process of making everyday decisions could be systematised or
generalised into Engel's model.

Credibility of the Messenger: The model needs to include the stage in

which the target Muslims establish a positive consonance with the Christian
communicator. All the evidence in the Bible organised perfectly and delivered
well will not persuade a Muslim to arrive at the decision-making stage of the
Engel's model unless he associates it with the credibility of the Christian
communicator.

Time Required: In addition, any strategy using Engel's model ought to

be one willing to allow a considerable amount of time given to proclamation.
Evangelism does not only mean persuading unbelievers to accept the Gospel
but it also means preparing the field for sowing the seed. The Christian
communicator may never see the seed germinating and growing to maturity.

CONTEXTUALIZING THE GOSPEL

Farmers specialising in horticulture know that having advanced farm

machinery does not guarantee a plentiful harvest. Tools and techniques are of
vital importance However, other factors have to be brought into consideration,
62 Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology 15. 1 1996

including the type of soil, amount of rain per annum, weather variation, pests,
fencing, and the experience of the farmer himself.

Tea plantations, for example, require a considerable amount of rainfall,

a cooler climate, a higher elevation, and a well-drained volcanic soil. Rice
plants do well at low altitudes, warmer temperatures and in marshy fields with
dark loam soils. Any farmer whose goals are to have a bumper crop harvest
must provide for his crop a situation within the specifications required by the
very character of his crop. Yields of any given crop are largely determined by
the nature of the field on which the seed is sown. In more appropriate terms, the
content (soil type and climatic conditions) has a bearing on the ultimate size,
quality and quantity of the harvest.

This same concept is transferable to Muslim evangelization. Adherents

of Islam have, down through history, shown resistance toward God's eternal
truths as presented by both the living and the written Word of God.
Anthropologist Alien R. Tippet has rightly stated:

The greatest methodological issue by the Christian mission in this day is

how to carry the Great Commission in a multi-cultural world, with a
gospel that is both truly Christian in context and culturally significant in
11
form .

Use of the Quran

Muslims do not, necessarily, resist the Gospel because they think it false
or that it has been devoid of God's Kalima (message) to man; rather they
perceive it as a threat to their culture, including the solidarity of ummah. The
Willowbank report on Gospel and Culture, prepared by the Theology and
Education Group of Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, states:

The .. .. .problem is that the Gospel is often presented to people in alien

cultural forms. The missionaries are resented and their message
rejected because their work is seen not as an attempt to evangelise but
12
as an attempt to impose their own customs and way of life.

11
Tippet, Alan R. "Contextualization of the Gospel in Fiji: A Case Study from
Oceania," Gospel and Culture, John Stott and Robert Coote, editors (Pasadena,
California: William Carey Library, 1979) 393.
12
Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization , "The Willowbank Report -
Gospel and Culture," (Wheaton, l'linois: Lausanne Committee for World
Evangelization, 1978) 13.
 T akona Strategies for Muslim Evangelization 63

The Gospel is a life-changing force . However, it does not necessarily

have to be a foreign element within the culture of their Christian communicator.
The gospel must be recognisable to Muslims within their cultural matrix. There
is need to recognise the distinctive features of Islam which provide a unique
opportunity for effective Christian witness. Donald McCurry remarks:

lt is widely known that many Muslims have come to Christ by first being
pointed to Him by the Quran. True, they later encounter Him in the New
Testament and from then on the Quran no longer remains a reference
book for them. But the point is, I should not feel shy about using the
Quran as a beginning point for introducing the subject of Jesus. And
Paul has given us endorsement of this approach by his use of Greek
literature in his Mars Hill sermon. 13

Jesus, in his ministry in Palestine, used the method that leads men from
the known to the unknown. In confronting the Pharisees who accused the
disciples for having transgressed traditions, Jesus used the very Scriptures that
the Pharisees read and had become acquainted with (Matt. 12:2-8); when
casting merchants out of the temple (Matt. 21 :14); when giving an answer to a
lawyer who stood up to test him (Lk. 10:15ff); when in dialogue with the woman
at the well (Jn. 4:5ff) .

Quoting Geoffrey Parrinder, Parshall explains that. "Jesus is always

spoken of in the Quran with reverence, there is no breath of criticism for he is
the Christ of God." 14 The gospel needs to be related much more thoroughly to
the Islamic context. The Christian communicator should not assume what the
Latins call tabula rasa (blank slate} , and ignore the realities of the Muslim
religious knowledge. Time has come that the gospel presentation has to cease
assuming the form of an exotic transplant from the Christian context.
Proclaiming God's love means also to do it with that love which respects the
dignity and spiritual treasures of Muslims.

The Logos Approach

The Christian communicator seeking to reach Muslims, to be an

effective instrument of the gospel, has to have the courage to cast off the "idols"
of his tribe and identify himself with the Muslim culture. A personal friend of the
Author recently said, "you must become a Muslim to win Muslims to Christ." This

13
McCurry, Don M. "A Cross-Cultural Model of Muslim Evangelization ,"
Missiology, Vo1.4, No. 3 (1976), 280.
14
Parshall, Phil. New Paths in Muslim Evangelization (Grand Rapids: Baker
Book House, 1981) 137.
64 Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology 15. 1 1996

may sound like a cliche. However, the Author is convinced that personal
identification is key to persuasion .

To reach man, God did not mail a shelf of videotapes and slide
presentations to the world . He appointed people with attitudes , personalities
and feelings . God's sending enterprise climaxed with the sending of His only
Son - "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many
portions and in many ways , in these last days has spoken to us in His Son ... "
(Heb. 1:1, 2) .

The Gospels witness that "the Word became flesh , and dwelt among us
and we beheld His glory as the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and
truth" (Jn. 1 14). Christ came and lived like man. He became a Palestinian Jew
who spoke Aramaic; who largely conformed to the customs of his day; who
identified himself with the misery of this world . This act shows how God freely
chose the human situation. The writer of Hebrews observed :

Therefore, He had to be made like his brethren in all things that he might
become a merciful and faithful high Priest in things pertaining to God, to
make propitiation for the sins of the people (Heb. 217).

Alizondo, too, observed:

The tremendous mystery of the incarnation is that God freely chose the
limitation of man. Jesus was not just any man, nor was he a universal
man; he was a Jew limited by the customs and conditions of his
economic, social and religious situations.15

The Logos Approach to Muslim evangelization requires two kinds of

identifications. First, that the Christian communicator identify with the Muslim
cu lture and , secondly, that he or she identify with the truth in the Word of God.
Christ, though he took flesh , did not sacrifice His divinity on the altar of Judaism.
He remained as " ...... one who has ·been tempted in all things as we are, yet
without sin" (Heb. 4: 15).

The New Testament presents a double identification of the person of

Jesus Christ.

1. " ...... God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself' (2 Cor.
5: 19). Though incarnated into a specific culture; dwelling in a

15
Elizondo, Christianity and Culture (Huntington, India: Our Sunday Visitor,
1975) 83.
 Takona Strategies for Muslim Evangelization 65

specific land that had a specific history, keeping largely with the
traditions and customs of Judaism, Christ did not divest Himself of
divinity and the responsibility placed upon him as God's khalif
(representative). He remained truly God. To meet Christ was to
meet God. "I and the Father are one" (Jn. 10:30). "He who hates me
hates the Father also" (Jn. 15:23). " .... 1 am not alone because the
Father is with me" (Jn. 16:34) .

As the Son identified Himself with the Father so the Father identified
Himself with the Son at the transfiguration , when He said , " .. .. this is My beloved
Son, with whom I am well pleased; hear him" (Matt. 17:5).

2. "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf' (2 Cor.
5:21 ). God's supreme example of communication was in Jesus
Christ. He lived out His life in human form . In God's eyes,
evangelism is seen as not a task of isolation. lt demands presence,
an active presence.

The New Testament refers to the body of believers as being the "the salt
of the earth" (Matt. 5: 13). In many parts of this continent of Africa, salt is used
as a preserving element. Food such as fish and other meats are salted to
remain longer without decaying.

Believers are said to be elements in society who function as salt in

preserving its good cultural values from further decay. Notice here that salt does
not change meat into salt, rather, it keeps it from decaying.

Christians should become salt among Muslims, encouraging them in

their zeal for truth , promoting concern for their neighbours and giving charity to
the poor, showing justice and fairness in their transactions. "Do not think that I
came to abolish the law or the prophets, I did not come to abolish, but to fulfil"
(Matt. 5:17).

As salt of the earth, believers in Christ have that responsibility to add

taste to human life while showing that life receives meaning and purpose when
Christ is given the central position in daily activities. As shall be discussed
below under Context-Evangelism Approach, Muslims, especially African
Muslims, are a very homogenous group that is often more aware of the need of
society than their own individual needs. Goldsmith's testimony gives a vivid
illustration of this character .

.. .. This was true of my Malay policeman friend in Singapore. He became

convinced of the truths of the claims of Christ, but he had little sense of
66 Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology 15. 1 1996

personal needs. However, he was deeply conscious of the needs of his

Malay people as a race and felt that the Christian faith could be the one
power that could change his people's national characteristics and
attitudes. Through the saving work of Jesus Christ there could be an
16
attitude toward work, marriage, honesty, etc .... ..

Paul did not only speak of Logos Evangelism, but also articulated it in
seeking to communicate the gospel across cultural and racial barriers. He
wrote:

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that
I might win the more. And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might
win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law, though not
being myself under the Law, that I might win those who are under the
Law; to those who are without the Law, as without law, though not being
without the law of God but under the law of Christ, that I might win the
weak; I have become all things to all men, that I maybe all means save
some (I Cor. 6:19-23).

As the Christian communicator takes Christ to the Muslims he hopes that

his message will be received. In the Logos Approach he must be careful that the
message is not compromised to the point where it becomes only a shallow,
meaningless mass of words. One warning must be issued at this point: the
communicator must always keep before him the centrality of the message of
Christ, not the over-involvement with social or cultural accommodations merely
because there is pressure exerted by the method toward such considerations.

The Logos Approach calls the Christian communicator to learn the

language of the people, to adapt himself and his message to their particular
needs and backgrounds. This is not to say that the "offence" of the Cross is
disguised or made to take a lesser place in the ministry. He must seek to borrow
what is in the Muslim culture and infuse it with new meaning. He must seek to
find opportunities to let the gospel infiltrate the Muslim society, taking on the
language forms that will enable them to understand and embrace the gospel
without alienating them from their high respect of consistency and dedication to
divinity.

The Context-Evangelism Approach

How can the Gospel be brought to a people with any hope of salvation,

16
Goldsmith, "Community and Controversy, " Missiology, Vol. 4, No. 3 (January
1976) 320.
 Takona Strategies for Muslim Evangelization 67

when history shows that they have continuously shown resistance? As we

ponder over the possible approaches in the evangelism of the Muslims, we
reason that God can enable Muslims or any people, to reach points of
acceptance of the gospel through their own societal structures. With such a
realisation , we then suggest a Context-Evangelism Approach (C-E Approach) in
which the initial effort to persuade is focused on key decision makers within a
given group of people. Africans, be they traditionalists, Christians or Muslims,
have a profound sense of community. They are a people, umma, olosho 'bo,
one village, a tribe.

On this continent, community workers have learned that in order to

ensure a successful innovation, the new thing must be introduced through the
existing structure of society. Most often, the innovation is channelled through
recognised leaders. For example, the introduction of vaccination to the Tiv tribe
in Nigeria which refused to be vaccinated on the grounds that the head of the
family had performed the appropriate akombo rites, took this form:

The British administrator wisely dealt with the man (head of family
group) as well as his senior, the head of the kindred. When the family
head was persuaded that European vaccination was advisable, he told
his people, and they came easily of their own accord, without the need
of persuasion.17

Are principles of social changes applicable to religious changes? Yes, if

smoother patterns of conversion to Christ are attainable. Muslims he:we to be
approached by way of recognised community leaders. And who are they? Are
they the Mu'lahs? The Maalims? The Chiefs? Fathers who are also husbands?
Who?

This is a difficult question in that it involves an investigation into what

constitutes a community. Is it not the tribe? No, that is too big. lt is not even the
clan. To recognise a community, a few questions have to be asked. These
include questions as: If this Muslim is a part of a vital action taking place, either
performing that action himself, or having it done to him, whom does this action
affect in the same vital way as it affects him? If this Muslim finds himself in a
judicial situation, who is affected by it? Or, if this Muslim makes a decision to
become a Christian, who would be affected by his conversion? Will it be his
tribe? Hardly. His clan? No.

The C-E (Context-Evangelism) approach should identify a given

17
Mead, Margaret. ed. Cultural Patterns and Technical Change (New York:
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, 1955) 117
68 Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology 15. 1 1996

community, its decision makers, and its values. Approaching head leaders is the
initial step and contact with the defined community. To approach head leaders
is to approach the symbol of unity in a community. To approach isolated
individuals is to make them outcasts of the community. These will always remain
outcasts of their community until such a time that a majority or all the community
is converted. The C-E approach calls for an initial response for Muslims as a
community.

Too often, the conversion of most individual Muslims has resulted in the
departure from their own culture and community. J. Merle Davis points out:

Conversion tends to isolate a person from his social unit, destroy his
source of support, render him a ward of the mission and deprive him of
those normal human relationships and obligation through the exercise of
which his one Christian experience may best be strengthened. it also
deprives the group to which the new convert belongs of the daily witness
18
of his Christian faith.

An approach as C-E is more likely to open wider avenues for

proclamation when the Christian communicator develops a positive rapport with
decision makers. In so doing, the C-E approach leads the communicator to find
a real community among Muslims, providing him with an opportunity to let
Muslims hear an explanation of the gospel within the context of a crowd without
making them become self-conscious.

The communicator is able to teach them as a unit, to dialogue with them

as a group for they have similarities of feeling and reactions. A community such
as this has its own distinct personality. Most often, such a community acts as a
unit, accepting or rejecting an innovation. Innovations among Africans, and
especially those that affect religious beliefs, do not usually take place in one
individual at a time. Groups adopt changes as groups, or they do not adopt
them at all.

The C-E approach, however, is convinced that decisions for or against

Christ must be made by persons as individuals. Each individual soul stands
before God as guilty. As such, this approach promotes mass responsiveness as
opposed to mass conversion in which a large number of individuals hastily
profess Christianity. The mentality of the C-E approach is to cultivate an
appetite and an initial acceptance of the gospel. This concept has clearly been

18
Davis, J. Merle. New Buildings on Old Foundations: A Handbook on
Stabilizing the Younger Churches in their Environments (New York: International
Missionary Council, 1947) 38
 Takona Strategies for Muslim Evangelization 69

expressed by Bruce Fleming when he writes:

... .. The effectiveness of evangelism depends upon our ability to design

and apply methods of evangel ism that will integrate and utilise the social
web of relationships of people as natural "bridges of God" between
individuals, famil ies, tribes and communities. Such relationships serve
most effectively as channels for the flow of dynamics in evangelism and
gospel expansion.19

To a strong homogenous group of people as the Muslims, the C-E

approach would , certainly, be much more effective than methods of approaching
them on a one to one pattern. The Gospel must be presented to social units, via
decision makers, rather than to one individual. New Christian "Muslim" families
are more likely to survive the pressures and sufferings of persecution and to
expand the church than scattered individuals. The twenty-first century African
church must seek to develop Bible based and relevant approaches to
evangelism while taking the New testament directives to reach every soul as
absolute.

CONCLUSION

If we catch the vision of a great harvest among the Muslims, how then
should we approach the task? This article has argued that it is imperative that
we address the felt needs of the peoples we evangelize. To avoid having
individual converts who are thrown out of their families , we should prayerfully
approach the decision making individuals so that Muslims are won to Christ in
families and groups. The messenger of the gospel must identify with the
Muslims as the eternal Logos did in order to gain credibility as a Christian
witness. Efforts should be made to contextualize the gospel by using the Quran
as a bridge in communication. Time will be required to do all of this and the
evangelist may never see the seed germinating which has been patiently sown
over the years. But with much focused prayer we may say by faith that the
Muslims will also be won to Christ.

19
Fleming, Bruce. Contextualization of Theology (Pasadena , California : William
Carrey Library, 1980) 69-70.