Despite the anger and vitriol that fills the front pages of our tabloids, there is good news on the streets of London…
Let me tell you about my friend Ilyas Ayoub, who works in one of the most diverse parts of our capital – Forest Gate in East London. Ilyas works at a mission centre, sandwiched between a temple and a mosque, where he partners with local churches to love the community and by sharing the gospel message.
Every Friday, Ilyas is part of a team that sets up a bookstall on the local high street and talks with people heading to the mosque. One day, they invited people they spoke with to a discussion evening for Christians and Muslims. They had expected 30 people to come along, but over 100 turned up.
Following Jesus
Ilyas told me recently of a family of four he and the team helped rehouse. They are now reading the Bible together and are coming along to church. They have not yet professed to follow Jesus – hopefully they may soon.
Ilyas met another man, a drama teacher from Iraq, who had escaped death at the hands of Isis. He has found new life in Jesus after a Christian shared the gospel with him and invited him to the Just One Conference. He is willing, along with his wife and little daughter, to face death threats from his family because they have decided to follow Jesus – no matter the cost. Ilyas and the local church are now discipling this precious family as they continue to live out their faith.
Bulgarian Bible study
It is also wonderful to see relationships developing in the Bulgarian and Eastern European community around Forest Gate. Around 20 people now come along to the Sunday afternoon Bulgarian Bible study at the mission centre, and three have given their lives to Christ!
Seeing volunteers from local churches stepping out of their comfort zones and getting a taste for evangelism is so encouraging. John, who himself came to faith when a local Christian knocked on his door years ago, is starting to help at the Friday bookstall. While Pauline helps run crafts for Muslim women. Another church group helps run a youth club from the centre.
More doors are opening
It is humbling to see the way God is at work through his people to love others and cross divides in the name of Jesus. More doors into closed communities are opening through those who come to faith in him! Our cities are full of all kinds of people and it is a challenge to all of us to get out of our comfort zones and make friends with people not like us so that they too can join God’s family and be a blessing to us all.
