The world on our doorstep...

Dearborn Outreach Helps Churches in Michigan Minister to Muslims

AIMS News: Posted 10/1/2005

In July, several Virginia churches and a Bible institute joined with AIMS partner churches in Dearborn, Michigan to help them share the Gospel with one of the largest Muslim communities outside the Middle East. Like last year, the two teams of 65 teenagers, young adults and youth leaders ministered to Muslims in the parks and neighborhoods through drama, music, and games. But this year, their strategy was different.

"As we went out into the streets, we knew what our mission was - to find the ones who wanted to move forward," said "Philip," AIMS Team Strategy Coordinator and leader of the Dearborn outreach. "After the first day, we had 14 positive responses, more than we had from the entire trip last year. We knew that we were experiencing a miracle from God."

With the focus this year on obtaining contacts for follow through ministry, "Pastor Nicodemus," our partner in Dearborn, wanted to come up with new strategies to reach his Muslim neighbors. First, he decided to move away from the mosques into the Dearborn Heights community, where his church is located.

"Where we were, the people we spoke with didn't have the pressure of the mosque or the imam," said Pastor Nicodemus. "We were about a mile and a half away from the nearest mosque. That may not seem like a huge difference, but here in Dearborn, it's a world away."

The teams also employed video surveys. Splitting into small groups, they began to speak with various people on the streets and in the parks. Questions ranged from general interest topics like "Where are you from?" and "How do you like the US?" to questions of a spiritual nature. At the end of the survey, they wrote down names of people interested in receiving more information from the church or who were interested in a Bible study. By the end of the second week, the list had grown to 75 names of Dearborn residents.

Muslim Ministry within the United States

"Dearborn actually lends itself to reach Muslims in interesting ways," said "Mark," Islamic World Missions Director at Calvary International, who participated in the Dearborn Outreach. "I was actually surprised at how Islamic Dearborn is. There's Muslims from all over the Middle East and around the world there."

Islamic influence permeates throughout Dearborn. Signs are mostly written in Arabic. Mosques outnumber the churches. Women walk the streets dressed in burkas.

"There are whole neighborhoods there that are 99% Muslim," said Mark. "I have a missionary friend in Dearborn who is the only Christian on his street. He told me that it's easy to forget that the entire US is not Islamacized like Dearborn. They are just feeling isolated."

A former missionary in the Middle East, Mark decided to join the outreach in July to see how Calvary International could be involved. He hopes to convince Calvary International to send interns from Calvary to Dearborn before releasing them as missionaries to Arabic nations.

Ministry Opportunities in Dearborn Explode

After the first AIMS outreach in Dearborn last year, Pastor Nicodemus continued to make contacts with ministries around the city. He began working with Detroit Venture, which is a conglomerate of Muslim ministries in the region.

"Our goal is to impact Ishmael and his descendants with the Gospel of Jesus Christ," said Pastor Nicodemus. "We are finding other people and learning from them."

Since last year, the ministry welcomed a missionary couple, who moved to Dearborn to devote themselves to working among Muslims, and its first intern, who helped the ministry begin planning new projects and promoting the work. Pastor Nicodemus also secured a 3-car garage to begin storing benevolence materials such as clothing and household items.

Pastor Nicodemus also chose ten members from his church to follow up with the 75 Muslim contacts the AIMS teams made during the outreach. The follow up team began making phone calls and meeting with people right after the outreach team from Virginia left.

"Follow up is a whole different challenge," said Pastor Nicodemus. "We are dealing with many nationalities including Lebanese, Yemenis, Iraqis, Palestinians, and Pakistanis. There are cultural barriers and language barriers - We don't have time to wait 4-5 years to learn how to do this. We need to learn how to do this now."

But Pastor Nicodemus' vision expands far beyond next summer. He wants to purchase a large building to house the many missionaries and interns, short and long term, who will come work in Dearborn. He needs up-to-date computers and printers to be able to produce the items he needs for the year-long training program he plans to begin next year. Finally, he needs the finances to under gird all of these projects. Continue to pray for Pastor Nicodemus and the future of Muslim ministry in Dearborn.

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