Day 15: Understanding Islam, part 3 — Beliefs and duties By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ The principles and practices of the religion of Islam are vast. Any honest Imam or Islamic scholar would likely admit that there is much that even he doesn’t know about the Muslim faith. One could spend a lifetime of study and still have much more to learn. That said, there are six basic doctrinal beliefs and five key duties of Islam. Six beliefs We briefly covered the six basic beliefs of Islam on Day 10. They are: Belief in the absolute unity and s...
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Day 14: Entering rooms in the House of Islam – East Africa By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ   Delivering sleeping mats and food during Mission: Malawi 2016 in March. (Photo by Gary Fallesen) When southern Malawi flooded in January 2015 Muslims flocked to help those affected by troubling water. Many Christians converted to Islam after receiving help from these Muslims, said Damson Samson, Climbing For Christ’s missionary to East Africa. “In Malawi, many Muslims are observing Ramadan (in 2016) and their population is growing more t...
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Day 13: Something is happening! New ways for new movements Used with permission of “30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World” (www.pray30days.org)   Islamic State! Al-Qaeda! Boko Haram! These radical Islamic terror groups invade our news every day in stories of destruction and fleeing refugees that will make history. But there’s an even greater story unfolding across the Muslim world. Islam is the fastest growing major religion, and has been growing since its inception in the Arabian Desert nearly 14 centuries ago. Every year, Islam adds more than the populatio...
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Day 12: Overcoming obstacles, part 1 — Family, familiarity and fear By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ Just imagine… As far back as your mind can take you, you have fond memories of going to church with your parents and siblings. At Sunday School, you sang Christian songs and recited Bible verses. You watched your mom and dad practice their faith, and learned to do the same. They’ve always been devout Christians and would talk to you often about stories from the Bible – especially when you had a problem. It always seemed to help you un...
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Day 11: Sharing the Gospel, part 2 — Simply Jesus By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ With Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and its many denominations of Protestantism, the whole of Christendom contains vast variety. The House of Islam (Dar al-Islam) is no different. Among the world’s Muslims we find various traditions, beliefs and social nuances. Unfortunately, many of these differences result in a house divided even to the point of violence. In Islam, there are two main sects: Sunni and Shi’a (or Shi’ite). According the Pew Research Cent...
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Day 10: Understanding Islam, part 2 By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ There are many routes up mountains such as Kilimanjaro. But, Matthew 7:13 tells us, “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.” (Photo by Gary Fallesen, Mission: Kilimanjaro 2008) My Muslim friend sat on a boulder looking up at the peak of the mountain we were climbing. He pointed to the distant trails ascending toward the summit and noted how they all ended at the ...
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Day 9: Entering rooms in the House of Islam — Turkey By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ   Sign of the times: burned-out vehicles litter a trail on Mount Ararat. (Photos by Gary Fallesen, Mission: Ararat 2014) The story goes: the government started building a road up the lower slopes of Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey until it was blocked by the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party). The PKK, long branded a terrorist organization by Turkey and the United States, allegedly set construction vehicles on fire to stop the road work. The burned-out veh...
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Day 8: Entering rooms in the House of Islam — Nigeria By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ He was forced to appear before the District Head of Koma, a Muslim leader in northeastern Nigeria. Pastor Chris Joseph had no idea what awaited. “On reaching the Muslim monarch’s palace, I saw stern-looking people entering his palace with their shoes or sandals removed for half a kilometer,” Chris recalled in a report on recent Climbing For Christ ministry. “I also removed my shoes and entered his palace. “We all sat on the carpet in his ...
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Day 7: Entering rooms in the House of Islam — Pakistan By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ Our Pakistani brother in Christ started Ramadan with a prayer request: “As you know, we are working to reach the lost souls with the Word of God. He chose us to serve Him. Praise the LORD, me and my whole family are serving the LORD. We are serving the LORD since 2008. We are reaching many people with the Word of God and preaching to them. Praise the LORD (that) every day many have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. “(But) every day we are facin...
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Day 6: What’s so radical about loving Muslims? By John Becker Walter Casper IV reads to students tutored by C4C Indonesia. (Photo by Gary Fallesen, Mission: Indonesia 2007) Some evangelicals are building bridges into Muslim communities as they willfully refuse the anti-Muslim rhetoric that has proliferated public media and opinion post-9/11. What’s the motivation? Simply taking seriously Jesus’ command to love our neighbor as our self. Loving our Muslim neighbors should be no more radical than loving any other neighbor; it’s the most fundamen...
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Day 5: The Muslim unengaged By Mike Latsko A Sunda man receives a New Testament from a C4C Indonesia member. The Sunda are the 10th largest unreached people group in the world (at 36.7 million), according to the Joshua Project. (Photo by Gary Fallesen, Mission: Indonesia 2007) Ministry in the Muslim world is a bundle of contradictions. Never in the history of the world have there been so many Muslims coming to Christ! Or churches planted among them. Or Christians burdened to pray, be trained in witness, or proactively pursuing Christ-like friendship. On the other hand, 52 ...
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Day 4: Sharing the Gospel, part 1 — Truth and love, no compromise By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ   Gary Fallesen prays for a blind Kurdish man, Yusuf, whom he befriended on missions to eastern Turkey from 2013 to 2015. He prayed that Yusuf, a Muslim, would have dreams about Christ and through them realize Jesus is the One true God. (Photo by Elaine Fallesen, Mission: Ararat 2015) When we’re talking about witnessing for Jesus Christ, truth and love go hand in hand. They are two sides to the same coin. United they stand, divided they f...
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Day 3: The honor/shame culture, part 1 By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ   All cultures are not created equally. (Infographic by Global Mapping International) Sean Ranger, as the Climbing For Christ member came to be known, spent more than three years serving in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco (a nation of 33.6 million that is 99.6 percent Muslim and 0.2 percent Christian). He was part of our first Mission: Morocco team. Sean came from a guilt-based culture in the West and found himself in a shame-based culture in North Africa. Cultural differences ...
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Day 2: Understanding Islam, part 1 —Allah and his prophet By Jordan Rowley, spiritual coordinator, Climbing For Christ   Mosque in Moshi, Tanzania, declaring above the entrance: “None to be worshipped but Allah. Muhammad is his prophet.” Tanzania’s population of 52 million is 45.4 percent Christian, 37.3 percent Muslim, and 15.6 folk religion. (Photo by Gary Fallesen, Mission: Kilimanjaro 2007) Islam’s most fundamentally essential concept is that of its god, Allah. He is the singular and sovereign god of all Muslims. The name “Allah”...
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Day 1: Introduction to “30 days of prayer and preparation to preach the Good News to the Muslim world” By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ Mount Ararat isn’t climbed in a day. Reaching the lost takes time, too. (Photo by Gary Fallesen, Mission: Ararat 2015) My Muslim friend slipped out of the room we were sharing in the village at the base of Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey and into the quiet pre-dawn hours. It was time to eat. Not breakfast. He wasn’t breaking his fast. This was pre-fast. The Kurdish man who rose early was observing Rama...
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Climbing For Christ produced a prayer guide called, “A Month on the Mountain.” It’s a 31-day guide. Please join us in the month ahead as we pray for HIS ministry of Climbing For Christ. Print it out and keep it handy for daily use. Let’s see what results from a membership unified in prayer.
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By Gary Fallesen Climbing For Christ I want to remind you today of the suffering church. In his second letter to Pastor Timothy, written while he was imprisoned in Rome shortly before his death, the great missionary Paul stated: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). Jesus told His followers “they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake” (Luke 21:12). He said we will “be ...
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Persecution going from bad to worse In releasing its annual World Watch List of the 50 countries where it’s most dangerous to be a Christian, Open Doors ministry claimed, “The year 2014 will go down in history for having the highest level of global persecution of Christians in the modern era.” But, on Jan. 7, 2015, Open Doors stated: “Current conditions suggest the worst is yet to come.” Fifteen of the worst 50 nations – led by Pakistan at No. 8 and Nigeria at No. 10 – are the temporary homes for brothers and sisters who are members of Climbing F...
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Please join us in prayer for this Evangelic Expedition taking place from July 13 to 28. Learn more by opening the document below.

June 18-July 17 “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." – Matthew 19:26 July 17 – Life vs. Death “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” – Revelation 22:17 A Prayer: Dear Lord, On this final day of Ramadan we acknowledge the invitation that You give to all of Your created people. You simply say, “come, whoever desires, come, take the water of life freely.” We ...
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