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‘The greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends’. John 15:13

'Asdika' is an Arabic word meaning 'Friends'. The aim of this site is inform you of the resources available to help you love your Muslim friends, and to let you know some infomation about the group that meets in the Northwest.

This group was launched to encourage each of us to be bold, yet wise and prepared in actively sharing the Gospel with our Muslim friends at work, university, school, and with those who are our neighbours, shop-keepers or where-ever we meet them.

As ordinary Christians, we know an extra-ordinary God who loves our Muslim friends even more than we do and He longs for them to come to know Him as Father and Saviour. However, often we find from experience that Muslim friends have questions and misunderstandings we have never encountered before, and a strong belief system of their own, which means we need to be even more perseverant in witness and persistent in prayer.

Humanly speaking, we know we can't convince anyone to become a follower of Jesus but we can trust God to bring the harvest as we continue to faithfully sow the Word of God and pray for the Holy Spirit to guide our Muslim friends into a revelation of all truth. In the UK, we now have so much opportunity to get to know Muslims and we may find a suprsingly openness to the Gospel like never before, so we need to make the most of these opportunities that we might see many Muslims gathered into the Kingdom of God, as followers of Jesus Christ.

Often in many of the communities our friends come from, the hard work really starts when they decide to make a stand for Christ. This is an even greater reason why we need to help one another to support our Muslim friends, so we can see them go on to become life-long disciples and witnesses for Jesus to their own communities.

Do get in touch for further details and please let us know if you would like to join us as we meet together to pray, discuss, and encourage one another. In summary, some of the ideas for the purpose of this group are listed here:

overcoming the misunderstandings & misconceptions that Muslims have about Christianity

discussing effective resources & recommending literature, media & books, etc.

Please email: admin @ asdika . org . uk if you want confirmation or directions to the venue

SUNDAY AFTERNOON GATHERINGS;

2010 Dates: 10^th Jan - 28^th Feb - 18^th Apr - 30^th May - 11^th Jul - 5^th Sept - 17^th Oct - 28^th Nov

( Future times and dates are open to negotiation depending on availability of those who attend )

Some of the most useful resources and websites we have found can be found in the menu to the side, but the links page includes so much more. We hope more links to websites, resources, courses, and helpful information will be added to this website soon!

It was great to that so many made it to the last ‘gathering’ (jama’at as the Muslims say!). We’ve come from at least nine different churches so far, which is fantastic. I thought the curry was great and just to warn you that it will probably be a poor imitation or something completely different next time because our 'chef' has left for Bangladesh for a few months to go and see his family! He’s been so concerned for them recently with the aftermath of the cyclone – one uncle died, his young niece has been hospitalised, and his sisters and cousins family’s have both lost houses. So please pray for him as he returns, for him to be a shining light for Jesus despite the risks and persecution he could face.

The Encountering The World of Islam (EWI) Course

www.encounteringislam.org

Feedback and Summary of our Asdika Survey

More information on the next run of this fantastic course will follow soon, but please get in touch if you have an interest in either doing the course or helping run it.

After suggestions at our January Asdika session in 2008 we had a 'Taster Session' for the EWI course in May 2008 that included a Middle-Eastern breakfast, along with testimony of a Muslim background believer who is now a Pastor in the West Midlands, as well previous student’s testimonies from the course being run in Manchester, a short session on the local Muslim communities and a general overview of the course.

The EWI course took place for the first time in the UK in Manchester in April to June 2008. This meant many lessons were learnt and we can be well prepared to co-ordinate future courses in the future.

The first Merseyside course took place on Thursday evenings between September and December 2008. The venue was Bridge Chapel Centre and cost was around £80 for those registering in advance.

There is presently plenty of interest for a 2009 course, but if more people confirm their interest, this will ensure the course will go ahead. Previous students can freely attend any sessions again and are encouraged to attend any session they missed.

Please email ewi@toxtethtab.org.uk for a registration form or further details.

Please visit the website for more information on the course and the book that contains the majority of the course materials. There's even a short video clip that outlines a few things about the course. You can click on the book below for somewhere to buy it.

^{And please pray for both the people who are
considering the course and the speakers who will join us to teach throughout
the autumn.}

Of the twelve responses to the little survey you did, it turns out you have contact with at least 430 Muslims within a year in your current circle of friends and aquaintances. That’s amazing! Even if you only see these people once a year – that’s 100’s of people you could influence for Jesus and look to share the Gospel with.

You never know how much influence you’re having, because it takes one encounter with Jesus to begin the process of transforming someone's life. I can testify to divine opportunities where I’ve met Muslims only once in their lives who have been amazingly impacted with the truth of Jesus.

With those we see regularly, we have even more opportunity to see the Spirit of God reveal Jesus to them as we faithfully live and share the good news. Be expectant and continually prayerful for all those people whose names you wrote down.

We can look forward to opportunities to testify to how God is answering our prayers the next time we meet.


Book Reviews Further Resource Recommendations	You can click on the images to visit online bookstores to purchase the items being reviewed
	Steve Bell's 'Friendship First: the manual' is about to be republished in an updated edition and it is one of several inspirations for this group. You could find out more about the book on his website (but it recently seems to have expired). It's subtitle is 'Ordinary Christians Discussing Good News With Ordinary Muslims' which is quite similar to the description of this group! So we'd like to give Steve credit for the phrase, to recommend his book and to report that a short review of the book was given at our first meeting. The title friendship first' also indicates our main focus of this group in growing in our friendships with Muslims. "There is no quick solutions when discussing the Gospel with Muslim people. However, it is possible to make fewer mistakes. This manual shows how. It is as jargon-free and non-technical as possible. Written in a colourful A4 magazine format, it is a lively user friendly tool, designed to get the reader to the ‘first base’ of friendship with a Muslim. The manual is about how to relate to Muslims as people and is written for Christians who have little or no knowledge of the subject. It is designed to make it easy to retrieve information when you need it. This is a groundbreaking attempt at helping ‘ordinary’ Christians to relate positively to ‘ordinary’ Muslims." It's available at the Asdika meetings or possibly from Kitab (Christian Resources for Asian and Muslim People), see their website for contact details: www.kitab.org.uk where it currently costs £7.00 + P&P.
	Also highly recommended is Steve Bell's more recent book: 'Grace for Muslims? - The journey from fear to faith'. This is Steve's personal testimony of his understanding of Islam & his witness to Muslims over the last 25 years. Other information from the publisher Authentic, pp.190, RRP £8.99: "Why should an essentially 'benign' religion turn some into 'demons'? asked a Muslim journalist. It is a question that is at the heart of the Islamic debate. Alarmist claims are made about these 'demons', while the possibility of a peaceful Islam is dismissed. Many are confused about the religion's contradictory faces. Is it possible for Christians to relate to Muslims without being politically na?ve or theologically liberal? Steve believes it is. He shares his own journey and reflects upon how he arrived at the crucial ingredient - grace." 'I am deeply touched and encouraged by this wonderful book'' Brother Andrew, Open Doors