Dear Sisters This will be a long post, but I feel it necessary to tell everything thathappened and what I learned. First I will describe the location so you will understand. This church is very large and well organized (almost 5,000 members and someare very rich). One member donated 1.5 million to their building fund. Thechurch grounds cover 2 city blocks. They have a day care center, schoolfrom pre-school through 8th grade, a theatre for plays and social functions,a library, gym, large computer lab, 100 member choir (singers) and an orchestra (musical instruments). This church has 4 services on Sunday to accomodate the number of people going to their services. There is a verylarge grassy lawn between the church serice building and the church school.It was here that the missionaries were located. Tables were set up in ahuge U shape. Wome were dressed as Muslims and native dress of the women ofIndia. Many additional tables had native foods from arab countries andIndia. There were tons of books and phamplets available for people to taketo read. Also there were posters with pictures of Muslims and christiansand many showing Muslim women taking off the hijab to go into water to be"baptized" as a "new christian". Pictures also showed young Muslim girlsand boys singing with christians and some were learning musical instruments.(I felt like I was walking at the outer edges of Hell!) I did not go into the church for the service because the missionaries wereall outdoors answering questions of several hundred people at thisgathering. I went to the first table where there were large plastic bags available to place the many materials available from the differentmissionary groups. Without saying anything and my heart racing I walked theentire U shape of tables, stuffing the bag with the phamplets, free booksand disks. I just nodded and smiled ( my face felt frozen in this smile). After I finished gathering materials, I began walking back the way I cameand I stopped at each table. There I began asking the following questions: Q. What do you tell Muslims about the claim that Mohammad is a prophet?A. He is a prophet that God sent to the people who worshiped idols. He wasa great prophet in his time. This breaks the ice and allows them to listento us. Q. What is the most frequently said thing that convinces Muslims to convertto christianity?A. It is not only what we say but what we do. We become their friends,help build roads, buildings, teach at their schools, bring food and medicalsupplies to the poor. Many of us are doctors and nurses and this gets us inthe doorway with the government people. We love them and love them and lovethem. We learn their language, we print the bible in their language, wedress similiar to them, we learn to cook their foods. We read the Qura'an(transliteration) and their sunnah and hadith. We find simaliarities withthe bible and Qur'an and this helps us gain their confidence. Once we havelived with them, help them, and they feel we are their friends, then webegin slowly talking about Jesus and God's Justice. Almost all said they did this. First the church(es) totally funds familiesto move to a Muslim country. The missionaries undergo as much as 6 monthstraining before they leave. They learn all about the country, cultural, andproblems the country has (need for schools, hospitals, roads, buildings,etc.) The children also learn with the parents. Once they have masteredthe "planting skills" they are ready to travel to the country. Q. Why has this church and others in southwest USA chosen the Muslims as thegroup to try and convert?A. Muslims are in what we call the 10/40 location of the planet earth.Here there ae at least 1 billion Muslims. Our goal over the next 5 years isto convert 702,000 Muslims to christianity. Muslims are the largest groupof unbelievers in Jesus and the trinity. Q. Why do you think you will be successful?A. The Muslims practice Islam differently in each country. They have allowedtheir cultural to make the differences. One advantage to us is the split between the Sunni and Shia Muslim groups. Also they have no centralleadership. Many Muslim countries are suspicious of each other and thismakes it easy for us. (One man even said that its the old "divide andconquor" idea) Another man told me that the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) had tried to combinethe bible with the messages "God" gave him concerning idol worshippers andbecause he was uneducated, he failed to get the information correctconcerning Jesus the Mesiah. A woman told me that her missionary group used the model that Paul (of biblical times) used for establishing churches which then resulted in thespread of christianity. (going with a group of followers to a town or city,making friends with government officials, locating some wealthy individualsand converting them and then getting land free from the Muslims to buildtheir churches. She said because the Muslims allow freedom of religions inmost of their countries, they (Muslims) in fact are very helpful in gettingthe land for the churches!!!! She told me how a missionary woman started anembrodery group with Muslim women in their homes where they made beautifularabic patterns. Their husbands and the Muslim leader was so impressed thatthe women were allowed to go to the church and do this sewing. It was herethat they had the opportunity to win several of the Muslim women to Jesus! By this time I have worked my way about halfway back to where the firsttable is set up. A woman walks up to me and says, don't I know you? maybefrom ASU? I answer honestly, I am never at ASU (the state university) Theman with her is dressed as our brothers dress. He then says to me, Excuseme, are you with the missionaries here? I then say no. He then says areyou Muslim? I say I am Muslim and my religion is Islam. It seems that everyone there at first thought I was a christian dressed upas a Muslim. Well when I responded that I was Muslim, immediately the newsbegan to travel in this group. I actually saw them whisper this fact toeach other. Within a few minutes, everyone was looking at me, when I caughttheir eye they pretended not to have been staring!! I felt like two large hands with very long fingers were above me waiting tocrush me. I wanted to run from this gathering, but Allah kept my feetplanted in front of this table where a man asked me what sect of Islam I wasfrom. He asked if I was a fundalmentist or from a smaller group. I said Iam Muslim and my religion is Islam. He said he had many Muslim friends andthey all had different schools or leaders they followed and I must belong toa group. I said I am Muslim and my religion is Islam. Then sisters I can hardly believe this even as I write it. I beganquestioning this man about Jesus the Messiah and the man became defensive responding that Jesus came from Abraham's line that God had to come in theform of Jesus so that our sins could be forgiven. I said Abraham had a sonIshamel his first born to a lawful wife. I said Jusus was the son of Marywithout a father. I said Allah will forgive our sins if we repent and askforgiveness. I asked why God would need to come to earth and die like ahuman in order to forgive us. He said because after we die, then one daythere will be judgement day and because we sin we can't get to heaven forjudgement day with our sin, so Jesus died (God) who took our sin so we couldget to heaven for Judgement day. Well I answered, if Jesus-God took away all the sins, what was the need for judgement day? He just looked at me and then he said, well it is for thepeople who do not accept Jesus as their savior and the trinity. Well I saidif good people can't get to heaven with out Jesus then how will all theseunbelivers in Jesus be judged on Judgement Day if they have sin andtherefore can't be allowed in the presence of God for their judgement?Sisters... these were not my words... It was like I was standing next to mewatching me say these words. The man said this is one of the "great mysteries" that we will understandafter we die. I said that in Islam there is no mystery. That Allah hasmade it very clear what a person needs to do to go to heaven. That Allah isjust and fair and would not make a mystery that would keep us from heaven. Then the man said that it was like a judge here on earth where we must bepunished when we do wrong that this is justice. He said that God demandsjustice and that we must be punished. for sins, unless we let Jesus take oursins. I said if Jesus is God as you say he is, where is justice in Godpunishing himself for my sins? Where do I learn anything in this kind ofthinking and how does this make me be responsible and fear God? Sisters this man (and a very large crowd) just looked at me and they did notanswer. Then my feet moved me (I didn't seem to be in control of their movement) toa table where a woman dressed as a Muslim stood. She smiled at me kind ofwavering with her eyes darting around, like she was looking for support. Icouldn't believe what I said next. I said christian woman why do you mock me? She said mock you? I said, whatif I were to put on a short dress, jewelry, make-up and high heels, hang agold cross around my neck and hold a bible in my hands and tell you, mysister won't you become a Muslim? This is so hard to believe sisters...this woman took off the hijab and abeya and said she was sorry. Next my feet moved me to the very first table. A group of people seemed tobe following my progress back to this starting table. Here my mouth openedand I asked why there was no table for the Jews. I asked if there christianlove did not extend to there Jewish brothers and sisters. I asked if theywere not concerned that the Jews would go to hell for disbelieving in Jesus.I said it was known world -wide that most Jews regarded Jesus as a troublemaker, did not believe he was even a prophet and worst of all did notbelieve in the virgin birth and in fact had maligned the name of Mary! This man sputtered that they indeed had missionaries for the Jewish people.I then said do you deny that christians and our government give totalsupport for the Jewish religion, money, aid, political power etc. when infact the Jews believe only they are chosen by God and they "killedGod-Jesus" according to the bible! Why would christians and governmentsupport this people and turn their backs on Muslims who believe in theVirgin birth and revere Jesus as a great prophet to the Jewish people? A man in the crowd said we have missionaries for the Jewish people, but ourchurches decided that the Muslims are more in need because there are so many Muslims. I said praise Allah for so many Muslims! The man dressed as abrother dresses approached me a second time. He asked if I would like tomeet with some people and talk about Islam and christianity some more. Isaid no thank-you, but I then asked him if he would like to meet with somebrothers to discuss Islam, but he would have to stop dressing like a Muslimas Muslims did not accept deceit. This young man turned and walked awayfrom me. At this time I felt like I was in control of my feet again. I took a greatbreath and walked quickly towards the parking lot to my car. When I gotinside I was shaking inside and outside like a leaf in a wind storm. Idrove home (I was so shaken, I ran a red light). When I got there my dearhusband was very upset. It seems I was gone for over 4 hours!!!!! As Ihave been so sick I told him I would not go. He thought I had gone to themasjid. I feel badly for this lie to him but I know he would not have letme leave the house if he knew I was going to this church. He and my familydecided not to go to church this Sunday as they felt the church program wasdisrespectful to me. I felt very weak and tired and after a short rest I typed the note to all ofyou and then I immediately fell into a deep sleep. I awoke this moriningfor prayer and was completely rested! Oh I completely forgot to tell you that the young teenagers in this churchand college students have formed an organization to be missionaries toMuslims who attend schools and universities here in Tempe Arizona. Theyoffer tutoring with English and other subjects. This way they make friends,invite them to their homes and try to slowly convert them. They have beensuccessful and the new converts go home and wait for missionaries to arrive.They then introduce them to Muslim leaders and people in towns and villages.Also there is a group of businessmen who own apartments. They give specialrates to Muslims. They provide study rooms.... and guess what. there arechristian students studying there and making friends with the Muslim youngmen. Even young women are introduced and this gets our Muslim young menaccustomed to meeting with young women and listening to music! My heart and head want to scream aloud O Muslim brothers and sisters wake-up!!!!!! See how our kindness and friendships have been abused!!!! Iam praying feverently to Allah to open the eyes of all Muslims to unite usand protect one another and our children!!!!!! I will close this post dear sisters and many thanks for your help and dua.I could not have done this with out my sisters and Allah. I will be sendinga second post which will have the names and other information about thesemissionary groups. Please don't be too hard on me for my poor answers to these missionaries.Allah knows my intentions and I used what knowledge I had and Allah's help. Your sister in IslamWidad