To see every Muslim have an opportunity to respond to the Gospel and be connected to a true follower of Jesus.

Transcription

1 2017 ANNUAL REPORT

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3 Our Goal To see every Muslim have an opportunity to respond to the Gospel and be connected to a true follower of Jesus. We believe that heart change is God's business, while faithful Gospel witness is our business; and we believe God calls his followers to not only share the Gospel, but to move into discipleship relationships with Muslims.

4 Online Presence Crescent Project took a significant leap forward in 2017 with the launch of a powerful new website. Rich in vision and practical resources that inspire and equip, the new crescentproject.org reaches a growing audience - both Christian and Muslim. Crescent Project receives inquiries through the site from Christians seeking help with outreach, or wrestling with issues such as marrying Muslim men. Muslims around the world also reach out through the site to engage on theological matters or to seek help in leaving Islam. IMPACT STORY: Crescent Project received a message through the website from a man in Morocco who said, I want to change my religion - I want to become Christian...there are people who want to kill me...help me. Our staff engaged him in conversation, first addressing his safety concerns and then explaining the Gospel with specific guidance on how to become a true follower of Jesus. He was then connected to one of our staff members who is a former Muslim from Morocco. They established a good rapport and the conversation about Christ continues!

5 2017 STATS (FEBRUARY THROUGH OCTOBER): 71,000 unique visitors 89,000 visits 154,000 pageviews

6 Thousands of Muslims in closed countries were touched with the hope of Christ through Embassy s online outreach efforts. Many also formed personal relationships with Christian volunteers, which God has used to produce remarkable stories of new faith and new life. LEARN MORE thisisembassy.org

7 Embassy provides Christians with access to an online pool of tens of thousands of Muslims in hard-to-reach places by identifying web forums used by Muslims abroad, and working to flood these sites with Christians who share the Gospel, invite people to read the Bible, and pray for them by name. IMPACT STORIES: Ahmed was struggling with sin, considering suicide and seeking answers when he got connected to an Embassy volunteer, who compassionately engaged him in spiritual discussion. Ahmed was also in grave danger, locked in a barbed-wired refugee camp with his brothers who were threatening to kill him. Through a connection made by the volunteer, Ahmed made it out of the refugee camp and into a different city. The volunteer had been sharing the Gospel with him, but knew that the distance and language barrier were an issue, so they asked for connections in his new city. Days later, Ahmed got connected with a Christian worker thanks to another Crescent Project staff member. Shortly after, Ahmed came to faith in Christ! Rahaf from Syria came to Christ after a long night of struggle. She describes the final moments before surrendering her life to Christ like this: It was like the last hour before sunrise. Her American friend shares, Rahaf often calls me sweet sister now and loves the fact that we are sisters in Christ. Rahaf continues in fellowship with her American friend, and is now also connected with believers in her city! "Nadine" was talking to a Christ-follower in the US as bombs were falling on her city. Through many nights of prayer together during times of terror, God began to draw Nadine to himself. She is now a new creation in Christ who knows not only the power of man to hurt, but the power of God to save.

8 Sahara Challenge 2017 Sahara Challenge, Crescent Project s top-tier intensive training experience, equipped Christians serving Muslims in 15 different countries. PARTICIPANT TESTIMONIAL: Thank you for all the blood, sweat, and tears (and prayers!) your team put into Sahara Challenge. The training was exhausting and awesome, and Jim and I were incredibly blessed and encouraged. We came with many questions and praise God got them ALL answered! One thing we prayed for was for Jim to develop a heart for reaching out to Muslim men and to put some in his path, and God answered our prayer right away! After Sahara Challenge, we stayed in downtown Minneapolis an extra day to debrief and pray together. The Uber driver who took us from Bethel to our hotel was a devout Muslim man from Kenya, and he accepted an Arabic-English Injeel when Jim offered! He was flabbergasted when Jim asked how we could pray for him, and he immediately started reading the Injeel when we were stopped at a traffic light. We were so grateful for how thorough the Sahara Challenge training was because this man certainly had all of his responses and explanations ready... all of which were discussed throughout the training. And Jim did a great job not getting caught up on our theological differences but looking for similarities to make the conversational bridge to offer him a Bible. LEARN MORE crescentproject.org/sahara

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10 Bri d g es Crescent Project s core equipping curriculum continued to extend its global reach, adding 6 new countries in 2017.

11 TESTIMONIAL FR OM A WOMAN USING CR ESCE N T PR OJECT PODCASTS, BOOKS, AND BR IDGES ST U DY: Crescent Project has been so inspiring and helpful to me as I met a Muslim family from Libya almost a year ago now. I went from knowing almost nothing about Islam (and not knowing one Muslim personally) to spending time at least weekly, often more, with this sweet family who we re praying daily will come to know Jesus!...I honestly went from fear and literally thinking, they are raising the next jihadists next door to loving these people with an unnatural (supernatural?) love...they have become family to us, despite significant language barriers. They introduced us to all their friends and now we re praying for 25 Muslims by name! Thank you for helping provide valuable resources for our church and myself! TRY BRIDGES ONLINE!

12 Without Borders Over 800 Christian women participated in Without Borders in 2017, evidence that God is stirring hearts for the plight of Muslim women. Without Borders, Crescent Project s women s conference, is held several times a year at locations across the United States. The event trains and encourages Christian women to engage Muslim women with confidence and compassion.

13 STORY FROM A 2017 PARTICIPANT JoAnn was listening to the closing talk at a 2017 Without Borders event when she felt moved to take action, right on the spot. Over the course of the weekend, JoAnn had been moved by the beauty of the Gospel and its transformative power in the lives of Muslim women. She began thinking about her Muslim friend Hayel, a young woman raised in the Midwest who had recently become disturbed by teachings within Islam and begun asking God for help. As JoAnn listened to the final Without Borders speaker, she shot a text to Hayel: Would you be interested in meeting to read the Bible? She hit the send button, and almost immediately felt overwhelmed with shame and fear. Accusing thoughts flooded her mind: What have I done? That was so insensitive of me...god, please forgive me if that was really impertinent. An hour later, a text came back with a response: Yes, I would love that, how about this Thursday? JoAnn met with Hayel within a week of attending Without Borders, and was stunned by how God had prepared Hayel s heart. Hayel reported a sense of God pursuing her, and was full of great questions about Jesus and the Bible many of which had been addressed at the conference. As Hayel read the Bible, she repeatedly commented on "how beautiful" it is, and how different from the Qu ran. When asked if she d like to pray, Hayel replied, Yes how do you do it in Christianity? JoAnn was delighted to share the personal way God provides of relating to him. JoAnn and Hayel have since set up regular time to read the Bible. In JoAnn s words, One thing that hit me at the Without Borders conference is that Muslim women are spiritually hungry, and sometimes they re just waiting for someone to offer help. And I thought, Why not just ask? LEARN MORE crescentproject.org/withoutborders

14 Short-Term Trips In 2017, Crescent Project sent a short term team to serve in a region in Northern Iraq devastated by ISIS. Two Crescent Project staff and Christians from around the U.S. formed a team that spent three weeks putting training from Sahara Challenge into practice. In that time, team members worked with teachers and students in the classroom on their English skills while showing the love of Christ. Listening to their heart breaking stories of survival in a region that had been devastated by ISIS gave the team unique insight and opportunities to impact their lives and bring spiritual nourishment. I feel God showed me his heart and poured it out into mine. I believe His heart is broken for them and mine was, too, said one of the Crescent Project team members. Relationships formed there are ongoing despite the distance, and Gospel conversations are regularly occurring with these new friends.

15 I feel God showed me his heart and poured it out into mine. I believe His heart is broken for them and mine was, too.

16 2017 By the Numbers* 19,719 CHRISTIANS EQUIPPED TO REACH MUSLIMS WITH THE GOSPEL THROUGH BRIDGES STUDIES AND SEMINARS, CONFERENCES, AND RESOURCES 18,628 UP 2,215 CALL TO PRAYER FROM 2016 PARTNERS 4,321 BIBLES + OUTREACH RESOURCES DISTRIBUTED UP 27% FROM STAFF IN 37 CITIES ON 3 CONTINENTS STAFF IN 4 MORE CITIES THAN 2016 *Numbers in this report do not include the last quarter of 2017.

17 COUNTRIES USING BRIDGES TO REACH MUSLIMS 59 COUNTRIES NOW USE BRIDGES, INCLUDING 6 NEW COUNTRIES IN NEW IN 2016 ETHIOPIA BANGLADESH ROMANIA CUBA NIGERIA INDONESIA

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19 This isn't a time to be led by fear. It's time to rally the Church to join God's remarkable work among Muslims. crescentproject.org/give

20 P.O. Box Indianapolis, IN crescentproject.org