Good Shepherd Church Blog

Though he is little known in the West, Coptic priest Zakaria Botros — named Islam’s “Public Enemy #1” by the Arabic newspaper, al-Insan al-Jadid — has been making waves in the Islamic world. Along with fellow missionaries — mostly Muslim converts — he appears frequently on the Arabic channel al-Hayat (i.e., “Life TV”). There, he addresses controversial topics of theological significance — free from the censorship imposed by Islamic authorities or self-imposed through fear of the zealous mobs who fulminated against the infamous cartoons of Mohammed. Botros’s excurses on little-known but embarrassing aspects of Islamic law and tradition have become a thorn in the side of Islamic leaders throughout the Middle East.

The result? Mass conversions to Christianity — if clandestine ones. The very public conversion of high-profile Italian journalist Magdi Allam — who was baptized by Pope Benedict in Rome on Saturday — is only the tip of the iceberg. Indeed, Islamic cleric Ahmad al-Qatani stated on al-Jazeera TV a while back that some six million Muslims convert to Christianity annually, many of them persuaded by Botros’s public ministry. More recently, al-Jazeera noted Life TV’s “unprecedented evangelical raid” on the Muslim world. Several factors account for the Botros phenomenon. 

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NTUwY2QyNjA0NjcwMjExMzI2ZmJiZTEzN2U1YjYyZjE= 

He has become a household word in Islamic countries, as evidenced by this:

The most dramatic example of this occurred on another famous show on the international station, Iqra. The host, Basma — a conservative Muslim woman in full hijab — asked two prominent ulema, including Sheikh Gamal Qutb, one-time grand mufti of al-Azhar University, to explain the legality of the Koranic verse (4:24) that permits men to freely copulate with captive women. She repeatedly asked: “According to sharia, is slave-sex still applicable?” The two ulema would give no clear answer — dissembling here, going off on tangents there. Basma remained adamant: Muslim youth were confused, and needed a response, since “there is a certain channel and a certain man who has discussed this issue over twenty times and has received no response from you.”

Missiological points:

• Apologetics do work, but they must be researched thoroughly and communicated with humility (not my strong suit), and in a linguistic and culturally relevant way.
• After knocking something down, something else needs to be substituted.
• Working within and supporting the ancient and traditional church works. Who would have thought of Coptic missionary televangelists 20 years ago?

Why "Katinga" as my login?

Katinga is the name of my Komo (Congolese) elder brother by adoption. The sponsoring pastor appointed him as my culture and language broker, and we swiftly became friends. I have spent many nights in the courtyard of his house, shooting the breeze, hanging out, doing naked-eye astronomy, eating with our hands out of a common bowl. Truly, he is my brother.

We went on a number of trips together, by bicycle teaching people to read Komo, and by vehicle going to Kisangani to buy supplies. When I encountered difficulties with government authorities, he would act as my liaison to smooth things out.

After we left Congo, Katinga was shot by retreating government soldiers during the aftermath of the Rwanda genocide that resulted in Congolese Tutsi's rebelling and taking over the country. The bullet lodged within a centimeter of his heart. Miraculously, he survived that 12 hour trip into Kisangani to have the bullet removed.

Paul