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Missions

The Sharif Bible

Samir and Jenny* were excited about bringing the gospel to North Africa. One day, soon after their arrival, Samir handed his Arabic Bible to a high school English professor they had befriended and asked her to read a verse. "Explain to me what you read," he requested. She read the passage, looked at him blankly, and replied, "I understood nothing."

Samir was stunned. This University graduate didn't understand the traditional Arabic Bible translation. Arab Muslims needed their own translation.

Samir spent the next nine months translating the Gospel of Mark, but when he took it to a printer he was told police would have to approve every page. He knew the gospel translation would not be approved but Samir did not give up.

With renewed purpose he obtained a mimeograph printing machine, a photocopier and a paper cutter. However, when he started the noisy Russian-made mimeograph machine he feared being discovered. He went to God with his dilemma and woke the next morning to the rumble of large machinery beginning a street repair project. This noise would hide his own machine's rumble. Delighted, Samir rushed to his garage and produced 400 copies of the Gospel of Mark. For the first time God's Word was printed in the language of Arab Muslims.

As Muslims read the Gospel of Mark, first one then another came to know Jesus as their Savior. In less than two years, twenty-eight believers were meeting in Samir's home to study the Bible.

The Bible had been translated into Arabic for many centuries but always incorporated language and expressions that are easily understood by the Christian minority in the Middle East, but difficult for Muslims to grasp. An example is the name used for Jesus. Arab Christians use the name "Yeshua." Muslims say "Aisa" (a-Yee-sa). An Arab-speaking friend of Samir who had been reading the traditional gospel translation approached him and said, "This Yeshua was a wonderful person who performed many miracles. He even had the same surname (Christ) as the man Aisa. Was he from the same family—a cousin perhaps?"

This conversation and others convinced Samir to translate the entire Bible for Arabic-speaking Muslims. Over the past three years 15,000 copies have been distributed and an additional 400,000 New Testaments have been given away. The Sharif Bible is a gift women can share with Arab Muslim acquaintances—a wonderful way to open the doors to a better understanding of the Word of God.

*Names have been changed.

A prayer guide to assist you in praying for Muslims is published annually by the International Center. To request a copy, contact Lucille Parks at AGWM Regional Ministries Center 1640 N. Boonville Avenue Springfield, Missouri 65803 or e-mail her at eurasia@agmd.org.