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Islam on the Rise: Ancient Christian Responses for TodayHost Paul Akin speaks with Dr. Devon Provencher about the growth of Islam globally and in the United States, exploring how Christians can respond with gospel intentionality rather than fear or defensiveness. Provencher, a Southern Seminary graduate with an MA in Islamic Studies and a PhD focused on Islamic history and early Christian-Muslim dialogue, explains the distinction between Islam as a religious system and the diverse experiences of individual Muslims. Drawing on the history of the seventh- and eighth-century Arab conquests, he examines how Christians lived under Islamic rule, addresses common Muslim objections to Christianity, including the divinity of Jesus and the reliability of Scripture, and highlights how early Christians responded through biblical teaching, reason, and even arguments drawn from the Quran. The conversation challenges churches to deepen their understanding of Islam and prepare to engage Muslims thoughtfully and faithfully with the gospel. Timestamps 00:00 Mission Podcast Intro 00:35 Islam Rising Today 01:59 Meet Devon Provencher 03:19 Why Study Islam? 05:11 Threat or Opportunity? 07:06 Islam vs. Muslims 08:04 Is the Church Ready? 09:23 History Repeats Itself 11:04 The Realities of the Arab Conquests 14:48 Core Doctrines Challenged 15:49 Common Muslim Objections 17:16 Ancient Christian Responses

Host Paul Akin discusses the cost of discipleship and the cultural pressure not to stand out, including the story of a 19-year-old new believer who secretly jogged to church to worship before telling his parents. Jordan shares about ministry in a Southeast Asian city, where interest in learning English creates natural opportunities to build relationships and share the gospel. He recounts how an expat group began planning in 2016 and formed a doctrinally clear, elder-led, congregational Baptist church in 2017, growing from about 15 people meeting in a living room to nearly 90, split roughly between locals and expats. Jordan also discusses local-language discipleship, a new church plant preparing to launch nearby, and the challenge and encouragement of sending members—including his co-pastor—to reach other unengaged people groups. Mentioned in this episode: The Doctor of Ministry https://www.sbts.edu/degree-programs/doctor-of-ministry/

Host Paul Akin introduces a conversation with Jordan, a Kentucky native who came to a fuller understanding of the gospel in college through a Romans Bible study and later developed a heart for the nations through church discipleship and international student outreach in Louisville. Jordan explains how he and his wife initially planned a short, three-year assignment but were led instead to Southeast Asia through a practical opportunity matching their skills, and 15 years later he has helped plant a healthy church preparing to send local believers to plant another. He describes a context with less than 1% evangelical Christians, a religious “veneer” of Buddhism over an animistic worldview marked by fear, ancestor veneration, and syncretism, alongside government pressure toward secularism. Major obstacles include government restrictions and cultural pressure to conform, which can cause some baptized members to withdraw. Mentioned in this episode: The Doctor of Ministry https://www.sbts.edu/degree-programs/doctor-of-ministry/

Host Paul Akin reflects on a recent family trip to Nairobi, Kenya, reconnecting with former ministry partners after 17 years. He shares three reflections: encouragement from healthy churches, evidence of God’s work across Africa, and the continued need amid lostness, poverty, and the prosperity gospel. Along the way, he highlights formative experiences for his children, including time with refugees, prayer walking, and campus gospel conversations.

What happens when God meets a man in a prison cell? Jon Kelly joins Dr. Paul Akin to share how the Lord saved him in prison through His Word and ultimately called him to pastoral ministry in Chicago. Mentioned in this episode: The Doctor of Ministry https://www.sbts.edu/degree-programs/doctor-of-ministry/

Host Paul Akin welcomes Pastor Chopo Mwanza of Faith Baptist Church Riverside in Kitwe, Zambia, for a conversation about gospel ministry and church life in Zambia. Mwanza introduces Zambia as a peaceful, diverse nation of more than 70 tribes and languages, where English serves as the official language and tribal divisions are often less pronounced in urban areas. He discusses Zambia’s identity as a “Christian nation,” highlighting both the opportunities it creates for gospel ministry and the challenges of nominal Christianity and syncretism. Mwanza also describes life in Kitwe, a Copperbelt mining city shaped by the rise and fall of the mining industry. Finally, he shares the story of Faith Baptist Church—from its founding by missionaries in 1993 to its transition to local leadership—and reflects on the challenges facing believers today, including syncretism, corruption, and the call to live with integrity. Mentioned in this episode: Doctorate of Missiology at Southern Seminary

Host Paul Akin interviews Jennifer Trafton about her book, If Only We Could See, highlighting missionary Lilias Trotter’s decades in North Africa and how she leveraged art and creativity for ministry. Trotter kept nearly daily illustrated journals for 40 years, shared them with supporters, and helped produce colorful Arabic publications shaped by the region’s visual language to help people “see” and therefore love and pray for the Arab people she loved. Trafton explains Trotter’s idea of a “beautiful possible life” marked by joyful adventure, surrender to the Spirit, and faithful, often hidden obedience rather than platform-driven success. The conversation emphasizes Trotter’s attentive compassion, her ability to dignify marginalized people by truly seeing them, and how studying her has shaped Trafton’s attentiveness, prayer for the Arab world, and perspective on calling. Mentioned in this episode: The Online PhD at Southern Seminary https://www.sbts.edu/online-phd/

Her legacy was relational. Her legacy was people. People who felt seen and loved by her years later. Lilias Trotter lived what looked like a hidden and seemingly unsuccessful life, but she believed we are scattering seeds far beyond what we can see. ‘The harvest of the trivial and monotonous might lie out beyond the stars.’ We have no idea what God may do with our faithfulness long after our lifetime. Mentioned in this episode: The Doctor of Ministry https://www.sbts.edu/degree-programs/doctor-of-ministry/

Host Paul Akin interviews missionary Michael about his journey from nominal Catholicism in Knoxville, Tennessee, to serving nearly 15 years overseas in Central Asia and Germany. Michael shares how God used prayer for unreached peoples to call his family to missions, the challenges and opportunities of church planting in post-Christian Germany, and the story behind their German-speaking church plant in Cologne. They also discuss international churches, missionary pastors, language learning, and the importance of healthy local churches in global missions.

Host Paul Akin talks with Matthew Ellison and Denny Spits about church–agency partnership in missions, arguing agencies should serve churches as facilitators, not replace them. Citing Steve Byrne, they stress churches as senders, warn against churches acting as their own agencies, and highlight the need for strong missionary care. They conclude that pastoral leadership is key to building a sending culture where missions shapes discipleship. Mentioned in this episode: Doctorate of Missiology at Southern Seminary

Host Paul Akin interviews Denny Spits and Matthew Ellison about their book The Sending Shepherd: Leading Churches to Disciple All Nations, arguing that shepherding and sending belong together in pastoral ministry. They highlight barriers to becoming a sending church—misdefined missions, risk-averse North American culture, and “missional living” that replaces cross-cultural sending—along with research from Barna Group showing strong support for missions but little emphasis on the unreached. They also outline marks of potential missionaries and urge pastors, following Acts 13, to send their best for the sake of the kingdom, offering a framework for assessing character, competency, compatibility, and calling within the local church. Mentioned in this episode: The NEW MDiv at Southern Seminary

Paul Akin interviews Ethiopian Pastor Nigussie Yadete about growing up in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, hearing the gospel as a university lecturer, coming to saving faith, and facing family rejection. He shares his years teaching, serving, and training in churches in the United Arab Emirates, followed by internships in Abu Dhabi and at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, before returning to Ethiopia in May 2023 to plant a church in Addis Ababa. The church covenanted with 28 members in August 2024 and has grown to about 85 members, baptizing 32 people while meeting in rented hotel space. They also discuss Ethiopia’s religious landscape, including prosperity-gospel influence, unemployment, limited theological training, and hopes for raising leaders and planting more churches.

Host Paul Akin interviews Pastor Abraham about key evangelical challenges, including family rejection tied to honor-shame dynamics, nominal Christianity, materialism, and prosperity-gospel influence. He describes his growing, English-speaking church (about 150 attendees, 79 members) with strong discipleship through classes, groups, and homes. Challenges include maintaining relational depth and meeting pastoral expectations, while opportunities include training pipelines, church planting, leadership development, and resource translation. Mentioned in this episode: Save Money by Studying On-Campus

Paul Akin interviews Pastor Abraham, a pastor whose church has grown from 20 to 150 and is focused on healthy church planting. Abraham recounts coming to faith at age 10 through John 3:16 and his family’s migration. After training and developing convictions about grace, along with conflict in his church context, he joined a church in 2014, becoming an assistant pastor in 2015 and serving a multinational congregation. A 2017 conversation with a church planter led him to move in 2021 to plant a church, where he describes the region’s Christian heritage, strong Catholic influence, youth outmigration, and generally peaceful religious coexistence. Mentioned in this episode: The Online PhD at Southern Seminary https://www.sbts.edu/online-phd/

Paul Akin interviews Pastor Doug Van Meter, an American who came to South Africa after time in Australia and has pastored Brackenhurst Baptist Church in Johannesburg for nearly 33 years. Doug describes South Africa’s post-apartheid context, ongoing racial and political tensions, and a religious landscape marked by nominal Christianity, syncretism (including the Zionist movement), and prosperity-gospel teaching. He shares how Brackenhurst has grown into a more multi-ethnic, gospel-preaching, missions-minded church connected to other like-minded churches, while facing challenges like corruption, crime, and pessimism. Doug is encouraged by people seeking biblical teaching, healthier churches being planted, and the potential of the younger generation, and he hopes to raise and train future leaders and plant more churches. Mentioned in this episode: The Online PhD at Southern Seminary https://www.sbts.edu/online-phd/