Book Review: Miraculous Movements: How Hundreds of Thousands of Muslims Are Falling in Love with Jesus - Jerry Trousdale, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2012)

 

Filled with amazing and surprising stories, Trousdale writes a very inspiring and compelling narrative in this book. The stories describe the extraordinary spread of the gospel among Muslims in Africa though disciple making movements (DMM), and Trousdale composes them to introduce and explicate key principles underlying DMM.

Sadly, this wonderfully exciting narrative is coloured by an anti-Western church bias, which is drawn from the author’s own experience, but is applied broadly to Western church practices. The following key DMM principles are therefore framed as biblical, yet set against implied and explicit criticism of traditional church practices:

Prayer is described as the most important discipline underlying all DMM activity, and Trousdale notes the seriousness with which it is embraced by Muslim-background believers; adopting patterns of fasting, group all-night prayer, personal prayer at multiple points through the day, and family devotions. Trousdale also highlights the importance of modelling prayer and training for newer believers.

A person of peace is described from Luke 10, as an individual who can open a whole community to the gospel. Trousdale contends that these individuals need to be sought out through prayer, but notes that they are often spiritually dissatisfied, and outlines some of the most common dissatisfactions among Muslims.

Obedience-based discipleship is set against teaching of knowledge. Trousdale advocates Discovery Bible Study (DBS), where small groups engage with Scripture and together discern an obedient response. The promotion of relational and accountable groups is appealing, and the challenge to obedience-based responses from all ages is valuable. However, Trousdale overstates the point, discouraging teaching and preaching.

Clergyless church is advocated, drawing from a view of the New Testament that sees disciple making as the task of all believers, who retain secular jobs and social responsibilities. With this emphasis, Trousdale draws DMM as more relational than traditional church structures. Here small and simple church structures are promoted over larger gatherings, with a view that this leads to greater transformation of individuals, families and communities.

Persecution is the experience of many African Muslim-background believers, observes Trousdale, noting that this not only strengthens faith, but also sets an example of courage to other believers. Through stories Trousdale teases out a larger picture that sets persecution in a context of God working signs and wonders, and bringing the most unexpected people to faith.

The DMM principles explored in this book are helpful to consider, providing a challenge to the emphases and priorities in my own context. Particularly poignant are the priority of prayer, and how an obedience-based response to Scripture is taught and encouraged. However, despite railing against programmatic church structures, Trousdale’s suggested response reads very programmatically. Perhaps this is the difficulty of defining lived principles, and a generous response would acknowledge his comment that applying these principles is a way of life, not a programme. Trousdale writes African stories to an American context, which gives a certain alienation to my own context. However, the story it tells remains thrilling, hopeful, and inspiring.