Written by Nicky Andrews. Photo by OM International.

 

For nearly 30 years, OM in London has nurtured Muslims coming to faith in Christ through Oasis Church. OM leader Michael* shares its story, then and now.

The 1970s saw communities of newly-arrived Arabic speakers becoming established in north and north-west London. These were not the super-rich Gulf elite of London’s West End, but immigrants drawn from the wider Middle East and north Africa, many asylum seekers in their numbers. Kilburn was typical: in this deprived neighbourhood spanning the boroughs of Brent and Camden, distinct areas began to develop which were rich in the cultures of Morocco, Lebanon, Iraq, Libya et al.

These were also the early days of OM’s London-based outreach among Muslims, then called Turning Point (TP.) Pioneered in 1978 by Glen* and his wife Susie*, TP’s base in north-west London was the launch pad for long-term ministries and short-term campaigns. The latter were typically ten-day outreaches during the Christmas, Easter and summer holidays; in those days, when OM and YWAM were the principal providers of short-term opportunities, hundreds of volunteers might flock to TP in any given year for intensive training and street-based outreach.

Fitted to meet a need

Outreach leaders were TP’s long-term staff, steeped in apologetics, cultural understanding and the Muslim mindset, often gained from years living in the Islamic world. Not only were they street evangelists, the long-term OM workers had gifts of friendship and discipleship which nurtured former Muslims taking their first steps as new-born Jesus followers. Further, they mostly lived amongst Kilburn’s Arabic-speaking communities, immersed in those cultures.

This was still the case in the late 1990s when God began to call Glen to plant a new expression of church. Former Muslims desperately needed a genuinely welcoming community specifically geared to their culture and experiences; Glen had reached the sad conclusion that many new believers failed to thrive in a standard ‘English’ church environment. They were typically recent arrivals in the UK seeking asylum, new to the culture, often disoriented and needing a lot of support. And as new believers in Christ they usually faced the social and emotional disaster of rejection by Muslim peers and family.

English and Arabic flavours

Glen gained permission from a Kilburn church to borrow their premises on a Sunday afternoon. Thus in 1999, Oasis Church was born: a dozen OM team members and a dozen former Muslims worshipping Jesus together in a rich fusion of English and Arabic before fellowship over an unhurried meal. These believers were predominantly single men, mostly young, though from time to time there were older men estranged from their families (like an Iraqi whose wife divorced him on discovering his new faith, and he lost contact with his children.) And from curious kids peering in the church windows, children’s work began.

Getting moved away

People were being relocated to other parts of the UK once their asylum claims were settled. One memorable instance was Moussa*, who was from west Africa and had had a very strong Muslim identity until Jesus met him in a dream. He came to faith and was with Oasis Church until he was resettled in the north of England. Then he posted a newspaper picture of himself meeting the then-Prince Charles, at a community project for asylum seekers he’d got involved with!

Changes in both the world and OM

Across the next twenty years, Oasis Church remained in Kilburn albeit moving on to two other venues. Events in the wider world had a distinct impact; the religious atmosphere was becoming more intense during the Noughties with the upsurge in terrorist events like 9/11 and the London bomb attacks in 2005. Then later the Arab Spring was another pivotal event. Generally, outreach to Arabs was becoming much less well-received.

Demographic changes in Kilburn saw second- and third-generation people moving out the area, and believing Arab asylum seekers had virtually all been moved away. Very positively, one north African believer planted a church and another began to lead a mission. Two Iranians became seconded to OM for two years and now lead missions with an Iranian focus.

The team in OM London (as it is now called) began diversifying into ministries reaching a far wider range of least-reached people. North of the Thames, existing ministry among Turkish-speaking people has seen significant expansion, along with projects among settled Chinese and Bangladeshi communities. Arab contacts are chiefly now south of the river among Syrian refugees. 

Here today, gone tomorrow?

Today Oasis Church is found in another borrowed church, in a different area of north-west London altogether, which is wealthy and ‘white’. Worship is now a blend of English and Farsi as the church hosts a stream of new Iranian believers from Muslim backgrounds, evidence of the dramatic move of God throughout Iran and its diaspora. But these young asylum seekers are travelling distances to get there and it’s difficult to establish study groups during the week, except for women who meet on Zoom. And for a church like Oasis, the problem of ‘turnover’ is ever-present; people will inevitably be moved away by the asylum process, on an unpredictable timescale.

Future moves

Glen is retired from OM London and soon to retire from pastoring, and only Michael, another veteran from those earliest Kilburn days, remains. One thing both men have witnessed down the years is that, on the whole, the greatest spiritual openness is found amongst first-generation arrivals, whether immigrants or asylum seekers; they usually prefer to gather with others from same or near cultures. On the other hand, second- or third-generation descendants are more at home in ‘international’ churches where a far broader spectrum of Londoners are worshipping together.

Glen’s successor Vincenzo* is praying to see greater stability develop; he’s exploring a move for 2026 into permanent premises in an area just south of the Thames, which is very culturally and economically diverse. Still in reach of Iranians, the dream is to offer that more stable ‘international church’ environment, and more home groups during the week, deepening relationships and promoting spiritual growth.

The OM continuum

The OM London connection will remain, as participants on current training programmes like REACH UK will come on placement to Oasis Church for rich experience in street evangelism; a catalyst too for the OM London staff who lead them! The short ten-day outreaches, which will continue to visit the church, are still going strong: since those early days in the late 70s, as many as 6000 people have shared God’s love with Muslims on London’s streets, coming away inspired to motivate and mobilise their peers in extending the Kingdom of God.

Please pray:

• For believers resettled round the country to be welcomed and integrated into local churches
• For God’s clear leading and opportunity to relocate Oasis Church
• For Arabs to experience a fresh openness to Jesus, like that amongst Iranians

 

*names changed