WAKE FOREST, N.C. -- A group of missionaries working in predominantly Muslim countries is urging Baptists to exercise restraint in making negative comments about Islam and its founder, Muhammad.

The missionaries, who work through the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board, claim that comments by Western Christians are highly publicized on local radio, TV and in print publications in areas they serve, according to the Associated Baptist Press.

Such publicity increases enmity toward Christians and impacts their work and personal safety, according to a letter the missionaries released.

"These types of comments have and can further the already heightened animosity toward Christians, more so toward evangelicals and even more so toward Baptists," according to the letter, which was printed in the Biblical Recorder, North Carolina Baptists' newsjournal.

"We prayerfully ask you, as brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ, to focus public comments about Muslims on their need for salvation that is found only by faith in Jesus Christ," the letter stated. "We encourage you to make comments and to live your lives in a way that will contribute positively toward the preaching of the gospel in the lives of over a billion people who hold the religion of Islam and its prophet dearly."

Negative statements about Islam by high-profile Southern Baptists Jerry Vine, Jerry Falwell and Franklin Graham made headlines throughout the Muslim world in 2002.

The missionaries, who signed the letter "A Group of Southern Baptists serving in the Muslim World," serve in the Middle East, North Africa, East Africa and South Asia, according to the report.