After
our first full week spent in the village of G, we returned to S town, where our apartment is located. Upon our arrival at S, we met
with our supervisor for a debrief on what happened throughout the previous
week. After debrief my team and I were all extremely tired and had hopes of
going straight to sleep that night. However, God had different plans for us.
As
we were getting ready for bed, one of our translators invited us out for a cup
of coffee. Though it was a few minutes past midnight, we decided as a team that
we should go so that we could bond with our translator and get to know him
better. After arriving at our destination, Z, a friend of our translator
ran in to us so we asked if he wanted to join us. He agreed and even started a
game of dominoes with us.
Shortly
after our new friend joined us, our translator informed us that Z was a
Muslim. When I heard this, I walked down the beach with our other translator.
We began praying whole-heartedly that God would bless our team with an opportunity
to share the Gospel with Z. Throughout the duration of my prayer I felt an
overwhelming presence come over me and I knew that the Holy Spirit was with me
and my team in that moment.
After
my time of prayer, I walked back up to be with the rest of my team. Within two
minutes of my arrival, the team started sharing the Gospel with Z. I immediately
realized that the Lord had answered my prayers. I knew that God was with us through this conversation so I continued to pray as my fellow team
members shared scripture with this man. At first he said that he did not want
to change religions. We quickly reminded him that what we are sharing is not
about a religion but a change of heart. That all actions of religion lead to
death. We informed him that the relationship with God that we were talking
about leads to life and life more abundantly.
After
4 hours of conversation with Z, we had read two different passages from
the Bible to him and told many stories about who Jesus really is. After each
reading of scripture, it was as if a layer was peeled back and his eyes were
opened to the truth of the Lord. God’s Holy Word pierced through the walls of mistruths
that he had built up throughout his life. By the end of our conversation with
him there was an apparent change of heart.
Please
continue to pray for our team throughout this summer. We know that the
Lord is answering all of our prayers. Praise God for his incredible power and
faithfulness!
We pray that God would bless us with
more opportunities with this man and that the Lord would continue to work in
his heart.
- Caleb