God Speaks My Language!

from the Reach Across U.S. Director

We don’t know why God allows certain things to happen, especially when they seem to be contrary to His own will—a case in point is the disruption in many Middle Eastern countries which has cost the lives of many people in countries like Syria. In another country, an English teacher was shot dead as he drove to his language school, and another European worker, who had roomed until recently with one of our own ReachAcross folks, was kidnapped, and has not been heard from in several weeks. In all the anguish caused by these happenings, one good thing that has happened has been that several long-term ReachAcross members have relocated to new places and started new ministries. One of them who recently moved from the Middle East to a European country, relates the following:

A plan formed in my heart to give a Bible to someone I had met. Along the way, I popped into a computer shop to buy a USB stick. It was a very tiny shop, with just enough room for 3 people to enter. As I chatted with the shop owner, I happened to use words like “Alhamdulillah” (praise to God) and “Insha’Allah” (God willing) in the conversation. Soon he asked me if I was a Muslim. I replied that I was a “follower of Jesus”.

He paused to think, and then asked me again, “Are you a Muslim?”

“No, I'm a follower of Jesus, a Christian.”

He was taken aback by my confident tone and said, “I didn't know that Christians said things like Alhamdulillah or Insha’Allah.”

I told him that yes, we do say such things; these phrases are written in the Bible. He was quite amazed. I then asked him if he had ever read the Bible. He said he hadn’t, but then with an interested expression, he added that his dad used to read it when he was a young boy. A smile of pride grew across his face as he remembered. He admitted that he couldn't read the Bible because it was in English, but his father loved reading it. (He made sure to confirm that his father was a Muslim even though he read the Bible.)

I asked him if he would like to read the Bible and he said yes. So I told him that God had brought me to his shop that very day for a special reason. I told him I had a Bible with me and said, “God wants you to have this Bible.”

He was stunned and his mouth dropped open. But his expression quickly changed and grew a bit sad because, though it was nice to see a Bible, he couldn’t read English. So I told him that actually the Bible is in Arabic too. Again his mouth dropped in amazement. He couldn't believe it! I took the Arabic Bible out of my bag and handed it him. He was thrilled and started flipping through the pages. He asked about the price but I told him it was a gift. “It's free, because God's word is free.” He was so excited! Then some other men entered the shop and he quickly hid the Bible behind the counter so they wouldn't see the new treasure that God had provided.