Dearest Friends,
Enjoy this report from yesterday.
NEAR THE BORDER
Today, Monday, we travelled for an hour to reach a village near the border of a country that is very unfriendly to Christians. This country is also not friendly to Americans. When we arrived, we set up, but we never did the show. There had been a problem in the school between a Muslim student and a Christian teacher. The village is totally Muslim and the staff at the school are from a Christian tradition.
Our plan was to share with the children, but God’s plan was for us to share with the principal, a politically connected teacher, and her husband, a pharmacist. They are all from a Christian tradition that teaches their people to believe that they can be good enough for God. They have survived as a small number in the Muslim world because they have refused to anger their Muslim neighbors. Simply put, we could do the program as long as we did not talk about Jesus.
Pastor Shaddi does not compromise . I love this about him! He told them that if we do not talk about Jesus, there is nothing to say. I agree with him. Since we would not compromise, we were not able to do the show as we had planned. God had made another plan.
For about an hour, we met with these friends. Johnny and FuFu are 2 precious believers in Pastor Shaddi’s church. Today, they went with us and Johnny shared with the politically connected teacher. At first it was a little loud, but Johnny quickly softened his voice. Lovingly, he told her the truth of the Gospel. When she said that she was afraid to speak Jesus’ name, he told her the story of the first martyr, Stephen. Then I shared my testimony and she looked as though she would cry. God was softening her heart.
All of them listened with their hearts. Before, we left, we prayed for the principal and his situation. His countenance changed. The lady teacher came to Shaddi and said, "I am with you to the death."
Please pray for this village of 8,000 Suni Muslims who live in desperate darkness. The children are from poor homes, but they suffer from a greater poverty. They do not know Jesus. The principal has agreed to let our new puppet tea, return when things are calmer. This is why it is so important to train and equip nationals. Pray for God to hold open this door for them. Pray for the 3 adults who heard the Gospel so clearly and sweetly today to hold to Jesus without compromise.
In Jesus,
Linda for Padraig and Jared