I wish you could have been in the car as I drove my friend Sara* home from the Christmas Eve service last night. Over the fall semester, Sara & her friend F have sporadically attended the Conversations in Gospel of Mark study (I requested prayer for them in an earlier post). I didn’t see them for a while, and kept praying for them. Two weeks ago, they stayed after class several times to ask their teacher questions about the person & work of Jesus, and sat with me in Conversations! We exchanged numbers, and have all met twice in Sara’s home for the best Arabic coffee & treats and bilingual reading of John chapter 1.
Sara was delighted to visit an American church for the first time and experience Christ-centered Christmas. As soon as we started toward home, she inquired about the themes of “Jesus coming to us” and “God in flesh” prominent in the songs. I can tell you, there is nothing more exciting than an open opportunity to share the story of the promise & fulfillment of Messiah with someone who longs to hear all the details!
She then asked about the difference between Jews & Christians. Inevitably we arrived at the death & resurrection of Christ, and she asked why the Jews rejected their Messiah. Wow. Was God directing this conversation or what?! I said we all have a choice to accept or reject Jesus. When I asked her what she thought, she said, “I don’t know.” She attempted to express herself in English, then Arabic, then simply whispered, “I don’t know.” Pray for my interactions with Sara & her friend, and that Jesus will bring peace to their searching hearts!
Other
prayer requests & praises:
- Pray for others in Sara’s ESL class who are less bold, but seeking.
- Youth Bible study: pray for healing, unity, & hunger for God in my 5 girls, and wisdom for me & other leaders. There are some very tough girls, but also some very eager, teachable ones.
- I will be traveling to Athens, Greece next week (January 1-12) with some For the Nations teammates to get a glimpse of refugee ministry on the other side of the ocean! We will be hosted by a local church that has started a refugee center to meet basic needs of women & children. Most of our time will be spent working in the refugee center, meeting with different organizations to mutually learn from each other’s work, and being flexible & adaptable to the needs of the long-term missionaries. I’m VERY excited and anticipate it to be a great learning experience & perspective-shifter! Please pray for my team’s safety, travel logistics, spiritual opportunities, and sensitivity to how the Holy Spirit wants to use & teach us. I look forward to sharing about it!
*Names changed for privacy reasons. To respect the privacy of individuals mentioned in this post, please do not share this information in a public setting or on social media.*
