I enjoy when he smiles, a stark contrast to the angry faces around. Not angry with us, just anger in their eyes, anger in their hearts. I can see it. How I long for a peace to transcend them and fill them. How I long for an awakening to occur.
It’s our third time among them. Again we receive water, tea, and food. Hospitality is important. It’s more than obvious to us. We’ve been waiting for this moment though. This moment we get to share. And so we begin-Bibles in our hands, Qu’ran in theirs.
We first met these men Wednesday afternoon amidst our hunt for the Pashtun. After successfully finding a Pashtu or two (actually I think there may have been three), we were led to this Afghan community center. We drank tea, discussed sacrifice, and simply made friends with these men. We laughed with them. We sat with them. I even used the same bathroom as them (which in itself is quite the story). We simply got to know them and befriend them, so much so we were invited back the next day for dinner.
The dinner was more than we ever could have imagined-a feast before our very eyes. A spread of rice, chicken, vegetables, and more, with fruit to come out for desert. And as dinner continued we continued to talk, continued to befriend these Muslims we knew nothing about. They read to us from the Qu’ran and shared with us their favorite passage and in turn we read to them from Luke 4 and shared some of our stories. It was peaceful, just a group of Christians and Muslims partaking of the same meal together with no hidden agendas.
Which brings me back to today. He seems to be listening to the things David says, though I can’t really be all too sure. Lord please just let these seeds take root deep. Let this truth just grasp hold onto something. Lauren asks him about the Bible we gave him and he points to his office, “It’s in there.” He’s been reading it Father but Lord just let it come alive. Let him read it as more than a book. Let every word that he reads strike a chord with his heart. Oh Lord, continue this battle for him.
We get to the big guns-we start talking Jesus. We’ve been more or less good until now. I remember from yesterday when he so boldly said, “Christians like Jesus. Muslims like Jesus. Jews don’t like Jesus which is why they tried to kill him,” trying to affirm that we have the same views. But far from it my friend and I learned that all the more as you shared what you believe about my Savior. We shared our beliefs, how he died for our sins, and then he had his turn to share. “Muslims say it’s slander to say Jesus was crucified because it never happened…God protected him and raised him from the earth with honor and dignity, never letting him suffer.” And part of me breaks, as if none of it got through…but then I remember it’ll take more than 3 days, even more than 3 years, for this teacher to accept the Truth. But I live in faith that the 3 days we spent were enough to plants seeds that will bloom.
Lord, I pray for an awakening in this man’s life. As the great teacher that he is, he has the potential to be such a powerful worker in your Kingdom. Oh Lord, would you soften his heart, open his eyes, remove the veil that’s been blinding him to you all these years. Continue to pursue him diligently. May every person who seems him see only you. Lord, I pray a special blessing over that community center and over each one of the men we met. May that place always be somewhere of peace, somewhere of love, and may there always be something different about it now that “those Americans and that Canadian” left. Make your presence known throughout Lord. I thank you for the generosity of the men and for the way they so warmly opened their center to us. I thank you Lord for blessing them so in turn they may bless us. You, Lord, are so wonderful and I cannot thank you enough for the way you continue to provide for every one of our needs. I thank you Lord for who you are. May we carry this experience with us and use it to propel us forward to further your Kingdom.
