I boarded the plane from Turkey to Albania, yawned, and thought, “Man, I cannot wait to sleep. This last hour and a half plane ride is going to be the perfect time to catch some z’s.”
God had other plans.
I took my place in row 8 seat E next to a guy who looked to be around my age. I placed my backpack under my feet, snuggled my pillow in my lap, and I began to doze off. About five minutes later, I woke up a little startled as we started to ascend. I looked over at the guy next to me as he was taking pictures of the Turkish sunset.
Talk to him.
I was hesitant at this command from The Lord. He has his headphones in, he’s really into this sunset, AND I wanna sleep, God.
Immediately the guy looked over at me, took his headphones out and smiled.
I smiled back at him. Okay, Lord. I hear ya.
I asked him where he was from, and that opened up conversation for you guessed it – the next hour and a half.
Geri was born and raised in Albania, but he recently moved to Florida in order to earn more money. He was flying home to surprise his wife and kids. He told me of all the great places to visit in Albania, he asked me about my hometown, and then he moved on to tell me about his place of work outside of Miami.
I felt the Holy Spirit rise up and almost compel me to say, “So, are you a Christian?”
He answered with an immediate, “No, I’m actually a Muslim. My parents converted when I was younger so that my dad could get a job in the city.”
I responded, “So what do you believe?”
He said, “I would say that I believe there is a God, but I don’t like religion. I think some of the things that religions stand for are questionable,” he paused.
“I don’t really like religion either. I do love Jesus though,” I smiled. He looked over at me as if he was puzzled.
Thanks to a really great mentor, I know a basis for the Muslim faith. They believe in the same God as Christians, but they believe Jesus was merely a man. I wanted to explain Jesus further but again the Holy Spirit took over.
“What do you think will happen to you when you die?”
He looked down at his hands, “I hope I go to Heaven.”
“What if I told you that you could know you would go to Heaven?” I asked.
From here, I proceeded to tell him about Jesus, and what His purpose was here on earth. We discussed the cross and how Jesus’s blood covers all sins. He asked questions about Jesus being fully man and fully God. He was curious, and he proceeded to tell me that he would often wonder into a church and just sit there – he said it brings him great peace. We continued our conversation until our plane touched down in Albania.
I wish I could tell you that Geri gave his life to Christ then and there, but he didn’t. I do know that the Holy Spirit was working in row 8 seat F on that plane, and God gave me a front row seat to it all.
I am praying and believing that Geri will surrender fully.
Walking off the plane, I felt more rested and energized than I would have if I would have slept the entirety of the flight – thanks to my main man, The Holy Spirit.
One of my favorite things about God is that He does all the hard work. We only have to be obedient in opening our mouths or in reaching out our hands.
For or more information on what this journey specifically looks like for me, check out my last blog, “You’re Invited”.
