I went into this cafe hoping to learn more about the Muslim faith from these 2 former Muslims who converted to Christianity, but ended up learning life-redirecting lessons about my own faith.
Kosovo is the second newest country in the world. The people are also 96% Muslim and the economy is still recovering from the war and political unrest. Jon, Zach, and I have had the privilege of working alongside two men as we travel all over Kosovo educating children about water conservation, sanitation, hygiene, and much more (*video down below!). One afternoon we got to hear the testimony of how Jesus saved them. Here are the highlights of that conversation:
-Both were poured into by American Missionaries over multiple years (one shared that a missionary from Michigan held English classes for 5 years with over 40 students and he was the only convert)
-They are the first Christians of their entire families.
-They are the only Christians of their entire families.
-Their parents and siblings have rejected their faith.
-Surrounding towns people have persecuted them and even come after their parents with rebuke to their children’s conversion.
-Their hearts yearn for their family to know God.
-They have both given their lives to the Lord and left their country to complete further biblical education (one at a bible school in Albania and the other through YWAM)
-They have returned to Kosovo to be two of a very few lights in their home-country
-They have both said that they are blessed to be living in this situation.
Did you catch the last one? “They are BLESSED to be living in this situation.” These two men see it as a blessing to be daily, openly, and publicly persecuted for their faith. When I hear “surrounded by 96% Muslim” and “rejected by family, friends, and society”, I don’t think about how much of a blessing that must be. Yet they do.
These circumstances produce in them a faith most Americans may never know – a faith I had never known. It’s Jesus’ paradoxical teaching in literal practice over 2,000 years later.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit.” -Matthew 5:3
I never fully understood this message, nor do I claim to fully understand it now, but these two men have given me a different angle to view it from. In their affliction, they have been given ample opportunity to display a true faith. They have literally forsaken family, friends, and the life they had known prior. By simply speaking about Jesus Christ, they have given up everything for God.
American Christiany may not be facing public persecution, but we face a more deceptive attack. Our virus is a slow killer that gets hold with out causing major symptoms; it’s almost unnoticable. Lukewarm christianity. Our comfort has bred unhealthy contentment. The call to carry our cross daily has been weakened and muzzled, or worse; it has become a numbed down cliche.
Diamond is refined by scorching fire. Steel is strengthened by extreme pressure. It is the very trials put before these two men that have raised in them a faith I stand before with awe. Does that mean that Christians need to seek out persecution to grow? Of course not, but I want to pray to God as fervently as I do during a terrorist attack. I want to tune my ears to His voice the way I do when seeking the next big step for my life. I want to surgically maneuver my way through His Word like I did when I was preparing my first sermon. I don’t want to wait for ‘the right time’. Right now is the right time. It’s like the wise words of famous Christian rapper Andy Mineo, “If ya stay ready, you ain’t gotta get ready.”
y’all ready?
