As stated in my last blog, my team had ATL ministry last month in Bulgaria. A couple weeks into the month, we were in a city called Plovdiv, which is the second largest city in the country behind the capital, Sofia. Sofia was the other city we spent a lot of time at.
While in Plovdiv, God presented an awesome relational ministry opportunity that could have only come from Him. Regan and Megan, two girls from my team, were checking out at the grocery store. Or at least they were trying to, as they were having trouble working the credit card machine (partially because it’s in a different language). When a man behind them kindly offered to help. A little later, Regan and Megan walked out of the grocery store and began making their way, arms full of groceries, to the bus stop, as our apartment wasn’t within walking distance from the grocery store. When the same man who kindly helped them with the credit card machine drove up and offered them a ride to the bus stop.
Now I know the man showed kindness to them earlier and seemed friendly, but goodness I would’ve never let them in that car if I had been there! But looking back, thankfully I wasn’t! He dropped them off at the bus stop and they were able to exchange info. His name was Muhammad. A few days later they set up a hangout at a coffee shop.
Megan, Kayla, Matt, and myself had a great time talking with him at Starbucks! It went so well that we made plans to hang out again! Later in the week, we met back up with Muhammad and his friend, Ali. They took us to get dinner at a traditional Turkish restaurant. It was a ton of food and super delicious! Afterwards, we went to a dessert place and got ice cream, because how else do you properly end a good night other than with ice cream!?
Throughout the night we had great conversations with Muhammad and Ali. Both were in Bulgaria studying to become dentists, which is how they met and became friends. Both had lived in the UK for most of their lives prior to studying in Bulgaria. And both were Muslims originally from the Middle East; Muhammad was born in Iraq and Ali was born in Pakistan.
We hade the privilege of learning a lot about them and their families, as well as their beliefs. Muhammad was Shiite and Ali was Sunni, which is the two major divisions within Islam. It was interesting not only learning more about the teachings of Islam, but also more about the difference in beliefs between the two divisions. Also, a lot of people may not know, but the majority of violence in Islam is actually not against Americans, Christians, or even non Muslims. The far majority of violence actually happens within Islam, between Shiites and Sunnis. So the fact that they were good friends was an awesome display of the type of people they were.
After they shared about their beliefs, we got to share with them what we believed and why we were in Bulgaria. They were very open in listening to us and afterwards we even went further into discussing different areas of faith. We got to specifically ask them what they believed about Jesus, which they were super opened about doing so as Muslims hold Jesus in high regards, believing him to be a great prophet and even believe he is returning to Earth one day to destroy sin once and for all. (The last part almost sounds like Christianity!)
Obviously we view Jesus very differently, as we know Him to be the Son of God (part of the trinity), whereas they believe he is only a prophet. But other than that, the biggest difference that stood out to me was how works-based their faith was. They constantly felt the need to not sin and do good works with only the hope that their good would potentially outweigh the bad when they faced judgement.
They were extremely kind and serving individuals, maybe as a result of these beliefs. But I kept thinking what a demanding and stressful life it must be to live constantly worrying about whether your good works are outweighing your sins. I mean how do you even know how much a good work weighs compared to a sin?
I am so thankful for the truth that no good works can account for even one sin. I love that I get to live life knowing I am saved by grace through faith alone, not based on anything I have done or could do. This is true freedom!! And this freedom should drive us to do more good works and love more fiercely than people who think they have to earn it.
Getting to hang out and talk with Muhammad and Ali ended up being one of my favorite nights of my entire race so far! I am so thankful for them and their hospitality. I pray we planted seeds in their hearts and that God would reveal truth to them. I hope everyone knows, they never have to worry if they are good enough to have a relationship with God. Come to Jesus, all are welcome!!
As always feel free to subscribe to my blogs for automatic updates when I make a post! God Bless!!
