“Can you get in trouble for this?” Don asked the two girls who had asked for our help with their final English project.
They shrugged, said the most the teacher could do was count off for small things, and said, “It’s OK, we have God on our side.”
I’d spent a few days having an English Club with the two girls, along with Katie McFaddin, and the final night we were in Rama they asked Don (also an ex-journalist) and me to come over and help them with their project.
The plan was this– we’d help them write the oral presentation that was going to be about a great guy who changes lives. He cares for the poor, the broken, and even this particular 17-year-old girl. She was telling her teacher about Jesus.
In Israel, when you are a Believer you’d better be serious about your faith. The second girl was the only Believer in her family. She carries the burden of praying constantly for her family while they don’t understand why she does what she does. She goes to church alone and she leads a Girls Club for younger teens on a weekly basis. She’s committed.
The faith I felt in that place was real.
It all started when after church on Sunday they came up to me and said, “We want YOU to teach us English.”
“Uhh, OK,” I responded. I’d never really thought I’d work well with this age group, but I couldn’t say no. It ended up being the most fun I’ve had in a long time. And they taught me a lot more than I could possibly teach them.
They’d talk about how they just had each other as far as Believers go. We heard stories of families not letting their kids come over to hang out at their houses because they were of a different religion. This town, specifically, had really high tensions in between the different faiths.
But they weren’t angry. And they certainly didn’t back down.
They simply said, “We believe in God’s promises.”
I look back ten years to when I was that age. I’d just gotten baptized after my senior year in high school, but in all actuality ten years later I still marvel at anyone, regardless of age, who has faith that can withstand that kind of pressure.
And I’m glad to have had that experience–to see two women of God who at such a young age can say without hesitation, “I am a Believer, it’s changed my life, and it can change yours, too.”
