I haven't totally worked out why the Lord sent me on this trip, but if nothing else I returned with faces burned into my memory.
I will never forget these faces.
They have stories.
They have personalities.
They have struggles.
They have LIVES!
Real people live in Turkey...imagine that!
Some old, some young, some who are in love with Jesus, and others who follow Mohammad.
But the one thing they all have in common is that the Lord is pursuing them ardently.
He is desperate for their lives, for their worship and most of all their love and he will not relent until he has won them!
Each of these faces are in different places in the pursuit, and as I stepped into the midst of the story I became enthralled watching God draw them a step closer, even through me.
I want to share them with you, these faces and stories...
Sadly, their faces and names will be mine to keep safe and secret, but this is a disappointment I am willing to endure for their protection.
So let me introduce you to the first of my faces from Turkey.
Muhsina is originally from Iran but is living in Turkey waiting for the UN to grant her asylum somewhere else such as Canada or somewhere in Europe.
She has been married for three years to a kind man named Tikvah, and miraculously, both of them are followers of Jesus.
Muhsina grew up a very obedient daughter and strictly adhered to the pillars of Islam until she was in her twenties.
While studying in college in Iran, Muhsina discovered things about the Prophet Mohammad that she did not like; she had never heard that he killed many people who would not convert to Islam and she was very disturbed.
For the first time the door of questions was opened and she began to seek answers.
Muhsina intensely studied many different religions and begged Allah to be near to her. She wanted more than reciting prayers in Arabic that she couldn't understand and a hopeless eternity of a woman. She wanted to know the being that created the wonderful world around her. She wanted there to be a purpose for her existence beyond the service of men, and she knew there was more instinctively.
Then one day a man named Isa Masi (Jesus the Messiah) was revealed to her. She had heard about Isa and his followers before but had thought it was a just strange cult until then. But as she studied she realized that this was the One she was searching for! Allah was not angry and distant as she had thought, but close, so close that he had become a human just to reach her.
Muhsina stopped praying in Arabic and started praying to Isa in Farsi, her own language. She promised to give Allah everything because he had answered her prayers. Soon after, Muhsina met Tikvah who had also recently trusted in Isa Masi, and the two were married.
Unfortunately they were almost immediately forced to leave Iran because the decision to follow Isa Masi instead of Mohammed turned many people against them. Now they are separated from their families and cannot return to their homes.
Muhsina prays daily for her family in Iran. She knows that Allah loves them enough to chase after them and is strong enough to reach them in the midst of a country that opposes his message.
Please pray for Muhsina...
-that her faith and knowledge of God will increase now that she is able to freely seek him and learn about him
-that her family in Iran will turn from the lies and embrace the truth no matter the cost
-that she will love Tikvah more and more; that their marriage would be strengthened-that God would allow them to enter another country to live and work
-that she would have patience to wait for God's timing and not allow opportunities in Turkey to pass while she waits to move somewhere else
This is the first of my faces that I want to show you...please return in a week or so for another!
All I ask in return for sharing these beautiful faces is that you respond.
Please lift up Muhsina and the rest to God and cry out to him on their behalf...that is the only response that they will feel for eternity.
No comments:
Post a Comment