Being Called Out

The village where I lived centered around the mosque. As I got to know people I was invited to spend time at the mosque talking and telling stories. One night at the mosque, a 20 year old man stood up and protested my presence. He said, “It is not right for him to be here. He isn’t Muslim, and he only wants to proselytize our village.”

Within two weeks I was officially expelled from the mosque and asked not return. Many people in the community were angry with the religious leaders because they had invited me to come to the mosque. I decided that this young man needed to be shown love.

As a result, shortly after being evicted from the mosque, I helped to build a fishing boat for this man’s family. I kept being friendly and prayed for him, even though he was openly antagonistic towards me.

Slowly his attitude began to change. In the village the men take turns keeping watch, because there is a group of rebel soldiers on the island that sometimes raid the village. Both me and this young man had the same watch. As we sat at our post with six or seven other men from the village, he shocked me. He said, “Tell me some of those stories about Isa (the Arabic name for Jesus).”

For the next two hours I told them many Isa stories and marveled at the change the Lord was making in this young man.

Pray that:

Believers coming to serve on this Muslim island will respond with love, even when they are shown animosity.

God will soften hearts and open opportunities to tell the stories of Isa on this small, isolated island.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.